Yama Rising

The alliance’s soldiers were greeted by rows of shield walls with protruding spears that appeared no different from the teeth of wolves.

However, there was no fear in their eyes.

Even rabbits would be filled with the courage of lions in such a stirring environment. Countless Yin spirits locked eyes with their opponents across a backdrop of endless netherflames. But, even then, not a single Yin spirit retreated anymore. The only thought in their minds right now was to kill and destroy each other.

The front lines clashed, and the seven Hellguards plunged straight into the ranks of Hell’s forces. Netherflames filled the sky wherever they passed, and Hell soon took over a thousand casualties in the blink of an eye. Yang Yanzhao was astonished to see Hell’s forces breaking ranks at the location of the seven Hellguards, and he furrowed his brows, “Hellguards? Are they already revealing their cards? And don’t these Hellguards have any bodyguards at that? They’re just rushing headlong into our armies with wanton disregard for their own lives? Are they nuts?”

Mu Guiyin remarked from behind, “Do they even know what military tactics are? As soon as we stem the flow of the wave that they’re currently riding, their surge of passion would immediately dip, and they would no longer be able to muster any fighting spirit beyond that.”

The army of Hell was retreating slightly, but Yang Yanzhao didn’t panic in the slightest. He glanced around at the people in front of him, “Who’s willing to go?”

One of the female generals immediately responded, “I am. How dare they charge right in front of their armies without any fear of Hell’s forces at all? The Yin spirits of recent times truly know nothing about us at all…”

With that, she transformed into a stream of nethergale that rushed straight into battle.

West of the battlefield. “Ahhhahahaha…” An obese middle-aged woman wearing ill-fitting nanny clothes hurtled straight for Hell’s forces, leaving a trail of smoke and dust wherever she passed. The alliance’s soldiers shouted at the top of their voices as they charged right after her, going around her massive body as they clashed against the rest of Hell’s shield formation.

She appeared no different from a heavy tank, plummeting straight into Hell’s forces and blasting Yin soldiers about wherever she passed. Within moments, she breached a massive gap in the formation of Hell’s western army, and the alliance soldiers poured into the breach right after her.

She glanced fearfully at the sky, before roaring at the Yin soldiers around her, “Hurry up! Get in there and slaughter every last one of them! All who retreat shall be annihilated! Or are you waiting for Lord Sha to indict you with the sky lantern punishment?!!”

Punishment was naturally the best motivation!

We’ve only got this one window of opportunity. If Sha Xiangzu can’t hold out any longer, and the Infernal Judges in the sky turn to us… She didn’t dare dwell on such thoughts any longer.

“Chaaaaaaarge!!!” The Yin soldiers behind her poured forth like a surging tide. Lord Sha’s banners flew high in the sky. The obese lady was just about to charge into the breach after the alliance’s soldiers when she suddenly froze in place and turned to look at her own calf.

For some strange reason, she discovered that her leg was now tethered to a long silver chain.

“What’s this?” She blinked vacantly and gazed towards the middle of Hell’s forces.

And just as she did, an even more tyrannical Hellguard-class Yin energy erupted from the midst of Hell’s forces. It was clear that this hidden entity was making its presence known to the alliance’s Hellguards.

The advancing Yin soldiers instantly froze in shock. Simultaneously, the obese lady subconsciously let out a shrill shriek as she noticed herself suddenly being dragged through the air by the chain tethered to her calf!

Clatter, clatter… Her body dug deep grooves through the ground as she was dragged back helplessly. How could such a thin iron chain be so strong?! What the hell is at the other end of the chain?

“How… is this… possible?!” She was dragged along the ground quicker and quicker. All the Yin soldiers obstructing her path of travel were instantly sent flying away, while sand and dirt scattered everywhere. She fought hard to look up at the source of the chain, but as soon as she did, her face quickly plunged back into the dirt, and she bounced up with a clump of soil in her mouth.

She didn’t manage to get a good look at the person at the end of the chain.

Unfortunately, the fear in her heart only grew, because she soon noticed all six of her other fellow Hellguards being dragged towards the exact same location! Seven locations on the battleground were kicking up a cloud of sand and dust as the alliance’s Hellguards were involuntarily dragged towards the exact same location.

It was almost as though a giant spider were pulling all of its prey towards itself.

“Is this an Emissary of hell as well?!” The faceless female ghost cried out in fear as she stared at the chains tightly wrapped around its neck. Her hair plunged straight into the ground, desperately trying to anchor herself to the ground and resist the tug of the chains, but to no avail.

They felt completely helpless, no different from a farmer’s plow as they were dragged through the fields of the battlegrounds. Several seconds later, the faceless female ghost cried out in shock as she felt her body being tugged into the air.

