Yama Rising

A massive explosion erupted behind him, and pieces of the car were sent flying in all directions amid the scorching flames. It was as if a huge red firework had been set off right in the middle of the highway. Meanwhile, Edward had already drifted over to the side, and none of the flaming shrapnel flying through the air had managed to even graze him.

Right at this moment, the truck up ahead suddenly drew to a halt, following which a faint cry of surprise rang out. Edward paid no heed to this, beginning to carefully inspect his surroundings instead.

At some point in time, this entire highway had taken on an illusory quality.

All of the surrounding colors had faded into black and white, and the end of the highway was blurry and indistinct, as if it were being concealed by vapor and mist.

His assailant had just set up an array just now. The array had most likely been set up with the assistance of some type of artifact. The man in the truck was a Soul Hunter at the very most, and he certainly wasn't powerful enough to instantly create arrays at will.

"Come out," he said in a calm voice as he cast his gaze toward the truck. "It's only been half a day since I left Los Angeles and something like this has already happened... Could it be that there's a mole in the Los Angeles Police Station?"

All of a sudden, the truck abruptly burst into flames, and amid the scorching flames, the sound of a motring engine rang out. Immediately thereafter, a figure rushed out of the fire, sending a flurry of sparks flying up close to 20 meters into the air before landing on the ground with a resounding boom.

A fiery shockwave erupted forth in all directions, causing Edward's clothes to flap violently, and by the time the fire subsided, an evil ghost had appeared up ahead.

He was riding a strange motorcycle constructed from bones and metal chains, and fierce flames were erupting out of his skin, encompassing the entire motorcycle. Scarlet flames were bursting out of every single pore on his charred and cracked skin, and his fiery red eyes were filled with bloodlust and insanity.

Edward was stunned by the sight of this evil ghost, and several seconds later, he asked, "Are you supposed to be Brand, the Burning Vengeance? Is that your highway killer skin?"

An awkward silence immediately ensued.

Several seconds later, the flaming man said with a cold smile, "So you're a human, huh? Let me guess who your master is."

As soon as his voice trailed off, around a dozen fiery chains erupted out of the flaming man's back before instantly wrapping themselves around Edward's body.

Edward offered no response, and he wasn't fearful in the slightest as he watched the flaming man with a smile.

"Are you from the church?" The evil ghost tugged violently on the chains, and a burst of cringe-inducing creaking and groaning rang out, as if Edward's bones were being snapped by the constricting force of the chains.

The evil ghost licked the chains with his tongue, and the joy and excitement of torturing his prey filled every single inch of his body. Even his voice was trembling slightly from excitement as he asked, "Or are you from the government of Usonia in the mortal realm? In any case, once you're dead, it doesn't matter where you've come from."

He gave the chains another violent tug as he spoke. "Come... Let me see what kind of soul is hiding in this vessel..."

In the next instant, an earth-shattering boom rang out, following which a burst of boundless Yin energy abruptly surged out of Edward's body.

The Yin energy was extraordinarily dark and pure, and it instantly inundated the entire highway. A massive projection immediately filled the entire array, and the flaming man's jaw quickly fell straight to the ground as he stood completely rooted to the spot.

Edward's body slowly collapsed to the ground, but a young man in a golden dragon robe with a golden crown on his head had appeared in front of him.

Dead silence.

The flaming man felt as if his mind had gone completely blank, and overwhelming Yin energy was descending around him in all directions. He felt as if he were facing a god, and he was so terrified that he couldn't utter even a single word. His lips were trembling incessantly, and the bright red flames burning around him turned gray, then transitioned into a reverent light blue color.

Qin Ye casually looked around, then turned toward the stunned evil ghost with a faint smile. "This is the soul that the body was hiding. Is this enough to satisfy you?"

No response.

The evil ghost was too stunned to speak or move, and three seconds later, a sense of overwhelming horror swept over his entire body, causing his fingers to tremble uncontrollably.

His legs gave out from under him, and he fell off his motorcycle, but then immediately clambered up into a kneeling position as he said in a trembling voice, "M, M, My sincerest apologies... May I ask your na..."

Before he even had a chance to finish, his body was already sliding forward along the ground uncontrollably while still in a kneeling position, and Qin Ye closed his hand around the evil ghost's throat before lifting him off his feet.

What terrifying power... Such overwhelming Yin energy... This is a Duke! It's a Duke level emissary of the Cathayan Underworld! A Duke level Cathayan underworld emissary has arrived in the new continent! Why didn't those idiots responsible for border security discover him? Why was I the one to take on this damn job?!

The evil ghost was already completely overcome by fear, and only after a few seconds of terrified silence did he implore in a barely audible voice, "Please spare me..."

Qin Ye smiled as he unveiled his Dusk Legionnaire. "You're a lucky guy. If you died, there would be an investigation, so it's better if you disappeared instead. However, before that, I have a few questions I want to ask you."

Qin Ye's smile faded as his Yama-King level Yin energy swirled around the evil ghost, and the crushing sense of asphyxiation almost made the flaming man scream out loud.

"Who do you serve and what are you doing here?"

After that, Qin Ye tossed the man away with a casual flick of his wrist, and the flaming man landed close to 20 meters away, but he didn't even dare to cry out in pain. Instead, he immediately clambered into a kneeling position again as he replied in a trembling voice, "M, My name is Brand, and I come from..."

He gritted his teeth before finishing in a strained voice, "I come from Panama..."

Panama?

Qin Ye raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, and he asked, "How are you related to the three death gods of the Caribbean?"

Panama was a part of a cluster of nations that connected Northern and Southern Usonia, and it was a country at the very center of Usonia. Directly above it was the vast Caribbean Sea.

