Yama Rising

Right as the divine official's voice trailed off, the shimenawa in the shrine began to sway violently, and a few seconds later, a dark and ancient aura surged forth from behind the shimenawa. In the next instant, a vast expanse of inky-black Yin energy spread over the entire Shinto shrine, and even the lanterns and canopies of the trees outside were rustling incessantly.

The divine official stood off to the side in a respectful manner, but he was constantly looking behind himself. More and more netherworldly citizens were rushing up the mountain, while the ships on the sea were becoming clearer and clearer. One wave of indescribably powerful Yin energy after another was crashing into the coastline with devastating force like a tsunami.

He gritted his teeth tightly, eagerly awaiting the arrival of Yamata no Orochi. Each passing second felt like an eternity to him. Right at this moment, a resounding boom rang out, and the entire city of Sasebo quaked violently.

The ground began to tremble forcefully, and the divine official gave an alarmed cry as he fell to the ground. All of the artifacts and food items offered up in the shrine were scattered everywhere, and before he had a chance to do anything, a massive golden eye had already appeared behind the shimenawa.

It was Yamata no Orochi, the yokai and protector of Kyushu. Nagasaki was a province in Kyushu, so this place was naturally under its jurisdiction.

"What is it?" A pristine white serpentine head that was over three meters in size slowly extended out from behind the shimenawa. There was a horn that was around half a meter in length growing on its forehead, and it was entirely enveloped in dense Yin energy.

Even though it was a serpentine head, it wore a very humanized expression of haughtiness and disdain. However, that expression quickly gave way to shock and alarm as the two vertical pupils of the serpentine head contracted drastically.

It cast an astonished gaze forward, following which it abruptly extended forward several meters until it was outside the shrine, sweeping up a fierce gust of Yin wind with its sudden movement. Less than a second later, it let loose an astonished cry. "Are we being invaded by another underworld?! Such powerful Yin energy… Is this… the Cathayan Underworld's army?!"

Countless bursts of Yin energy abruptly converged to form a man wearing an onmyouji robe. The man's entire body was covered in scales, and he was so horrified that the netherfire in his eyes was bright red. He lifted the divine official up from the ground by the collar as he frantically asked, "Have you raised the alarm and notified all of the other yokai?!"

"I… I haven't had a chance to do that yet…"

"Useless!" Yamata no Orochi tossed the divine official aside before rushing over to the entrance of the shrine and casting his gaze outside.

In this short span of time, the Cathayan Underworld's fleet had already become clearly visible. The surface of the sea had been illuminated gold, while Sasebo had been transformed into a boundless sea of fire!

His senses were far more acute than others, so he could clearly see a series of giant Vermillion Birds rising up from the flames on the dozens of ships at the forefront of the fleet. The Vermillion Birds spread their wings before rising up into the sky, and bursts of bright red flames were erupting out of their bodies like shooting stars.

"Those are Vermillion Bird Feathers! They're A-grade siege weapons!" His teeth were chattering with fear at this point. "How could they go so far?! Do they intend to wipe out our Nipponese Underworld?!"

Right at this moment, an extremely threatening aura silently locked onto him.

There's a Cathayan Underworld Abyssal Prefect here!

Yamata no Orochi was horrified by this discovery. He naturally didn't think that he had the power to oppose an Abyssal Prefect from a superior nation, and he immediately flew back into the shimenawa as a burst of Yin energy without any hesitation.

This is no joke… The Cathayan Underworld is trying to wipe out our Nipponese Underworld! I have to notify Izanami and the rest of the world right away! Otherwise, it's over for the Nipponese Underworld!

……………………………………

The sound of bell chimes rang out across the entire city of Sasebo, immediately following which bursts of flames rose up into the heavens, then exploded to form bright red flares.

All of the underworld emissaries in the Sasebo municipal government building were alerted by the sight of these flares, and they immediately rushed toward their posts in a frantic fashion.

"We are being attacked!"

"Protect the city at all costs!"

"We can't allow the invaders to set foot upon our soil!"

"We have to stop them, even if we have to form a barricade with our very souls!"

"Persevere, everyone! Reinforcements will be coming soon!"

Groups of spear-wielding foot soldiers wearing conical bamboo hats and suits of armor rushed out of all of the barracks, while the mayor of the city frantically picked up his phone.

"Connect me to Yomotsu Hirasaka right away! Hurry!"

The dialing tone quickly rang out, but the mayor wasn't reassured at all, and each passing second felt like an eternity to him.

We have to hold back the enemy! If Sasebo falls, the entire eastern region of the Nipponese Underworld will be in grave danger! Damn it, why is the call still not connected?!

Finally, the call was connected, and he didn't even ask who had picked up the phone on the other side before yelling with all his might, "Sasebo has been attacked by over 1,000 warships from the Cathayan Underworld! They're definitely not just here to take over Sasebo! Activate the inter-realm mirrors for me right now! We need reinforcements, fast!"

The person on the other side of the line faltered slightly upon hearing this, and only after a few seconds did an incredulous male voice ring out in response. "Is this supposed to be a prank?"

"No, goddamn it!" The mayor felt as if he were about to explode!

"Make sure reinforcements arrive within 30… No, 15 minutes!"

After that, he slammed down the phone and grabbed his coat before rushing out of the room.

There was already a beast-drawn carriage waiting for him outside, and only after rushing into the carriage did he allow himself a moment to catch his breath. "Take me to the center of Nagasaki! Hurry!"

The beast-drawn carriage began to gallop along the street, and the mayor finally heaved a long sigh of relief.

