Carl, Donut, and Mordecai return to the north gate of Point Mongo in a sudden downpour, where guards have just fired an anti-air missile at an approaching hunter. Mordecai identifies the target as a lone yenk using levitation magic, not one of Vrah's mantis people. Donut can still see the hunter's dot across the river, apparently stuck near a tree, so Carl casts Ping to check whether the situation is a trap.

Ping reveals that the real danger is not another hunter team but a hidden group of elites waiting beyond the tree. Carl sees seven white dots and two elite markers, including a long figure wrapped around the injured hunter. This discovery comes sooner than Carl hoped, and it revives his worries about Quasar's unfinished negotiations with Sensation Entertainment. In Carl's recollection, Quasar pushed Borant to guarantee Vengeance of the Daughter a continuation license beyond the sixth floor, because that would give the show's backers a reason to keep Carl alive. In the present, Quasar has still not confirmed whether the deal went through, leaving Carl uncertain whether Signet's faction is a threat or a potential ally.

Carl tells Donut she can stay and help defend town or come with him, but Donut immediately chooses to go, reminding Carl of his promise not to leave her behind. Before leaving, Donut puts Mordecai in charge of the mushroom guards and orders them to protect him if the town comes under attack. Mordecai warns Carl not to let the interests of outside showrunners force him into a deadly choice between himself and Signet.

Across the bridge, Carl calls out Tsarina Signet, who emerges from hiding and explains that she and her allies came looking for him while also blocking invading hunters from reaching the area. She is accompanied by Areson the Wise, six scarred were-kin warriors led by Clint Smashgrab, and a huge caterpillar mount carrying the badly burned yenk hunter, Bravvo. Signet says she first considered using Bravvo in a blood sacrifice, but since he was hunting Carl, she offers Carl the right to decide his fate. Carl surprises her by ordering that Bravvo be healed, then puts on a ring and rejects Signet's claim that he is still soft, ending the chapter on a note of hardening resolve.