As Etherow, Titania, Keisha, and Wasabu, in disguise as civilians, continue to make their way towards the center of the Rebedoan Empire, they come across Rutohmero, a city on the outskirts that has been decimated by Frame disease. As the illness blights the Empire via airborne contaminant, the execution squad resurfaces, and Wasabu's fate hangs in the balance...