Yama Rising

At the Felipinas Underworld.

Yang Jiye was seated at the center of a massive city, while below him sat several strange-looking Yin spirits.

They wore huge masks that concealed the top halves of their faces, giving them an Aztec-like appearance. Some of them were Caucasian missionaries, some were witches wearing pointy hats, and currently, they were all gathered in the same room.

The Yang Clan forces were standing guard outside the hall, and Yang Jiye was accompanied by Yang Yanzhao. In front of each person in the room was a table that was laden with delectable dishes and exquisite wine.

A Yin breeze blew past, and the flames of the candles flickered slightly while the gauze veils were also slowly raised up. A brunette female Yin spirit wearing a pointy hat and a long black robe finally came to the end of her patience and rose to her feet before extending a respectful bow. "General Yang."

She spoke in perfect and fluent Cathayan. "I've come here at the behest of the Celtic Death God. Seven months ago, extremely powerful Yin energy fluctuations erupted from the Cathayan Underworld, and the entire world is wondering what exactly the cause of that was."

Yang Jiye's head was resting on his palm, and he seemed to be taking a nap as he sat in his chair. Upon hearing what the woman had to say, he opened his eyes ever so slightly, revealing a sliver of nether fire as he asked in an unhurried manner, "So? Have you forgotten that your Celtic religion only exists right now because you were spared by the army of Thanatos during their conquest of Argos? What makes you think you have the right to question the internal affairs of Cathay?"

Yang Jiye's words were extremely scathing, and this was a side to him that Qin Ye had never seen before.

The netherflames in the female Yin spirit's eyes flared up with rage but then immediately subsided. She gritted her teeth tightly as she imitated the women of Cathay, extending a slight bow as a gesture of respect as she replied, "We wouldn't dare to be so insolent..."

"In that case, why are you still sitting here?" Yang Yanzhao asked, "Do you not know your place, or do the people behind you not know their place?"

The woman was gritting her teeth so hard that she felt as if they were about to shatter. "All we want to know is whether Cathay has broken the international anti-forbidden-arts treaty."

Yang Yanzhao was about to speak again when Yang Jiye gave a shake of his head before asking, "Do you really want to know the truth?"

All of the foreign emissaries immediately focused their attention on him.

The Cathayan Underworld was one of the four great historic civilizations, yet its voice hadn't been heard in over a century, and as a result, it had become completely shrouded in mystery.

Yang Jiye chuckled, "This is why I made you all wait."

As soon as his voice trailed off, another voice suddenly rang out from outside. "The angel is here!"

Immediately thereafter came the metallic clanging sounds of shuffling plate armor.

Yang Jiye instantly rose to his feet before making his way to the very front of the hall, then knelt down onto one knee. "Lord of Luzon, Yang Jiye, respectfully awaits the King Yanluo's imperial edict!"

The other emissaries present were very reluctant to kneel, but seeing as Yang Jiye had already knelt down, they had no choice but to follow suit.

A Soul Hunter level Yin spirit drifted into the room and delivered the imperial edict without any unnecessary time wastage. Yang Jiye read the imperial edict for about two minutes before standing back up, then turned to the foreign emissaries behind him with a smile as he declared, "Two months ago, I submitted a memorial to the King Yanluo, informing of the situation here in Luzon. Now, you can return to your masters with some news. On 1st October, the third King Yanluo of Cathay will be inaugurated, and the Qin Dynasty will be officially founded. All of the death gods across the entire world will be invited to attend. Now then, I'll be taking my leave."

This piece of news was like a bolt of lightning, instantly frying the brains of all of the foreign emissaries.

What?! A third King Yanluo is being crowned? A third dynasty is being founded? All of the death gods across the entire world are invited to attend? 

Everyone was completely and utterly stunned by this massive bombshell.

"Y... Your Excellency!!" A heavily-bearded Yin spirit dressed in the attire of a preacher hurriedly stood up as he frantically yelled, "Please elaborate further... Your Excellency!"

However, he was stopped in his tracks by a pair of Yin Soldiers.

All of the foreign emissaries exchanged a glance with one another before immediately departing; no one wanted to delay the deliverance of this piece of news for even a second.

