Dungeon Crawler Carl, #7
This Inevitable Ruin
by Matt Dinniman
Contents
Chapter 17
Overview
Carl wakes from the Glory Bound treatment in the Lemig-controlled high elf castle, covered in blood and surrounded by corpses, after the Lemig Sortion’s attempt to exploit his vulnerability catastrophically backfires. The failed attack exposes outside interference, triggers adjutant intervention, and leaves the Lemig facing sanctions instead of victory.
At the same time, Carl and Katia process the aftermath of their shared dream: Katia’s treatment seems to have worked, while Shi Maria is no longer loose but trapped inside Carl. Carl gains access to a powerful third eye, making him safer from Shi Maria’s control but also burdened with another catastrophic weapon.
Summary
Carl wakes abruptly from the shared Glory Bound dream, no longer in the Icelandic hospital memory with Katia. He is covered in blood, sees notices that the Scavenger’s Daughter has been fed and that the Bedlam Bride quest has failed, and struggles to separate dream from reality while remembering Katia’s trauma involving Annie, Fannar, cancer, and addiction.
Carl realizes he is standing in a blood-soaked ballroom inside the high elf castle known as the Sugar Cube, now used by the Lemig Sortion. Dead Lemig goblins lie everywhere, including Luke, a general. When a surviving goblin tries to shoot Carl, the ceasefire prevents the attack, and Carl learns the deaths are being treated as an AI action rather than a direct violation.
Panford, the Democratic Sortion adjutant, explains to Commander Stockade that the Lemig plan failed because Shi Maria is a demonic demigod, not a normal demon, and Carl was not possessed in the way Stockade expected. Stockade had apparently tried to exploit the precise moment of Carl’s treatment to incapacitate Carl and use the spider against Carl’s allies, but instead the attempt destroyed Stockade’s own throne room and killed many of his people.
Donut, Katia, and Baroness Victory contact Carl. Donut panics because Carl vanished from the treatment site, while Katia explains that Carl appeared translucent before disappearing and that Mordecai and Rosetta are laughing at the Lemig scheme’s backfire. Victory warns Carl to stay still as adjutants gather for a minor quorum, pausing local hostilities while a ruling is considered.
As Carl sits among the bodies, he pieces together fragments of the dream. Shi Maria appeared, saw another spider who seemed to be her husband, killed and devoured him in rage, and later the husband returned and told Carl that Shi Maria was trapped. Carl realizes the new eye on his chest can open and access immense power, but he forces it closed. Katia believes her treatment worked, and Carl concludes Shi Maria is not gone but is contained inside him like a dangerous weapon he can choose to release only if all is lost.
Who Appears
- CarlWakes blood-covered in the Lemig castle and realizes Shi Maria is trapped inside him.
- KatiaProcesses shared traumatic memories and believes her risky treatment has likely succeeded.
- Shi MariaDemonic spider entity whose attempted manipulation ends with her trapped inside Carl.
- Commander StockadeLemig Sortion warlord whose sabotage plan backfires, killing many of his own people.
- PanfordDemocratic Sortion adjutant who explains the failed extraction and threatens sanctions.
- DonutPanics over Carl’s disappearance and relays confusion from the treatment site.
- Baroness VictoryCarl’s adjutant, warning him to stay still while a minor quorum forms.
- LukeLemig goblin general killed during the backfired attempt involving Shi Maria.
- MordecaiLaughs at the Lemig scheme’s failure after learning what happened to Carl.
- RosettaAlso laughs at the Lemig plot’s disastrous reversal.