Yama Rising

Spectral rabble, disperse. None shall enter.

The cargo hold was still and silent. The honeycomb openings on the sides of the hulls should have been leaking copious amounts of water, and yet the only thing pouring through it right now was copious amounts of infernal netherflames. Anyone who stood in the middle of the cargo hold would find it no different from standing in front of a hearth of ghastly netherflames. Three pairs of eyes were locked in a fierce stare against three other pairs of flaming pupils. The atmosphere was so tense one could even begin to hear the soft sounds of clanging swords in the air.

Drip… A bead of cold sweat rolled off Master Kamo’s nose. His snow-white, gleaming sword was raised in front of him, reflecting his impeccably staid look. Then, just as the bead of sweat struck the surface of the ground, Tachibana Dosetsu made his move.

The silence was abruptly broken by the fluttering sounds of a flock of birds, and the air in the cargo hold instantly began to arc with ferocious black lightning. Simultaneously, Ii Naomasa unleashed a furious battle cry as he dragged his massive spear against the floor of the cargo hold, generating a flurry of sparks in its wake. Every step he took caused the entire ship to tremble. Copious amounts of Yin energy rushed and converged into his body. Then, amidst the furious cries of a chorus of wailing ghosts, the mask of a vicious red demon congealed over his face as he dashed straight towards the three human beings.

His approach was so quick that the three human beings were unable to consciously react in time. This was a battle where their subconscious reflexes formulated by years of gruelling training took over. Before Master Kamo could even make his move, Dojin had already slammed his hands onto the ground. A split second later, ten thousand silver waves rushed up from the ground, giving breath to innumerable Sanskrit words that faded away as quickly as they blossomed.

BOOM!

Master Kamo was only a Soul Hunter, so how could he possibly react as quickly as an Anitya Hellguard? He had only managed to pull out an origami from his sleeve when the ground shook with an earth-shattering tremor, almost as though the entire cruise liner had been split entirely in half.

The silver screen of light formed by the waves instantly collapsed, and a tsunami of Yin energy rushed straight towards the Moonlit Night. Then as soon as they approached the bounds of its domain, the Yin energy instantly transformed into hundreds of finches that flew through the breach in the Moonlit Night, arcing menacingly with black lightning from time to time.

“Damn it!!!” Dojin bellowed furiously as he made another series of hand seals and slammed his palms together. Kakaka! The Moonlit Night immediately flourished with a silvery lustre once more, instantly erecting four consecutive barricades in an instant.

Dojin’s true energy transformed into a silver lotus flower that hovered about daintily, almost as though it were carving out a domain for the kingdom of Buddha. The Yin finches were instantly reduced to wisps of harmless Yin energy as soon as they struck the surface of the silver walls. However… the shrieks that they emitted upon death were hardly the cries of a bird. Rather… it was the blood-curdling scream of a human being.

“Ahhhhh…” “No… I don’t want to die…” “Wuu… wuu… It hurts… It’s terrible…”

The mournful cries of the ghosts were agonizing, almost as though they stirred and evoked the deepest sources of despondence in a person’s heart. The Yin energy kept outside the Moonlit Night was like an ocean tide. With the collapse of the thousand birds, the dense cloud of Yin energy immediately wrapped itself around the Moonlit Night, completely obscuring their vision from anything that was happening outside.

It was almost as if… they had descended into the deepest abysses of Hell.

Gulp… Everything had happened in the blink of an eye - an instant eruption of devastating attacks, followed by a moment of stifling silence. And it was only at this moment that Master Kamo discovered that his entire back was already drenched with sweat. He gulped nervously.

They’re unstoppable…

Master Kamo immediately got a handle of the situation - Not even the Moonlit Night was able to hold back their attacks! This is one of the strongest trump cards of Mount Koya, and yet it can’t even block the casual attacks of these evil ghosts.

We’re dead… we’re definitely dead…

His heart thumped wildly. But before he could even say a single word, a sudden onset of terror screamed from every fiber of his being, from head to toe. He shivered all over, and his hair instantly stood on ends.

There was dead silence within the cargo hold right now. Apart from the faint silvery light emanating from the Moonlit Night, their surroundings were completely obscured in darkness by the dense cloud of Yin energy all around them. And just then, pairs of scarlet eyes suddenly opened up in the darkness.

One pair… two pairs… ten pairs… a hundred pairs…

It was almost as though they were walking along grass plains at night, surrounded by endless darkness, and a multitude of ghosts that were staring intently at them.

Cut off from all sources of light, and filled with abject terror.

