Rosetta explains that Donut must receive a tattoo so Edgar can give her the spell needed for the next stage of the plan, with Milk etching words of power to boost it. Donut refuses at first, protesting both the tattoo and the plan to shave her flank. Carl asks why they are abandoning the earlier Wall of Fire and Laundry Day combination, and Rosetta explains that Laundry Day might strip fleshers from enemies and cause them to attack allies instead.

Rosetta reveals the revised plan: Donut will use War Crime to combine Wall of Fire with Bijanbi, a Dinner Bell variant taken from a fallen cleric. The spell should pull enemies out of the ball and into a ring of fire, while the attached fleshers act as the finisher because War Crime itself cannot directly kill. The strategy is horrifying but tactically necessary, because separating enemies before breaking the ball should protect their allies and expose Fang, Tagg, and their forces.

Carl reflects on War Crime’s description and its disturbing implications. The spell combines high-level spells in an unpredictable atrocity effect, reduces Donut’s health to one percent, can be cast only a few times, and leaves victims unable to die from its direct effects. Carl worries about how using such a spell may affect Donut, especially because the AI appears eager for it to happen.

Li Na warns over chat that Harpocrates is resisting Conscription and that they must act quickly. Outside, Harpocrates holds the ball motionless while the screams inside continue, Larracos’s towers fall silent, lava keeps spreading through the city, and the castle defenders have only about five hours before the War Mage team wins Faction Wars. Carl tells Donut she does not have to accept the tattoo and that no one can force her.

Donut admits her fear is not only vanity but the idea of carrying visible scars. Carl reassures Donut that, if she chooses it, the mark will be a badge of honor rather than a scar, and Donut agrees only after making Carl promise to get a matching ass tattoo later. Rosetta shaves a patch on Donut’s right flank, and Donut asks whether the tattoo can be attractive, possibly a flower or baby Mongo.

Edgar explains that this tattoo is different from Signet’s memory-preserving tattoo. The new ink, refined with Milk’s help, captures the essence of a fallen crawler and lets Donut learn one of that crawler’s spells or skills; Edgar also suggests the same ink may someday work with Donut’s Voodoo book for temporary sharing. As Edgar begins, Donut asks what he is drawing, and he answers that it is a dog.