Yama Rising

This was provocation in its most blatant form.

Erinys had made her intentions very clear. In fact, the only thing that she hadn't explicitly declared was that she was going to hold her press conference whenever the Cathayan Underworld decided to hold theirs, and at that point, the level of support for each side would be made obvious depending on how many underworld representatives attended their respective press conference.

They're making a move... Dai Chunhua wasn't a sufficiently important figure in Hell's administration to know the specific details of the decision that the Cathayan Underworld had made, but having served as a spokesperson in the mortal realm for so long, she knew exactly what the opposition's gesture entailed.

Between unveiling their trump cards and setting a snowball effect into motion, the opposition had chosen the latter.

They were going to use this press conference to show the entire world just how powerful the three pillars were, then use the controversy and intimidation stemming from their display of power to snowball the influence of their alliance. If they were allowed to do as they pleased, the snowball effect would transform their alliance into an all-encompassing juggernaut that would crush the Cathayan Underworld and its allies.

The fact that they're directly opposing our challenge is a huge display of determination. Yanluo Qin, will your trump cards be able to allow us to have the last laugh? 

She remained silent but extended a respectful bow toward Erinys. This was proper etiquette when facing other death gods.

Erinys took an indifferent glance at her, and it was as if she had only just noticed Dai Chunhua's presence. She raised an eyebrow as she asked, "Where is the Cathayan Underworld's spokesperson? What was that blabbermouth's name again? Zhang Yi?"

Dai Chunhua raised her head and replied in a voice that was neither humble nor arrogant, "Please exercise discretion in your word selection, esteemed death goddess. I'll be relaying your exact words to our King Yanluo."

A derisive sneer appeared on Erinys's face as she turned to leave. The hem of her long black dress slowly swept over the ground, and clusters of red spider lilies bloomed in its wake. An indistinct voice drifted through the air as she made her departure. "The Cathayan Underworld is truly only a shadow of its former self..."

No one dared to say anything.

Everyone's eyes were focused on Erinys's departing figure, and no one noticed the complex looks in the eyes of several other underworld representatives.

Erinys was like a regal swan, not looking at anyone as she walked past all of the underworld emissaries with her head held tall and proud. Right as she was passing by these underworld emissaries, at least three or four of them began to move.

They waited respectfully for Erinys to pass them by, even though she didn't take so much as a single glance at them. Then, right in front of the astonished eyes of the underworld emissaries around them, they began to follow along silently behind her. As Erinys made her way through the crowd, more and more underworld emissaries began to join her camp of followers!

Five... Seven... Nine... Eleven!

There were representatives from over 20 underworlds present, and soon, over half of them were trailing along behind her!

Initially, they were quite hesitant, but as the first group of underworld emissaries made their move, they also stepped forward with decisiveness and purpose. Shortly thereafter, Erinys and her group of followers had disappeared at the end of the corridor.

Dead silence.

Several seconds later, bursts of chatter began to ring out, and the voices were becoming louder and louder. Countless eyes were roaming between Dai Chunhua and the corridor with complex expressions. This was silent intimidation, and it indicated that over 10 underworlds were standing on the side of the three pillars!

How many more votes did they need to achieve what they wanted to achieve? Would the Cathayan Underworld be able to handle the pressure?

In the face of the bucket of ice water that was the Golden Fleet, even the underworld emissaries that had been completely carried away by the prospect of a new energy resource had returned to their senses. One underworld emissary left after another, smiling as they politely bade farewell to Dai Chunhua, but they refrained from submitting their visiting cards.

Dai Chunhua maintained a calm smile the entire time, and only after everyone had departed did she instruct in a low voice, "Report everything that just happened to our higher-ups, and make it quick! I need instructions within 10 minutes! According to our beacon, the fleet of the Alkebulan Underworlds has already reached Osaka Port, and they'll arrive in Nara in around half an hour!"

The Emissary of Hell immediately departed, and only then did Dai Chunua get a chance to catch her breath. She cast a cold gaze toward the corridor, then departed in a determined manner.

The Cathayan Underworld definitely couldn't back down at a time like this!

The standoff had already begun, and anyone who backed down now would be met with derision from the entire world! If the Cathayan Underworld were to display weakness now, the fence-sitters would never side with them!

