An Understated Dominance (Dustin Rhys)

Tristan, Icarus, and Lenora left the mansion and hopped into the car. They soon arrived at a hospital that was under lockdown.

It wasn’t just the facility, but several surrounding streets had also been cordoned off, with soldiers standing guard, forcing all traffic to detour around the area.

Access to the hospital required special clearance, and even Tristan wasn’t exempt.

“Dr. Strum and Dr. Carmel, we’ve got many plague patients quarantined inside this facility. For your safety, I strongly recommend wearing these medical masks, “Tristan said as they approached the checkpoint.

He thoughtfully handed out the masks to Icarus and Lenora. In addition to wearing a mask himself, he’d also suited up in full protective gear. He was taking every possible precaution since he’d been frail and sickly since childhood. If he caught the plague, it would likely be the end of him.

Icarus and Lenora accepted the medical masks without protest. They put on the masks and followed Tristan into the hospital.

All non-essential personnel had been removed from the facility. Only stationed soldiers and a few masked medical staff remained inside.

The patients had been sorted by symptom severity and placed on different floors in separate wards.

Tristan led Icarus and Lenora to the elevator, and they rode directly to the 18th floor. This floor had several critical patients who were barely clinging to life.

Apart from two guards stationed at the entrance, only one nurse remained to tend the dying patients. Her “care” consisted mostly of periodic injections to ease their suffering.

“Dr. Strum, Dr. Carmel, I’ll wait out here while you two examine the patients,” Tristan said as he stopped at the doorway.

He gestured for the nurse to escort Icarus and Lenora into the ward while he waited outside.

considerable respect. He

disappeared into the ward and remained inside for an extended

outside the door while occasionally

passed before

Carmel, Dr. Strum, how is the patient? “Tristan asked urgently.

but the patient’s survival could determine whether they

is far worse than we anticipated,” Icarus said. “This isn’t your typical plague outbreak. The pathogen is incredibly virulent and unlike anything we’ve dealt with before. At this rate, the patient probably won’t make it through

looking hopeful. “What about you, Dr. Strum? You’re our expert in pharmacology

Highness. My current abilities are insufficient to cure this either,”

on, “But I know for a fact that this outbreak wasn’t the result of natural

an eyebrow. “What makes you say

is extremely contagious and appears to be a combination of multiple viruses. I’ve never seen anything like this before. Unless someone deliberately created it, I can’t think of any other

to focus on developing an antidote. Without it, every infected patient will die. I’m counting on both

“Please give us some time, Your Highness. We’ll find a way to stop this and save as many lives as

ask for whatever

admirable, Your Highness. We won’t let you

time getting to work. One checked the ancient medical texts while the other began

ward had now become their test subjects. Under normal circumstances, they would never resort

hanging in the balance and time running out, they had no choice but to take extraordinary measures to

Matthias faced

evening, he discovered that dozens of residents had already contracted the plague. But after just one night, the number of patients