Yama Rising

Qin Ye was a person who very rarely took gambles unless he was sufficiently confident in his chances of success. As such, the fact that he had appeared here was already a sign of his confidence.

In the underworld, he had considered many things, including the relationships between the three opposition parties. After some deep thought, he arrived at a conclusion: Brando and Arlot weren't in Philadelphia to protect anything. Instead, they were paying a supervision role to ensure that the church followed through on its end of the deal.

This was why he would've never had to face four Dukes. Instead, Brando and Arlot were the only ones who were going to stand in his way, and in the absence of Brando, there was only one Duke left to face.

This was why he had dared to appear here in person.

Arlot was the final obstacle that had to be conquered, and he was prepared to go all-out for this battle!

In the instant that he appeared, he didn't hesitate in the slightest as he grabbed toward Arlot with both hands. In the same instant, Arlot's eyes took on a crimson color as countless bats converged toward him.

Neither side was going to back down, and there was no way anything other than a decisive outcome would be acceptable.

"Die!!" Arlot roared as countless bats began to rapidly revolve around him. Furthermore, they were accelerating further and further, to the extent that they transformed into pure Yin energy to repel Qin Ye's giant netherfire hands. At the same time, a giant cocoon of black Yin energy took shape around Arlot before exploding immediately thereafter!

The strong stench of blood and gore wafted through the air as boundless Yin energy surged directly toward the glabella of the giant formed by netherfire.

At the same time, countless chains shot out of the giant's sleeves in a fierce wave, and countless bats screeched as they plummeted out of the wave of Yin energy before disintegrating into nothingness in mid-air.

However, Arlot's attack seemed to have a mind of its own. Even though half of the wave of Yin energy was vanquished by the chains, the remaining half evaded all of the chains before continuing toward the netherfire giant's glabella at an astounding speed.

"Don't underestimate the death gods of the new continent!" Arlot roared as he swept his hands through the air, and his Yin energy pierced directly through the netherflames like an ascending dragon before burrowing itself into the glabella of the netherfire giant. Immediately thereafter, his entire body instantly became shriveled and wizened like a sack of wrinkly skin and bones, following which he inhaled with his might toward the hole created by his Yin energy.

This was his Blood Reciprocation ability!

What had burrowed into the netherfire giant was Yin energy, yet what had been drawn out by his inhalation was a massive blood dragon!

The blood dragon rushed rapidly toward Arlot, whose mouth had already opened up to two meters in size, and in the instant that the blood dragon gushed into his mouth, his entire body immediately swelled like a balloon.

At the same time, the fiery giant in the distance dissipated amid an anguished roar.

Fierce Yin wind swept through the entire city, and it was so ferocious that even the bell tower of the Independence Hall was creaking and groaning audibly. Amid the boundless Yin wind, a scintillating figure emerged. It was a man wearing the attire of a Cathayan Underworld Yama-King while wielding a golden spear.

All of a sudden, the figure vanished in the blink of an eye!

At the exact same moment, Arlot was struck by a sense of extreme peril traveling directly toward his glabella, and he screeched as a pair of bone spikes abruptly elongated out of his arms before being thrust behind him without any hesitation.

At the same time, a figure appeared behind him and thrust their spear directly toward his back, immediately following which both of them disappeared in virtually the exact same split-second!

A string of metallic clangs rang out in the sky, and the space up above was warping and twisting violently. In one instant, a pair of shadows could be seen in one place, while in the next instant, a flurry of dazzling sparks erupted somewhere else entirely.

The clashes were taking place so quickly that only Fernando and Owen were able to trace the two combatants with their eyes, but it was exactly because they were able to clearly see what was happening that they were even more alarmed.

This was truly a fight to the death. Both sides were aiming exclusively for their opponent's vital regions, and they were only managing to evade each other's lethal attacks through their instinctive sense of danger. Even though no divine artifacts were being used, neither side was holding back in the slightest, and a direct hit from any of their attacks could instantly put an end to the other's life.

Death gods had already gone beyond the realm of normal underworld emissaries, making them extremely difficult to kill, but it certainly wasn't impossible to kill a death god.

The clashes were becoming more and more treacherous, like climbing a mountain that was becoming steeper and steeper the higher up one went, and even the slightest lapse in concentration could spell death.

However, neither side could stop.

The clashes were coming thick and fast, and Qin Ye was using everything he had learned to try and gain the upper hand, but he was only just barely able to maintain equal footing with Arlot.

The issue for both of them was that this was the Gloria Dei Old Swedes Episcopal Church, and they were doing everything in their power to avoid using arts.

Arlot knew that there was a very good chance that unleashing arts here would severely affect the firing of the Spear of Longinus. Even if the firing of the spear were delayed by a single minute, he would have to face the wrath of the three Caribbean death gods, and their agreement could suffer another blow, especially in this situation, where the three death gods were already extremely displeased by the escape of Tezcatlipoca.

As for Qin Ye, he didn't even know any arts!

This was why he had chosen this battlefield. He knew that Arlot's hands would be tied here, and that was what he had been counting on all along.

Furthermore, vampires excelled in arts to begin with instead of being extremely physically endowed like werewolves. Thus, upon seeing Brando departing from Philadelphia to assist the three death gods of the Caribbean, Qin Ye had almost leaped up in celebration!

It looked as if both sides were evenly matched, but neither side had any control or composure to speak of. All they were doing was frantically attacking each other's vital regions, and if either of them were to stop even for a moment, they would immediately be overwhelmed by the opposition's fierce assault.

