Yama Rising

Fierce karmic flames swept over Hokkaido, and looking out from Umi no Maru, one could only see a sea of bright red.

Umi no Maru was the tenshu pavilion of the Matsumae Clan in the underworld. As a daimyo clan that hadn't been affected during the Sengoku period in the mortal realm, it had continued to maintain a neutral existence even after entering the underworld. As a result, it didn't take part in the conflict between the daimyos and the gods and demons. Thus, Umi no Maru was expanded further and further over time, and at this point, it was virtually taking up the entire central region of Hokkaido.

Tall city walls had been erected on either side of Umi no Maru, and they were entirely constructed from the D-grade material, Spirit Devouring Crystal. The city walls extended as far as the eyes could see, and they gave off a warped, semi-transparent black presentation, much like obsidian. The city walls cut off all paths from Umi no Maru to the southern part of Hokkaido, and the inter-realm mirrors were no more than 10 meters away from the city walls, so cavaliers were unable to charge through the mirrors and siege weapons couldn't be completely erected. As a result, it was known as the northern great wall of the Nipponese Underworld.

The reason why Umi no Maru was so resolute was because Hokkaido neighbored the Cathayan Underworld and the Russian Underworld. In the face of one of the four pillars and a first-rate underworld, the Nipponese Underworld had no choice but to erect the sturdiest of fortresses here.

It was already 4 AM, but Umi no Maru was still brightly lit and bustling with activity.

Down below, countless warhorses and foot soldiers had already assembled, and flags bearing the Matsumae Clan's emblem were flapping in the wind. Over 100,000 yokai and Yin soldiers had gathered in Umi no Maru, and they were all looking on with wary expressions beyond the mountain.

Several hours ago, the Cathayan Underworld's Yin soldiers had descended upon Sōya-misaki, Wakkanai, and the Shiretoko Peninsula, seemingly out of nowhere, arriving at over 10 different points on the coastline of Hokkaido.

Three hours ago, Lake Kussharo was conquered.

Two hours ago, Lake Mashū and Lake Akan were conquered in rapid succession.

The latest report had come an hour ago, bearing news of the fall of Daisetsuzan.

The Cathayan Underworld's forces were unstoppable!

The Nipponese Underworld's Yin soldiers and yokai were completely unprepared, and they were no match for the formidable Cathayan army. Even Tamamo-no-Mae had gone to reinforce Chugoku and Shikoku, and no one could've anticipated that the Cathayan Underworld would be attacking from both coasts.

All of the yokai in the tenshu pavilion had assembled, and soldiers bearing reports were constantly coming and going. Even the most ordinary of servants could sense the tension in the air, and they didn't even dare to breathe too loudly in fear of drawing attention to themselves. In the face of the Cathayan Underworld's forces, the entirety of Umi no Maru had become eerily silent.

Onmoraki's teeth were tightly gritted as he slammed the latest report onto the table. "We can't retreat any further than this! The entire northern half of Hokkaido has already fallen, yet the Cathayan Underworld's troops are still advancing! They're not just seeking to conquer Hokkaido, they want to go even further beyond that and invade the rest of the nation!"

Wanyūdō transformed into a menacing face in mid-air as it said, "If Hokkaido falls, then the Cathayan Underworld's army will seize control over the Tsugaru Straits, which is a natural barricade. If the Cathayan Underworld doesn't return that territory to us, we'll never be able to stage a successful retaliation! If Umi no Maru is lost, then that would be the equivalent of Hokkaido being lost, and our deaths will be inevitable regardless of whether we flee or not. Our best chance now is to rely on Umi no Maru as a fortress. At the very least, we have to last until Mistress Izanami's orders arrive!"

"We won't be able to defend Umi or Maru on our own," Bake-kujira said in a grim voice. "The Matsumae Clan…"

"The Matsumae Clan will defend Hokkaido with our lives!" Before Bake-kujira had a chance to finish, the door was abruptly opened, following which Kakizaki Suehiro entered the room in a full suit of armor with a katana strapped to his waist. Behind him were Matsumae Yoshihiro and Kakizaki Mitsuhiro, both of which were also fully equipped with armor.

