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Carl is temporarily merged with the totem card Shi Maria during combat, losing control of his body as she uses his form and inventory for her own purposes. The fusion results in catastrophic harm to his friends, including severely injuring Li Jun, before the totem's time limit expires and Carl regains consciousness with a mysterious tattoo permanently marked on his chest.

During battle, Carl becomes combined with Shi Maria's totem, experiencing a violent loss of bodily autonomy. Shi Maria, speaking in his mind, rummages through his inventory—discovering items like a Kimaris summoning totem, a war mage head, and potions—while questioning his loyalty and threatening to harm his friends. Carl struggles to maintain any control, unable to communicate through chat or prevent his actions. Shi Maria casts Self-Immolation, burning the floor and creating a hole that drops Carl and his merged form into an apartment below. As the building burns, Li Jun descends to help Carl, who—still controlled by Shi Maria—jabs a stick from a tattoo kit into Li Jun's eye, eats it, and uses the stick to rapidly tattoo an eye symbol onto his own chest using ink made from toraline root. Shi Maria creates a concoction and forces Carl to create a dangerous spell-tattoo, claiming she will no longer exist as a removable card but will remain merged with him. She drops healing potions for the injured allies before the totem timeout expires. Carl regains consciousness with a new tattoo—"The Eye of the Bedlam Bride"—permanently marking his chest, and learns that Li Jun is severely injured and Katia has grievous burns before losing consciousness.