Chapter 17

Carl awakens in the high elf castle's private ballroom surrounded by corpses after a failed procedure by the Lemig Sortion to control him through demonic possession. The attempt backfired, resulting in mass casualties, and Carl finds himself caught between warring factions as adjutants arrive to determine responsibility and penalties under the dungeon's ceasefire rules.

Carl regains consciousness in Queen Imogen's private ballroom in the high elf castle, now serving as the Lemig Sortion's headquarters. He is covered in blood, surrounded by approximately fifty corpses, and disoriented about how he arrived there. He has lost eleven hours of the twenty-hour ceasefire timer. Commander Stockade, the caterpillar-like warlord of the Lemig Sortion, is arguing with Panford the adjutant about a dead general named Luke and blaming Carl for the massacre. Panford reveals that the Lemig Sortion attempted to extract a powerful demonic entity from Carl using outside information, which violated dungeon rules. The procedure backfired, resulting in the mass death in the ballroom. Carl receives messages from his team—Donut, Katia, and Baroness Victory—explaining that he had teleported away while remaining partially translucent during the procedure, then completely disappeared. Baroness Victory arrives as a second adjutant, followed by a third, establishing a minor quorum that pauses all hostilities. Carl recalls fragments of a shared memory with Katia involving a hospital in Iceland, a diagnosis, and Shi Maria (a spider demigod). The spider had killed her own husband before being trapped inside Carl, described as an egg he can break at any time. Katia confirms the medical procedure worked, though results are not immediately clear. Carl discovers he now possesses a third eye tattooed on his chest that grants him significant power, which he must keep closed to maintain control.