Inside the grand yet not extravagant throne hall, the King of Sand stood on the steps before the throne. He wore the Soul Crown and was bare-chested. The scales on his right arm showed signs of unfolding. Most importantly, he was gripping a dried corpse by the throat with one hand. This corpse had been the King of Sand's most trusted and valued subordinate—his Right Imperial Minister, Kaga.
What outsiders did not know was that when the King of Sand had first come to the Desert Kingdom, powerless and without influence, Kaga had followed him all the way to the present day without ever wavering. Yet such a loyal subordinate had been personally killed by the King of Sand.
Before the throne hall's doors, the Left Imperial Minister, Peiwen, and dozens of royal guards had rushed over after hearing the Right Imperial Minister Kaga's wails. They now stared in shock at what had happened inside. They did not know the details. All they could see was that their king had killed the Right Imperial Minister, Kaga.
In fact, compared with the Left Imperial Minister and the dozens of royal guards, the King of Sand himself was also baffled. His last memory was of tossing and turning sleeplessly in his bedchamber the previous night, then ordering the guards to bring him the crown. He had picked up the crown, and after that... he seemed to remember what had happened, yet everything was terribly vague.
But one thing was undeniable: the barrier that had prevented the King of Sand from advancing even an inch for nearly a century had been broken through at that moment. He even felt that if he took two more great strides forward, he could reach the strength of the Betrayer.
This made the King of Sand wonder: