Chapter 547
Doubt crept into the hearts of the citizens. The Empire’s image once unshakable now stood on trembling ground. And through it all, Kaelen watched with quiet satisfaction. His battle wasn’t only fought with sword or magic it was fought in minds, in perception, in belief.
And in that battle, the first cracks in the Empire’s armor had begun to show.
Once the Ratfolk entered the spotlight, public opinion began to shift in an unexpected direction. Once dismissed as scavengers, they were now seen in a new light as resilient, loyal, and fiercely united on the battlefield. The leaked videos of Ratfolk fighting alongside ogres stirred something in the people: empathy, curiosity, and most dangerous of all, doubt. Doubt in the Empire’s narrative. Doubt in its intentions. Doubt in its truth.
The Empire, always watchful, acted swiftly.
In the shadows, under false identities and through obscure channels, they reached out to the very groups now stirring with newfound influence and unrest: the goblin merchants and the thrill-seeking nobles. Cloaked in discretion, they came bearing what few could resist a long-buried secret that had floated about for years.
They unveiled a tale many had once been desperate to uncover, only to eventually abandon in the face of imperial silence: the death of the Sixth-Tier Mage, Gurnak, and the mysterious fall of the fortified city he had sworn to protect.
The Empire’s version of the story was carefully crafted. They didn’t simply state the facts—they designed them. They manipulated old images and altered video footage, all while seeding whispers into the ears of nobles hungry for secrets and meaning. The official narrative was replaced with something far more incendiary, and it spread like fire through the upper echelons of society before trickling down to the masses.
According to this new account, Gurnak hadn’t died in a noble stand against overwhelming odds. No—he had fallen due to a betrayal from within. The traitors? The very Ratfolk now gaining the people’s sympathy.
The manipulated footage showed them twisted and contorted, corrupted by the demonic influence of Vorenza, the infamous Demon Queen. Their features—once timid and meek—were now snarling, fanged, and wild. Eyes glowing with madness. Flesh warped by chaos. They were no longer seen as a misunderstood people, but as beasts driven by bloodlust, puppets of infernal forces.
And to further drive the nail into the heart of sympathy, the Empire unveiled something even more grotesque: the fate of the Ogres who had fallen into Vorenza’s hands.
In grim, grainy footage, the people saw ogres—hulking warriors once celebrated for their strength and stoicism—mutated into monstrous hybrids. Horns, scales, unnatural limbs; grotesque symbols of corruption etched into their skin. These twisted beings were shown attacking their former comrades, driven by a rage that no longer resembled anything human or ogre. Their transformation served as a warning, a visual horror that blurred the lines between victim and monster.