"They're my superiors," Brand replied in a trembling voice as the fire burning on his body flickered violently. "There are vengeful spirits stationed at all of the important cities in Usonia, and I'm one of those vengeful spirits..."

Qin Ye was seated casually on the railing beside the road in silence. However, his silence further exacerbated the fear in Brand's heart, and he was in such a hurry to tell Qin Ye everything he knew that he was tripping over his own words. "I'm also one of the vengeful spirits stationed in Los Angeles, and aside from our common duty, which is to keep an eye on the witch hunters and the church, everyone has an additional important mission, which is to protect Matthew Conn. If anyone tries to attack him or investigate that incident from several decades ago, our job is to have them killed!"

Qin Ye's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he rose to his feet. Brand immediately shuddered as if he had been electrocuted, then forcibly repressed the overwhelming urge to run as he awaited his fate with chattering teeth.

Qin Ye made his way over to Brand and asked, "Is that all?"

His voice was very calm and placid, but Brand immediately kowtowed to the ground, and when he spoke again, he was virtually sobbing. "That's all! I swear that's everything I have to tell you!"

"I see..." Qin Ye nodded in response, and his Yin energy formed a vortex that was three meters in size behind him. The shrieks of countless evil ghosts instantly rang out from within the vortex as the Dusk Legionnaire was fully unfurled.

"Wait! Please, no!!" Brand's voice immediately sprang up a few octaves as he screamed in sheer panic, "There's something else! I, I just thought of it!"

Brand had misunderstood Qin Ye's intentions, but Qin Ye certainly wasn't going to tell him that. "Go on then."

Brand took a deep breath to repress the overwhelming fear in his heart, then continued, "We... We also have another mission, which is to create supernatural activity all over the nation once every month according to the instructions provided to us here."

He reached a trembling hand into his own pocket, then pulled out a scroll that he opened in a respectful manner.

Qin Ye cast his gaze toward the scroll and discovered that it was made from parchment paper with a line of English text written in blood on its surface. It was clearly normal English, yet every single character had minute adjustments made to them, giving one a sense of peace and serenity.

In the instant that he began reading the English characters, they seemed to spring to life, releasing the calls of countless deceased individuals, and even he was struck by an extremely grim feeling in that instant.

"Slumber of the Sea and the Stars: Dax."

This was the writing of a death god!

Dax? I've never heard of this death god before. What religion do they belong to? A religion of the sea? Are they invading Southern Usonia? No, the fact that even I'm sensing such pressure just from seeing their writing indicates that they're definitely a Yama-King, but there are only so many Yama-King level death gods in the world, and I know all of them, but I've never heard of any death god by the name of Dax.

Qin Ye stroked his own chin as he read the contents of the scroll with a grim expression. He had a feeling that this mysterious death god was inferior to him. Furthermore, it was a very strange feeling, almost as if this death god in question were an imaginary being.

Could this be a non-existent death god? But that's preposterous! His brows furrowed tightly as these thoughts flashed through his mind.

Did this mean that a new legend was currently taking shape and that a new death god was about to emerge? Was that even possible?

It was already well past the era during which all of the major religions had arisen and even legends of the Cthulhu were seen more as a type of culture rather than a religion, not to mention the fact that most people weren't even aware of it. In contrast with religions renowned all over the world, such as Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, and even branches of mythology such as Argosian Mythology, Roman Mythology, and Northern Europa Mythology, no one had even heard of this so-called Slumber of the Sea and the Stars, so how could it possibly have sufficient followers to give rise to a Yama-King?

It was important to remember that Northern Usonia was dominated by catholicism!

This was a religion that had completely overwhelmed the three aboriginal religions, how could it possibly allow for the rise of a previously completely unheard of death god?

So why exactly does this death god feel real and illusory at the same time? With a casual wave of his hand, Brand was sent flying into the Dusk Legionnaire before he could even cry out, and Qin Ye returned to Edward's body before advancing rapidly toward Phoenix with Yin wind forming a protective barrier around him.

The plane ticket was scheduled for noon the next day, and he didn't dare to fly too quickly. The new continent was in an extremely chaotic state, so he didn't dare to travel much faster than the average car in fear of attracting unnecessary attention to himself.

Along the way, he was rapidly analyzing everything that had just happened. After a long while, right as the outlines of the city of Phoenix appeared on the horizon, he abruptly stopped in his tracks before casting a surprised gaze toward Phoenix.

A line of supernatural tape had already been set up on the outskirts of the city!

The tape was very thin, which indicated that the supernatural disasters taking place in the city weren't particularly severe, but Qin Ye felt as if he had been struck by a bolt of lightning and all of the scattered thoughts in his mind were instantly strung together!

He took a deep breath as he cast a contemplative gaze toward the night sky while murmuring to himself, "Could it be that a grand script of death is currently being written? The three Caribbean death gods are currently taking the final step to becoming true death gods, and their name is going to be Slumber of the Sea and the Stars! This is why it feels both real and illusory at the same time, and it must also be why Brand and the others were assigned the task of creating supernatural events! This must be why the supernatural disasters taking place in Usonia are so severe! A new death god is arising amid the chaos, establishing itself amid all the supernatural disasters! This is exactly what was happening in Daehan! The problem is, grand scripts of death can only be written by existing death gods, so who is it that's behind this?"

It couldn't be any of three pillars, and it couldn't even be any of the underworlds that had participated in the treaty on the non-proliferation of forbidden arts as all of them would regard the three death gods of the Caribbean with disdain. In that case, who could it be? Who was stoking the flames of chaos in the new continent and trying to ascend to godhood on the cusp of the deaths of the new conitnent's current rulers?

[1] [Brand, the Burning Vengeance is a playable character in the game League of Legends.]