Carl, Elle, and their group enter Madness territory under Elle McGib’s Subterfuge spell, which hides them unless someone leaves the protected area. Carl worries that the long-open portal may have exposed them, but the area is empty. Ahead lies a huge, glittering minefield between the woods and the Madness castle, filled with alarm, teleport, monster-summon, and guard-summon traps that could expose or overwhelm the team.

While preparing the infiltration, Carl continues monitoring other battlefronts. Samantha and Donut report a blurry bleached drake circling near the Reaver castle, and Samantha warns it has gravity magic. Carl initially orders Louis away from the danger, but Boomer privately reminds Carl that Louis’s bombing run is essential to the Reaver assault and that Carl ceded command of that operation to Rosetta and Boomer. Carl apologizes, reverses the order, and tells Louis to proceed carefully while saving anti-air missiles for the dragon.

Carl summons reinforcements through teleport traps, expecting Katia, Imani, Holger, and Splash Zone. Katia, Imani, and Splash Zone arrive, but Holger’s trap brings Dong Quixote instead, mounted on Gonk, with Bigs riding along. Dong explains that Holger stayed behind to protect frightened children and Miss Nadine, and that he received Holger’s half of the trap. Carl is irritated because Holger’s small size suited the stealth mission, but Dong insists that Gonk is light-footed enough to cross the minefield.

Reports come in that missiles hit the Reaver castle, though some exploded before impact and the dragon was not struck. Carl forms a risky workaround: he temporarily makes Samantha an officer so she can use Paint the Target on the dragon for Bomo and Sledge. Elle, Katia, Imani, and Splash Zone openly criticize Carl for continuing to micromanage other operations instead of focusing on their own mission, and Carl admits the habit before moving the infiltration forward.

Carl maps the trap field for the platoon and orders everyone to stay invisible, quiet, and inside Elle’s spell while Bodi, Prepotente, and the 103rd approach from another side as a distraction. Carl begins collecting summon traps, discovering that some are tied to specific guards and at least one summons fire ants. Meanwhile, Samantha lingers too close to the gate she was supposed to use as bait for a Nothing demon, hoping to draw a demon toward the Reavers. Instead, the gate times out, the Feral God Yarilo enters the realm, and Samantha’s alarmed reaction signals that the broader battlefield has just become even more dangerous.