The 105th Scream Warriors teleport into the woods behind Carl, with a few soldiers landing in trees and triggering traps, but the force survives and quickly forms up. Jurgen, Jamal, Bautista, Katia, Imani, and other allies arrive as the Madness dune buggies halt about a kilometer away and raise shields. Imani warns the troops to watch for mind magic and Atrocity magic while Jurgen prepares the Scream Warriors to wait for orders.

As Carl readies Rend and thinks about recent upgrades, Carl is hit by a coordinated psionic assault. Endless Thread of Distraction, Self Harm, and Intrusive Thoughts overwhelm Carl’s Mind Balance, pushing Carl into despair and strange awareness of the screaming soul-current beneath the battlefield. An unfamiliar but friendly voice steadies Carl, and Carl realizes Carl’s bare feet have sunk into an All Tree root; the experience raises Mind Balance to level 16 and wakes Carl from the attack.

Carl recovers as the tree behind Carl withers and dies. With Mind Balance now strong enough to repel the psionic barrage, Carl can see the Madness mind mages targeting Carl and marks them for attack. Bomo’s final Cheese Cutter missiles strike the Madness line, shattering shields and eliminating many marked mages, which stops the immediate mental assault but does not end the broader threat.

Carl checks the larger battlefield: Louis is still preparing the Reaver bomb run, Samantha continues baiting Yarilo, the Dream castle is wrecked but occupied, gods are fighting in Dream territory, Florin and Tran are repositioning, and the FUPA remains chaotic under the demon eviction. Bodi reports the Madness pursuit has stopped to face Carl instead, while Prepotente warns that a third force has emerged from beneath the Madness castle. Donut’s corpse-flesher plan becomes useless because the Madness army has abandoned the intended battlefield.

Before Carl can advance, Eris casts Bear Witness across almost the entire floor. Carl’s Mind Balance negates the effect, but nearly everyone outside structures freezes with white eyes and a Witness mark; only a few beings, including some pets, tattoo-linked allies, sluggalos, Carl, Jamal, and Dong Quixote, remain awake. Reports confirm the effect reaches Shanty Town, the tower area, Florin’s troops, and likely much of Larracos.

Eris then casts Bring Forth the Witnesses, creating a magical backlash that blocks long-range teleportation for an hour. The frozen witnesses from both Carl’s army and the Madness army rise into the air and vanish, apparently drawn toward Eris. Bianca lands without Prepotente and rages at Carl, who points the goat dragon toward the Dream castle where Eris is fighting; Bianca flies off in fury while Carl is left facing the unexpected collapse of the battlefield.