Boom, boom, boom… Everything had happened in no more than a dozen or so seconds. The alliance’s Yin soldiers looked up with intense terror. Their Hellguard generals had all vanished as quickly as they had arrived in the first place. All that was left were seven deep grooves in the ground, all of which appeared to converge at a particular location among Hell’s forces.

What could have dragged our Hellguard generals away?

The surging trajectory of their morale had suddenly taken a turn for the peculiar. The Yin soldiers exchanged awkward glances, not knowing what to do. Not a single one of them continued their charge ahead.

……………………………………………………..

Pttoooi! The faceless female ghost spat out a mouthful of mud from her mouth and stood up with a huff. The six other Hellguards from the alliance were located around her as well. Each of them were also slowly clambering back to their feet.

The first thing that they noticed was how they had once again found themselves in the heart of a massive encirclement of troops.

This was an encirclement of troops formed by Hell’s soldiers altogether. The diameter of the circle was approximately three to four hundred meters wide, and a wall of shield interspersed with protruding spears stood erect all around them. They could even see the menacing glare of Karmic Fire Divine Crossbow bolts blazing all around them, as numerous as the stars in the sky.

Dead silence.

It was evidently the calm before the storm.

In fact, it was almost as though these lands were a graveyard for Yin spirits - for them.

But none of these mattered at this point in time.

What was more important was the fact that there was a single Yin spirit standing right in front of the seven of them.

It was a woman, clad in leather clothes of ancient nomads. Her hair was neatly tied up in pigtails, and she sported refined features, including a high nose bridge, deep eyes, and an unusually tall figure. She carried two long blades behind her back.

“Who are you?” All seven Hellguards of the alliance had already worked with each other for some time now, and they promptly stood back to back in a circle as they confronted the sole lady who was staring down at them. However, the nomadic lady simply ignored their anxiety as she slowly pulled out the sabers behind her back, inch by inch.

In some ways, she appeared no different from a slowly-blooming red spider lily.

“I’m surprised that an army like that can still muster the courage to fight back against us.” The nomadic lady held the sabers in front of her and scrutinized the appearances of her opponents on the flat surfaces of her sabers.

“So, you were the ones, huh…” A soft nethergale swept through the battlefield, gently tousling the nomadic lady’s long hair. She continued placidly, “I guess we should be able to end this battle as soon as I take you down. I’ve got to say, having traveled with the genuine army of Hell, you guys sure as hell are boring.”

“It’s just you?” The obese middle-aged lady gnashed her teeth and sneered back, “A nascent Hellguard-class Yin spirit dares to challenge seven Hellguards all by herself?”

The nomadic lady finally laughed, and she raised her arms. Instantly, over thirty saber-wielding arms suddenly blossomed all around her!

Yin energy erupted from her body and poured out from her seven apertures all at once, causing her to look no different from a hellish asura. Her Yin energy clearly wasn’t strong, yet the seven Hellguards of the alliance immediately shrieked in unison and instinctively retreated tens of meters at once.

It’s that thing again!

It’s that suffocating pressure again! They clearly didn’t know what exactly it was, yet they could still sense that it was the very same feeling that stirred a palpable fear in their hearts. They felt like rabbits confronting a ferocious tiger, or gazelles facing a lion.

She felt like a natural predator to them! She exuded the presence of someone standing at the top of the food chain!

“Pfft. Challenging me?” The nomadic lady was slowly but surely turning hazy and illusory from the outpouring of Yin energy, yet her striking scarlet eyes clearly continued to stare intently at the seven, “Don’t you think you guys are mistaken about something?”

“Evil ghosts of the recent century truly don’t know anything at all…”

“I’m Huyan Chijin, Emissary of Hell of the Yang Clan. The least you could do is to remember the name of the Emissary who bestowed the mercy of death upon you.”

With that, she tore through the air like lightning, and the entire domain of their confrontation promptly darkened.

The surrounding Yin soldiers immediately gasped in horror. They saw it all. A massive shadow had suddenly appeared and transformed into a black sphere that consumed all seven Anitya Hellguards of the alliance. A split second later, the silhouettes of thirty hands showed up from within the black sphere, all of which were attached to a body that appeared no different from a merciless Rakshasa!

“Fengdu’s Flourish, Ghosts of Sorrow.”

Whoosh!

Innumerable blade lights instantly erupted from within the black sphere. Like constellations in the sky, the flurry of attacks left terrifying trails in their wake. The thirty arms moved gracefully through the air with dignity and poise, drawing perfect trajectories across the entire black sphere, triggering seven miserable screams from the grim, black sphere.

