Samantha presses Carl to hurry to Fang’s castle, where Louis is being held. Carl’s group travels by ground transport across ash-covered plains because Fang’s cybernetic bleached drake still circles above the castle, making flight too risky. Li Na has stopped answering Carl except through Zhang, who says Li Na only reports that she is hunting.

As the group moves out, Carl notes the broader battlefield situation. Tran and the 102nd are close to capturing the Dream throne room, which should kill Epitome Tagg when the timer ends, while Florin, Boomer, Bodi, Britney, Rosetta, Ferdinand, and others remain behind to repair Semeru’s damaged defenses. Donut’s new Oak Fell class and Champion status are discussed: the class grants powerful druid-like area spells, but being Nekhebit’s Champion may expose Donut to divine commands, smiting threats, and bounties from Nekhebit’s enemies.

Imani asks about Louis, and Carl says Samantha reports that Louis has not moved and his health is unchanged. Carl suspects the castle security is holding Louis for Fang, though Elle warns it could be a trap because Fang escaped and remains unaccounted for. Katia explains that Louis’s earlier comment about a cop’s husband came from a childhood trauma involving a police officer who died protecting him, though Donut protests that sad stories before a rescue will jinx the mission.

The group reaches Fang’s strange, damaged castle, whose honeycomb passages shift to create routes through the structure. Juice Box explains that the castle can form paths to destinations, though the throne room cannot be isolated; Carl uses Ping and Find Crawler to locate Samantha and Louis. The circling drake appears on Carl’s map as Calliope, a level 130 cybernetic pet of Warlord Fang.

Victory, Drick, and Tart, the Reaver adjutant, appear near the entrance, prompting a brief, bawdy exchange that temporarily lightens the mood. Carl and Donut notice Tart whispering to an unseen presence, and Donut’s enhanced vision identifies the invisible figure as Fopsy, the Dream adjutant. Because both adjutants for missing warlords appear to be present, Carl assumes the rescue may be a trap and orders plan B; Juice Box transforms into a Hunter Wraith, takes Louis’s location from Carl and Dr. Bones’s map, and vanishes into the castle to retrieve him.