Carl and Princess Donut follow Samantha’s location through rain and worsening spiderwebs until they reach Shi Maria’s territory, where webbing coats the road and dead crab shells and bones litter the area. They avoid pushing into the nest by having Samantha convince the spider to come to the roadside, while Carl and Donut prepare to attack if Shi Maria casts anything or retreats back into the web.

Shi Maria appears as a massive city boss and demi-god—the Bedlam Bride—capable of inflicting permanent insanity and blindness. Samantha rolls in filthy from the webbing and introduces Shi Maria as “MaeMae,” enthusiastically pitching a future where MaeMae restores Samantha’s body and joins their adventures. Donut uses a Size-Up potion and realizes Shi Maria has a high-level Cockroach-style survival skill, making any fight even riskier.

To force clarity, Carl produces the intended replacement body: Princess Lunette, an incomplete flesh golem formed from Signet’s spell. Samantha floats up, excited, and demands Shi Maria cast the transfer spell, but Shi Maria communicates that she needs special supplies—likely from a similar spider merchant that won’t be available until deeper floors. As Samantha threatens MaeMae in frustration, Shi Maria’s dot turns white, and the “sobbing” boss collapses into the marsh, apparently having a panic attack.

Samantha reveals she has been talking with MaeMae extensively and has also been messaging Elle, learning about Donut’s card system and sharing it with the spider. Carl refuses to travel with Shi Maria unless they can control the danger, and he admits to Samantha that he did come to save her, not just to acquire a powerful card. Still, Samantha insists she can’t abandon her “best friend,” and the only workable option becomes turning Shi Maria into a card under strict conditions.

Carl approaches the spider alone, lays out terms, and watches her instant shift from theatrics to cold focus. Shi Maria shocks Carl by speaking clearly; she proposes an escort bargain: she wants passage off this floor and to Larracos, where a master pulpmancer could both help Samantha and potentially undo the card imprisonment. Shi Maria needles Carl about his vulnerabilities and what is “growing inside” him, and a new quest—The Bedlam Bride—appears, directing Carl to escort her to Larracos. Shi Maria exposes her underside and orders Carl to injure her only enough to enable the card magic, and Carl punches her abdomen to begin the capture.