Yama Rising

The entire city was practically up in arms and roaring at the outbreak of war. Yet Qin Ye felt everything go silent around him.

The six leaders of the Mongol Underworld roared valiantly as they mustered one final hurrah. Meanwhile, the Russian Underworld stood their ground at the peripheries of the city like a torrent of steel. Apart from these valiant cries, the air was buzzing with electrifying tension and impending death.

The winter nights were darkest at 6.00 a.m. As the bells tolled, marking one hour after the witching hour, the Russian Yin soldiers raised their spears and adjusted their armor. The spectacle of war gave Qin Ye goosebumps.

The winds howled wildly, and his heart nearly came to a complete halt. Time came to a complete standstill, and the air was filled with a tense silence. Even the six Yin spirits leading the Mongol Underworld ceased roaring and stared around them with bitter hatred.

The skies were filled with a faint red hue. A split second later, there was a soft clatter.

Like the first shot of a ceremonial gunfire salute, the hundreds of thousands of Yin soldiers arrayed right outside Khuree immediately charged forward like a tidal wave, into the heart of Khuree, threatening the foundation of the Mongol Underworld itself!

SSS!!! The six Mongol Yin spirits roared in unison, greeting the invaders with more than a hundred thousand of their own. With a deafening cry, they immediately made their firm resistance known to the Russian Underworld!

These were the revered Mongol cavalrymen that once dominated the world!

Qin Ye watched intently as the sparks of tension burgeoned into a majestic conflagration of war. This was the battle for the annihilation of an entire nation, and it naturally tugged at his heartstrings, almost as though to say - If you don’t work hard, this is going to be Hell’s fate in just about another hundred or so years.

The two warring factions drew closer to each other.

One side was charging valiantly with cavalrymen riding powerful war horses and armed with heavy armor and jousting lances, while the other side had Yin soldiers wearing leather and fur and wielding scimitars with short bows. Qin Ye’s blood was boiling as he watched the feverish commencement of war between underworlds. This was a battlefield where heroic myths were born. The two factions drew closer and closer… 50 meters… 10 meters… BOOM!

And in that moment, time appeared to come to a complete standstill.

The two valiant factions finally came into contact with each other, tearing and biting viciously at each other like the fangs of wild dogs. What greeted the Mongol Underworld’s cavalry was a row of lances backed by the indomitable speed of the Russian Underworld’s cavalrymen. The jousting lances plunged straight through the chests of the Mongol Yin soldiers in no time.

Whoosh… Qin Ye’s jaws dropped slightly, and he gazed vacantly at the incredible sight around him.

It was a heart-rending sight.

Thousands of netherflames rose up into the sky, filling the skies with all forms of vibrant colours ranging from white to green to scarlet, while the air was instantly filled with the dank stench of blood. It was peculiar. Even though these were the death of a multitude of Yin spirits, they seemed to perish with the most brilliant display of colours, almost as though it was a final celebration of life.

Thousands of Yin spirits were reduced to ashes in an instant. However, Qin Ye knew full well that this endless mill of blood and gore would never stop turning until one side perished completely.

SSSS!!! The 30-meter tall swan Yin spirit in the sky unfolded its winds and unleashed a mighty roar. At once, a volley of arrows rose straight up into the air! The Mongol grasslands were where the best hunters were born. Most of them had hunting in their blood and instincts. Naturally, the arrows flew up high into the sky like a cloud of death that promptly rained hell down onto the approaching Russian Yin soldiers!

“[in Russian] Formations!!” A loud voice rang out from the heart of the Cossacks cavalrymen that were all charging into Khuree. A split second later, a one-meter square halo instantly appeared beneath the feet of each and every one of the Cossacks cavalrymen out there.

Countless runic symbols of Yin Talismans appeared faintly on the surface of these rings of light, and a reverse cross emblem immediately appeared in the heart of the emblem. Moments later, the volley of arrows finally struck the Cossacks cavalrymen. Unfortunately, all that could be heard was the soft tinkling sound of the tips of the arrows striking something far more rigid and impervious to their attacks.

It was a military formation.

“The King’s Cross Military Formation - one of the most powerful military formations of the Russian Underworld.” The Harken explained.