“I’m surprised that you were able to block that strike from Chidori, A Thousand Birds… It looks like Mount Koya hasn’t been slacking off over the last hundreds of years…” A hoarse voice spoke through the darkness, causing the Yin energy outside to flow once more. Just then, Dojin was struck with a sudden realization. He gasped stiffly in horror, and instinctively took several steps back.

This isn’t the flowing of energy…

It was like an anchor that had sunk to the bottom of the river. Every time it moved, it would naturally stir the waters around it.

In other words, there was something horrific that had just formed in the dense cloud of Yin energy right now. It was an existence so large and terrifying… that it was able to stir the Yin energy around it, just like the forces that caused the earth to spin on its axis.

“Then… to reward your efforts, I shall give it my all as an expression of gratitude towards you…”

Dojin’s pupils suddenly constricted, and cold sweat poured out of every pore on his body. Both he and Jingo leaned back heavily against each other with their mouths slightly agape as they stared with great disbelief at the abyss of darkness around them.

Gusts of nethergale swept through the cargo hold with each word that was enunciated. And though the nethergale seemed harmless and benign, its soft caresses against the Moonlit Night actually whittled away at it until it was no more! It was almost as though… the source of the soft nethergales were the breaths of a massive prehistoric beast!

“Bloody hell…” Jingo gulped nervously. Trembling in fear, he tightened his grip around his zen staff.

This was the first time he had felt such despondence in the face of an evil ghost.

Boom, boom!

With two great tremors, the curtain of Yin energy was swept aside, and two hellish asuras stood right in front of them!

The asura on the left had green faces with long fangs, and its hair fluttered about wildly. Innumerable ghastly scarlet eyes covered its entire body. It had three heads and six arms, and a necklace of human bones hung around its neck. Of its six arms, two of them had their middle fingers pinching against their thumbs, one held a saber, while one appeared to be pressing down on something. Its left leg rested on its right thigh, while the right leg appeared to be standing on a black lotus flower. Yin energy poured out of its body like turbid waves.

The one on the right had white hair, long fangs which protruded out of the mouth, and two faces on a single head. Its entire body was crimson red, and it wore accessories made out of human bones everywhere. It brandished its spear menacingly. Yin energy poured out of its seven apertures with every breath it took, taking on an ephemeral image of evil spirits before quickly fading into the surroundings. Both of its feet were standing on human skulls which blazed with raging netherflames.

“These are… Rakshasas…” Master Kamo collapsed to the ground. He finally realized that his opponents this time weren’t merely evil ghosts. Rather, they were Yin spirits that had already evolved into Rakshasas. The strength of such evil spirits naturally exceeded that of ordinary ghosts he had encountered in the past. These existences were like stuff of legends that he had only heard of in the past, yet never encountered before.

The strength of any Yin spirit depended on three main factors. The first was the extent of its grievances and resentment, as well as its status in life. The second was the opportunities presented to it after death. And the third set of factors were only applicable to a small sliver of people whose lives had been incredibly stormy and tumultuous. Only these people would become Rakshasas upon death, and their strength… their strength… Hang on!

He suddenly froze.

Something suddenly occurred to him.

Three people… That’s right, there were three people earlier!

Where’s the last person?

An immense sense of crisis filled his mind. He didn’t even have the time to scream to alert the others. He dug his nails deep into his fingers, motioning to unleash his next technique. However… it was too late.

Thundergod and Red Demon had dazzled them with their appearance so much that none of the humans noticed Qin Ye’s shadow… had already risen from the ground.

His shadow stood tall over him, staring at Qin Ye with scarlet pupils as Yin energy flowed from its body. And then, it motioned to bite down on Qin Ye’s neck.

“Stop!!” Master Kamo screamed at the top of his voice. Simultaneously, the two Rakshasas made their move.

Buzz…

The world appeared to go silent at that very instant.

The rushing nethergale was now blowing so powerfully that it left sonic booms in its wake as it swept across the cargo hold. A gleaming black blade light was sent flying across the cargo hold, instantly filling the room with Yin finches that were ten meters large. With a ferocious battle cry, a figure wielding a crimson spear trudged across the ground, sending heavy tremors quaking throughout the cargo hold. Wherever it passed, it left a trail of dense Yin energy, as well as innumerable scarlet Yin energy butterflies that quickly scattered to the surroundings.

“Moon--…” The only thing that Dojin could see right now was the billowing Yin energy that filled the room. His hands were already primed with the next technique to be unleashed. Unfortunately, the tide of Yin energy was already wild beyond belief, thrashing about and sending them flying several meters away before they could even react with a single move. Blood instantly began to seep out of Dojin’s seven apertures.

