Emperor of the Borderlands (Book 5)

Summary

"The most dangerous enemies are those who hide behind masks of virtue."

While I continue to transform Ugryumikha from a dying village into a thriving settlement, I discover that the true threat comes not from the dark forests, but from those who call themselves healers and philanthropists. Behind the facade of charitable work lies a network of secret laboratories where human beings are turned into something monstrous. The price of standing against them grows daily. My new shop becomes a target for the criminal underworld. A smear campaign erupts in the Aethernet, accusing me of the most absurd crimes and threatening to cut off the flow of settlers to my lands.

Powerful forces whose secrets I've exposed seek my death. Aristocrats whose cruelty I've made public prepare their revenge. Even a simple merchant I've crossed becomes a dangerous enemy when backed by the right connections. Each thread I pull reveals an ever-larger conspiracy—one reaching far beyond the borders of a single principality.

I could stop. Ignore what doesn't directly threaten my lands. Every advisor would call it wisdom. But I remember too well what happens when good people remain silent while evil operates freely. So every time I face that choice, I choose intervention—and I make another enemy.

Let them come. Where there is a network, there is a center. Where there are laboratories, there are those who give orders. And I will find them all, no matter how many masks I have to tear off to reveal the true faces of those who trade in human lives.