Chapter 1538: Chapter 265: The King Who Became a Monster

She grew up in this place, because as a child she would secretly wander around, her familiarity with this area far surpassed that of the adults… The Princess’s steps were so fast that the Little Maid behind her had to jog just to barely keep up.

It was almost dawn.

From the Princess’s sleeping quarters to Pharaoh’s Palace, there are quite a few palaces to go through… Perhaps due to youthful rebelliousness, the Princess’s sleeping quarters are the farthest from Pharaoh’s residence, the most remote combination in the Royal Palace.

This distance seems to silently tell of a child’s rebellion against an elder.

“Your Highness, we’re almost there…” the Little Maid said breathlessly – finally, they were almost there; she could stop and rest for a bit, following this Princess was really tiring.

She is always ahead of everyone, like a guiding light illuminating the way forward.

But always following her like this is really exhausting… The Little Maid thought to herself: Maybe, everyone feels this way… doesn’t the Princess feel tired?

Yet she dared not say it aloud… even though simply keeping up was incredibly tiring.

“Is this… not repaired yet?” The Princess suddenly stopped in front of Pharaoh’s Sleeping Palace, frowning as she looked at a statue before the entrance.

It’s not a statue symbolizing a god, merely something crafted by an artisan for decorative effect.

The Princess remembers three years ago, after quarreling with Pharaoh, she had left and directly used the Divine Artifact to break off the statue’s horns.

——I decide my own destiny… even if you are the ruler of the desert!

——Yamana…

“Your Highness? Your Highness?”

The Little Maid’s voice pulled the Princess’s thoughts back from afar… The Princess shook her head, lifted her skirt, and stepped over the threshold, walking quickly inside.

From this point onward, the Little Maid was not allowed to enter – Pharaoh’s Sleeping Palace has always been this way, even guards, other Maids, or even the newly chosen Princess by Pharaoh are not allowed entry without his permission.

Except for the Princess… only the Princess ignores Pharaoh’s orders.

The Little Maid watched until the Princess’s figure gradually disappeared… She turned around, sat down idly – she could only wait here until the Princess came back out.

She yawned; she hadn’t really slept well throughout the night… This night was especially long, seemingly filled with many bizarre events.

She was probably so tired that her eyelids became heavy… almost to the point of being unable to open them – in a haze, she seemed to see a figure walking out from behind her.

Walking out from behind her…?

Behind her was supposed to be Pharaoh’s Sleeping Palace… but why did this figure look like he was wearing the guards’ clothes? Wasn’t it said that Pharaoh doesn’t allow anyone to enter casually?

“The weather close to dawn is especially cold… don’t catch a cold.”

“Oh… okay…” she mumbled groggily.

That was the voice of a guard walking out of Pharaoh’s Sleeping Palace… She couldn’t see his face clearly, only felt something draped over her, followed by a warmth enveloping her.

It seemed like a dream… In the dream, someone gently covered her with a blanket and then left.

She opened her mouth, wanting to ask who he was… but ultimately failed to say it, then sank into sleep – the Little Maid leaned against the wall and slept sweetly.

Did someone really pass by her… probably she wouldn’t be able to say clearly after she woke up – aside from the blanket draped over her, which seemed to prove something.

But that would be her concern after waking up.

…

Pharaoh’s Sleeping Palace was even darker than the Princess remembered… It had been a long time since she last set foot here.

When did she start to gradually become estranged from this place… she remembers that it started after an argument three years ago, and she hasn’t voluntarily returned since, but the source of estrangement is forgotten.

Looking back, the Princess realized that in these ten years, she had been thinking solely about how to eradicate the Desert Behemoths, as for other matters… If the nation’s crisis couldn’t be resolved, if the people remained shrouded in the shadows of death, how could happiness even be mentioned?

And… what is home.

Click—!

The Princess pushed open the inner door of Pharaoh’s Sleeping Palace… This solid door resisted whom exactly, costing her so much effort to push – the sound emitted by the door hinges was unexpectedly loud.

She frowned, walking in the hall, surrounded by the light of oil lamps – the exterior seemed dim, but inside it was as bright as daylight.

Here, there were as many as nine hundred and ninety-nine oil lamps.

It was easy for her to see the man sitting on the stair throne… The Pharaoh of the empire, with his head bowed, seemed already asleep.

At this time, Pharaoh wasn’t wearing the crown, and the Scepter representing royal authority was casually placed at his feet… In her memory, it’s rare for the Princess to see the Pharaoh of the empire without this symbol of power.

In memory, this seemed… the second time.

The first time… was when she was ten.

The bowed Pharaoh, his hair in disarray, the gray strands more than the Princess imagined… She actually knew this man hadn’t slept well for the past ten years.

Each night lighting nine hundred and ninety-nine oil lamps, who could possibly sleep in such an environment?

The Princess silently watched, walking to the foot of the stairs… She hesitated for a moment, ultimately not stepping up, only looking up from below, calmly saying: “I just came to see if you had any issues… At least looking at it, you don’t seem to have any.”

The Pharaoh of the empire seemed not to hear.

The Princess was silent for a moment, then said indifferently: “Since you don’t have any issues, I’ll go… I have matters to attend to at the Temple.”

The Pharaoh still kept his head bowed.

The Princess sighed, turned to leave… Before leaving, she turned back once more: “Also, don’t send your people to infiltrate my side… In this desert kingdom, everywhere is already sand, I don’t want my resting place to become just a pile of sand.”

“Yamana…”

Finally, the Pharaoh of the empire showed some response… His voice, slowly came through.

