Alice wakes with Peter’s arm over her and an embarrassing moment follows, making breakfast and basic hygiene excruciatingly awkward. The discomfort underscores their fragile trust as they prepare to continue the quest for Professor Grimes.

They compare maps. Peter proposes a shortcut to a central peak based on Orpheus and a hyperbolic spiral model; Alice rejects it as grief-distorted and argues for an accumulative, sequential progression through the Eight Courts informed by Dunhuang sources. Confronted with uncertainty over Grimes’s sins, they choose to search each court in order.

They debate Hecate’s seven-day limit. Peter reads it as a soul constraint; Alice historicizes it as bodily needs, asserting their rations extend survivability. Their old lab dynamic resurfaces—sparring, then uneasy respect—while Peter awkwardly sets new sleeping boundaries to protect Alice’s comfort.

The bone wall behind them turns translucent and disappears, confirming there is no retreat and only forward progress. This raises the stakes: either succeed in retrieving Grimes or perish.

Mists coil and then part as Hell adapts to their context. Alice reflects that Hell mirrors the living’s moral universe. The barren landscape transforms into Gothic towers, enclosed courts, and narrow paths—an academic campus. Recognizing Grimes’s world, they face a personalized Hell modeled on Cambridge, the arena where their search must continue.