"A storm is coming..." The female brunette Yin spirit that had spoken before picked up her skirt in her hands as she rushed toward the pavilion where she was staying, and her voice was trembling from adrenaline. "Cathay is about to awaken... The dragon is finally about to rise from its slumber! I have to inform the death god of this right away! Cathay's awakening will alter the entire international political landscape!"

…………………………………………………..

Erebus.

The meaning of the world was darkness, and this truly was a place that was filled with boundless darkness.

There was no light here, not even a single speck of netherfire. There was only absolute darkness, but this was the only path that led into the Argosian Underworld.

There were countless Yin spirits drifting through the area, all of whom were citizens of Argos and Europa that had passed away during the past centuries and millennia. There was a lost and confused army of crusaders, a witch who was searching for her own head while holding it in her hand, as well as ordinary soldiers roaming through the darkness. However, the majority of the beings here were those ancient Yin spirits.

They stumbled around searching for food, and they were surrounded by boundless Yin energy, which was the best source of sustenance for them, but the majority of them were doomed to wander through this area forever until the end of time.

However, regardless of how peculiar their movement patterns were, all of them avoided a series of threads as if they shared some type of tacit understanding.

These were golden threads that were formed entirely from Yin talismans, and they were changing and shifting with every passing moment. If someone were to venture deep into the darkness, then they would eventually reach a massive statue.

It was impossible for anyone aside from Yama-Kings to glean the true appearance of the statue, and all of the death gods knew that this was the core of Erebus, the coffin of Hades!

Erebus was the Argosian Underworld's national protective array and throughout the past centuries and millennia, countless heroes and Yin spirits had attempted to infiltrate the Argosian Underworld through this array, but the majority of them failed. Only the very few vastly fortunate individuals were able to reach the end of the darkness.

However, on this day, a burst of dazzling light suddenly appeared in the darkness. 

This was a burst of silver light, and it was moving as fast as the wind!

In the instant that it appeared, the statue of Hades at the center of the darkness suddenly opened its eyes, casting its gaze into the endless darkness amid a series of mechanical clicks and clangs.

Immediately thereafter, it lifted the sword in its grasp, and it was moving with such dexterity that it didn't seem like a statue at all. With the brandishing of its sword, the entire darkness began to surge and churn violently.

The golden threads danced wildly like aggravated vipers, and darkness surged like turbulent waves of the sea, converging toward the light in a frenzy.

However, in the next instant...

Whoosh! 

Something flew past the statue at what seemed like the speed of light, and immediately thereafter, a crack appeared right at the center of the statue's forehead!

It was also in the same instant that a pair of bright blue eyes abruptly opened without any warning. The owner of the pair of eyes was situated in an extremely grand and lavish palace constructed in the Argosian style.

The eyes were clearly attached to a humanoid figure, but the Yin energy around the figure was so dense and formidable that it was impossible to make out any of his features aside from his exposed eyes. Just a moment ago, his Yin energy had seemed to be eternally unmoving and completely unaffected by the passage of time, but right now, it was rippling in a frenzy!

Someone's breaking through the Erebus Array! 

"Impossible!" The figure's hand flew to his forehead as his breathing became more ragged and harsh. "This is impossible! Who could it possibly be? Which death god would stoop to something like this? Could it be that I'm mistaken?"

"What's going on, Brother?" Right at this moment, a gentle voice rang out from behind the figure, and another figure that was just as imposing emerged. "Did you also feel it?" 

The figure with the bright blue eyes immediately rose to his feet, and his tightly clenched fists were trembling. "I thought I was mistaken, but if you've sensed it as well, then that means someone's breaking through the Erebus Array! Crusaders, heed my call!!"

A flurry of flower petals was flung up into the air outside the palace in response to his frantic cry before drifting back down onto the ground, where they transformed into a series of half-kneeling figures amid a flash of radiant white light.

"Go... Go to the Gates of the Underworld! Help Cerberus stop the invaders!!"

"Yes!!"

The crusaders immediately dissipated into specks of netherflames, while the figure with the bright blue eyes sat down onto a chair at the center of the palace, panting heavily as he did so.