The Princess turned around, only to see the Pharaoh of the kingdom, who had unknowingly already stood up, then slowly walked down the steps… his body swaying, as if he had lost his core.

Watching the Pharaoh’s swaying body, the Princess couldn’t help but furrow her brow, subconsciously asking, “You… what happened to you? Is there something wrong with your body?”

“Yamana…”

The Pharaoh of the kingdom called out that name once again, his hair disheveled, appearing abnormal… his body still swaying, and the swaying was becoming somewhat violent.

He suddenly stopped, his hands grasped his face forcefully, his whole body starting to spasm as if convulsing.

“What’s wrong with you?” The Princess was taken aback, quickly taking one step… two steps, three steps—she ran to the front of the Pharaoh, “You… Father? Father?”

“Yamana… Yamana… Yamana—ah—!!!!”

Sharp… sharp and shrill, like the cries of ghosts as the fierce wind passes through the canyon, the roar issued from Pharaoh’s mouth.

His hands, at this moment, tore open his face… blood splattered onto the Princess’s face in an instant—warm blood!

“Fa… Father?”

In a flash of lightning, the blood-covered Pharaoh of the kingdom suddenly leaped forward like a beast, knocking the Princess to the ground… his hands even clutching the Princess’s neck tightly.

“Eyes…?”

She was alarmed… the pupils she saw, they weren’t the eyes of a normal person at all—not just because the left eye on his face was missing, the remaining right eye looked… looked like a monster’s eye!

For ten years, how many times had she campaigned against the Desert Behemoths, and how many times she had a life and death struggle against the desert’s monsters—nobody understood these monsters’ gazes better than she did.

“What… hap… happened…”

The Princess, whose throat was being tightly grasped, showed a hint of horror on her face, instinctive resistance made her grip the Pharaoh’s hands tightly—she never thought this man’s strength could be so terrifying!

The elite White-robed Guards of the Temple couldn’t compare, even if it was said this was the transformation of a monster, none would disbelieve it… monster?

The Princess’s gaze turned to complete fear!

The back of the Pharaoh of the kingdom suddenly split open, and then a pair of huge and grotesque, animal-like claw-shaped wings unfurled instantly… something was about to break out of the Pharaoh’s body!

Hiss—!!!!

The terrifying scream resounded once more, the Pharaoh seemed to be extremely pained at this moment, letting go of the Princess’s throat in an instant and clutching his head, he began to wail.

When the released Princess could not breathe in a few gulps, in a panic, she instinctively took out the closely kept Divine Artifact… she couldn’t discern whether this thing before her was truly the Pharaoh of the kingdom.

When she woke, the first thing she heard was the Little Maid telling her about the monstrosity at the banquet morphing into her shape and invading the Royal Palace—if this was true, then a monster turning into the form of the Pharaoh also seemed possible.

“What exactly… are you?” The Princess asked sternly.

The Pharaoh of the kingdom suddenly stopped his wailing… his hands drooped down, afterwards, he fell directly to the ground—the Princess finally saw clearly what exactly was emerging from the Pharaoh’s body!

An eagle-headed, human-bodied monster with massive claw-shaped flesh wings… a creature with a single grey-black eye all over!

Instinct made the Princess pull the trigger of the Divine Artifact directly… the loud gunshot instantly echoed within the hall, time seemed to slow… as the bullet was about to hit this thing’s shoulder, its hand moved!

With lightning speed, it caught the bullet directly!

The Princess’s complexion changed as she was about to launch another attack when the thing moved… with a flap of its wings, it appeared right in front of the Princess at an extraordinary speed, reaching out to grab her neck and lifting her up.

She had never felt so small… as if this body wasn’t even her own, her muscle power was barely half of what it usually was!

But she didn’t have time to think about the changes in her body right now, just pondering how to escape this dire situation, she clutched the thing’s wrist tightly, kicking and hitting its body, “What exactly… did you do… to my… father…”

The thing suddenly spoke in a low voice: “Yamana…”

“You…?”

Suddenly, the monster emerging from the Pharaoh flung the Princess to the side! The tremendous force sent her crashing into a temple pillar… this made the Princess involuntarily spit out two mouths of blood!

After that, the eagle-headed, human-bodied monster let out a howl, spread its massive flesh wings, and rushed out from the hall.

The Princess gritted her teeth to stand up, rushed to the entrance, but could only see a silhouette already ascending into the night sky, flying towards the distance.

That seemed to be where the Temple was located!

The Princess, at this moment, clutching her head, slid down… taking a glance at the blood-covered hand she held on her head, it was full of blood—that throw just now seemed to have broken open her head.

The Princess’s consciousness began to blur… slowly, the things before her eyes also twisted, blood fell from her forehead, flowing into her eyes, turning everything the color of blood.

Felt… felt like somewhere, she had experienced this scene.

When she was very small, very small.

As if in a dream… in the dream, something approached her side, as she opened her eyes, she seemed to see a hideous and scary face—something was also clutching her neck then.

Cannot move… cannot move—no matter how she struggled, she couldn’t move…

The Princess finally collapsed in front of the Pharaoh’s Palace.

…

…

In the jungle of the area between the Royal Palace and the Temple, a young guard new to the Royal Palace lifted his eyes to the night sky… on his shoulder, a small bird, injured but bandaged, stood obediently.

He looked at the silhouette flying across the sky, then refocused his gaze, opening his palm… within it, an eye was hidden.

The eye slowly floated up from his palm, then started to rotate… rotate, soon, this eye completely transformed into gold.

“Horus’s left eye, ah…”