Chapter 69

Carl rallies the scattered crawlers to attempt a coordinated escape using a risky theory: triggering a massive demon spell to break the stairwell chamber seals across the region. A regional quest materializes with a two-hour countdown as Amayon, a weakened demon prince, prepares to cast a soul-harvesting portal. Carl must now work backward—killing Sister Ines, freeing the demon from his shell, and buffing him to maximize the spell's reach—while trusting others will clear their stairwell chambers in time.

Carl uses his Find Crawler skill to locate Sister Ines inside the FOSCA building and begins organizing crawlers via message to clear stairwell chambers of debris and create tunnels beneath them. He proposes that Amayon's portal spell, if powerful enough, will break open all the gated stairwell chambers simultaneously, allowing everyone—not just those with keys—to escape to the next floor. Initial resistance from crawlers like Rezan and Jurgen is overcome when Prepotente confirms the theory has at least a 35-40 percent success rate. Carl makes an emotional appeal about collective survival, and support spreads through the chat groups. Imani reports that her slugalos are successfully distracting demons by attacking them, causing the demons to portal away. The system then officially triggers a regional quest called "Where the Sidewalk Ends" with a two-hour timer. The quest explains that Amayon, a level 250 demon prince in a weakened state inhabiting a sea serpent deity's body, must cast a soul-harvesting spell to return to Sheol, and the portal will drain the entire Cuba region unless stopped. The quest offers three options: do nothing and let the portal activate, free Amayon to reset the timer and make it a world quest, or kill him (impossible due to invulnerability). Carl realizes he must now execute a modified plan: kill Sister Ines, free Amayon from his shell, buff the demon as much as possible to strengthen the spell's coverage, and then make his way beneath a stairwell chamber before the two-hour timer expires. Donut initially worries this will prevent Carl from having time to dig out chambers, but commits to staying with him regardless, promising not to abandon anyone. They prepare to move against Sister Ines.