Yama Rising

None of the death gods could've anticipated such a twist.

"Why are they here?" Yamaraja's elation had completely died down. Never did he think that Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa, who had kept to themselves for hundreds of years, would arrive in Nara and stand on the side of the Cathayan Underworld in such a clear and blatant manner!

He turned toward Qin Ye, who had finally allowed himself a relieved smile, and the dozen of scarlet eyes beneath his cloak instantly lit up. In that instant, he finally realized that this was the Cathayan Underworld's final trump card!

Their ultimate trump card had never been the Alkebulan Underworlds, it was the new continent instead! Anubis was staring intently at the two hobbling figures in silence. He was well aware of just how volatile and unreasonable these two could be.

This also made him understand some things, such as why Osiris had suddenly vanished.

The second King Yanluo had clearly released that burst of Yin energy while capturing Osiris to intimidate the three pillars. Was this because Osiris had tried to cut off contact between the Cathayan Underworld and the new continent?

The entire conference hall fell into complete silence again until Mictlantecutli asked, "Do you have any objections to a revote?"

The question was directed at Borfis, who obviously didn't dare to object, and he immediately shook his head in response.

The rulers of the three pillars finally returned to their senses upon seeing this.

They had finally brought the Cathayan Underworld down from its pedestal, how could they allow the outcome of this vote to be invalidated?

"Mictlantecutli, Mictetikasiwa," Hypnos said in a cold voice. "You have my respect, but this is a major international conference, and the outcome of the vote has already been recorded, so this is not something that you can invalidate as you please."

As soon as his voice trailed off, a streak of black light flashed past his face. His expression remained calm and he didn't even move, but a flurry of cries of surprise immediately rang out from the hall behind him.

A thick skeletal snake had elegantly elongated out of Mictetikasiwa's cloak and snapped one of the stone pillars behind Hypnos with its powerful jaw.

"What is the meaning of this?" Hypnos smiled, but the smile was even more sinister than the coldest of sneers. "Do you want to start a fight with me right here, right now?!"

"Piss off!" Mictetikasiwa turned toward Hypnos, and just the effort from such a minor action was enough to make her slightly out of breath. "So what if I want to fight you here? These three were not qualified to vote in our stead, so should this vote not be invalidated? If this vote is invalidated, then should there not be a revote? Don't tell me you're too stupid to understand that!"

Her cloak was hovering up and down rapidly around her, making it seem as if a demon were about to rush out from underneath. "Don't try to stop me! Otherwise, only one of us will leave this place alive!!"

Her shrill and deranged voice echoed throughout the entire hall as she shrieked, "I'm about to die! Die, do you understand?! How about you?! If you don't want to die, then follow the proper rules, do you understand?!"

Boom!! Hypnos's Yin energy also erupted forth before instantly transforming into an extremely menacing inky-black face, and 12 pitch-black wings spread open on his back. "If it's a fight you want, then I'm happy to oblige, you old prune!!"

Never had anyone dared to provoke him like this before!

As soon as his voice trailed off, Mictetikasiwa's body abruptly exploded, and a giant golden skull wearing the golden crown of a queen stood up from the Yin cloud that had inundated the entire ground. Within the inky-black eye sockets of the skull were two pure golden eyeballs, and it screeched as it hurtled directly toward Hypnos.

This was a clash between advanced death gods!

No one would have anticipated that Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa would be so deranged as to attack the ruler of one of the four pillars without any hesitation! This was no probing jab, Mictetikasiwa had revealed her true form and was going all-out from the get-go!

Izanami was absolutely horrified, and she immediately picked up the hem of her kimono before fleeing the hall as quickly as she could.

The entire hall was already beginning to collapse, and those below the Yama-King level were certain to be killed if they were to stay here!

"Run!"

"The residual shockwaves from a clash like this are far too powerful for us to withstand!"

"What are you all doing?! Do you really want to lay waste to the rules of the world?!"

"Please stop!"

BOOM!!! 

An earth-shattering boom rang out, and all of the emissaries of the Nipponese Underworld in the city of Nara looked up with stunned expressions, only to discover a shockwave erupting from the center of the massive pavilion that was the centerpiece of the city. Immediately thereafter, dust and shrapnel filled the entire sky as the giant pavilion was split into two, and the top was crashing down toward the ground!

What is going on?! 

Before they had a chance to make sense of the situation, an earth-shattering roar of fury rang out, and a giant golden skeletal hand swept through the air. At the same time, a butterfly-like figure quickly rushed out, then dissipated into Yin energy right as the giant skeletal hand was about to close around it.

"What is happening?" a journalist exclaimed in a stunned voice. "Is that the Heavenly Radiance Hall? What's going on in there?!"

Is this a clash between advanced death gods? Is this the precursor for a world war? 

"My god..." A Caucasian journalist was staring up at the sky in a slack-jawed manner as the massive pavilion came crashing down from the heavens before slamming into the ground with an almighty impact, sending dust flying close to 20 meters up into the sky. 

"What on earth just happened?!"

"Why has there suddenly been a clash between advanced death gods?"

"Is it a clash between the Cathayan Underworld and the other three pillars?"

"No, judging from this Yin energy, it seems more like the two rulers of the new continent are involved!"

"That's impossible! How could they possibly be here?!"

All of the journalists knew that this was a massive scoop, but none of them dared to rush to the scene.

………………………………………………

"You really do have a death wish!" Hypnos roared with fury in the hall, and he brought his 12 wings together, stopping Mictlantecutli's giant palm cold in its tracks.

The wings then slowly spread open to reveal Hypnos's enraged expression. "In that case, I'll..."

