Level Three, Greed, begins with Ophelia trapped in a golden cage above a sea of lava. The clue tells her the cage must rise, but every time it does, other contestants will dive. While searching for a way to stop the cage from sinking, Ophelia grabs the chain behind her, badly burns her hand, and then summons Blackwell. Because the cages are balanced by weight, Blackwell cannot appear physically without making her cage drop faster, so he can only project his voice and explain the trial.

Blackwell tells Ophelia that she must climb the cliff face through the bars of the cage, dig out circular gold weights hidden in the rock, and clamp them onto the chain so the enchanted pulley will lift her. He also makes clear that every gain she makes will lower other contestants, meaning survival may come at the cost of someone else’s life. Ophelia pushes forward despite the pain in her burned hand, hauls herself upward, and sends down her first weights. When one upward surge is followed by screams and the smell of burning flesh, Ophelia realizes someone below may have died because of her progress.

The shock triggers the Shadow Voice, which pushes Ophelia into a compulsive knocking ritual against the rock. Blackwell interrupts the spiral, asks her to explain the Shadow Voice, and steadies her by guiding her breathing in threes, a detail that makes Ophelia feel seen and calmed. With his encouragement, Ophelia resumes climbing and keeps extracting weights even as her hands split open and bleed. She eventually rises above the fog and sees several empty cages already at the top.

At the upper stretch, Ophelia spots Cade nearby and realizes he has been hoarding multiple gold weights instead of dropping them, hoping to keep the treasure. Blackwell explains that Greed tempts contestants to keep the gold, but carrying extra weight makes them fall farther whenever someone else rises. Ophelia continues choosing survival over wealth, and one of her weight drops sends Cade screaming back below the mist. Driven by Blackwell’s constant support and her determination to reach Genevieve, Ophelia tears free the final weight, sends it down, reaches the exit, and collapses from exhaustion just after crawling back into the dining hall.