The entire palace was filled with fresh flowers, presenting an extremely beautiful sight to behold, yet there were only two chairs!

They belonged to the twin gods of Argos, the God of Death, Thanatos, and the God of Sleep, Hypnos!

…………………………………………………..

The silver light continued to pierce through the air like an unstoppable spear, completely unaffected by the boundless darkness around it. After what seemed like an eternity and countless layers of darkness, light finally appeared up ahead.

The sunlight in the sky shone down from above, illuminating the vibrant flowers strewn all over the ground, as well as the black poplar trees and coconut trees that would never bear fruit. Amid this beautiful scene stood a gargantuan gate.

It was impossible to tell just how massive the gate was, one could only say that it was as tall as the heavens and as vast as the earth. Acrid lava was flowing out from behind the gate and into the fields of flowers, but that only made the flowers bloom with increased vigor.

These were the Gates of Hell.

All those who passed through Erebus would arrive here, and after stepping through these gates, one would reach the Argosian Underworld. However, there was currently a giant three-headed dog that was over 50 meters tall standing in front of the Gates of Hell. Scorching flames were erupting out of its mouths, and it had only just awakened as it opened its menacing red eyes.

At its feet stood tens of thousands of cavaliers in ornate suits of armor.

This was the three-headed hellhound, Cerberus, the final guardian of the Argosian Underworld.

All of a sudden, Cerberus sniffed the air before throwing its heads back and howling to the heavens!

Woof woof woof!! 

A dark veil seemed to have been draped over the entire earth as countless dark clouds converged from all directions, quickly devouring the sun. The darkness continued to spread rapidly, painting the landscape a pitch-black color. All of a sudden, Yin winds were swept up right in front of the Gates of Hell, forcing back the tens of thousands of cavaliers and the massive Cerberus by close to 20 meters!

"Get into formation!!" The cavalier at the very forefront yelled as he raised his flag, and countless giant shields were instantly raised up. He looked on at the violent Yin winds up ahead and cursed to himself, "What the hell is this thing?"

It was completely intangible and it had passed through Erebus without any trouble; he had never witnessed anything like this before!

Furthermore, this gust of Yin wind was striking him with a sense of extreme peril. He initially thought that this could just be his mind playing tricks on him, but he quickly noticed that the netherflames in the eyes of all of the other cavaliers were also flickering erratically.

They had all sensed the same peril that he did.

Woof!! Cerberus roared with all its might as its golden pupils turned vertical, but its ferocious roar quickly faded into a long howl of anguish, following which it collapsed down onto the ground.

"Good boy." An amused voice rang out in mid-air, and it was speaking in Cathayan. All of the cavaliers turned toward the tamed Cerberus with stunned expressions, but the more astonishing scene was still to come.

The Gates of Hell... opened up on their own!

No one had moved, and the leader of the cavaliers could swear that he hadn't activated his key, but the gates had been opened all the same.

It was completely inexplicable and terrifying, but it was only open for an instant before silently swinging shut again.

At the same time, both Thanatos and Hypnos rose to their feet in unison inside the divine palace as they exclaimed, "How is that possible?!"

"How were the Gates of Hell opened without a key?" Thanatos was completely rooted to the spot. "Cerberus and the crusaders couldn't even hold back the invader for half a second! They're using the top-tier divine military formation of Olympus!"

A thought suddenly occurred to Hypnos, and he began to tremble as he said, "Brother... There's someone who's perhaps capable of this..."

"You mean the second King Yanluo of the Cathayan Underworld?!" The pitch of Thanatos's voice had virtually risen to a screech. "Could it be that he's come out of seclusion?!"

However, he then immediately calmed down as he shook his head while taking a deep breath to compose himself. "No... No, it's not him. The invader is far inferior in power. The second King Yanluo would be capable of instantly arriving here without any warning, yet this invader had to bypass all of the obstacles in their way one after another. Even so..."

Both of the Argosian gods gulped nervously as the same thought occurred to them.

Even so, the invader is still a being above the death god level! Since when did beings of this caliber become so common?! The second King Yanluo is already enough; there's no need for another one!