“Your Highness, what should we do now?” Milton asked anxiously.
“How should I know? I’m just as lost as you are.” Tristan’s face was full of despair.
He continued, “Dr. Strum and Dr. Carmel are dead. The outbreak is already out of control, and now there’s some kind of poisonous mist that destroys everything it touches. How am I supposed to deal with this? My head feels like it’s about to explode.”
“Perhaps we should retreat while we still can,” Milton urged. “If that poisonous mist continues its advance, this city is doomed. Staying here would only put your life in danger.”
“Retreat? Where should I go? Once Harbortown is gone, so is my future.” Tristan looked utterly defeated.
Everyone knew containing the outbreak was a test from Valon. If Tristan succeeded, he’d secure the right to inherit the throne, but failure would end his chances for good. He’d fought too hard and come too far to let the crown slip away now.
“As long as you’re alive, Your Highness, there’s still a chance to turn things around. But if that poison mist gets to you, it’s over,” Milton said earnestly.
“I get it, but we’re not at the point of no return yet,” Tristan replied. “I think we can still turn this around.”
He stood and began pacing the room while muttering to himself, “What do I do? Come on, think. There has to be a way…”
Suddenly, he stopped mid-stride, as if a thought had struck him. “Get everyone in here. Now! We’ll brainstorm together. Someone has to have an idea.”
“Yes, Your Highness!” Milton responded immediately and rushed out.
He knew Tristan was right-this wasn’t the time to give up yet. Maybe someone would come up with a solution. If all else failed, they could still flee Harbortown later.
When the scarlet mist spread across Harbortown, similar incidents occurred in Thornwick, where Matthias was stationed, and Sommertown, where Nathaniel had been assigned.
At first, Nathaniel’s situation closely resembled Tristan’s. The outbreak was nearly under control, with no new infection cases, and patients were receiving proper care.
Just when he thought he could weather the crisis, the scarlet mist suddenly erupted inside the hospital, where patients were being treated.
Within minutes, it engulfed the entire facility. Hundreds were trapped inside, and none survived. Even his medical team had perished.
When the news reached Nathaniel, he flew into a rage. He mobilized every available firefighting unit in an attempt to stop the mist from spreading. However, their efforts barely made a difference.
The mist advanced in all directions, slipping through every gap and crevice. Even with maximum effort from multiple firefighting crews, they still couldn’t slow its progress.
Nathaniel soon found himself facing the same impossible choice as Tristan-either keep trying to stop the mist or abandon the city to save his own life. But if he chose to run, it would mean giving up any chance of ever claiming the throne.
Compared to Tristan and Nathaniel, Matthias faced a far worse situation. Since his arrival, he had failed to contain the outbreak and couldn’t stop news of it from spreading.
Panic swept through Sommertown as residents fled the city. Eventually, the situation became so dire that they tried to force their way past security checkpoints.
Matthias responded with iron-fisted measures. Anyone attempting to force their way through checkpoints was imprisoned, and those who injured others in the process were executed on the spot.
It was only through this brutal crackdown that he managed to bring the population under control temporarily.
But before he could catch his breath, the scarlet mist erupted in the city’s most crowded areas. In less than an hour, it claimed over 1,000 lives.
Now facing both an unchecked epidemic and the deadly mist, Matthias-despite his military background-was utterly overwhelmed.
He summoned his advisors and demanded solutions, but none of them had a workable plan. In his mounting frustration, he could only vent his rage by executing corrupt officials.
In Ashwillow Village, Reedcrest, Grace had just ordered Lauren’s body to be taken care of when urgent reports began flooding in-scarlet mist was sweeping through multiple cities.
“What? The red plague has broken out in Harbortown, Thornwick, and Sommertown? This is bad,” she stated.
Her face darkened as she processed the news. She had assumed the scarlet mist released by Lauren was a one-off incident.
Still, Grace never expected the three major cities to be hit by the same mist. Judging by the situation, she realized that the remnants of the Skull Covenant had planned this all along.
These merciless cultists weren’t just targeting Reedcrest, but they also intended to turn the other three cities into a death zone.
“What should we do now, Ms. Linsor?”
Sadie asked grimly. “With the manpower we have, there’s no way we can send reinforcements in time.’
They’d only just wrapped up Reedcrest’s crisis when three more cities spiraled into catastrophe. There was no break in the action.
“Dustin, you’re the only one who can stop this,” Grace said desperately as she looked at him.
The scarlet mist couldn’t be stopped by ordinary means. Instead, only someone like Dustin, a terrestrial immortal, had the strength to defy fate itself.
“This is my responsibility as a Dragonmarsh citizen,” he responded. With that, he pushed off the ground and soared upward. His body shot into the sky, streaking across it like a comet.
Within moments, he had disappeared beyond Grace and Sadie’s line of sight.
