As the floor nears collapse, Carl hears from Tserendolgor that the last crystal is about to be placed and the bubble can finally be popped. While Carl and Donut head for a saferoom near the stairs, Donut notices new sun tattoos on Carl’s hands. Mordecai then reports that a shrine to Emberus has appeared in their personal space, confirming that Carl’s decision to free Orthrus has made Carl an adherent of Emberus.

Carl reviews the religion’s terms and discovers both benefits and serious obligations. Emberus grants useful perks such as burn immunity, temple access, extra experience against Hellik followers, and entry to Club Vanquisher, but Carl must tithe gold, make daily blood offerings, and obey church quests. Emberus immediately gives Carl a temporary constitution boon and two major divine quests: uncover who murdered Geyrun and kill Hellik before Carl reaches the twelfth floor, with smiting threatened if Carl fails.

At the stairwell, Carl explains the new religion to Donut and Mordecai, and Donut is especially furious about the five percent tithe. Carl also examines Quan Ch’s severed arm, taking two useful rings from it, including Rockard’s Ring of Sniping, which marks weakened or well-equipped targets on Carl’s map. He keeps Quan’s plain gold band after noticing an inscription inside, then drags the metal stair platform to the saferoom so the group will have an escape route close at hand.

Before entering the personal space, Carl learns that Louis has rushed into their bathroom after eating bad soup, which threatens the team’s secret written-message system hidden in the stall. Carl quickly erases the notes through his scratchpad, but the magical ink runs out before he can finish warning Louis. Inside the saferoom pub, Carl briefly speaks with Xander the cyclops proprietor, learns nearby Desperado Clubs are not easily reachable, and returns to the personal space to continue coordinating the larger rescue plan.

Carl, Katia, Imani, and the others begin phase one of their operation to free crawlers trapped in intact bubbles. The plan is to use Desperado Club gates to evacuate qualifying groups into Hump Town, then force them downstairs before feral gods and possibly true gods can cause chaos. While waiting, Carl reflects on the moral cost of the larger plan, opens his reward boxes, receives enchanted handcuffs from a savage box, and learns the spell Ping, which can locate nearby non-crawlers. The chapter ends with Katia reporting that the first extraction has worked and the first rescued group has already made it through safely.