Qin Ye watched without even blinking his eyes. With the military formation finally in play, the Russian army appeared no different from a ferocious tiger hunting its prey. In fact, every single Yin spirit affected by the military formation even revealed scarlet pupils that peeked out devilishly from beneath their helmets. Juxtaposed against the dark night sky, the appearance of their glowing pupils almost made it look no different from a voracious constellation of hungry stars bent on devouring everything around them! Following that, they charged madly towards their foe with unprecedented speed!

Whoosh! The number of netherflames erupting like fireworks in the sky increased by more than onefold in an instant. If one were to say that both parties appeared at least to be of equal military might, then the emergence of a powerful military formation on the side of one faction would have completely turned the tides in their favour.

Things were completely different from what Qin Ye had first anticipated.

There were no tragic, miserable screams at all.

Instead, there was only an endless desire to plod on.

One Yin spirit was cut down viciously, and he valiantly swung his scimitar into his opponent’s armor in his final moments. Unfortunately, it did nothing more than leave a white mark on his opponent’s armor. He wasn’t the only one. In that instant, every single Mongol Yin spirit, including every knight who had participated in this battle to protect the sovereignty of their underworld, charged almost heroically into the vast array of spears that seemed to be closing in on them, before finally giving up their souls for what appeared to be a hopeless endeavour.

Yet, even then, none retreated.

It didn’t matter how tragically and hopelessly the ones before them in the formation had perished, because the next wave of Yin soldiers would still likewise continue to rush out with an almost wanton disregard for their own lives. It didn’t matter that eternal death was before them, and it didn’t matter that their souls would forever be lost. Not a single one of them hesitated for the slightest moment. Not a single one of them gave the command to even slow down in the slightest. Supported purely by the foundation of their faith, the Mongol Yin soldiers rushed valiantly forward in defiance of the reality of crushing strength.

It was a fight for their homeland. Nobody would even think to retreat in the slightest.

Qin Ye felt a lump swell up in his throat.

He wasn’t moved.

He knew that if Hell faced such a situation in future, everyone would surely react in the exact same fashion - even him.

However, in that moment of epiphany, it dawned on him that he absolutely couldn’t let Hell see a day like this!

The oppressiveness of the battlefield brought about a heavy atmosphere. The moment of courage of these valiant and faithful warriors was absolutely moving, and it stirred his heart with complex emotions that were hard to describe. Not that he’d ever wanted to experience war firsthand, but even if he were to experience war, he never quite imagined that it would be something as majestic and silent as this.

Netherflames field the skies, and the stampede of horses’ hooves became a deafening drone. Yet even then, both sides continued to rush forward without a single word, almost as though they knew they were facing destiny itself. Unfortunately, nothing changed the fact that the battle devolved into a completely one-sided one as soon as the Russian Underworld’s military formation was deployed. It hadn’t been more than an hour since the battle first began, yet the periphery of Khuree was already consumed by the rushing silver tide.

“Centuries ago, when the seven underworlds jointly besieged Hell, that battle was even more tragic and unbelievable than this one.” The Harken’s pensive voice jolted Qin Ye right back from his thoughts, “There shouldn’t be violence in the world. But… unfortunately, violence is the only one that can quell violence.”

“People… all have goals, ambitions and desires, and it’s exactly the same after death as well. In this regard, there’s no difference between Hell and the mortal realm. The conflicts in the mortal realm continue to subsist even after death and decay. Everyone’s vying for the same limited resources in the world. Everyone’s fighting for international standing, and their own national interests. As much as we hope to see change, Hell will unfortunately still have to contend with these hard truths.”

“You might feel as though we’re pushing you too hard, but the fact of the matter is that if we don’t do so, Hell might see a reenactment of the one-sided massacre today a hundred years later.”

Qin Ye didn’t say a word. He simply stared at the battlefield with a deep, abstruse gaze.

The Second King Yanluo had once told him this - “Perhaps you might blame me now, but you’ll understand everything one day.”

Arthis and the Harken had also once mentioned to him that few Yin spirits in Hell remain. Now that he had taken up the mantle of responsibility, he would have no choice but to shoulder the burden.

He finally had a better understanding of the weight that was placed on his shoulders.

Epiphanies strike in the most unexpected of moments.

His thoughts were clearly drifting away from the sight to behold. There were clearly more than 100,000 Mongol Yin soldiers, yet a fraction of these had already been whittled away by the continuous onslaught of the Russian Underworld’s forces. Just then, the Mongol cavalrymen suddenly parted, and a group of dark riders charged out from behind.

