As Samantha flees Yarilo’s pursuit, Boomer orders Samantha to angle toward the Madness castle without getting too close. Yarilo’s voice echoes across the realm, calling for Psamathe and demanding that Samantha stop running.

A prismatic beam suddenly erupts from the woods, bright enough to pierce the clouds and wave like a giant beacon. Carl receives an update to the quest Find Out Who Killed My Son, telling Carl that the Memorial Crystal: Apito has revealed itself and that Carl should abandon the current task to obtain it. Carl identifies the source as Osvaldo, the unaffiliated crawler hiding in the woods with the crystal, but Carl refuses to abandon the raid.

Elle warns that the beacon will draw enemy observation, and Carl explains that the crystal may be tied to Apito, Yarilo’s banishment, and the mystery of gods escaping the Nothing. Carl messages Osvaldo to put the crystal away, but Osvaldo cannot control it. Baroness Victory immediately warns Carl that contacting an unaffiliated crawler may be treated as illegal coordination.

The beacon exposes the infiltration. Carl’s group is observed, their subterfuge is negated, and Prepotente reports that while the 103rd battalion’s decoy march is drawing part of the Madness army, the beacon has attracted the rest directly toward Carl’s smaller force.

Carl, Elle, and Katia reassess. Without the feral god gate and with limited psionic protection, Carl decides to summon reinforcements anyway. Carl orders Jurgen and the 105th Scream Warriors to be ready, tells Bodi to retreat the 103rd early, directs Prepotente to shift to Carl’s side once the retreat begins, and relies on Donut to help cover Bodi’s withdrawal after the seeded field is cleared.

Moments later, missiles rain down on the Madness castle and knock down its shield while fires spread across the structure. Elle begins calling in the remaining anti-personnel missiles, but Carl sees a large Madness force charging toward them in dune buggy-like carts and realizes the stealth raid has become a direct battle.