Ysalte manifests from Sister Ines’ dissolving corpse, revealing herself as the level-250 Goddess of Hopelessness and Insanity, invulnerable on this floor. A temporary curse takes effect: any potions Carl quaffs or physically handles outside his inventory will turn to vinegar until Ysalte is banished. Ysalte immediately focuses on Louis for killing “her bard” and promises punishment.

Samantha intervenes, trying to distract Ysalte with forced cheer while urgently warning Louis (and Carl echoing it) to run. Ysalte recognizes Samantha as “Psamathe” and erupts in anger; Samantha’s taunts provoke Ysalte into swinging her pickaxe at Samantha, but the blow harmlessly bounces off Samantha’s head, stunning Ysalte.

The scene abruptly freezes as the Madre de Aguas snake boss crashes down through the ceiling, tearing the building apart and stripping away walls and roof until the group is effectively standing on an exposed “roof” made from the 32nd floor. Carl spots the automaton trap he set near the stairs “miraculously” landing on the falling snake and teleporting, while the snake is yanked away. With the shell opened to open air, Amayon expands into a far larger, full-power form—yet the Enslaved marker remains, meaning Ysalte’s control has not been broken.

Amayon’s roar is followed by another freeze as the dungeon reconfigures the event: the prior quest ends and a new hybrid world quest, The Missing Piece, begins, pulling in all remaining crawlers in the Cuba region (and broadcasting dungeon-wide). The rules establish a ten-minute timer: if Amayon remains under Ysalte’s control when it ends, both will teleport to the Ascendency and everyone without keys dies; if Amayon breaks free and begins casting his return spell, Ysalte will leave and Amayon can remain, potentially creating enough “hope” for progress depending on his power.

The AI announces the mechanism: a final eighth-floor card battle. Four cards appear before Ysalte and four huge cards appear before Amayon; Amayon will play six totems and will not attempt to flee until they are all dead, while Ysalte uses an enhanced version of Sister Ines’ deck. Time resumes, Ysalte tries (and fails) to cast normally, notices the cards, and the final card battle is declared to begin.