The inter-realm mirrors hadn't been activated in advance, and there were no high-grade underworld emissaries protecting the city. Even Yamata no Orochi didn't dare to do anything, so there was certainly no point for him to stay in the city!

The carriage sped along the road, and as they were passing over a cliff, he looked outside to inspect the scenes unfolding down below.

As a result, he was greeted by a hellish sight.

There was nothing to be seen aside from a sea of karmic fire, which had completely inundated the entire city. However, there were still many Yin soldiers gathering on the coast and on the streets. There were roughly 10,000 of them, and they were all rushing toward the oncoming ships with their spears raised in resistance.

"How futile," he sighed as he withdrew his gaze, then massaged his own glabella with a pained expression. "This is the Cathayan Underworld! There's no way we can put up any meaningful resistance!"

……………………………………

"Charge!" A deafening war cry rang out on the coast as over 10,000 spear-wielding foot soldiers converged toward the approaching monstrous ships. Illuminated by the light of the karmic flames, the ironclad warships of the Cathayan Underworld were given a downright demonic appearance.

The ships were all interconnected with one another to form an indestructible formation, and with the pulling force generated by the spears that had been launched earlier, the ships were able to travel at an astonishing speed. At this point, all of the Yin soldiers of the Nipponese Underworld could already see the flags flapping in the wind on all of the ships.

We're about to reach land…

On the ship at the very center of the fleet stood Qin Changxin, Qin Xinzhong, Mori Ranmaru, and all of the other evil ghosts that had come from Obsidian Heaven's Eye Bowl. All of them were looking on with eager anticipation in their eyes, and Qin Changxin's expression was already slightly twisted as thoughts of the past, present, and future surged through his mind all at once.

After several centuries, I have finally returned! This is the day that I exact my revenge!

"Charge!" He gritted his teeth as he raised an arm, doing his best to make his own voice as calm as possible. With that raised arm as a signal, the sound of long horns rang out over the entire surface of the sea, immediately following which the neighs of at least 30,000 skeletal warhorses erupted in unison. Each warhorse was carrying a Yin soldier on its back, and the entire army was raring to go.

"Break through their defenses!" Qin Changxin roared with all his might, then shot forth as a streak of light, landing on a giant three-meter-tall skeletal warhorse at the forefront of the army before raising the longsword in his hand. "Follow me! We will take back what is rightfully ours!"

The sound of countless thundering hooves rang out as all of the skeletal warhorses galloped forward in unison.

The surface of the sea splashed incessantly as the skeletal warhorses charged over the waves. The sight of tens of thousands of skeletal warhorses on the charge at once was truly an astonishing one to behold, and the entire surface of the sea was swaying like an enormous, shattered gemstone. The entire army was giving off incredible killing intent as they charged toward the coastline with unstoppable might.

The spear-wielding foot soldiers of the Nipponese Underworld had already set up a defensive barricade, and their spears were gleaming under the moonlight.

The two sides were about to clash imminently, but no one was taking so much as a single backward step.

Retreat was not an option!

"By Hell's Dictum, all rabble shall disperse!" Amid the collective voices of 30,000 troops, the cavalry of the Cathayan Underworld embarked on a ferocious charge. They were like waves of the sea, crashing toward the coastline one after another. During their advance, black and white light rose up from beneath their feet, and a series of black characters appeared in the air around them, giving them the appearance of a divine army that had descended from the heavens.

This was the Wumu military formation!

The distance between the Cathayan Underworld's forces and the coastline was quickly being closed down.

Both sides could see the killing intent in the eyes of the enemy, and right at this moment, someone suddenly exclaimed, "That's the Dairokuten Maou!"

Everyone faltered slightly upon hearing this, following which a string of alarmed cries erupted throughout the Nipponese Underworld's ranks. "It really is Oda Nobunaga! The Dairokuten Maou has returned!"

Panic instantly spread through the spear-wielding footsoldiers.

In Nippon, the Dairokuten Maou was an extremely renowned historic figure, so his presence struck fear into the hearts of the Nipponese Underworld's Yin soldiers even before the two sides had clashed.

Right at this moment, Qin Changxin roared, "Charge!"

Countless Nipponese underworld emissaries looked on with stunned expressions as the tens of thousands of cavaliers charged toward the coastline.

All of a sudden, the skeletal warhorses sprang up into the air in unison, and they were giving off black and white auras under the enhancements provided by the Wumu military formation. The entire cavalry unit had taken to the heavens and had their longswords pointed directly toward the enemy Yin soldiers down below.

Yin energy exploded violently as the wave of cavaliers finally reached the shore, and the Nipponese Underworld's Yin soldiers were vanquished virtually in the blink of an eye.

This was the difference between their military formations.

A military formation could enhance a Yin soldier's offensive and defensive capabilities. With top-tier military formations like Wumu, it would only require tens of thousands of Yin soldiers to oppose a Yama-King. Of course, they wouldn't be able to kill the Yama-King. Instead, they would only be able to stall for time, just like what had happened back at the Myriad Soul Pagoda.

In order to kill a Yama-King, an army of millions would be required, even with a top-tier military formation.

Unfortunately for the Nipponese Underworld, the caliber of its military formations were simply far inferior.

It was like a clash between eggs and rocks, and the tens of thousands of cavaliers stormed onto Nipponese territory. As soon as they reached land, countless bursts of netherfire erupted from beneath the hooves of the skeletal warhorses.

"Those who surrender will be spared!" Qin Changxin roared as he led the charge toward the municipal government building.

If he could destroy the government building, then he would be able to sever all communication between Sasebo and the rest of the Nipponese Underworld!

This war was only just beginning!