Behind them was a samurai in a suit of red armor, but what was different about him was that instead of the fukikaeshi flaps that were customarily present on samurai helmets, his helmet had a swathe of white fur.

This suit of armor was extremely distinctive and renowned, to the point that all of the gods and demons of the Nipponese Underworld were aware of who it belonged to. In the blink of an eye, several underworld emissaries raised their heads with stunned expressions. "Is that Takeda Shingen?"

Following their surprise came the elation!

Chubu and Kansai had deployed their troops!

Reinforcements had arrived!

They weren't reinforcements from the faction of gods and demons, but Takeda Shingen was a vastly renowned daimyo of the Sengoku period! Even in the underworld, the Takeda Clan was a formidable force to be reckoned with. With their assistance, Umi no Maru would at least be able to last longer than it otherwise would.

"Takeda San…" Onmoraki made his way over to Takeda Shingen with an excited expression, yet before he had even arrived, he was greeted by a flashing blade.

Kakizaki Suehiro, Matsumae Yoshihiro, Kakizaki Mitsuhiro, and Takeda Shingen had drawn their blades in unison. Onmoraki's elated expression was still frozen on its face as its body abruptly disintegrated into Yin energy and netherfire.

Deathly silence.

This was such an abrupt turn of events that Wanyūdō was rooted to the spot for three seconds before turning around and fleeing for its life. "Takeda Shingen is a traitor!"

There were a total of six underworld emissaries in the hall, and they frantically rushed toward the doors. However, in the instant that the doors were opened, they were greeted by the sight of countless foot soldiers standing outside.

They were foot soldiers that served the daimyos.

Countless weapons were aimed toward the hall, and as soon as the underworld emissaries rushed out, they were met by a ruthless assault, which was the last thing that they saw before entering the cycle of reincarnation.

In that instant, they suddenly understood many things.

Why had the daimyos arrived in full suits of armor? How had the fleets of the Cathayan Underworld arrived at Hokkaido without any warning? Why was it that the Cathayan Underworld's forces were attacking Umi no Maru when it was one of the most resolute fortresses in the entirety of the Nipponese Underworld?

In the instant right before their demise, they were all blessed by the gift of hindsight, allowing them to see everything clearly, but unfortunately for them, they wouldn't be able to tell anyone what they had just figured out.

"Seize the city!" Takeda Shingen commanded without any hesitation. "Seize Umi no Maru and open the city gates! Kill all of the underworld emissaries in the city with no exceptions!"

"Yes!!"

One ship after another sliced through the waves, traveling directly toward the Nipponese Underworld.

The ships were enormous. Each one was over 100 meters in length, and there were countless Yin soldiers stationed on them, ready for battle. Furthermore, the sides of all of the ships were lined with hooked spikes and cannons.

There were over 100 ships in total in the fleet, and what was most peculiar about the ships was that they were all of a pure golden color. All of the fleets that they encountered along the way immediately parted to let them through. Everyone knew that this was the Golden Fleet, which reigned supreme in the Mediterranean Sea!

The Golden Fleet had arrived, and Erinys was also present. That wasn't even to mention the smaller ships at the center of the Golden Fleet. There were roughly 200 of these ships, and they were entirely black in color. Furthermore, their design was quite strange, with figureheads depicting creatures with female human upper bodies and serpentine tails. This was the vastly renowned Naga Fleet of the Hindustani Underworld, and no one dared to get in the way of these two formidable fleets.

The main ship of the Golden Fleet, the Hades, was situated at the very center. It was over 400 meters in size and armed to the teeth. On the top-level deck of the Hades stood Erinys, who was holding a pair of golden binoculars and wearing a pure white cape, as well as a pair of black gloves and a tricorne.

