Cleared it on the first try, got out with 3 steeds and 12 vivas.
It's consistently possible to keep 3 steeds, so it's definitely doable.
Could you share a save file, please?:smile43:
Turns out, Avern is tougher than the funny one; with the one that heals, you'd lose at most one steed, but with this one, you consistently keep 3...
It's a real miracle.