She quickly made her way toward the conference hall. Notification had been issued in advance, so the second floor of the pavilion was already teeming with activity. Several dozen underworld emissaries had begun to clean up the conference hall and were setting up everything required for the upcoming press conference. However, she could clearly see that another conference hall of the same caliber was also being set up less than 50 meters to the left of this conference hall!

She drew to a halt before turning to an emissary of the Nipponese Underworld. "Who's holding the press conference in that hall?"

"That would be Death Goddess Erinys," the underworld emissary replied in a respectful manner. "She submitted a very urgent request to hold a press conference."

Dai Chunhua nodded in response before asking, "What time is her press conference being held?"

The underworld emissary shook his head and replied, "I'm not sure. Mistress Erinys didn't tell us that, she only instructed us to prepare the conference hall."

Generally speaking, for conferences like this, detailed information such as who was holding the conference and when the conference was being held would be released days in advance.

However, Erinys's intentions were very clear here. She had intentionally chosen this conference hall right beside the one that the Cathayan Underworld was going to use, and she hadn't set a time at which to hold her conference as she was waiting to match the Cathayan Underworld's time slot.

Dai Chunhua nodded in response before making her way into the nearby lounge.

She had already memorized all of the main points of her speech script and she had already considered all of the questions that could be raised. However, even though she was extremely well prepared, she still couldn't calm down now that the press conference was about to be held, and she opened her script to read through it again.

15 minutes later, she closed the script again with a determined expression, then closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Looks like the real clash will take place during our press conferences." Despite being a seasoned veteran with vast experience accumulated during her time in the mortal realm, she was still quite tense and nervous under the enormous responsibility that had been placed on her shoulders. 

Right at this moment, the door was opened, and the underworld emissary that had rushed off to report the situation to Qin Ye quickly strode into the room.

Dai Chunhua immediately stood up and asked, "What are my instructions?"

The underworld emissary replied, "Lord Qin says to deliver your address as-is. He says to proceed according to the plan and make zero compromises. He also has a message for you, which I will relay now: 'No matter what the opposition does, you have to hold down the fort! If anything happens, I will take responsibility as King Yanluo! We cannot concede no matter what!'."

Dai Chunhua closed her eyes and took a few more deep breaths.

She suddenly recalled the first time she had faced the entire world as the government's spokesperson in the mortal realm.

She was experiencing that exact same feeling of pumping adrenaline and irrepressible giddiness once again.

If you want a fight, then I'll give you a fight! 

Goosebumps were raised all over her skin as this thought surfaced in her mind, and only after several seconds did she reopen her eyes and nod with a serious expression.

Right at this moment, another underworld emissary rushed into the room. he was in such a hurry that he almost fell over upon rushing into the room, but before he had even steadied himself, he reported in a trembling voice, "Death Goddess Erinys is going to be holding a press conference on behalf of the three pillars in 30 minutes!"

The netherfire in Dai Chunhua's eyes immediately began to flicker erratically upon hearing this.

How could this be? Weren't they trying to match the timing of the Cathayan Underworld's press conference?

The sequence of the press conferences was very important. A human's memory capacity was limited, and the same applied to underworld emissaries. In this situation, going first didn't necessarily grant one an advantage, particularly when the two sides were still in the midst of an intense power struggle. Everyone wanted to see what trump cards the Cathayan Underworld had up its sleeve, so recency bias would actually favor the Cathayan Underworld, which was going to be holding its press conference after Erinys. In the absence of the leaders of the three pillars, what right did Erinys have to initiate the next step of the plan?

Were they not afraid of displaying their cards first, only to be met with an even more powerful trump card from the Cathayan Underworld?

"Why are they doing this?" Despite her vast experience, Dai Chunhua was completely perplexed, and she could only stare in silence at the speech script in her hands.

……………………………………………………

At the Strait of Tsushima.

The wind was fierce and the waves were turbulent. Several dozen large ships had drawn to a halt on the sea. These ships were all constructed from timber and decorated with artwork in the Alkebulan style, and Yama-King-level auras were emanating from many of the ships.

There were Zulu warriors wearing face paint and skeletal necklaces standing on the ships, wielding spears and Nguni shields. On either side of them were large flags bearing the symbols of all of the tribes flapping in the wind.

This was a fleet with several hundred elite warriors and around a dozen death gods, and generally speaking, no one would dare to stand in its way, yet at this moment it had been stopped cold in its tracks.

