Lord Of Puppets

"Many of you know the history of the vampire race." – said Korwan.

"That we are bloodsucking monsters that live in the dark."

"And that is indeed correct."

"However, at the same time we are over prideful."

"And that very pride is what caused the vampire race to slowly die out."

"The vampires are now nothing more than animals who would preserve their traditions and pride above their own future, straight up choosing self-destruction over their survival."

"But I had enough!"

"I don’t want my people to die a pathetic death of the dogs! I want to have them future!"

"And for that, I’m abandoning those traditions and useless pride, in order to become the true citizen of the empire!"

Korwan Von Kurwiad told everybody the truth regarding the vampires.

That they are no longer monsters of the legends... Or more exactly, they are now becoming the real legends because of the stupidity of the vampiric race.

He said that there are still a good number of these "powerful" vampires on the loose, which were the prideful savages.

But he also told everybody about the existence of the vampires that wishes to change.

Korwan explained his goal.

He wanted to bring change to the vampires, for them to have a home where they can adapt to the new era and no longer be called monster and live in hiding.

The vampire and the emperor explained that the reason for their alliance.

It was peace and survival.

By themselves there was no way they could survive.

However, by working together, both the Gorjy kingdom and the vampires could survive.

"This was a deal that would make sure that both parties would survive." – said the emperor.

"The vampires are our allies and just like you, they are citizens of our nation."

"However, that is not exactly full truth in the matter." – said the vampire.

"The attacks which were conducted recently were done by the vampires, but not the ones from the Gorjy empire."

"Instead, they came from the traditionalist vampires."

"Those savage and mindless vampires who wishes to preserve their useless pride in the cost of their self-destruction."

"They wouldn’t even hesitate to strike their own kind if they wish to live the normal life."

"However, they are not the main culprit, or more exactly a tools." – said the emperor.

"A fools who are being used by somebody else."

"But even so, they are the threat that needs to be dealt with."

"Therefore I’m making announcement to all of my kind." – said Korwan.

"The vampires of the empire are to no longer be hidden and they have to be official registered with their race exposed."

"This is in order to make sure to distinguish the empire vampires from the traditionalist vampires."

"And the vampires who does not comply for the inspection and registration, will be consider as the part of the traditionalist faction and will be exterminated without the mercy."

"You have my word on this."

This announcement obviously shocked the entire empire... Both the "normal" and "special" citizens alike.

This was extremely sudden announcement that had caught everybody off guard... And for the good reason.

It would definitely cause chaos and confusion... But at the same time, it would deal devastating blow to the traditionalist faction.

The vampires are no longer to hide and they are forced to officially register.

Obviously, people will complain about the vampires being here... But at the same time, what Korwan said was also a leash that is meant vampires in control.

Obviously that leash was really a "leash" that would remove one’s freedom, it was something that was meant to give a citizens a sense of security.

Not only that, but that "leash" did not affected the vampires either, but all of the citizens.

From this day the security will be kept thigh.

Especially when it comes to confirmation of identity.

Not only that, but sneaking into any settlements will be no way harder.

In other words, the hostile vampires cannot even use their disguise devices.

[Meanwhile: Forest]

"FUCK!" – shouted the massive vampire as he swung around his arm and instantly cut down entire tree.

"Do you have confirmation?" – asked the massive vampire who wore a fancy noble looking cape.

"Y-yes... The words and changes are spreading throughout the settlements." – said the vampire with a hood.

"As the days went by, the security around the settlements is being strengthen."

"We cannot even have our people inside of settlements anymore, since they would be discovered."

"Tch! We can still put them inside and launch the attacks from the inside!" – said the massive man.

"There is no way that they could reinforce all the settlements so quickly! We can still cause destruction!"

"And that is the most idiotic move right now." – said the man wearing an owl mask.

"..."

"Mage." – said the pissed off tall figure was he turned around, revealing his four vampiric fangs that were sticking out from the top of his jaw.

"The fuck do you mean?"

"The fuck do I mean? The fuck do YOU mean!" – said man in the ropes who was wearing an owl mask as there was an anger in his voice.

"I’ve told you that the time wasn’t right! That we were supposed to wait! But no! You just had to do the attack now!"

"As if you have any right to complain!" – said pissed off tall vampire.

"You said we had way more time than this! That the unrest caused by the Warmur kingdom would affect the empire for much longer!"

"Those fucking predictions, analyzes and what not you had made were proven wrong!"

"But that doesn’t fucking justify your action! We could had chanced the plan! But instead, you freaking did the worst possible thing that WE had warned you about over and over again!" – said the owl masked man.

"Then what?! Throw away those preparations?! The time for preparation was over and the time for the action was now!" – said the tall vampire.

"..."

(For fuck’s sake.) – thought extremely annoyed masked man.

(I knew these traditionalist vampires are straight up retarded... But COMMON!)

(...Still, he isn’t wrong.)

(The civil war in the Warmur kingdom ended way too soon.)

(Not only that, but they summoned demons! And apparently some strong ones too!)

(And yet, the war was only prolonged by a bit?)

(We didn’t found any traces of the Gorjy empire getting involved or anything like that... Still, the revolution force was weirdly strong.)

(Was that bastard son that strong? Was he truly preparing himself for long time for that rebellion?)

"..."

(We will need to make a deep investigation into him.)

"Tch! Why do you think that plan will no longer work, smart guy?" – asked the tall vampire.

"Well, if you attack NOW of all the time with half assed attempt, then you will just confirm that EVERYTHING they had said to be correct and the entire terror as well as the distrust will drastically die down." – replied the owl masked man.

"And if it does, then we are fucked."

"..."

"I guess we will have to forget the phase 1 all together and maybe focus on the phase 2."

"..."

"You mean that we should go for the heads?" – asked the tall vampire.

"The empire probably have their hands full with the current situation, regarding the mess we made, the whole reveal regarding vampires being in the empire and other stuff." – said the owl masked man.

"Still, that reveal forced our enemies to reveal themselves."

"Meaning, we now know who to target."

As the days would go by, the news regarding the empire vampire and the traditionalist vampires would settle in.

Obviously, even though few goo day passed since the announcement was made, the unrest and the distrust was still here, if anything, it was at its peak.

Many people started saying stuff that the emperor was manipulated or that he had sold out his own people.

"Situation isn’t that great." – said duke Arthur as he came to the king’s office.

"We are even receiving many complains from both the merchants and the nobles who weren’t aware yet of the vampires."

"Well, this was to be expected." – said the emperor who was buried in the paper work.

"We straight up deceived and hid the truth from our people for years."

"And honestly speaking, you are the one in most trouble."

"Since it was revealed that your achievements weren’t yours. Many people will demand you to step down from being the duke."

"Well, this was expected the moment it was planned I would become a duke." – said duke Arthur.

"If anything, I was really never fitted for this role in the first place. The pressure it is placing on me and my family is too much... So, I’m fine with having a much lower noble ranking."

"...Still... What about THAT thing?"

"Everybody of the important status were already warned before I’ve made that announced." – replied the emperor.

"Still, I can’t say I’m not worried."

"Even with Ariava’s speed, who knows if she will get here on time?"

"Not only that, if those guys plan was truly from the start us, then wouldn’t it mean that they were just waiting for that moment in order to start their move?"

"...This war right now, is nowhere near over."