Yama Rising

Anubis stroked a finger over the bright red enveloped in front of him in silence.

He was situated in a large temple that had been constructed in the classic Ma'at style of Aegypt. This was the earliest religion of Aegypt, and it was also the religion that gave rise to the likes of Anubis and Osiris, among other gods. As the anchors of religion in the Aegyptian Underworld, there was no way they would allow other religions to be present on their territory, and Rome was the only exception to this.

Around 1,000 years ago, after the Aegyptian Underworld conquered the middle east, the first thing that it did was wipe out all competing religions. Currently, most of the middle east followed polytheistic religions, and even this temple had been constructed in the ancient Aegyptian style.

Anubis was seated on the throne at the very center of the temple, and on either side of him was a row of seven tables and chairs. At this moment, four of those chairs had already been occupied, and their occupants were all death gods.

They were Osiris, Menes, Ramesses the Second, and Cleopatra the Seventh.

As one of the four pillars, the Aegyptian Underworld had three capital cities, which were the original capital city of Cairo, the city of Istanbul, which had been conquered along with the middle east, and the city of Baghdad in the east. They had been named the Sacred City of Atum, the Sacred City of Amon, and the Sacred City of Ptah, respectively, with Macbeth as the central capital city.

The three capital cities each corresponded with one of the Aegyptian Underworld's three major religions, with the Sacred City of Atum tied with the Heliopolis religion, which included death gods such as Osiris, Seth, Nephthys, and Anubis himself.

This was a religion worshiped by all of the high-end nobles of the Aegyptian Underworld.

The Sacred City of Amon was related to the Hermopolitan religion, which included many of the Aegyptian Underworld's death god level elders, and Marquess level grand priests.

The final one of the three major religions was the Memphis religion, and it was the most popular religion among the common masses because it perfectly explained the relationship between the Nile River and the sun.

The three religions were divided, but also extremely united, and that summed up the situation in the Aegyptian Underworld. As a result of this, it was mandated that when any decisions were being made, Anubis had to summon the death gods from the other two religions.

This was why there were four death gods and a ruler death god seated in this temple at this moment.

Anubis gently lifted a hand, and the letter of invitation opened up in mid-air. All of the words inscribed upon it were significantly magnified, allowing everyone to see the contents of the letter. "Take a look and tell me what you think, everyone."

Amid the silence, all of the death gods quickly read through the letter, and a grim look appeared on Osiris's face as he mused, "This is the first time that the Cathayan Underworld had actively invited everyone to attend an international conference held by them, right?"

"Could it be that their attitude is changing? I'm referring to their attitude toward the rest of the world," Ramesses the Second speculated with a contemplative expression. "On the past few occasions, they were forced to turn up due to the pressure we've exerted on them, but they're taking the initiative to invite us this time. Does this entail that the Cathayan Underworld has rested enough and is ready to bare its fangs at the rest of the world again?"

"Why do you have to always look at things in such an aggressive way?" Cleopatra the Seventh asked in a disdainful manner. "Instead of saying that they're baring their fangs at the world, why can't you say that the Cathayan Underworld is actively reintegrating itself into the rest of the world for mutually beneficial outcomes?"

"How naive are you?" Ramesses the Second countered in a cold voice. "The four pillars have been competing against one another for thousands of years. Who doesn't want to become the ruler of this world? There is no world in which mutually beneficial outcomes can be achieved, every single underworld is constantly trying to seize more political power at the expense of others. This invitation extended by the Cathayan Underworld is very likely a declaration to the rest of the world that they're ready to seize back the political power that they've lost during their century-long absence. Why are they suddenly so confident?"

Menes said in an unhurried voice, "I agree with Cleopatra's viewpoint. Regardless of what their intentions are, there's no need for us to try and stop them. The current world prioritizes peaceful development above all else, and the costs of desperately trying to repress an underworld, particularly one of the four pillars, far outweigh the benefits. We've all been dabbling in the world's economy for many years, I'm sure you can all see what's happening here. This is a natural cycle. They've become powerful again, so they'll naturally try to claim more power over the world. If we insist on trying to repress them, the outcome will most likely be far from desirable. Ramesses, I recall that you were the one most vehemently supporting our nation's participation in the Prometheus plan, look at what that's come to. They've been researching for 10 years without producing anything concrete, and with each of the three pillars having to contribute hundreds of billions in funds per year, this is not a small investment by any stretch of the imagination. Even if we have thrown all of that money into the sea, we would hear a huge splash, but our investments haven't amounted to anything here."

"In that case, are you content to just stand by and watch as the three pillars become the four pillars again? Currently, we're receiving far more benefits than back when the Cathayan Underworld was around! Do you want to see the Cathayan Underworld return to its former status again?"

"What do you suggest then? That we try to repress them? The second King Yanluo is like an insurmountable mountain! The Cathayan Underworld's economy hasn't benefited from his reign, but under his leadership, the Cathayan Underworld has gained an enormous amount of political power. How are we supposed to repress the Cathayan Underworld so long as he continues to exist? Can you be certain that he's no longer around? Even if he's not here anymore, there's still Ghost King Zhao. Are you planning for all of us to constantly live in fear every single day under the Scales of Eternal Justice?"

"That's enough." The debate between the dovish parties and the hawkish parties was one that existed in all nations. Anubis's brows furrowed slightly as he gently tapped the table, and the entire hall instantly fell silent.

