Hospital Ward

Frost Country, White Frost Deer City.

The Judges entrenched within the Underground Ruins beneath the XueRong Mountain Range had been wiped out, and all the prisoners held within the ruins had been rescued. It should have been something worth celebrating.

But the prisoners' physical and mental conditions made it impossible to feel happy.

Shael was in a Treatment Center for the sick within White Frost Deer City. Ever since the prisoners from the ruins had been rescued by him, the place had been overcrowded.

"A total of forty-seven survivors were rescued: thirty-nine humans and eight non-humans."

Shael looked over the figures compiled by the healers. Beneath them was a line written in scarlet: 'Thirteen dead.'

Today was already the fourth day since these survivors had returned to the outside world. Before Shael could enter the ward, he saw two healers carrying someone out on a stretcher.

"Y-Your Majesty."

The two healers recognized Shael standing at the ward entrance.

"Someone else couldn't hold on?"

Shael walked over to the stretcher and directly lifted the white sheet covering it, only to find that the dead person was not human, but a Frost Elf.

"We don't know her name," one of the healers told Shael. "Your Majesty, please stay away from the dead. They carry a large amount of Gray Mist... it could be contagious."

Shael watched the Frost Elf, who had passed away peacefully. Her body had wasted away until it was barely human in shape, the most common symptom among the ruins' survivors.

Worse still, even after leaving the ruins, the Gray Mist within them continued to ravage their bodies, turning these survivors into Gray Mist Carriers.

The healers had to be especially careful and cautious while treating them.

To accommodate them, Shael had also followed Joshua's suggestion and established an