Ye Fan set out once again, traversing the endless desert. According to intelligence, the two great Kings would launch their final assault the next day. Therefore, he had to reach King Hall before dawn.

Little did he know that King Hall was already consumed by panic.

On the fortress walls of King Hall, the five captains watched as the two massive, oppressive armies united, a sense of dread beginning to creep in. The most composed among them was Captain Chui Feng.

At that moment, another burly man spoke up, "Chui Feng, let’s retreat!"

"Why should we retreat?" Chui Feng asked immediately.

"The boss isn’t here," the man explained urgently. "If we don’t evacuate now, we’ll never get the chance to leave."

Chui Feng shook his head firmly. "Hold the line. No one is to retreat today!"

The burly man grew angry at the command, but was helpless to object.

"Lei Kai," Chui Feng said, addressing him directly, "as long as the boss hasn’t returned, they won’t annihilate us. Their target is him, not us."

"Then we should inform the boss!" Lei Kai said anxiously.

"No need," Chui Feng replied calmly. "I’ve already sent word."

Lei Kai looked at him incredulously. Chui Feng met his gaze and asked, "You don’t believe me?"

"It’s not that I don’t believe you," Lei Kai said, his voice laced with frustration. "It’s that you’ve changed. Ever since you temporarily took over King Hall, you’ve turned it into a complete mess!"

"Those destined for greatness can’t be bothered with trivialities! Lei Kai, you’ll soon understand my painstaking efforts. Prepare to meet the enemy! What’s the status on Huo Yun and Sha Xiong?" Chui Feng asked, changing the subject.

"They’re holding the first line of defense on the perimeter, but it seems they can’t hold out much longer," Lei Kai reported.

"They must hold!" Chui Feng said coldly. "The pressure here is already immense enough."

Just then, a skinny man on the wall saw the enemy’s fierce onslaught and shouted, "If you have the guts, then come and get us! I, Xuanwu, am not to be trifled with!"

When the enemy reached the base of the walls, they began their assault, unleashing a barrage of firearms that plunged King Hall into the chaos of war.

"Return fire! Hold them back!" Chui Feng commanded.

"Yes, sir!"

The army of King Hall began its counterattack, and the battle raged fiercely.

However, at that very moment, the fortress’s main gate swung open. A troop of two hundred men charged out, storming toward the enemy’s formation.

"Who ordered that sortie?" Chui Feng roared. He had given a strict order to defend.

A soldier beside him quickly reported, "Reporting to Commander Chui Feng! It was Captain Xuanwu!"

"Damn it! That fool! Has he lost his mind?" Chui Feng seethed.

Xuanwu had always been headstrong and impulsive, known more for his brute courage than his strategy. Chui Feng immediately gave a new order, "Signal the retreat! We’re already outnumbered. Charging out now is a suicide mission!"

"Yes, sir!" his subordinates replied, immediately beginning to signal for a retreat.

But Xuanwu, his eyes already red with the thrill of battle, paid no heed and charged deeper into the enemy ranks. His strength was formidable; after all, he was one of the five captains personally appointed by Ye Fan. Though lanky, his power was extraordinary. He plunged into the crowd and began a massacre.

"Come on! Let me have a proper killing spree!" he laughed wildly.

With each move, two or three men fell dead. He showcased the pinnacle of hand-to-hand combat.

Suddenly, a figure completely shrouded in cloth emerged from the throng.

Xuanwu shouted, "Who are you?"

The figure didn’t answer his question, instead posing one of his own. "So you are Xuanwu? One of the five captains appointed by the King of Heaven, and one of the top five masters of King Hall?"

"That’s right," Xuanwu proclaimed proudly. "King Hall is not a place you can touch. You dared to attack us, so you must pay the price—with your life!"

He was so arrogant because the intelligence he had received indicated that the Rashamon King and the Slaughter Blade King had not yet arrived, their main forces being held up at the perimeter by Huo Yun and Sha Xiong.

The cloaked man merely said, "So you’re the most brainless one of the five captains."

"You’re courting death!" Xuanwu bellowed, charging at him.

At that moment, the cloaked figure moved. In the blink of an eye, he vanished from Xuanwu’s sight.

So fast! Xuanwu was stunned; he hadn’t sensed the man’s presence at all.

The next instant, the figure reappeared behind him. A wave of terror washed over Xuanwu as he frantically tried to dodge, but it was too late. A blade slid deep into his back.

"URK!"

Xuanwu coughed up a mouthful of blood. He couldn’t believe it. He was one of the five great masters of King Hall, yet he couldn’t even withstand a single strike from his opponent. The entire ordeal felt like a nightmare.

"You’re... the Rashamon King!" Xuanwu finally realized. No one else was this eerie and terrifying, capable of killing so silently and invisibly.

Killing like a ghost with a single, fatal strike—that was the hallmark of the Rashamon King.

The Rashamon King chuckled mockingly. "You know my name. Not bad, not bad at all. Too bad you’re already a dead man."

Amidst his unwillingness and disbelief, Xuanwu’s head toppled to the ground, his life cut short.

"XUANWU!"

Fighting on the walls, Lei Kai witnessed Xuanwu’s gruesome death, and his heart shattered. They were sworn brothers who had followed Ye Fan to build their empire, surviving countless life-or-death situations together. Now, seeing his best friend die before his very eyes, how could he not be consumed by rage?

"Brothers, follow me! Let’s kill our way out!" Lei Kai had lost all reason; all he wanted was to avenge Xuanwu. Blinded by the same fury, a group of his men prepared to follow.

"I’d like to see who dares!" Chui Feng’s voice boomed over the chaos.

"Chui Feng, you saw our brother die! Aren’t you angry?" Lei Kai roared back at him.

"What’s there to be angry about?" Chui Feng said with chilling disdain. "I gave the order to defend and not to attack. He was arrogant and thought he knew better. He got what he deserved!"

"Chui Feng, why have you become so cold-blooded and heartless!" Lei Kai screamed.

"Because I am now the Controller of King Hall," Chui Feng stated coldly. "If I don’t become cold-blooded, King Hall will crumble into nothing but loose sand!"

"Listen to me," he explained calmly. "Don’t make pointless sacrifices. If we rush out there now, King Hall will be destroyed. We must endure. We must wait for the King of Heaven to arrive. Only then will we have a chance to win!"

"ARGH!"

Lei Kai slammed his fist into the stone wall, venting the unbearable anger and grief that tore through him. Xuanwu’s death was the most devastating blow imaginable.

Meanwhile, in another location, an even crueler battle was raging. The fighting had been going on for three hours, a scene more terrifying than Hell Shura itself. It had long since devolved from a battle into a bloody, one-sided slaughter. This was the first line of defense against the two Kings’ armies, the primary frontline where Sha Xiong and Huo Yun were locked in a desperate struggle.

A ruthless killing field unfolded around them. Their forces were nearly wiped out, yet the two of them fought on, weary to their bones.

"Damn it!" Sha Xiong yelled to Huo Yun over the din. "How could they have known our defensive layout, the traps, and all our routes?"

"We have a traitor in our midst," Huo Yun replied, his voice thick with rage. "There’s no other way the enemy could have bypassed our defenses so easily and found King Hall!"

Although King Hall was famous on the African battlefield, its exact location was a heavily guarded secret, and its defenses were absurdly strong. They had anti-satellite surveillance and a network of complex traps. Yet, the enemy had torn through it all as if they had a map. Now, with their forces decimated and their eyes bloodshot, Sha Xiong and Huo Yun came to the grim realization: they had been betrayed.