Chapter Fifty-Five: Awaken, Night Elves!

“First-time revelations: The new king’s secret love for the queen.”
“Spurned advances turn to rage—why did the new king seize the throne!”
“Collapse! The real reason why the queen weeps every day!”
“Outrageous!”

In the Night Elf palace, King Bard let out a furious roar and then tore the papers in his hand to shreds, his entire body trembling with rage. “Catch him, catch that forest elf at once! I want to execute him myself!”

“Please calm your anger, Your Majesty. We’re already pursuing him.” The captain of the guards wiped sweat from his brow, face tense. “But right now, Filigree is in chaos. The people are terrified and uneasy. Shouldn’t you address them personally to clarify things?”

“Clarify? Clarify what?” Bard’s anger only grew. “You want me to go out and be interrogated by those lowborn rabble?”

The guard captain shook his head hastily. “Never, Your Majesty. I wouldn’t dare!”

He thought to himself, it’s true—these reports are so convincing that the new king has completely lost the initiative. No explanation could untangle this mess.

“But Your Majesty, if we don’t calm the populace first, we’ll never catch that forest elf,” the captain insisted. Filigree was simply too chaotic now; not even the chief astrologer could track the forest elf’s location.

“What are those nobles doing? They can’t even pacify a few commoners?” Bard’s rage flared. “Declare martial law at once! Everyone is to return home immediately! Seal all city gates—no one in or out! If there’s any resistance, suppress it by force. Capture that forest elf as soon as possible!”

Once the forest elf was caught, everything would be resolved. Bard sneered inwardly. That forest elf knew nothing about night elf society. With the Twin Moons’ Wheel in his grasp, what did this chaos matter? He possessed the memories of all former night elf kings. Most had ruled with an iron fist after ascending the throne; the people never dared rebel.

“I didn’t expect things would get so out of hand—”

In a shadowed alley of Filigree, Linley watched the chaotic streets with amusement. He’d only intended to disrupt the guards a little, but now the entire city was in upheaval.

“These night elves are so easy to fool. Wait, what’s that…”

Suddenly, Linley heard an explosion. Across the street, panic seized the crowd as night elves scattered, fleeing indoors.

Something was wrong. Just as Linley realized this, the leopard hurried over, looking anxious. “Bad news, young master—the night elf king has declared martial law and ordered everyone home!”

“What!” Linley’s eyes widened. This wouldn’t do—if the chaos subsided, the guards would come after him again. “Tell Eve to use her ultimate move—now!”

Fortunately, he’d anticipated this could happen. He had a news bulletin prepared but unreleased, one that required the right setup before it could be spread. Now was the perfect moment.

Five minutes later, as night elves were being herded back to their homes, they saw a flurry of paper descending from the sky.

—“Stunning revelation! The monsters were created by the new king!”

The headline alone sent chills down countless night elves’ spines. All their doubts of the night were answered on these sheets—why had the new king concealed the truth about the monsters? Because he had created them himself!

“How can this be!”

The truth struck the night elves like a blow. It was nearly impossible to believe, yet the details were logical and perfectly explained the new king’s actions.

“The monsters were created by the new king. He can control them. They obey his command!”
“He intends to turn us all into monsters and rule us forever!”
“He doesn’t want to protect us. He wants to lock us away and feed us to the monsters!”

Anxiety and fear swelled rapidly within the crowd. The night elves’ nerves were stretched to the breaking point. Many believed what they read—none of the previous kings had ended well. Their greatest fear was always usurpation, and if there were a way to rule forever, the new king would surely seize it.

The queen’s messenger, in the pamphlet, told them: Once they became monsters, the new king could rule them eternally.

“Burn them! Burn these papers at once!”

The guards, recognizing the danger, snatched up as many sheets as they could, piling them together and setting them alight.

“Everyone, remain calm! These are just rumors—lies!”

A noble tried to reassure the increasingly frantic populace, but a voice rang out:

“These are not lies!”

All eyes turned to see a figure in black standing atop a rooftop.

“I am the queen’s messenger,” the black-clad figure declared, leaping down to stand before a house.

“As you all know, a deathless monster has already taken over Grand City. It devours our kin, defiles our women, drinks the blood of our children. Every one of our people it bites becomes a mindless corpse, just like it!”

He spoke loudly, his voice carrying: “If these monsters invade Filigree, imagine the horror that will follow!”

“The new king has hidden this from you, sealing all news. I stake my honor on this: The monsters were his creation! He means to use them to rule you forever!”

The crowd erupted. It was true! The new king had created the monsters!

“Lies! Lies—he’s the forest elf!”

The guards quickly moved to surround the black-clad figure, intent on capturing him, but before they could, he did something that seized everyone’s attention.

He rolled up his sleeve, slashed a deep wound across his arm with a dagger. Blood gushed forth, but before the night elves’ eyes, the wound healed at astonishing speed—within half a minute, it had vanished entirely.

“That kind of recovery—he’s a night elf! No doubt!”
“Stop them! He’s not a forest elf—he’s the queen’s messenger!”

The night elves were enraged, surging forward to block the guards, as the black-clad figure seized the moment to continue his speech.

“My kin, the monster grows stronger with every passing moment. If we sit by and do nothing, it will devour us all. So I beg you—great night elves, all who still have strength, we must unite, now!”

“We must wage a holy war, drive the evil monsters from our homeland—this is a struggle for the very survival of our people! I say this to those present and to those not here: This is the queen’s command. She means to save us!”

His impassioned words stirred the crowd, but suddenly a furious cry came from afar.

“Stop him! Don’t let him speak another word!”

A massive fireball hurtled toward them. The black-clad figure dodged, but the house behind him erupted in flames.

“Waaah… Mama, mama…”

A child’s cries rose from within the burning house. The black-clad figure froze, then dashed inside.

“Kill him! Forget the rabble—kill him!”

More fireballs rained down, engulfing the house in an inferno. Amidst the flames, a lone figure emerged, carrying a child.

“To die a death lighter than a feather, or heavier than a mountain…” The resolute voice rang out as the figure within raised his arms. “I have devoted my whole life to the night elves. This is a worthy death!”

He threw the night elf child to safety. The crowd caught the child, hurriedly putting out the flames on him, and then watched in awe as the heroic figure collapsed into the fire.

“Hero, don’t die!”
“Damn it!”

The night elves wept, their grief and rage boiling over. Suddenly awakened, they turned with hatred towards the guards.

“You’ve wronged a good man!”
“Lackeys of the new king!”
“We’ll fight you to the end!”

The furious night elves surged at the guards. They would protect their kin, defend their families—never would they allow the new king to feed them to his monsters!