Carl, Prepotente, Katia, and Samantha flee upward through Club Vanquisher after Li Na’s amplified dread turns the massacre even worse than Carl expected. Carl worries that the club might expel everyone as the Desperado Club once did, so the group rushes toward the temple portal while Bautista, Zhang, and Li Jun hold doors to keep the aura setup active.

As they move through halls full of dead and dying worshipers, Carl asks Li Na what her blood-based dread does. Li Na explains that Bleeding Horror can turn blood against enemies and insists on training it rather than immediately switching back, because mantaurs bleed when they extend their claws and already-controlled blood may bypass some protections. Carl is disturbed by Li Na’s calm, clinical attitude, but accepts the logic as the sentient blood begins attacking others in the club.

The group reaches the portal desk leading to the temples. Victory appears and silently witnesses the devastation. With Rosetta’s guidance, Prepotente figures out the portal controls, and Katia helps set the destination to Khepri’s temple. Carl analyzes the doorway, confirms the visual feed, and sees Vinata with several nagas beside a strange bug-bodied figure at an enormous table covered not by a blanket, but by moving insects.

Carl cannot open the faith-gated door because the portal denies him as a heathen. The planned workaround depends on Samantha: because she has survived the Nothing and counts as damned, she can request entry into any church or temple. Before entering, Carl warns Li Na that he is about to cast her tattoo spell, while Li Na reports Bleeding Horror has reached level 15 and prepares a final dread called Succulent Decay.

Prepotente steels himself for battle by reciting names, and Carl senses that retreat is impossible. Samantha bites the handle and opens the door, allowing Carl, Prepotente, and Katia to rush through. Inside the Temple of Khepri, they are immediately marked as trespassers and for death. Carl realizes the portal view hid critical notifications: Vinata has an Immortal tag, the nagas are heavily blessed, and the bug figure is not a cleric but Khepri himself.

The dungeon grants Carl the Charge of the Light Brigade achievement, openly warning that he has walked into an extreme trap. Because Carl is in Khepri’s presence, the Scavenger’s Daughter activates and fills with power, giving Carl and Vinata a temporary effect: ninety seconds of immortality. The chapter ends with Carl unexpectedly alive but trapped in a temple with a deity, protected enemies, and only moments to act.