Yama Rising

Osaka Port, Osaka.

It was late into the night, and the eerie path beyond the shimenawa rope that led into the underworld wasn't the end. Instead, it was connected to the entrance of a lighthouse that was around 20 meters tall.

The sea was calm and still, and the emissaries of the Nipponense Underworld who were on patrol duty were roaming the area in a bored and lackadaisical manner. The room at the top wasn't very large, only roughly 10 meters in size with traditional Nipponese decor and construction. There were countless wooden puppets hanging from strings dangling down from the roof, and as the sea breeze swept past, the wooden puppets clattered together in a bone-chilling symphony, making one feel as if the wooden puppets were turning on their own to stare directly at them.

"I wonder when all of these world leaders are going to leave." An underworld emissary tossed a newspaper onto the table with a bored expression, then stretched lazily as he said, "We can't relax until they leave."

"Indeed." Another underworld emissary was standing beside the window, looking out at the starry night sky with a resigned expression as he smoked a cigarette. "There are far more important ports in our nation, we could easily go 100 years without getting any action here."

All of a sudden, one of the wooden puppets fell onto the ground, and the two underworld emissaries faltered slightly before immediately rising to their feet to stare at the puppet with alarmed expressions.

Five seconds passed by, and one of the underworld emissaries patted his own chest as he said, "I felt like my heart was going to stop there! I thought some Yama-King must've arrived, but it turns out it was only the string snapping..."

As soon as his voice trailed off, all of the wooden puppets hanging from the ceiling fell down in unison!

Immediately thereafter, all of the puppets threw their hands over their heads, and their mouths abruptly sprang open as they screamed with all their might, "逃げろ!逃げろ!!!逃げろ!!!(Run! Run!!! Run!!!)"

They then scurried into the surrounding shadows as quickly as they could.

The two underworld emissaries looked up with stunned expressions. "Does this mean... an advanced death god has arrived in Nara?"

"How is that possible? Only the most powerful handful of underworlds in the entire world have advanced death gods, and all of them should be attending the conference in Nara! How could there still be another advanced death god here?"

Right at this moment, the sound of door-knocking rang out, and the two underworld emissaries exchanged a horrified glance as they fought the urge to scream.

They were the only two on guard duty on this night!

Even underworld emissaries were capable of feeling fear, and their teeth were chattering violently as they unconsciously huddled together for safety. One of them asked in a trembling voice, "Who is it?"

"Pardon my intrusion." A raspy voice rang out on the other side of the door, and after uttering only those three words, the owner of the voice burst into a fit of violent coughing as if he were very ill. "Could you please tell me how to get to Nara?"

A sharp screeching sound akin to the sound of fingernails scraping across the door rang out, and the two underworld emissaries screamed before huddling together in sheer horror.

They wanted to say something, but were unable to utter even a single word. The overwhelming Yin energy outside made them feel as if there were two giant beasts standing outside the door, and they collapsed onto the ground as their lips trembled violently. At this point, the only sounds they could hear were their own ragged breathing and thumping hearts.

"Hello? Hello?"

Right at this moment, the voice of an elderly woman suddenly rang out from outside. "I'll try asking them."

In the next instant, the entire top floor of the building exploded, and shrapnel flew in all directions as massive waves over 10 meters tall were instantly swept up across the surrounding surface of the sea. Amid their horror and despair, the two underworld emissaries finally caught a glimpse of the two people standing outside.

It was an elderly couple.

The elderly man's upper body was completely bare, and he was wearing a native Usonian kilt around his lower body. There was an eagle mask sitting on the top of his head, revealing his sunken features, which were riddled with liver spots.

As for the elderly woman, her entire body was enshrouded within a tattered black cloak, and she was holding a cane. A design of an eagle was etched onto the surface of her cloak, and beneath the cloak was a dark Yin cloud that made it impossible to glean the woman's true appearance.

A venomous snake extended out of the cloak and asked, "Which way to Nara? I haven't been here for over 1,000 years and I'm afraid my memory isn't as sharp as it was during my youth..."

One of the underworld emissaries finally returned to his senses, and he pointed a trembling finger in a certain direction.

"Thank you." The elderly woman was slightly out of breath as she turned toward the direction the underworld emissary was pointing in with the elderly man, following which both of them instantly vanished into thin air.

Dead silence.

Only after a full 10 minutes had passed did the two underworld emissaries extricate themselves from each other's terrified embrace, and one of them hurriedly said in a trembling voice, "Re... Report this to our higher-ups right away! I just recalled something... Those were the human forms of Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa, the rulers of the new continent! Haven't they secluded themselves from the world long ago? Why have they suddenly appeared here?!"

…………………………………………………..

In the conference hall, it seemed that a war was on the verge of breaking out.

The rulers of the four pillars were facing off against one another, and all of the other death gods had unconsciously picked sides. Everyone was struggling to breath under this intensely oppressive atmosphere.

All of the actors had adopted their positions, and it was time for the act to begin!

Amid the tense silence, Anubis stepped forward and said, "Yanluo Qin, allow me to issue a warning to you: no country in history has ever dared to dishonor an agreement established by the Coalition of Underworlds!"

He turned to face all of the underworlds before taking a deep breath.

The moment that he had been waiting so long for had finally arrived, and he was so excited that even his voice was trembling slightly, something that hadn't happened for countless years.

"An underworld that breaks the rules will be denounced by the entire world. This is our world, and it's up to us to uphold the rules. I don't know if you're too young or if the second King Yanluo has made a severe lapse in judgment, but you've already crossed a line that can't be crossed!"

