Yama Rising

Holy Grail?

The Cathayan system of divinities has its origins in Pan Gu, a primordial god who is said to have formed the heavens. But legend has it that Pan Gu was born from the Chaos Lotus. In other words, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the Chaos Lotus was in fact the genesis of the Cathayan system of divinities.

After all, it is the only artifact that Jesus had left behind on earth. Throughout the Bible, Jesus’ miracles have been revealed in various means and ways, but the only artifact that was in fact associated with his miracles… is none other than the Holy Grail.

The Plumed Serpent God chuckled, “My body has been broken up into thousands and thousands of elementary Yin Talismans, and they’ve all melded into the Heavenly Dao for the purposes of reconstitution. The price that comes with it is that the Heavenly Dao has slowly been devouring me. I’ve lost a lot in this process, but in exchange, I’ve also come to learn of many secrets, including that of the Holy Grail.”

“First of all, the Holy Grail that I’m talking about is not the Christian Holy Grail, but the Chalice of Preiddeu Annwn. This is actually the predecessor of the Holy Grail. The whereabouts of the real Holy Grail remains unknown to date.”

The Plumed Serpent God continued, “The Chalice of Preiddeu Annwn. This is also known as the trophy of the Annwn, part of the underworld. And to that end, this underworld naturally refers to part of the Middle Eastern Underworld, which, of course, has now been unified under the rule of the Aegyptian Underworld. That said, we must be clear that this is still a divine artifact for the gods of the Jews.”

The pieces seem to be coming together… Qin Ye pursed his lips and glanced at Zhao Yun with a gleam in his eye - So, shall we go to war together? Will you join me in this war for the Holy Grail?

Are we really going to war for the Holy Grail?

“I’ve heard of it.” Zhao Yun responded, “The Britannian legends would have it that the Holy Grail first appeared in Lancelot’s travels to a kingdom for a feast, where a beautiful maiden held up a golden chalice to the king, and everyone knelt down to pray. It was then that the queen walked over and prophesied that if the Holy Grail ever appeared, the Round Table would be destined to be destroyed.”

“The legends had it that the emperor at that time was none other than Lucius Tiberius. Back then, he ordered King Arthur to pay tribute to him, but King Arthur refused, and even declared war on Lucius, defeating him, and thereby expanding his kingdom to the mediterranean reaches. And it was also then that he first learnt of the Holy Grail.”

“You know of the geography of those locations.” The Plumed Serpent God lamented, “But you probably don’t know the exact time periods and locations that I’m referring to.”

“Thus, the knights vowed to travel through the lands in search of the Holy Grail, whether of their own free will, or by the order of the King. With that, 150 Knights of the Round Table left, and… never returned. However, King Arthur continued to order such searches, until finally, only three knights remained. And that was how the famous Knights of the Round Table came to be no more. That was how the prophecy was fulfilled.”

The Plumed Serpent God spoke with great fervor, “But do you know something? There aren’t any records of where the Round Table is located, nor when these events occurred. And it was for this reason that everyone thought of these things to be a myth. Everyone thought that King Arthur was nothing more than a construct of the human imagination, told in myths and legends passed down over time.”

“He existed!” The Plumed Serpent God took a deep breath, “And this is all gleaned from Anubis’ personal records: In around 350 AD, three young knights found their way to the City of Salem in search of the Holy Grail, and they found it. One of the knights managed to hold up the Holy Grail, and the rift between the Three Realms immediately tore asunder, whereupon he was received into the Heavenly Realm.”

Everyone had grave expressions on their faces. Qin Ye had a multitude of questions in his heart. He could tell that this was just a brief summary, and there was much to unpack. But unfortunately, he simply couldn’t afford to ask too much. After all, he couldn’t allow the Plumed Serpent God to notice that he was in truth unfamiliar with world history and the situation around the world. He couldn’t risk letting the cat out of the bag.

Zhao Yun frowned deeply, “Received into the Heavenly Realm… That means that this is a divine artifact. After all, only divine artifacts possess the ability to forcibly open a rift between realms. Besides…”

“Sure, Galahad might have been received into the Heavenly Realm, but are you telling me that… the Holy Grail is now in the Heavenly Realm? Haven’t you forgotten the ironclad rule that none of the realms are to overtly interfere with the affairs of the other? Who are you kidding?”

“How can a mere mortal wield a divine artifact?”

At once, Qin Ye was reminded of something he had learnt about world history from the Second King Yanluo.

No… Something’s still not right… Qin Ye suddenly recalled something, and his eyes gleamed brightly as he desperately made eye contact with Zhao Yun.

Soon, a voice rang out in his ear once more, “King Yanluo, is something the matter? Feel free to speak up. Rest assured that I’ll keep all sounds from the ears of the Plumed Serpent God.”

He could clearly recall the balance of powers right now. Europa, including Britannia, was largely under the control of Thanatos; Alkebulan belonged to the Coalition of Alkebulan Underworlds; Middle East belonged to Aegyptus; the northern parts of the East Continent was controlled by Hell; the Spice Islands remained under the charge of Hindustan; while the New World was in the hands of the Death God Mictlantecutli and Death Goddess Mictecacihuatl. Australis was the only land without a ruler.

Zhao Yun responded with great joy, “It’s great that Your Excellency had thought about these things. It shows that your understanding of the netherworld is deepening. Well, the truth is… the concept that the size of an underworld is commensurate with the size of its corresponding territory in the mortal realm, is a false proposition.”

“Stabilize the ecosystem of Hell, together with the ecosystem of Yin spirits, and… any other territories or kingdoms that have been added to Hell.”

“For instance, the three divine artifacts of the Nipponese Artifacts combined would form a creation artifact known as the Minakanushi. Another example would be the Russian Underworld’s Slumber of Moonlight Shadow, or the Aegyptian Underworld’s Scales of Eternal Justice. Naturally, that’s only one of the prerequisites to expanding one’s territory in the netherworld. Amongst other things, it also depends on the might of the death god, as well as the military strength of the underworld. Last but not least, when the mortal realm expands its territory, so also will an underworld’s territory expand by a commensurate amount. So, with that said, do you finally understand how important the Plumed Serpent God’s message is this time?”

Who would’ve thought that a tyrant like you is actually such a pacifist…

It’s amazing that Prefect Qin could get such support from the Ghost King. With this, his odds of ascending the throne should be reasonably high! And once that happens, he’ll finally be able to do something to rescue me from the Heavenly Dao!