Yama Rising

“What are you still waiting for?!” Sha Xiangzu turned to the seven Hellguards around him and bellowed with rage, “Their army is incredibly strange, and I didn’t bring much with me this time! My army--...”

But what frightened him even more was the fact that he could see the dark silhouettes of the ten thousand Savage Tiger Raiders laying in wait right behind the spear and shield formation. Like vipers, the tiger raiders were all laying low, biding their time to deliver that fatal strike.

“Bunch of useless things!” He gnashed his teeth and retracted his gaze. His army had appeared powerful when they were trampling over the monarch beasts of the fields, but it was only when they encountered the genuine army of Hell that they finally revealed their true weaknesses!

Two Judges… damn it… DAMN IT!

The fear of the unknown had finally broken him. With a maddened shriek, Sha Xiangzu opened his bloody mouth, and his tongue lashed out like a bolt of lightning, straight towards Qin Ye’s jugular.

The scarlet tongue was as quick as lightning, and there were even sounds of the air itself being torn apart. But just as it was about to plunge straight into Qin Ye’s body, Yin energy suddenly began to pour out from Qin Ye’s seven apertures. It was dark as ink, and it slowly began to blossom like a spider lily in the air, “It looks like Kong Mo has concealed many things from you… To think that you would even have the guts to approach an Emissary of Hell at the same level as you. Your courage is both commendable… and laughable.”

Whoosh… The majestic Yin energy billowing from Qin Ye’s body had transformed into a terrifying vortex by now, and two spots of golden netherflames lit up from within, “I’ve always been a coward. And there’s only a single exception to this rule.”

“Sigh. The evil ghosts of the recent century really don’t know any better at all…”

It was a soft action.

“Damn!!” The intense gaze in his eyes flickered wildly, and he immediately tossed out ten Yin artifacts as though they were loose change. These included a human skull with horns, a necklace of finger bones, palm-sized skeleton puppets, and so on and so forth. Following that, his entire world suddenly grew silent, almost as though he had been completely cut off from the rest of the world.

“This--...” The seven Hellguards surrounding him had barely managed to escape to the side just as Qin Ye was making his move. They stared with their jaws hanging low as they stared at the source of the Yin energy eruption, where Sha Xiangzu had been just moments ago. It had already transformed into a terrifying black hole, and they could even hear Sha Xiangzu screaming tragically from within. The terrifying nethergale generated by the shockwaves sent ripples fluttering through their clothes.

Are they truly the fabled existence of Hell that I’ve heard so much about just before I died?

The terrifying aura of an Infernal Judge bore down so strongly on them that they didn’t even dare to move a single muscle. Just then, the ball of Yin energy finally began to fade away, revealing the silhouette of a man who still appeared intact, albeit barely. His hair was now disheveled, while his skin was clearly lacerated in more places than it was intact.

The seven Hellguards jolted out of their stupor and stared at each other with great fear in their eyes.

One of the Hellguards immediately gasped in horror, “Then, what about you?”

His words sent chills running down the spines of the Hellguards. They didn’t even respond. Instead, they immediately shrieked in terror as they transformed into seven roaring streams of nethergale and rushed straight down at the armies below.

Gulp… Dozens of Hell’s Yin soldiers were immediately consumed by the rushing Hellguards. Then, with a few sickening crunches, the Yin soldiers were reduced to nothing more than wisps of Yin energy that slowly seeped back out of his lips.

Boom!!

Terrifying… This is simply too terrifying!

That’s right… I’m a Hellguard. I’ll kill them… I’ll kill them all! We still have a way out!

The overbearing terror had triggered the most primal of instincts in the hearts of the Hellguards. The bald old man lay on all fours on the ground, surrounded by an encirclement of valiant Yin soldiers from Hell. The army of Sha Xiangzu followed closely behind him. He stretched out his scarlet tongue and licked his pale lips, “Charge… and kill! All who retreat shall die!!!”

The Yin soldiers of the Alliance of Darkness behind them drew a deep breath. The presence of a Hellguard reinvigorated them with great confidence. They had earlier felt lost and hopeless because Hell’s forces felt practically invincible. But now… don’t they have the assistance of a powerful Hellguard that was leading the charge ahead of them?

Onward! Let’s trample over the enemy forces! We won’t stop until they’re all dead! Their eyes gleamed with bloodthirstiness. Spears and swords clashed mightily, and Yin spirits shrieked as they were reduced into clumps of netherflames. As soon as the ones heading the charge were felled, the backlines immediately rushed over to fill their place. The battlefield was merciless and boiling with passion, so much so that even the most cowardly of Yin spirits felt their souls completely aroused and ignited with bloodlust. One by one, and wave after wave, they continued to pour forward, as they threw themselves at their opponents, doing everything they could to take down as many as they could before they were cut down.

And they weren’t the only ones.

In the southeast corner, Hell’s forces could be seen backing off from their opponents, leaving a large berth of a hundred meters. Thousands of Hell’s forces held up a wall of shields in a tight formation, leaving just enough room for spears to protrude from the formation. At the same time, thousands of spots of Karmic Fire Divine Crossbow bolts were clearly raised above the shields and aimed towards the center of their encirclement.

She was wearing a black halter dress, and completely barefooted. Her hair draped down all around her shoulders, and she was hugging herself as she screamed and trembled, “How terrifying… how fearsome!”

She didn’t have any facial features at all.

As though staring, she swept the gaping hole across the surrounding Yin soldiers as she muttered with a trembling voice, “That’s right… I’m an Anitya Hellguard… I’ve already died once, so there’s nothing to be afraid of… nothing… nothing at all…”

The scarlet eyes underneath the curtain of black hair finally turned from fear to calm, “I’m a Hellguard indeed… Hehehe…”

The Yin soldiers of the Alliance of Darkness followed closely behind her with an earth-shattering roar, “Chaaaaaarge!!!” With that, they rushed straight into the enemy forces after their Hellguard general.

This was the battle song of clashing armaments and abounding Yin energy. It was a battlefield of the undead. Netherflames marking the end of a Yin spirit’s life flourished with every moment that passed, while the grim, black armaments and dark Yin energy covered the entire Darkriver City with a terrifying black sheen. One of the alliance’s Yin spirits pulled out his spear from the chest of one of Hell’s soldiers, trembling with excitement as he saw his opponent transform into a clump of netherflame - Amazing… such ecstasy… But in the very next moment, he, too, found another spear running straight through his chest.

The only thing that could strike fear in an evil ghost’s heart was another evil ghost.

And the only way to end a battle was through battle itself.