Whoosh! Yin energy plowed through the floor of the cargo hold. However, Thundergod and Red Demon didn’t even bother to look at the people who had been sent flying. Instead, the glint in their eyes simply erupted with great passion!

“Ssss-- Yaaaaahhh!!” Red Demon unleashed a heaven-defying cry as his white hair scattered about wildly. Then, his entire body transformed into a gale of Yin energy that rushed straight towards the silhouette that was silently seated on the ground.

There it is…

There it is!!

He could smell the nauseating stench of Oda Nobunaga - the man who used to make him tremble with fear!

“Lord Nobunaga… I’m coming… I’m finally coming for you! Hahahaha!!!” Thundergod also let out a shrill shriek as he stabbed straight at the Obsidian Heaven’s Eye Bowl in front of Qin Ye. Meanwhile, the shadow that was looming over Qin Ye’s body was also no more than a decimeter away from Qin Ye’s neck!

Just then--!

Buzz… The eyes of the three evil ghosts flickered wildly, and they instinctively retreated several meters as they warily sized up Qin Ye.

And then, they noticed an ancient mirror begin to rotate slowly.

It was the final trump card that was protecting Qin Ye.

“Have you guys forgotten something?” Ming Shiyin’s voice was somewhat different from before, almost as though it was laced with immeasurable ferocity, “How dare you act with such insolence without my permission?!”

And then, it sighed wistfully, “I didn’t want to resort to this… But since you’re courting death, then don’t blame me for what I’m about to do…”

“Unleash - the Great Cry of Hell!!”

An extreme sensation of fear suddenly washed over Thundergod’s heart, and he gasped in horror. Then, without another word, it transformed into a cloud of Yin energy that rushed back out of the cargo hold, screaming as he went as quickly as he could. Red Demon and Viper did exactly the same thing. Three great streams of Yin energy rushed out of the cargo hold just like that. In fact, even Kuki Yoshitaka paused where he was and turned to look at the cruise ship abruptly.

“Trying to run?” Ming Shiyin sneered, “It’s too late. Not even Judges can break free of Justice Bao’s overwhelming authority, so do you really think a mere Hellguard would be able to escape?”

With that, the singularity on the surface of the mirror that appeared to contain the universe finally exploded with such great force as if it were giving birth to new stars and planets!

BOOM!!!

The entire Strait of Tsushima quaked violently in the very next second. Boundless netherflames immediately filled the entire region around the strait, and then… as though they had heard the imperial summons, they began to rush straight towards the cruise liner!

It was a command that was impossible to defy. Viper was the slowest and weakest of the three. Thus, as soon as the authoritative blast erupted, it knew that… it was finished.

That’s far too terrifying… What in the world is that thing?! But… even if I can’t escape, I’m not going to let you have it easy either!

Sss!!! He brazenly turned around and transformed into the shadow of a serpent that rushed madly towards Qin Ye. Even if he were felled in this place, he was determined to interrupt Qin Ye’s attempt to breach the seal trapping Oda Nobunaga within the bowl. After all, he could tell that this was Qin Ye’s last resort. On the other hand… Azai Nagamasa still had aces hidden up his sleeves.

But as soon as the shadow serpent arrived in front of Qin Ye, a powerful source of Yin energy abruptly erupted from within Qin Ye’s body. And then, a spirit streamer appeared in the air, spinning like an umbrella and preventing all further advances from the shadow serpent.

“This is…” Viper was stunned. And then, he saw a scene that made his own soul grow cold.

Qin Ye had finally opened his eyes.

And as he opened his eyes, his entire body promptly erupted with Yin energy as he transformed into his emissary state, replete with black irises, white pupils, scattering white hair and a long tongue that hung out of his mouth. Qin Ye smiled viciously as a ten meter wide black vortex of Yin energy opened up behind Qin Ye’s body. Just then, the deafening rumble of galloping horses could be heard coming from the heart of the vortex!

“I seem to have timed it perfectly.” Qin Ye stood up slowly as hundreds of scarlet eyes lit up in the dark vortex behind. Every single eye stared intently at Viper.

He’s back…

It’s almost as though he has crawled back through the vast rivers of time…

Through the expanse of centuries’ of memories…

The Demon King of the Sixth Heaven… has finally returned!

“Ahh… I’d never expected you to be the first one to greet me… dear father-in-law…” An excited whisper echoed through the vortex of Yin energy as a massive head peeked out from its depths, “Tremble before me… Nippon, I, the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven, have finally returned to this world!!!”