Boundless Yin energy had formed a vast vortex on the surface of the sea in front of the fleet, and three humanoid figures clad in tattered black cloaks were standing within the vortex. They were hovering above the sea like feathers, and even though there were only three of them, the formidable vortex formed by their combined Yin energy was making the surface of the sea surge and tumble violently as if there were an underwater volcano erupting beneath their feet.

All of the Mythic Spirits of the Alkebulan Underworlds had emerged from the cabins of the ships, and Mythic Spirit Black Mamba was looking on with a grim expression in his narrowed eyes.

Those three figures were a trio of advanced Dukes, and it was a far more formidable lineup than even the most powerful of armies.

"Yamaraja?" A thunderous voice rang out across the sea as Mythic Spirit Golden Rhinoceros asked in a surprised voice, "To what do we owe this honor, esteemed ruler of the Hindustani Underworld?"

Beneath Yamraja's tattered cloak was an inky-black shadow that resembled a bottomless abyss, and all of a sudden, several dozen bright red eyes lit up in unison as he replied, "It's nothing important, I just want you all to stop here for a while."

Then dozen or so Mythic Spirits on the ships cast their eyes toward Yamaraja in unison. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean exactly what I just said," Yamaraja replied. "I don't want you to arrive in Nara until the day that the conference will be held. If you can do that, the three pillars will be sure to compensate you handsomely regardless of which side you choose."

A cold smile appeared on Black Mamba's face as he finally realized what was happening. No wonder they had heard that none of the three pillars had arrived in Nara yet, they were all busy intercepting important allies of the Cathayan Underworld!

So long as the Alkebulan Underworlds were absent, the Cathayan Underworld would be unable to unveil its next trump card, and as time passed, the other underworlds would have no choice but to bow to pressure and side with the three pillars!

"You're breaking the rules," Black Mamba said in a cold voice.

"The strong make the rules while the weak follow the rules. This is the nature of the world, I'm sure you're not so naive as to not know this." Yamaraja's tattered cloak was flapping wildly in the wind, and there seemed to be a smile in his voice as he said, "Don't worry, we won't do anything drastic. Destroying civilizations is inhumane, and we've never considered destroying anyone, even the Cathayan Underworld."

"It's not a matter of whether you want to, the fact of the matter is that you don't dare to do that!" Mythic Spirit Sunbird scoffed. "So what if we insist on advancing onward?"

A threatening tone crept into Yamaraja's voice as he replied, "You can give it a try."

Mythic Spirit Black Mamba looked around briefly before asking, "Where is your Heavenly Snake Fleet? You aren't powerful enough to stop us on your own, your fleet must be nearby, right?"

"Perhaps," Yamaraja replied in an ambiguous manner. "I have no intention of battling them, and no one will know what's happened here..."

"What if I intervene?" Another voice suddenly rang out across the entire surface of the sea.

Yamarja faltered slightly upon hearing this, and a golden vertical pupil finally appeared among his dozens of scarlet eyes as he looked around in a bewildered manner.

Who was it that had just spoken?

He hadn't noticed anyone, so could it be that there was another advanced Duke present? How could there be such a powerful being among the Alkebulan Mythic Spirits?

Before he had a chance to figure out who it could be, the clouds in the sky suddenly began to surge violently, quickly forming a vast vortex, following which a burst of Yin energy that wasn't inferior to his own in the slightest erupted forth. Boundless golden light then gushed out of the vortex, forming a radiant pillar of light.

Boom! 

The pillar of light struck the surface of the sea with devastating force, sending shockwaves erupting in all directions to sweep up gigantic waves. However, Yamaraja merely stood atop the waves, completely unaffected by them. After a long while, he finally sighed, "So you've returned... You withstood a forbidden art head-on, yet you've become even more powerful than before. Did the Cathayan Underworld bestow this upon you?"

The response that he received was a thunderous roar that echoed incessantly throughout the entire area. Several seconds later, a pure white serpentine head that was covered in feathers and was several dozen meters in size emerged from within the vortex.

Yamaraja looked on with a grim expression as he asked, "Quetzalcoatl, are you content to act as a lackey of the Cathayan Underworld?"

"Hahaha!" The Plumed Serpent God threw his head back and erupted into laughter, then stared intently at Yamaraja as he replied, "I need to survive!"

"Do you really want to oppose me here?!"

"Either stand and fight, or step aside! There's no other alternative!"