However, before he even had a chance to finish his sentence, all of the opposing Yin energy abruptly subsided, and Mictetikasiwa returned to his original form, making it appear as if nothing had ever happened.

Hypnos felt as if he had pulled back to deliver an almighty punch, only for his fist to land on a pile of feathers! After a brief stupor, he suddenly realized something, and he looked around to find that aside from the four pillars, the nameless god of death, Zhao Yun, and several other death gods who were still present, all of the other death gods had already fled the hall.

Furthermore, they were currently situated in a hall without a roof, and a third of the entire giant pavilion had been destroyed, leaving only carnage and wreckage in its wake.

As the situation slowly dawned on him, Hypnos turned to Mictetikasiwa with burning fury in his eyes. "So this is what you were aiming for from the very beginning. As expected of an old fox like you. Let's go!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, he turned around and withdrew his wings, departing from the hall, or at least what was left of it, with Anubis and Yamaraja.

"You better pray that you don't live for much longer," Yamaraja said in an indifferent voice as he passed by Mictetikasiwa.

His tone was quite calm and placid, but the searing hatred hidden within it was clearly discernible to everyone.

The entire conference hall had been destroyed, so there was no longer even a venue for the conference to continue!

According to international rules, there had to be a gap of at least a day before a revote could take place, and they really did need this time to find another conference hall. Even if they wanted to force this conference to continue anyway, the other death gods wouldn't attend!

They weren't afraid of the two rulers of the new continent, but all of the other death gods certainly were!

As such, they had to give everyone else time to calm down. Furthermore, with the conference hall in complete ruins, there was no way that the conference could continue here as that would be a sign of disrespect to the entire world, and this was what Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa had been counting on all along.

"Aren't there still 12 international arbiters who can announce the outcome?" Qin Ye asked as he made his way over to Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa with a smile.

Mictlantecutli was slightly out of breath as he smiled in response. "After seeing how thoroughly this place has been destroyed, Hypnos would've already known that there wouldn't be any arbiters left alive, which means that all of the votes cast just now will be invalidated. I thought that he would at least ask out of hope and desperation if nothing else, but it looks like he was smart enough to know that it would've been futile anyway."

He then extended a hand toward Qin Ye as he said, "It's an honor to finally meet you, third King Yanluo of the Cathayan Underworld."

"Likewise, rulers of the new continent."

You could've gotten here a little earlier, but at least you arrived right in the nick of time. Now then, it's time to unveil the final trump card that I wasn't able to last time! 

The handshake was extremely brief, nothing more than a touch of hands, and Mictlantecutli flicked out his tongue like a snake to lick his own lips as he said, "I'm acting respectfully toward you now, but if it turns out that you're lying to me, I'm not going to hold back! I don't want to make the Cathayan Underworld my enemy, but that doesn't mean I'm scared. I only agreed to help you in return for the compensation that you offered, and I hope we can both be open and honest with one another."

"Of course." Qin Ye nodded in response.

I can give you the method that Brother Xu used, but it's up to you to see whether you can replicate it. If you don't die, the new continent won't fall into turmoil, and our Cathayan Underworld won't have a chance to strike. 

There were never any friends in world politics. All of the underworlds who believed in the existence of friendship on the world stage had most likely already been erased from existence. Qin Ye was in need of their help, but their interaction would be limited to this one trade alone, and after this transaction, the two sides would return to being complete strangers.

The branch of the pavilion where the Cathayan Underworld camp was staying had been left completely unharmed, and Qin Ye returned to his room with the two rulers of the new continent. A servant immediately filled their cups with tea, then promptly departed from the room.

"At the very most, we can only buy you a day of time," Mictetikasiwa said in a grim voice as soon as they sat down. "Next time, they're most likely going to bring out creation-grade divine artifacts. Even if they have to completely isolate the next venue, they're going to ensure the conference runs till its conclusion, no matter what. After all, they currently hold the absolute upper hand over you. I'm very curious."

An intrigued look appeared on her face, which was concealed beneath the hood of her cloak, as she cast her gaze toward Qin Ye. "With our foul reputations, you won't derive any benefits from allying yourself with us. How are you going to be able to turn the tables in just a single day?"

Qin Ye smiled in response. "Why don't you wait and see?"

………………………………………………

"Those old meddling bastards!!" Inside his room, Hypnos had just crushed the teacup in his hand, and he was looking out through his window with a murderous glare as he gnashed his teeth together with fury.

They had only been an inch away from victory! They were so close that he could already taste the sweetness of victory on his tongue, yet it had slipped through his grasp just like that!

If they had come 10 minutes later... no, even five minutes later, the state of international politics would've already undergone a massive change!

As soon as the vote was recorded, there would've been no way for the Cathayan Underworld to turn the tables!

"Your Excellency!" Right at this moment, an underworld emissary quickly rushed into the room before informing, "In three hours, the Cathayan Underworld, the new continent, the Alkebulan Underworlds, and Northern Europa's five-nation alliance will be holding a disclosure conference for the Zhu Rong plan together, and all death gods and journalists are invited to attend!"

Hypnos's pupils constantly contracted upon hearing this.

He had a feeling that this was the Cathayan Underworld's final trump card, and it was also the one that they had managed to intercept, but they couldn't stop it any longer.

In the end, the Cathayan Underworld had managed to withstand the joint pressure exerted upon them by the three pillars and survive to this point.

Now, it was time for the Cathayan Underworld to lay down this final trump card of theirs!

He rose to his feet with a fierce expression. "So you want to decide the outcome once and for all? Fine! Let me see exactly what it is that's given you such immense confidence!"