Free Web NovelChapter 1225: Chapter 40: The Victor
Compared to the Old King, Su Xiao’s attention was more focused on the throne under the Old King.
"Under the throne."
The Old King suddenly spoke, his words shocking.
"You are curious about what lies under the throne."
The Old King stared directly at Su Xiao, a gaze not typical of someone on the brink of death.
"The High Priest and Kalon Gelet both know there’s a secret beneath the throne, but they don’t know exactly what is there. They died in front of you, and if nothing unexpected happens, they’ll reveal some secrets before their death."
The Old King patted the armrest of the throne, leaning his body against it, feeling the uneven texture of the throne.
"Iron Hand, what are you planning to find under the throne? There’s nothing there you desire."
A deathly silence enveloped the Council Hall.
"Looking for the key."
At this point, Su Xiao was also ready to talk with the Old King. He didn’t quite know what was under the throne, but from the Old King’s tone, the king seemed not to be too opposed to the things beneath the throne.
"Key?"
The Old King was taken aback, then thought of something: "The key is on the First Level. You indeed need that thing; after all, you inherited the power of the Guardians."
Su Xiao’s identity as Shadow of Annihilation Law couldn’t be hidden. If the Old King didn’t find it out, he wouldn’t have been able to thwart the carefully orchestrated assassination by the Undead Clan.
The old fellow seemed close to dying, but in fact, his mind was as clear as a mirror.
"So you are still pursuing power. That puts me at ease. Originally, I thought you were pursuing that thing. It’s good that it’s not; it’s good."
The Old King sighed in relief, his gaze no longer sharp. However, his thoughts were quite contrary—in his opinion, if Su Xiao entered beneath the throne, he wouldn’t possibly come out alive.
The Old King trusted the Iron Hand, but he couldn’t be certain the Iron Hand would be loyal to the new king.
It’s indeed true that the Old King doesn’t have much time left; before his death, he would use his final means to eliminate some people.
Obviously, using force to eliminate the Iron Hand wasn’t wise, but under the throne was a good choice, which is why the High Priest’s name was added to the ’Night of Slaughter’ list.
Under normal circumstances, the High Priest should be dealt with by the Forbidden Guards, as they are Death Warriors who can keep many secrets.
Considering the meticulous thoughts of the Old King, would he have thought that the High Priest might reveal the secret beneath the throne before he died?
He had long anticipated it; the news about what’s beneath the throne was intentionally leaked by the Old King.
Power struggles are that merciless. Just recently, Joe Valentine, who had been dedicated to the service of the Old King, underwent a test. If Joe Valentine had shown even the slightest inappropriate expression at that time, he would absolutely not have walked out of the Council Hall.
One generation of emperors and one era of ministers, officials like Su Xiao, Joe Valentine, Hershel holding great power, can the new king really suppress them?
Thus, the Old King conducted a series of tests—Hershel was the first to pass, Joe Valentine also passed just now, as for Rowen Harvey, before the Old King could test him, that man gave the Old King a surprise.
As for testing Su Xiao, Su Xiao didn’t even have the chance because most of what he did was in the shadows, killing powerful ministers, learning a lot of royal secrets, dismissing many princes and princesses.
It’s not that the Old King didn’t want to find a chance to test Su Xiao, but he couldn’t do that; who knows what would happen during the test. Others don’t know Su Xiao’s combat strength, but the Old King does.
The Old King once considered using Forbidden Guards plus Holy Warriors in the Royal Capital to besiege Su Xiao, but that would inevitably cause a huge uproar, and once it spread, the Royal Family’s reputation would plummet. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
As for not getting rid of the Iron Hand, don’t be ridiculous, aside from the Old King, every prince or princess would be a bit nervous upon seeing Su Xiao, they’d hesitate when meeting him, how could they possibly make Su Xiao work for them? It’s just impossible.
Moreover, the Old King faintly sensed something was off about this Iron Hand; as to where it’s off, he wasn’t sure, sometimes Su Xiao’s inadvertent gaze made the Old King quite terrified.
For instance, right now, the Old King suspected Su Xiao might slit his throat.
This is not the Old King’s illusion; Su Xiao was indeed considering doing so.
Su Xiao slowly walked towards the Old King, the Old King’s eyes squinted.
"Your Majesty, do you allow me to enter beneath the throne?"
At this moment, Su Xiao was just one meter away from the Old King; in this instant, many doubts in the Old King’s mind became crystal clear.
"There are at least 300 Forbidden Guards outside the hall."
The Old King continued to stare down Su Xiao, but Su Xiao’s face showed a smile; it was the first time the Old King saw the Iron Hand smile, he once thought the Iron Hand didn’t have such an expression.
"They can’t stop me."
"You~"
"You’ve allowed me to enter beneath the throne."
This time, Su Xiao was no longer using a questioning tone.
"What if I don’t allow it?"
The Old King’s masseter muscle protruded, he leaned forward.
"Then I’ll slaughter the Royal Direct Line."
"..."
The Old King was silent; just now, he bared his fangs, but what he hadn’t expected was the Iron Hand, who typically obeyed his words, also bared fangs, causing him to abandon all the words he had prepared.
The ideal method regarding the Iron Hand was to have him die beneath the throne, or become one of those things beneath the throne, forever suppressed beneath it.
"Who are you, really?"
Things had developed to this point; if the Old King still believed that Su Xiao was the original Iron Hand, he would have long died in the repeated assassinations by the Undead Clan.
"That’s not important, Bay Herbert, how about we make a deal?"
"Oh?"
The Old King looked at Su Xiao in surprise; by now, he hadn’t expected the other party would still want to make a deal.
"Allow me to bring a prince or princess into beneath the throne, as for royal authority, I’m not interested in that thing."
"You..."
The Old King looked at Su Xiao in shock; it was the first time he displayed such shock, or rather, it was a rare occurrence.
"How do you know what’s needed to enter beneath the throne, how could you possibly know!"
The Old King forced himself to calm down, realizing the situation had clearly gone beyond his control.
"Perhaps you’ve forgotten how many people I’ve helped you kill? The time is about right, the deal is concluded."
"?"
The Old King was taken aback, then thought of something; at that moment, he laughed—a bit comfortingly.
"Who is it? Which of my descendants? Let him come see me."
The Old King wanted to stand up; he already knew Su Xiao had been stalling for time.
Just then, the iron door of the Council Hall was pushed open. Two figures walked into the hall, after which the large door was locked tightly.
Blood soaked into the metal door’s bottom gap, and at the entrance of the hall, lay densely packed with over a dozen corpses, all Forbidden Guards.
Hundreds of Forbidden Guards with blood-stained armors guarded around the hall, banning anyone from entering.
"Father, I’ve come to see you."
A male voice came from the entrance of the hall; Joe Valentine followed respectfully behind the person who entered.
"Hahaha."
The Old King laughed aloud; he was now quite comforted, extremely comforted.
"Matil, you have become my most excellent descendant."
The Old King felt no anger, nor did he roar. Instead, he looked at the person with only comfort in his eyes.
The person wasn’t the expected Big Prince, but the Third Prince Matil Herbert, who had lost some ground at the start of the power struggle, a Third Prince who was not too high-key.