“SSSS!!!” “AAAARGGGHHH!! This… this is impossible!!” “What the hell is this thing?! Why hasn’t Lord Sha told us about these things before?!” “Impossible… she can’t be a nascent Hellguard-class YIn spirit!”

Shk shk shk shk… There was order in the chaotic flurry of blade attacks. Fifteen seconds later, the black sphere exploded, and Huyan Chijin stepped out from it in her Yin spirit form. Seven clumps of netherflames hovered softly beside her.

A gently breeze swept by and completely snuffed out the drifting netherflames.

There was no struggle.

There was no resistance.

They were no match for her at all.

It was a completely one-sided fight!

The surrounding Yin spirits froze for a few moments, before a few finally managed to pull themselves together, “Vic-... Victory!!!” 

“Victory!!” “Victory to Lady Chijin!” “Lady Chijin is brave and invincible!! Victory!!”

The thrill and excitement of instantly disposing of seven Hellguards of the alliance immediately filled Hell’s forces with great pride and confidence. It was their general who had achieved such great feats! The Yin soldiers of the alliance would never be a match for them no matter how hard they tried!

“Glory to Lady Chijin!!” “Victory!” The roars of victory surged like a tide and spread like a virus. Within moments, their cheers of victory spread across the entire army! The earth-shattering cheers caused the vanguard forces of Hell to be reinvigorated with great passion. Soon after, a sergeant leapt forward with his spear and yelled at the top of his voice, “Everyone, chaaaaarge!!!”

“Yaaaaaaaaaa!!!” At once, tens of thousands of troops tightened their grips around their shields and spears and rushed forward with their final assault on the enemy forces.

“Spread the word.” Huyan Chijin sheathed her sabers coldly, “The seven Hellguards are now dead. We spare only those who surrender to us.”

“Yes!!”

Almost every sergeant of Hell’s forces had reacted in the exact same manner. Most of them were sergeants who had served under Yang Jiye in all too many battles, and they could easily read the flow of the battle. Naturally, they could all tell that it was time to end it all.

“Chaaaaarge!!” The entire battlefield trembled with their cries, “The seven Hellguards have perished. Hell has won the battle! Spare only those who surrender!”

These words were like a stimulant for all of Hell’s forces. On the other hand, the Yin soldiers of the Alliance of Darkness simply exchanged awkward glances of great disbelief. Although Hell’s forces were now no more than thirty meters away from them, none of them knew how to react to the situation.

We’ve… lost?

Our Hellguard generals have perished?

Weren’t they still charging valiantly into the enemy lines just a moment ago? How did they all perish in just a few short moments?

“We can’t win…” One of the alliance’s Yin soldiers trembled as he stared at the advance of Hell’s soldiers, “This is a bona fide army of hell… We’ve--...”

Pshk!

A spear plunged straight through his chest before he could even finish speaking. His eyes dulled, and his body soon transformed into nothing more than a clump of netherflame. The multitude of Yin soldiers behind immediately threw their spears onto the ground, “I surrender! I surrender!!”

One by one, the number of Yin soldiers surrendering soon spread throughout the entire army!

In an instant, the entire battlefield was covered with Yin soldiers that were kneeling in submission on the ground.

The morale of the alliance’s army had completely collapsed.

The courage that was stoked by the appearance of their Hellguard generals had faded together with their death. Back in the sky, Sha Xiangzu heard the sound of surrender ringing out across the battlefield, and his expression immediately turned ashen.

How can this be… Seven Hellguards! These are my precious generals who have followed me for over a decade!

He wanted to deny everything, but no matter what he did, he simply wasn’t able to detect the presence of the seven Hellguards from anywhere on the battlefield any longer. As far as he could tell, the situation below had quickly taken a turn for the worst. What had appeared to be an impasse just moments ago had quickly devolved into a complete collapse of his own army’s morale.

“Do you think this is merely an accident?” An intense vortex of Yin energy continued to swirl across Sha Xiangzu. Qin Ye chuckled from within it, “You don’t have to feel bad about this. I’ll tell you why Kong Mo was so terrified of us when he first noticed our appearance, so much so that he even mobilized the entire army against a single Yin spirit.”

Boom!

His Judgment Pen appeared in the clouds. This time, it was clearly gathering far more energy than before, and they could even see a faint trace of Zhong Kui’s silhouette peeking through the cloud of Yin energy around the Judgement Pen in the sky.

And then, he pushed the brush forward slightly. The entire canopy of the skies trembled wildly.

“It’s because Emissaries of Hell possess the ability to instakill all evil ghosts at the same cultivation level as them. Like I said, Yin spirits of recent years truly know nothing at all.”