Carl adds cookbook notes explaining that Justice Light helped improve alarm traps so they can use recordings, magical songs, and playlists, and Tipid explains that this season’s mantaurs can be driven into group berserking by certain music. Immediately afterward, system messages announce that the Sepsis Whore of the Blood Sultanate has fallen, crediting the kill to Kandy “Bigs” Newton of the Princess Posse. The Blood Sultanate is defeated, and its assets pass through Donut and Katia to the Princess Posse.

Carl, still horribly damaged from the bomb and lingering debuffs, uses his effectively endless mana to cast Heal repeatedly before his immortality ends. He identifies Kandy Newton as the sluggalette spawned from his slugpox and confirms that Kandy killed Vinata after the naga failed to fully heal. Carl inventories Vinata’s corpse, but the club remains dangerous: gods are still loose, immortal bugs are returning, and Katia reports that her group is trapped in the lobby while monsters and remaining deities fight throughout the area.

Samantha arrives charred and furious, claiming that the goddess Theia has been replaced by a male skyfowl impostor. Carl realizes Samantha likely encountered Theia’s real sponsor rather than the divine form she expected, and Victory explains that sponsors pushing deities outside their faction-war nature is considered cheating. Meanwhile, Katia and Prepotente identify the mapmaker guild as their escape route, but Diwata, Vertumnus, mantaurs, and Basilica Guards block the hallways.

When Brother Widespread Tempest, an ogre Basilica Cleric Guard, appears with mantaurs, Carl launches Operation Head Banger. Carl hits the ogre with Black Nimbus, stripping the ogre’s Untouchable protection and causing gods to mark him for death, then deploys alarm traps playing Megadeth to trigger a mantaur berserk reaction. As the ogre flees and mantaurs scatter, Carl activates Li Na’s Profane Iron tattoo skill, summoning chains from his body to smash Black Nimbus potions into enemies, tear through mantaurs, and clear a path.

Carl reaches Katia, Prepotente, Li Jun, Zhang, Bianca, and Annie as they converge on the hidden guild entrance. Prepotente opens the concealed panel, and the group discovers the Map-Making Guild and Calligrapher’s Guild before rushing inside. Once within the Calligrapher’s Guild, Zhang celebrates surviving, Bigs asks whom she should kill, and Prepotente pulls Bianca into a carrier.

Inside, Carl recognizes the guildmaster as Milk, the author of the sixth edition of the cookbook and, in a sudden mutual recognition, his sister. The emotional shock breaks through Carl’s control after the pain and horror of surviving the explosion and reforming his body, and Milk embraces him while he finally lets himself sob. Donut messages Carl for an update, and Carl falsely reassures her that the escape was easy; in a final note, Carl addresses the dead Drakea and reflects that his fight against the naga is not enough and that resisting despair is growing harder.