Yama Rising

There was only five minutes remaining before it would fire the next blast of Dark Dazzle. Unfortunately, Mu Guiying’s vision was quickly fading away.

It’s just as well… I’ve got no regrets. Perhaps the only regret I have is that I can’t perish back in the Felipinas…

The black-robed Yin spirits were all stiff with shock. The tragedy of war could no longer be justifiably described with mere words. The revelation of the true form of the Mythic Palace of Reflections, and the activation of yet another teleportation spell array and the appearance of another 20,000 troops of Hell right in the heart of the inner city sent chills running down their spines.

Every single Yin spirit stared at the screen of Yin energy within the Mechanical Beast, completely speechless and silent. Right behind them, Mu Guiying leaned heavily on her spear as she slowly slid to the ground. She was nearly completely drained of all Yin energy, while her body was slowly but surely disintegrating into black butterflies that slowly drifted into the surroundings.

In her final moments, she saw from the screen of Yin energy a swarm of Hell’s forces rushing straight up the colossal tower on which the Mythic Palace of Reflections was perched. She could even tell that the one leading the charge was none other than Lord Qin himself.

In fact, not a single one of them even thought to stop Ugly Bull from unleashing the next salvo of Dark Dazzle.

Back on the streets of Qufu. Hua Jieyu smiled softly as she shut her eyes.

General Mu… are you well? I’m still alive… Lady Arakshasa stepped in to save me at the eleventh hour… But that’s not important. What’s important is that she actually managed to hold back the other two Qufu Judges… Ahh… my eyelids feel incredibly heavy…

Meanwhile, the remaining forces of Hell were completely dumbfounded as they stared at the countless spots of hellish netherflames ascending the colossal tower on which the Mythic Palace of Reflections was perched. Then, almost as though they were completely drained of their last modicum of strength, they slowly collapsed and slumped to the ground.

“Victory to Hell!!”

Back in the air, the two Qufu Judges stared aghast at the Yin soldiers who were making a beeline for the Mythic Palace of Reflections. They froze in horror for several moments, before suddenly shrieking at the top of their voices as they, too, rushed back frantically.

But just as they began to rush towards the inner city once more, hair suddenly swept over from every direction, instantly weaving together and forming a massive net of hair tens of thousands of meters wide that trapped the two Qufu Judges together with all of the skeletal puppets under their command.

“Where do you think you’re going without my permission?” Arthis muttered softly, yet the flames in her eyes rekindled with great passion, “The stage is set for the final moments of this war. Be good, and remain here obediently. I might just find it within me to let you die an easier death.”

Clatter, clatter… The multitude of skeletal puppets arrayed in the air immediately roared as they plummeted down like a crashing tide, straight towards Arthis.

“Explode!!” The two Qufu Judges practically yelled at the same time. In an instant, there was a loud bang, followed quickly by a roaring conflagration that completely consumed Arthis. Not even a Judge as powerful as Arthis could help but cry out in pain.

“Ssss… AAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!” An anguished cry exploded from Arthis’ lips, but the tall, thin man didn’t even bother to see the fruits of their labour. He immediately turned around and motioned to leave, “Hurry!!”

The black net of hair that had earlier surrounded them still had some ostensible gaps in its haphazard weave. But now, it was so tight that not a single trace of gaps existed altogether. It was almost as though they had suddenly been enshrouded in a realm of endless night.

The netherflames in the eyes of the tall thin man flickered wildly in horror. That’s the self-detonation of 70,000 skeletal puppets that we’re talking about! How did she survive that?!

Just then, a slit suddenly opened in the dark night that seemed to engulf them, and a scarlet eye appeared to peek down at them.

“Until the battle at the Mythic Palace of Reflections is over, you shall all remain here obediently!!”

“Charge!!!” The 20,000 Yin soldiers of Hell shouted in unison as they charged straight up the stairs towards the peak of the tower where Lai Junchen was located.

Lai Junchen stared blankly at the rising tide of Yin soldiers below. And then, something clicked in his mind, and he understood everything.