As the main ship of the Golden Fleet, the Hades was extremely luxurious. Behind her was the captain of the Hades and a group of high-ranking officials, which amounted to a total of 13 Abyssal Prefects!

All of them were standing in silence as their clothes flapped incessantly amid the passing Yin wind.

The Cathayan Underworld had launched an assault on the Nipponese Underworld, and at this point, the entire eastern region of the Nipponese Underworld had already fallen. Erinys had received an order from Hypnos, instructing her to travel to the Nipponese Underworld as quickly as possible, and at the moment, the Spratly Islands were directly ahead of them.

This was already a part of the Cathayan Underworld's waters, and Erinys set down her binoculars as she commanded in a thunderous voice that was audible across the entire fleet, "All units, report your positions!"

One report after another immediately arrived, and no abnormalities were reported. However, not only was Erinys not relieved to hear this, her brows furrowed even further.

There was clearly something wrong here!

It was an easy task for the Cathayan Underworld to take down the Nipponese Underworld. The most difficult part of all of this was contending with the Coalition of Underworlds. With that in mind, she was already prepared to engage the Cathayan Underworld's navy in battle in the South Cathay Sea, but no enemy troops had been stationed here at all!

Could this be an oversight from the Cathayan Underworld's King Yanluo?

Erinys was not convinced of that. She had met the third King Yanluo on several occasions, so she knew just how sly and cunning he was. There was no way that he would fail to realize who his true opposition was during this invasion of the Nipponese Underworld.

"All ships are to continue to remain on high alert!" she ordered. "If any abnormalities are discovered, you have permission to open fire right away without having to wait for my orders!"

However, the fleet encountered no resistance whatsoever as it passed by the Spratly Islands, the Two Groups Islands, and even the Scarborough Shoal and the Zhongsha Islands!

They had already entered the Cathayan Underworld's inland sea, and going any further beyond this point would take them to Formosa!

Erinys was becoming more and more tensed up by the second. The entire fleet had slowed down significantly, and right at this moment, an enormous pillar of water suddenly erupted out of the surface of the sea up ahead.

Immediately thereafter, a series of giant tentacles emerged from the waves like ascending dragons, sending a boundless storm of rainwater crashing down from above. Within the storm was a massive, inky black island that was rising up from the depths of the sea!

It's here!

Erinys's heart immediately leaped into her throat, and she had already identified the emerging island as the Cathayan Underworld's marine fortress, the Kraken!

One of the Abyssal Prefects beside her immediately asked, "What do we do? Do we attack?"

This was by far the most enormous fortress they had ever encountered on the sea, and it was capable of completely destroying their fleet just by crashing into it!

Of course, the Golden Fleet and the Naga Fleet wouldn't just sit there and allow the Kraken to wreak havoc as it pleased. If the two fleets were that vulnerable, then there would've been no need for the Kraken to be deployed to intercept them. The fact that the Kraken had appeared here was already an indication that Qin Ye was taking them very seriously.

"The Kraken has emerged quite far away, so it looks like they don't want a direct confrontation." Erinys cast a grim gaze toward the horizon, where countless specks of netherfire had already lit up on the black island that was the Kraken.

Those were Yin spirit cannons, indicating that the Kraken was prepared for battle, and that any ships that approached it would be met with an indiscriminate attack from the Cathayan Underworld's navy!

"Stop here," Erinys ordered. "They're issuing us a warning. I'm sure they'll be sending underworld emissaries to speak to us soon. The Coalition of Underworlds still hasn't arrived at a decision yet, and if we're too aggressive in our attack, we'll be swept up into this war as well. If two of the four pillars get involved, then this could easily escalate into a world war, and the consequences of that would be dire."

The captain was silent for a moment before asking, "So you're saying we should stop here and wait for a decision from the Coalition of Underworlds?"

Erinys turned and made her way toward the ship's cabin with her cape flapping behind her like a gorgeous flower in the night.

"Of course. It's up to the Coalition of Underworlds to decide whether this will just be a war between two nations or a third world war."