AFTERWORD

Chapter 74

Chapter 70

Overview

Carl's allies unexpectedly arrive at the church compound with a solution to fast travel via Lucia Mar's stolen tier-3 upgrade modules, bringing hope and reinforcement when Carl had assumed he'd be alone. The reunion dispels the creeping despair that has haunted the group since the Butcher's Masquerade, though a new threat emerges: Lucia has sworn to kill both Donut and Mongo on the next floor.

Summary

Carl scouts the church area and finds pox slugs feasting on a ram cleric's corpse, with no immediate demon reinforcements from Sister Ines. He communicates with Imani via the group chat, but is surprised when over twenty crawlers—including Imani, Katia, Bautista, Louis, Britney, Tran, Li Jun, Li Na, Zhang, Chris, Elle, and others—arrive at his position. Samantha excitedly crashes into Louis upon arrival, and Mongo rushes toward them enthusiastically. Carl is initially upset they came without keys, but Elle and Imani explain they must all work together to succeed. Li Jun reveals that Lucia Mar single-handedly won the Battle of Beijing by using her totem discarding strategy and spell casting, killing numerous crawlers including Fang and his wife to obtain keys. Before descending to the next floor, Lucia dropped five tier-3 personal space upgrade modules—Doggie Doors—that shouldn't exist until the ninth floor and allow fast travel between previously visited doors on the same floor. The guild has already installed one in Imani's room, enabling guild-wide fast travel access at significant cost. However, Li Jun adds a dark addendum: Lucia switched from friendly to hostile before leaving, declaring she would kill both Donut and her pet dinosaur on the next floor as payback. Despite this threat, Carl experiences a profound emotional shift when he witnesses Tran and Britney smile for the first time since the Butcher's Masquerade. He recognizes that the overwhelming loneliness and despair that had consumed the group has been temporarily lifted by reunion and hope.

Characters

  • Carlprotagonist who scouts ahead and is surprised by his allies' arrival; receives the upgrade modules and processes the revelation about Lucia's threat
  • DonutCarl's companion who comments on the slug infestation and later learns of Lucia's death threat against her and Mongo
  • Imaniarrives with the group and confirms the decision to stay and help; has the upgrade module installed in her room
  • Katiaarrives with the group and provides information about the upgrade modules and Lucia's likely theft of them
  • Bautistaarrives with the group as part of the reinforcements
  • Louisarrives with the group; mentioned to have missed the prior adventure down the stairs; is greeted enthusiastically by Samantha
  • Britneyarrives with the group; smiles for the first time since the Butcher's Masquerade while playing with Mongo
  • Tranarrives with the group in his flying wheelchair module; smiles for the first time since the Butcher's Masquerade
  • Li Junarrives with the group and explains the Battle of Beijing and Lucia Mar's actions; delivers the modules and the threatening message
  • Li Naarrives with the group as part of the reinforcements
  • Zhangarrives with the group as part of the reinforcements
  • Chrisarrives with the group as part of the reinforcements
  • Ellearrives with the group; reminds Carl that they are all in this together and challenges him to lead them
  • Samanthagreets Louis enthusiastically upon arrival, orbiting around him
  • Mongofreed from his cage and rushes toward the arriving group with excitement; mentioned as target of Lucia's threat
  • Lucia Maroff-screen; previously defeated the Battle of Beijing and left upgrade modules with the group; threatens to kill Donut and Mongo on the next floor
  • Florinmentioned as having previously descended to the next floor and messaged Lucia to help the group; receives criticism from Elle
  • Fangmentioned as killed by Lucia Mar along with his wife so she could obtain his key
  • Mordecaimentioned as having provided information about tier-3 upgrades not being available until the ninth floor
  • Renreferenced in Carl's internal monologue as having been broken by hopelessness
  • Carl's motherreferenced in Carl's internal monologue as having drowned in sorrow
  • Splash Zonementioned as one of the infected strippers concerned about skin care