He hadn’t moved because he trusted in his calculations. By his estimates, Hell’s forces couldn’t number more than 100,000 troops, while Qufu clearly had over 800,000 troops garrisoned in the Shanhai Pass. Granted, 100,000 Yin soldiers of Hell could easily run over a million Qufu Yin soldiers. But it was still Qufu when all was said and done! There were military formations, as well as countless protective Yin artifacts, and even Infernal Judges to consider!

But little did he expect Hell’s forces to give them a taste of his own medicine. The single variable that changed everything was the moment when Hell seized control of the Mechanical Beast and aimed it straight towards the Mythic Palace of Reflections.

It wasn’t that Hell wasn’t able to deploy its forces directly within the inner city. Rather, it was simply because it was far too dangerous to do so, because that would be tantamount to a deployment of its forces directly in the midst of 800,000 Qufu Yin soldiers. This was why they chose to attack the city walls instead. Then, Qufu crumbled under the pressure of the threat of the Mechanical Beast and revealed every hidden ace up its sleeve. And that was exactly the moment when Hell finally revealed its cards.

“My lord… my lord!!!” The attendant beside him was already covered profusely with cold sweat as he tugged gingerly at Lai Junchen’s sleeves, “What do we do? What do we do?!”

His teeth chattered as he glanced back at the surging tide of Hell’s forces below. He knew full well that as soon as Qufu fell, Hell might choose to spare the weaker Yin soldiers around, but as a close aide to Kong Mo himself, he would never be spared.

Whoosh! He raised his hand, and a talisman flew into the sky. The massive altar on which the Mythic Palace of Reflections was perched had ten tiers to it. The 100,000 skeletal puppets scattered throughout the entire altar from the third straight through to the tenth tier. As soon as they were in place, Lai Junchen gave the command, “Obstruct their approach at all costs!!”

Sss!! With an ear-piercing scream, the skeletal puppets tore through the clouds of Yin energy and rushed straight for Hell’s forces which were still charging upwards.

He was thirsting to kill.

The resilient, onward march of the Yin soldiers of Hell reminded him of the struggle of the early days of Hell. It reminded him why he never wanted to be a slave to anyone in his life!

As the dense clouds of Yin energy erupted from the tiers above him, he twirled the Judgment Pen in his hand, and then softly pointed it towards the skeletal puppets and dabbed forward.

It immediately set off a chain explosion among the skeletal puppets in the vicinity.

This is the final battle…

Victory was theirs for the taking!

Boom, boom, boom! The pages of the faux Book of Life and Death fluttered out, wrapping his entire being in a tight ball as he crashed forward for dozens of meters, straight through the ranks of the skeletal puppets. Unfortunately, dozens of meters was barely the tip of the iceberg. Meanwhile, the rest of the skeletal puppets around him were already glowing brightly with a talisman that had surfaced from the depths of their bodies. They were about to self-detonate around Qin Ye!

Innumerable skeletal puppets exploded at the same time, sending a massive shockwave of energy rushing out from the sky as it swept across Qufu. The trees in the vicinity bent back in an instant, while the tiles of the roof were immediately peeled off and flew away. The Qufu citizens squealed as they hid in the safest places they could find. Qin Ye fervently suppressed the murderous intent in his heart and roared at the top of his voice, “Listen up. Surrender, and I can guarantee you a swift and easy death!”

The intense fear and terror in his heart had pushed him to the verge of insanity.

“Do you think you’ll actually be able to breach the First Pass Under Heaven with your meagre army of Hell?!”

He cackled like a madman as he formed a series of hand seals. In an instant, the Mythic Palace of Reflections began to glow with a brilliant lustre, and an incomparably ancient talisman dyed black with Yin energy flew out from within the mirror and into Lai Junchen’s hands.

An illusory silhouette slowly appeared at the forefront of the altar as he continued to chant.

Rumble!!! There were sounds of explosions as the void in the air shattered around him. Qin Ye’s eyes narrowed, and he immediately came to a halt. His faux Book of Life and Death was still wrapped tightly around him. Yet, even then, the rest of Hell’s forces continued to charge forward.

It was uproarious.

And devoid of any traces of regret.

No matter how powerful the Yin artifact was, everything had to be powered by the user’s Yin energy.

I can’t sustain it…

And then, he steeled his mind and abruptly stood up once more with a ferocious expression on his face, “Want Qufu? I’d rather perish together with you!!”