In the hallway after the dining hall encounter, Blackwell stops Ophelia and offers a bargain. He insists he is not part of Phantasma’s staff and claims he can help her survive the first seven levels, which she must clear before she can search for Genevieve. Ophelia immediately refuses a blood bargain, distrusting magical contracts and especially distrusting a rogue Phantom, even though the promise of protection clearly tempts her.

Ophelia tries to leave, but Blackwell follows her through the corridors while Poe appears beside them. Their argument turns into tense, flirtatious banter: Ophelia mocks him, Blackwell needles her back, and he points out that she is lost. Although Ophelia resists depending on him, she follows when Blackwell offers to lead her back to her room.

At her door, Blackwell gives the first concrete term of his offer: outside the nine levels, he will remove any haunts Ophelia accidentally triggers, though inside the levels she will still have to face the trials herself with only assistance from him. When Ophelia sees blood, claw marks, and the bathroom Ghoul again, Blackwell snaps his fingers and instantly clears the entire haunting. He explains that he can move things in and out of the corporeal plane, and he argues that using that ability is not cheating because Phantasma’s rules do not forbid it.

The conversation changes when Ophelia mentions Blackwell’s earlier statement that “a heart and a key” could set him free. Blackwell is stunned because he does not remember saying it. He reveals that he has been trapped in Phantasma for so long that his memory keeps failing whenever he gets close to discovering what anchors him there, and Ophelia’s Necromancy may let her perceive what others cannot. Blackwell finally states the true bargain: Ophelia must help find the heart and key that can untether him, and if she fails, a blood bargain will transfer ten years of her lifespan to him.