The dovish and hawkish factions could bicker and fight all they want, but the decisive vote always lied in the hands of the most powerful ruler death god.

This was the fundamental reason why the ruler death god of an underworld had to be more powerful than other death gods in the nation.

Just the thought of the second King Yanluo was giving Anubis a headache, but he still clarified, "The second King Yanluo isn't around at the moment, and we most likely won't be seeing him for the next few centuries."

Ramesses's eyes immediately lit up upon hearing this. "Are you sure?"

"I'm certain," Anubis replied in an assured voice.

"Why is that?" Cleopatra asked in a perplexed manner. "Where has he gone that would require him to be absent from the Cathayan Underworld for several centuries?"

Anubis took a calm glance at her as he replied, "That's not something you should be asking about."

He slowly rose to his feet as he continued, "We don't know for sure whether the Cathayan Underworld has truly changed its attitude toward the rest of the world, but the fact that they've dared to send out these letters of invitation half a year early is a clear sign that they've made sufficient preparations. There's someone telling Director Perkins of the GTO what to do, and I don't know who it is, but it definitely isn't one of the three pillars. He's only just concluded his year-long inspection of the Cathayan Underworld, so I'm sure he has extensive knowledge on the current state of the Cathayan Underworld. Find him and make him tell us everything he knows, down to the finest of details! Also, approach all of the underworlds with the research outcomes of the Prometheus plan and ask them who is willing to stand on our side this time!"

"As you wish."

………………………………………………..

In the Russian Underworld, the nameless god of death was seated in his palace in silence as he stroked the letter of invitation he had just received in an absentminded manner.

Catherine the Great and Peter the Great were both present, and only after a long while did the nameless god of death break his silence. "Have either of you heard of the Heavenly Pillar City?"

Both of them shook their heads in response.

In contrast with the free-flowing debate that had been taking place at the Aegyptian Underworld, the atmosphere was far tenser and more subdued here, and it seemed that everyone was carefully deliberating each word that came out of their mouths.

Their caution stemmed from the fact that the Russian Underworld was a direct neighbor to the Cathayan Underworld, and it shared a larger border with the Cathayan Underworld than any other nation in the world!

Countless KGB spies were situated all along the shared border between the two nations, and they were constantly reporting everything that they observed and detected to the nameless god of death. Just a year ago, they had suddenly detected massive energy fluctuations.

Furthermore, these fluctuations had constantly been present since then, and they had been growing stronger and stronger!

There was a city by the name of Chunhui in the mortal realm that sat on the shared border between Cathay, Russia, and North Daehan, and such a city existed in the underworld as well.

The three death gods present were the only ones who were aware that upon detecting the massive energy fluctuations that had arisen in the Cathayan Underworld a year ago, the Russian Underworld's biological mothership, the Beluga, had already entered the Nipponese Sea in secret through the Arctic Ocean, and it was there that they were able to discover a shocking revelation, one that they were certain no other country had discovered.

The most potent source of the energy fluctuations was just off the coast of the Bohai Sea.

The coast of the Bohai Sea was extremely close to Chunhui, and if it had been even a little further away, they wouldn't have been able to discover this. Even so, they were only able to capture some fragmented energy waves. However, just those fragmented wave energy waves alone were enough to strike shock and apprehension deep into their hearts!

Throughout this past year, they had even begun to minimize their contact with the three pillars, the Beluga had been constantly stationed in the region of the sea shared by the three nations. Furthermore, all of the KGB spies on the border had been deployed, as well as many darkfeathers below the Anitya Hellguard level, but unfortunately for them, the Array of the Nine Gods had been fortified.

It was most likely Ghost King Zhao who had fortified the array, and at this point, even darkfeathers at the Netherworld Operative level weren't able to bypass it!

The reason why they were treating this situation with such caution was because the faint energy waves that they had been able to detect throughout this past year had never appeared in this world prior to that!

This was energy that hadn't existed in the underworld prior to a year ago!

If this were the so-called new energy resource, then didn't this entail that the Cathayan Underworld was already using the energy resource on a widespread basis?

In that case, how could the Prometheus plan possibly win?

The stakes were far too high here, and they didn't dare to make a decision. Even at the risk of offending the three pillars, they had to sit on the fence and watch the situation unfold.

If the Cathayan Underworld really did already possess a new energy resource...

The nameless god of death shuddered as this thought arose in his mind.

If that were the case, then the Russian Underworld would either be the biggest victim or the biggest beneficiary!

Why is the Cathayan Underworld still isolating itself from the rest of the world?! We're about to go insane from waiting here!

After a long silence, Catherine the Great finally shook her head as she replied in a grim voice, "I haven't heard of it, but the location is an extremely troublesome one..."

On the letter of invitation, it was clearly stated that the Heavenly Pillar City was situated on the coast of the Bohai Sea.

The meeting had already lasted 30 minutes, and only two sentences had been spoken during this time. After another 15 had passed by, the nameless god of death stood up as he said in a grim voice, "Inform the parliamentary houses and the panel of elders right away. We can't keep this a secret any longer. Notify the entire nation! This is a gamble that's going to decide the future of our Russian Underworld! This doesn't just concern us anymore, the fate of the entire nation is at stake! Get them to come and see me right away!"