His words were directed toward Qin Ye, but he was facing all of the death gods.

Hela and J?rmungandr were extremely tensed up, and countless death gods had already almost snapped the armrests clean off their chairs.

Is it about to begin? Is the ultimate clash finally about to arrive?

Qin Ye wore a derisive sneer, but he was also feeling extremely tense and nervous. He glanced at the gates over and over again out of his peripheral vision, wondering why his final trump card still hadn't arrived!

Once the final vote took place, it would be too late!

However, Anubis's voice was growing louder and louder, completely shattering his hopes. His eyes were glowing a bloodthirsty red, and with every gesture that he made, clouds of yellow sand would rise up into the air before dissipating into clouds of Yin energy. "You want to talk rules and reason? Fine, we'll do just that! Firstly, we know nothing about the assassination and interception attempts that you mentioned. If you insist on clinging to these accusations while ignoring your own failings, then all I can say is that we'll launch a thorough investigation into this and we'll be sure to give you a satisfactory response. Secondly, if your nation is going to exit the treaty on the non-proliferation of forbidden arts, then we'll do the same! On top of that, all 27 of the Aegyptian Underworld's forbidden arts carriers will be made active at all times!"

"The Argosian Underworld will do the same!"

"The Hindustani Underworld will also do the same!"

Anubis's announcement was immediately supported by his two most powerful allies, and all of the death gods present could feel goosebumps being raised all over their skin.

This was the precursor to the next world war!

If neither side was willing to back down and a world war actually took place, then the Cathayan Underworld would be disgraced for countless years, denounced as the nation that had instigated what was surely going to be a devastating war!

Qin Ye's expression remained unchanged, but he was already cursing internally.

As expected, making threats pertaining to forbidden arts was something that one should never do unless they wanted to make the entire world their enemy.

As things currently were, the three pillars were able to make the same threats, but they held the moral high ground.

In order to resolve this crisis, the Cathayan Underworld would ultimately still have to return to the confines of the rules.

Qin Ye was well aware of all of this, and he didn't want to have to make threats! Everyone knew that once the Pandora's Box of forbidden arts was opened, what would follow would be the destruction of the entire underworld!

All of this was just an act to stall for time, yet his final trump card still hadn't arrived!

However, no one could hear his thoughts, and Anubis continued, "Furthermore, the breach of duty your nation has committed over the past century is undeniable and inexcusable! You are no longer fit to continue as one of the four pillars!"

He took a deep breath before raising his hand, and even his fingertips were trembling slightly.

He then roared up at Borfis, "The Aegyptian Underworld proposes a public vote to decide whether the Cathayan Underworld should continue as an international forbidden arts supervisor, and I suggest the vote commences with immediate effect!"

This declaration was like the sound of a long horn, heralding the unveiling of the three pillars' sinister plot, and it was met with deathly silence.

This was the start of the power struggle, and all underworlds were essentially forced to take sides now.

"The Argosian Underworld concurs." Hypnos knew that it was now or never, and that this was the time to display the power of the utopia alliance. Thus, he immediately said, "The Cathayan Underworld has shirked its duties for over a century, and the vote to decide whether they should retain their international forbidden arts supervision rights must be held right away!"

"The Hindustani Underworld concurs!" Yamaraja also chimed in in support. "What we need is for the four pillars to lead the world to greater heights, and the Cathayan Underworld most definitely hasn't done that in the past 100 years!"

The three pillars had all made their stances known!

The death gods of Northern Europa and the Mythic Spirits of the Alkebulan Underworlds were all looking on with tightly gritted teeth, yet even as they were praying with all their might, the miracle that they were hoping for didn't arrive.

Another death god raised his hand. "I concur."

His voice was like the opening of the floodgates, and concurring voices rang out one after another!

Within the short span of no more than 10 seconds, over 10 underworlds had raised their hands! As for everyone else, aside from the Alkebulan Underworlds and the five nations of Northern Europa, they didn't concur, nor did they object, choosing to remain silent instead.

At this point, Borfis was already drenched in cold sweat, and his lips were trembling as he swept his gaze across the entire hall.

Finally, he turned to the four pillars. "Does it really have to come to this?"

Qin Ye didn't say anything.

There was a time for acting deranged and shameless, and this clearly wasn't a suitable time.

None of the four pillars said anything, and only the raised hands expressed the stances of the underworlds.

Borfis took a deep breath before continuing, "According to the 12th rules of the Coalition of Underworld's constitution, if an underworld fails to participate in international conferences for 100 years, then its right to hold onto its supervision privileges will be decided by a vote. This current situation completely corresponds with the scenario outlined in the 12th rule of the constitution, so I suggest we vote immediately on the matter of whether the Cathayan Underworld should retain its international forbidden arts supervision rights."

Everyone continued to remain silent, and at this point, there was no going back.

Borfis gritted his teeth tightly as he asked, "Where is the panel of arbiters?"

"Here." 12 figures slowly emerged from a corner of the hall.

Borfis closed his eyes, not daring to look at the vicious eyes directed at him from the Cathayan Underworld camp as he declared in a trembling voice, "Prepare to count the votes."

The raised hands were finally set down again, and Borfis continued, "The vote to decide whether the Cathayan Underworld should retain its international forbidden arts supervision rights begins now!"

He gulped nervously before continuing, "Allow me to reiterate this: only underworlds who hold autonomous jurisdiction power are able to vote, regardless of the size of their territory in the mortal realm. Now then, those who concur with the decision to strip the Cathayan Underworld of its international forbidden arts supervision rights, please raise your hands."

In the blink of an eye, close to half of the hands in the hall were raised!