Carl discovers that the stolen trebuchet can deliver Mordecai’s herbicide directly if the potion is poured into a cup on the device, making Carl’s elaborate bombing plan unnecessary. Because Ping does not work on Odious Creepers, Carl and Princess Donut improvise a spotting system, with Donut high in a tree guiding Carl’s aim through the rain. After several misses, Carl successfully ranges the unseen target and realizes the team may have had a long-range solution all along.

Carl loads the herbicide into the trebuchet and fires again. The shot kills the Creeper almost instantly, but Donut receives the kill credit because siege spotters get most of the reward; Donut gains levels and a strength increase, while Carl learns Mordecai omitted that detail. At the same time, Louis Santiago 2 and Katia’s group confirm the method works elsewhere, and everyone becomes increasingly worried about the remote Creepers near Zockau that few crawlers or hunters can realistically reach.

Carl and Donut travel southeast toward the next target through mud and rain. Kiwi repeatedly tries to pull them east toward Big Tina, then sends the rest of the raptor pack away, presumably to protect the larger dinosaur, leaving only Carl, Donut, Mongo, and Kiwi together. The change lets the group grind smaller monsters for experience, and over the course of the trip many more Creepers die across the map: Louis adds more kills, Prepotente continues his fast-moving hunt from the air, and Eva’s battered faction appears to be collapsing after she again pushes a reckless attack.

When Carl and Donut near their next target, another force kills the Creeper before they can set up. The rain suddenly stops, visibility spikes, and a large white-tagged patrol of high elves surrounds them. Two guards on white stags escort an enormous battle rhino carrying the invulnerable familiar of Queen Imogen. Speaking from behind magical curtains, the familiar reveals that the queen already knows Carl and Donut, demands proper respect, announces that Carl must dance with Queen Imogen at the upcoming Masquerade, and says Donut has been scheduled to dance with him. He also makes clear that the high elves are only hunting Creepers in their own district and considers everyone else expendable.

As the procession departs, the familiar offers a message for Signet, then suddenly fires a lightning bolt at Mongo. Donut throws herself in front of the attack, survives only because Cockroach triggers, and still cannot fully block the blast; Mongo and Kiwi are badly injured as well. Carl concludes the attack is a deliberate escalation by the showrunners, not a random NPC whim. After Donut wakes and heals the dinosaurs, she reveals what she saw when the curtain shifted: Queen Imogen’s familiar is Ferdinand, altered and hostile, which means Donut may be forced into a personal confrontation at the Masquerade.