CHAPTER 622: 622

"Lord Kaelen, what has happened?" a goblin noble with a finely embroidered tunic stammered, his eyes wide. "Where is the Emperor? The Arch-Mage Vellok? The armies?"

Rattan, still with a smile on his face, simply walked past them, not deigning to answer. He sat on the throne, the once-sacred seat of the goblin emperor, and leaned back, a low chuckle rumbling in his chest.

An ogre general, his armor dented and scraped, stepped forward, his knuckles white. "Sir, with all due respect, what are you doing? That is the Emperor’s throne!"

Rattan looked at him, his smile widening. "The Emperor is no more," he said, his voice a low growl that filled the great hall. "The armies are defeated. The war is over. I am your new leader. I am your new Emperor."

The hall fell into a stunned silence. The nobles and generals looked at each other, their faces a mix of confusion, shock, and dawning fear. They had sent their best warriors to a war they had already lost, and now, a new ruler sat on their throne.

The ogre general, a mountain of muscle and doubt, was the first to find his voice. "The Emperor? Defeated by demons or you, sir? That is impossible. He was a master of the arcane, a tier-six mage!, he had all the empire full power behind him"

Rattan slid from the throne, his new ogre form a towering presence. He strolled toward the general, a chilling smile on his face. "Indeed. But a master of the arcane is nothing against the might of the abyss. The Emperor, your generals, and your armies they are all gone. I, Kaelen, am the one who returned." He paused, his gaze sweeping over the shocked faces of the nobles. "I am the one who returned victorious."

A nervous goblin noble, his hands wringing his robes, spoke up. "But... but you are one of the Emperor’s knights, a hero of the empire. You fought for us. Why... why would you do this?"

Rattan’s smile widened. He was enjoying this far too much. "Do you think I fought for you? I have always advertised my disdain for the emperor rule. I fought for my people, who you have oppressed for centuries. I fought for a world where my kind is not seen as lesser."

A collective gasp filled the hall. The nobles, once confident in their power, now looked at each other, their faces pale with shock. They had indeed at one point always seen Kaelen as lesser than them but that opinion chnaged recently as they saw him as one of their own, a hero who fought for their cause. Now, they were faced with a truth they could not comprehend.

"But... but what about the demon army?" a goblin official whimpered. "What about the uncorrupted lands? What about us?"

Rattan’s smile vanished, replaced by a cold, calculating look. "The demon army now marches on my command. The uncorrupted lands will be corrupted, and their people will be brought under my rule. And as for you," he said, his voice dropping to a low growl, "you will obey me. You will serve me. Or you will be the next to face the wrath of my army."

The air in the great hall was thick with a silence born of fear and dread. The ogre general, the goblin nobles, and the officials all bowed their heads, their spirits shattered under the weight of Rattan’s revelation. They had been masters of their world, and now they were subjects to a being they had always considered beneath them.

Rattan’s voice, now a low, commanding growl, broke the silence once more. "If you doubt my words or my rule, you can take up arms and go fight against the approaching demon army." His gaze was a challenge, a cold, calculating fire. "That is if you dare." He let the words hang in the air, knowing full well they wouldn’t. "But if not, I need your silence and your obedience. You are now under my rule, and with that comes a promise: protection for your lives."

He paused, letting the fear and dawning hope flicker across their faces. The threat was clear, but so was the offer. He was not a tyrant who would slaughter them all. He was a conqueror who sought to rule.

"Help me lead our new empire," he continued, his voice softer, more persuasive. "And you may be lucky enough to preserve your amassed riches and status."

The unspoken bargain was laid bare: survival in exchange for loyalty. The nobles looked up, their eyes meeting his. They were faced with a choice between certain death at the hands of the demon army and a life of servitude under a rat-man they despised. In their broken state, there was no choice at all. They bowed once more, deeper this time, a silent pledge of their newfound allegiance.

With a unified, silent reverence, the nobles, both ogre and goblin retreated from the throne room. Their heads were bowed, their spirits broken. The shock of what they had just witnessed was a heavy weight on their shoulders, but even more unsettling was the realization that they were utterly powerless against their new ruler.

Meanwhile, in the deepest recesses of Rattan’s consciousness, something profound was happening. As he accepted the nobles’ allegiances and settled onto the throne, the flickering flame of ambition within him flared to life. It didn’t grow larger; instead, its form became more compact, its essence condensed and strengthened into a more potent form.

Within this potent flame, Phantom saw his own path to ascension. All he needed to do was reach out and claim the flame, and his journey to godhood would be complete. But he held back. He knew that this was not the flame’s final form. It was still growing, still feeding on Rattan’s ambition. He knew that if he was patient, the final prize would be far greater. He would wait.

Back in the palace, with the nobles subdued, Rattan’s focus shifted. He deployed his domain power not for battle, but for a new, grand deception. From the very laws of his domain, he willed into being a life-like construct. It was a perfect replica of himself, but in his true form: a rat-man, made of flesh and blood.

Rattan’s reign over the goblin empire had begun, and now it was time for his own people to taste a new kind of freedom. He would deliver it to them through this construct, a vessel for his will. His every word was now law, and with that power, he could command his people to leave their underground caverns and emerge into the light of the outside world. He would have them live openly among the goblins and ogres, their presence an unquestionable reality.

Above all, Rattan intended to use this new reality to forge a new identity for his people, one that was no longer defined by oppression but by their place in the new world order.

The first few weeks of Rattan’s rule were a whirlwind of dizzying power. He found himself drowning in the lavish excesses of the goblin and ogre nobility, a lifestyle he had once only dreamed of. Goblin women, with their sharp features and elegant robes, flocked to his side. Ogre attendants, with their immense size and strength, catered to his every whim. He reveled in the fact that these beings, who had once looked down on his kind, now humbled themselves before him.

He spent his days in the palace’s grand hall, lounging on his throne as a parade of nobles and officials came to pledge their loyalty. Rattan found a cruel satisfaction in their fear and obedience. He had them perform demeaning tasks, simply to remind them of their new place. He would have a goblin minister fetch him a goblet of wine or an ogre general fan him with a palm frond. The more they complied, the more his sense of power grew.

As for his rat-folk people, the construct he had created was doing its job. It had emerged from the underground caverns, a beacon of a new era. The rat-folk, once confined to the shadows, were now walking freely through the streets of the capital. The goblin and ogre populace, still reeling from the war and their new ruler, watched in stunned silence. They didn’t dare question the new order. Their was dissatisfaction but they were afraid to voice or act on it.

Yet, a powerful fear kept their dissent in check. The demons. They had seen the terrifying horde up close and had narrowly escaped. The new emperor had promised them protection from the very beings who had shattered their military and their pride. He had kept his word; none of the demons had laid a hand on them. This incomprehensible power, this ability to command such terrifying forces, was a shackle on their will. How could a mere ogre, a knight of their own empire, wield such authority over creatures of the abyss? This question, left unanswered, was the source of their obedience.