That was reality.
As an evil god, Soren had swindled the Githyanki leader without hesitation, but as the leader of these Githyanki, that man had just as readily swindled his own people. After Soren ordered the Steel Golems to gather the Githyanki prisoners, the Githyanki leader named Kanos sold out every last one of his people without a second thought. Under the contract he had signed with Soren, he could never mention anything concerning the Ancient God Corpse again, or he would violate the contract and suffer Soren's punishment.
And so!
In the account told by this cunning Githyanki warlord named Kanos, he became the great hero who had saved his people.
Having inadvertently angered a terrifying evil god, the entire Githyanki community had been reduced to lowly prisoners. At that moment, their brave leader had stepped forward. Not only had he dared to face the terrifying evil god Soren, he had also dared to argue his case and bargain with him. In the end, through sheer eloquence, he had managed to persuade this dreadful evil god to grant all the Githyanki their freedom in exchange for enough future tribute and ransom to satisfy his boundless greed.
After releasing these Githyanki, Soren left for a while.
He left the entire stage to Kanos. The fellow's acting was worthy of an award, and his skills at deception and persuasion were first-rate.
He completely twisted the entire course of events.
He transformed himself from a foolish leader whose poor judgment had brought Soren down upon his people into a wise, mighty, brave, and decisive leader who had single-handedly persuaded a terrifying evil god when his entire community stood on the brink of destruction. He had negotiated with the evil god by promising ample returns in the future, ultimately convincing him to grant