Yama Rising

Everything appeared to be taking place in slow motion. Azai Nagamasa’s pupils narrowed immediately. The daimyos dressed in great armor on board the ironclad warship opened their eyes abruptly, revealing a pair of blazing netherflames. In fact… there were even some daimyos who subconsciously shrank back in fear.

Even the Yin energy detectors located in East Cathay, including Eastsea and Yan Capital, blared with great alarm.

Elsewhere, in a villa located in one of the three provinces in Northeast Cathay, an old man dressed in a long, luxurious robe suddenly rose from his bed like a Jiangshi and cried out with a heart-rending scream as his entire body dissolved into Yin energy.

“Men… escort me away… escort me away right now!! He’s coming for me… he’s coming for me! The armies of hell are moving again!”

Yama rises, all ghosts shall retreat!

“Does this mean that… Hell… has finally opened its gates?!”

This was an existence that had caused the underworlds of the West to look to the East with great reverence and awe.

Whizz… Innumerable spots of netherflames swirled around the cruise ship in an instant. And then… the seawater parted, leaving a huge berth of approximately one thousand meters in radius between the cruise liner and the waters around it. And, just like that, the cruise liner remained suspended above the waters in mid-air.

Countless miserable screams echoed from the massive hole in the waters. A towering mountain of blades had appeared, replete with innumerable gleaming blades that hovered about as they patrolled the mountain. Flaming meteors rained down around it. There was also a gathering of evildoers whose bodies were being ground away on a mill, or whose hearts and innards were being viciously carved right out of their bodies. Ox-Head, Horse-Face, as well as the Anitya Hellguards of the Black and White were standing guard motionlessly and emotionlessly to the side. No matter how much the sinners cried out in anguish, they could never escape the punishment that they were sentenced to.

Tsunami.

“My… god…” Back on the Strait of Tsushima, several daimyos couldn’t help but gasp in horror as they stared at the vigorous undulations of the surface of the seas. It was clear that a massive wave was just looming over the horizon. Then, with a great cry, they instantly transformed into gales of Yin energy and retreated back into the heart of Nippon.

Back in the cargo hold. Ming Shiyin emitted a series of clacking sounds as boundless Yin energy converged upon the surface of the mirror. At this moment, the point of singularity on the surface of the mirror had already begun to transform into an illusory image.

The image of the godly existence exuded irresistible grace and a boundless might and authority that filled the oceans.

Whoosh!

BOOM!!!

He could see that the cruise liner was the epicenter of the great explosion because there was a towering mushroom cloud of dense Yin energy spreading from the cruise liner, almost as though a nuclear bomb had detonated on the cruise liner itself.

Run! Get out of here! Death awaits us if we approach that terrifying thing!

Azai Nagamasa instantly snapped back to his senses and glanced at the empty spaces left behind by the dozens of Hellguards that had fled for their lives. Right now, there was only a single Yin spirit remaining - a man dressed in a crimson red armor with antler horns was still standing on the mast of the ship.

Azai Nagamasa gnashed his teeth with great resentment - Damn it… DAMN IT!

Oda Nobunaga’s soul was right under his nose. The Obsidian Heaven’s Eye Bowl was already within his reach… and yet he just couldn’t get his hands on it!

Simultaneously, the man dressed in the crimson red armor was also mid-way through his preparation to retreat when he suddenly looked up at the exact same time. His blazing pupils flickered wildly.

The man in the antler-horned red armor grew taciturn, and he discreetly placed his palm over his chest. Azai Nagamasa’s reaction was so great that he failed to notice the discreet actions of the man on the mast. Otherwise, he would most certainly have noticed the existence of a flickering, dark light emanating from the man’s chest.

That said, the Yin energy emanating from this source was of far greater quality than the Yin energy emanating from either of their bodies!

This was a phenomenon that only occurred when a divine artifact encountered another divine artifact.

The Book of Life and Death was currently summoning the shard of King Yanluo’s Seal!

In other words, not even the overlords of the sea were able to resist being drawn into the tsunami. One could only imagine the kind of devastation when the tsunami finally came crashing down.

ROAARRRR!!!

“Heihachiro… Heihachiro!!!” Azai Nagamasa bellowed furiously, “I command you to act as my vanguard. Once my troops arrive we charge at him and take his life!”

Whoosh! Heihachiro dragged his spear across the waters, seemingly cleaving a path through the surface of the waters as the skeletal horse charged forward. Within seconds, another figure leapt out of the waters behind him… followed by another… and then ten… and then a hundred… until finally, there were three hundred figures riding behind him in the exact same fashion, wearing a similar crimson armor, wielding a similar spear in their arms, and mounted on similar skeletal horses. The rampaging charge of the skeletal horses generated a large wave that followed after them. Together, they were engulfed in a great plume of Yin energy that bore down with a suffocating, murderous intent as they charged straight for the cruise liner.

“How dare you disobey the orders of the commander-in-chief?!”

“Just you and which army?” Honda Tadakatsu sneered as he continued to stare transfixed at the cruise liner ahead of him, “I can sense it… you’re on the ship… and you… must also be waiting for me, aren’t you?”

With that, three hundred Yin spirits mounted on three hundred skeletal horses charged over the waters as though they were galloping on land. Their target? The cruise liner. And as they charged forward, wisps of white energy that was completely different from the usual black Yin energy began to flow out from Honda Tadakatsu’s chest area. Then, several seconds later, a fleshly body appeared underneath the otherwise empty armor!

Book of Life and Death - reversal of Yin and Yang.

This was because he could already smell the stench of burning and charring emanating from the heart of the cruise ship. This was the stench of Honnoji. He could even imagine how Oda Nobunaga, Murai Sadakatsu and Mori Ranmaru must be staring at him right now.

So… how could he possibly fail to reciprocate these feelings of theirs?

The shockwave of Yin energy was only a thousand meters away from him right now, yet he completely turned a blind eye to it. Instead, he shut his eyes and drew a deep breath. When he next opened his eyes again, a horn had already appeared in his hands. He promptly blew into the horn with all his might, and instantly, thousands of shadows rose into the sky from the small island nearby.

These dark silhouettes hovered over the island like a ravenous flock of crows.

Lady Izanami!

In other words, this was the greatest trump card hidden up Azai Nagamasa’s sleeves.

Whoosh! He raised the banner of the Azai Clan in the air and gazed intently at the tide of Yin energy rushing towards him. Then, he donned his battle mask and rushed straight forward with wanton disregard!

“Kill… kill them all!!!” Azai Nagamasa bellowed with spite that had festered for over four hundred years. His pupils blazed with a menacing, scarlet netherflame, “We ride behind Honda Tadakatsu! Onwards, for Izanami-sama!!!”

1. Honda Tadakatsu is also known as Honda Heihachiro