They were all dressed in black armor that was more refined than what the Russian Underworld’s Yin soldiers wore. They were armed with flails in their hands, while their horses were clad in heavy war armor. The Yin energy erupting from these cavalry was certainly of a completely different scale from the ones that preceded them.

There weren't many Judge-class Yin spirits in the Mongol Underworld to begin with, and yet the hundreds of dark riders were surprisingly all Hellguard-class Yin spirits!

The Iron Stupa!

These were the most well-known cavalrymen of the Mongol Underworld! As soon as they appeared, they immediately hurtled at full speed straight for their enemies. Their iron armor clattered wildly, and they wielded their weapons with a mighty flourish of scarlet Yin energy. They leaned their bodies forward slightly as they charged straight out from the safety of their own armies...

And into the waiting arms of the array of jousting lances that had felled many before them.

Qin Ye shook his head and turned around. He didn’t want to watch the fight any longer.

Just then, the Harken quipped with some measure of surprise, “Have you also detected it?”

“How could I not sense such a terrifying source of Yin energy?” Qin Ye turned towards a particular location on the battlefield where the Yin energy was so thick that it was practically impossible to decipher anything within. It was clear that she was simply refraining from taking action.

“Queen Catherine… Another great empress had been there all along…”

“The Mongol Underworld has no power to resist her at all. But… why isn’t she doing anything?”

He lifted his hand, revealing the mark of a scale on his hand. It was dim and lacklustre.

The Harken responded, “Why do you think this is the case?”

“They’re dragging for time.” Qin Ye sneered, “This is because… the Resentment Crystals Mine isn’t here to begin with.”

“We can clearly tell from the top of the Blue Sky Tower that downtown Khuree hasn’t revealed any supernatural phenomenon to be expected of the site of a Resentment Crystals Mine. From our records, the mine isn’t at downtown Khuree in the first place. Rather, it’s located in Terelj National Park.” (TL: This is located somewhere approximately 37km from Ulaanbaatar)

“This is a war that could’ve been ended in a matter of moments, and yet they’ve intentionally dragged things out just to make it seem as though victory would require several more hours. This is clearly calculated to keep us here for that much longer. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have an excuse to act presumptuously to begin with. And if my guess is right, Peter the Great is probably already in Terelj National Park, digging up Resentment Crystals to his heart’s content. Say, Harken, do you think they would dare act behind our backs and harvest from the Resentment Crystals Mine without our knowledge?”

“Perhaps.” The Harken licked its lips and sneered, “But right now, the only thing they’re concerned about is their own safety and security. They don’t care about international conventions any longer. Speaking of which, what of our reinforcements?”

Qin Ye glanced at his palm. Right this moment, the seal on his palm suddenly flickered with a subtle golden hue.

“They’ve just entered the East Continent.” Qin Ye set his hand down and gazed deep in the direction of Terelj National Park, “They’ll be arriving in another 30 minutes or so!”

……………………………………………

East Continent, Felipinas.

It was where one of the twelve envoys, Yang Jiye, was located.

Maynila, capital of the Felipinas Underworld. The city should be silent right now, yet the central pavilion of the city was well-lit and bustling with activity.

The Yang Clan’s elites were all gathered here, staring with their jaws agape at an eight-foot mirror before their eyes.

Yin energy appeared to swirl under the surface of the mirror, revealing the image of a world map. And on that map, they could see that countless sources of Yin energy were currently rushing up from below and approaching the coasts of the Felipinas!

A Yin energy indicator was located around the edge of the mirror, and the number it reflected was glistening with a deep, red hue!

“2.3 billion…” Yang Jiye stared at the surface of the mirror as he gasped coldly. The netherflames in his eyes flickered wildly, “Is this… a dozen Yama-Kings travelling together? Or are we talking about the invasion of another underworld?”

Nobody responded. Several seconds passed before he snapped his head back up, “What of our Lords of the Land? Why haven’t we heard anything from them? What in the world are they doing?!”

Unbeknownst to him, the Felipinas mortal realm was flying into a frenzy at that very moment. Countless citizens woke up from their sleep, while members of the special agencies were staring intently at the skies with their jaws hanging loose. The boundless clouds of Yin energy approaching them across the horizons were so dense that it seemed to completely blot out every bit of the skies beyond.

It was the descent of the Mythic Spirits!