The only way this battle could end was with the death of one of the combatants!

"Fernando!" Amid the perilous exchange of lethal attacks, Arlot suddenly yelled, "While it's true that you have no obligation to help us, you'll still fulfill your end of the deal, right?!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, Qin Ye thrust his spear directly toward Arlot's head, and Arlot only just barely managed to evade the attack with gritted teeth as a gash was sliced into his cheek. He was gnashing his teeth together audibly retaliated with lethal attacks of his own while warding off Qin Ye's fierce assault.

After several seconds of silence, Fernando replied, "We will."

"How long left until the Spear of Longinus can be fired? Answer me!!"

"It'll be ready to be fired in one more minute," Fernando replied.

Fernando's response seemed to have provided immense reassurance to Arlot, and he let loose a furious roar as he swatted Qin Ye's spear aside, then shot forth upward like a bolt of lightning, followed closely by a streak of golden light.

Qin Ye didn't say anything as he was completely engrossed in this battle.

He knew that only after taking care of Arlot would he have the right to negotiate with the church.

Under these circumstances where neither side was using arts, they were evenly matched, but he still had a trump card up his sleeve.

The battle between the two appeared to be very simple and straightforward, but in reality, if there were any Yin spirits below the Yama-King level in the immediate vicinity, they would've already been wiped out of existence. Even though their attacks were quite crude and unrefined, the vast Yin energy that they were capable of unleashing with each strike was already a formidable force in itself.

It's still not time to unveil my trump card yet... I still have a minute, and I must take the right opportunity to strike! Otherwise, if Kraken perishes by someone else's hands, all of my efforts would go to complete waste!

Before he even had a chance to finish that thought, a burst of Yin energy suddenly exploded in the sky, and boundless blood erupted out of Arlot's body. As soon as the blood came into contact with air, it instantly solidified, and within the span of half a second, a cage of blood had taken shape!

He then turned to Qin Ye with a bloodthirsty expression as he declared, "Come!! It's only you and me in here! No one will be able to disrupt our battle, and only one of us will leave this place alive! If you want a fight to the death, then that's exactly what you'll get!"

At the same time, a thunderous boom rang out from down below, Arlot's pupils contracted as his eyes reflected the massive eruption of Yin energy taking place below him. This was a sign that Qin Ye was releasing all of his Yin energy in an all-out eruption!

The terrifying Yin energy formed a massive sea of darkness, and looking down onto it from above, it was as if a giant inky-black spider lily were blooming down below.

Unbeknownst to Arlot, this was exactly the moment that Qin Ye was waiting for, and adrenaline was coursing through his veins as flew up as a streak of dazzling light, combining as one with his spear to pierce through the heavens!

No one was able to leave this cage, so there was no path for retreat or evasion, which meant that each combatant had to take their opponent's next attack head-on, making it the perfect opportunity for him to unleash an all-out attack!

"Let's end this!" He let loose a thunderous roar as a vicious look appeared in his eyes, and the image of Ghost King Zhao Yun impaling Arthis surfaced in his mind.

In the instant that the eruption of Yin energy appeared down below, Arlot immediately understood Qin Ye's intentions.

He was trying to end this battle with one final all-out attack!

"So this is what you were waiting for? Fine!" Boundless Yin energy surged into his body in a frenzy, and after less than a second, his body abruptly swelled as he transformed into a giant bat, then pounced toward Qin Ye with unstoppable might.

"If this is what you want, then I'll crush you at your own game!"

He knew that even though he and Qin Ye had been evenly matched thus far, the fact that they were both going all-out for this next attack in this inescapable cage meant that both of them were going to sustain severe injuries.

As a result, there would be no way for Qin Ye to stop the firing of the Spear of Longinus, which was going to take place in one minute.

It's all over now! You've squandered your own chances through your own foolishness! A bloodthirsty smile appeared on his face as he drew upon all of the Yin energy in his entire body for the upcoming attack.

The clash between two Yama-Kings made the air above Philadelphia twist and warp violently, and Fernando and Owen were looking on with extremely grim expressions. This final clash was going to decide the direction that the grand script of death was going to take.

Arlot's attack was aimed at Qin Ye's throat, and Qin Ye's attack was also aimed at his throat.

It seemed that they were on course for mutual destruction.

BOOM!!

An earth-shattering boom rang out, and neither side chose to take evasive measures. Both of them could feel their own attack plunging into their opponent's body, and in the next instant, their fields of view were completely engulfed by black light.

A pillar of inky-black light erupted straight up into the heavens, and it was even darker than the night itself. All of the stars in the sky instantly lost all color, and Fernando and Owen were looking on intently to see the final outcome of the battle. Only after close to 20 seconds had passed did the pillar of Yin energy finally subside, and both of them drew a sharp breath in unison as they looked on with incredulous expressions.

Owen stumbled back several steps in succession in complete disbelief, then joined his palms together with his robes drenched in cold sweat. "Amen..."

In the sky above, Qin Ye's spear had plunged through Arlot's throat, piercing through his spine with a bloodstained spear tip peeking out from the back of Arlot's neck.

At the same time, his throat had also been pierced by Arlot's bone spike, and the bloodstained tip of the spike was also peeking out the back of his neck.

The battle really had ended in mutual destruction.

However, there was a triumphant look in Arlot's eyes despite the grievous wound he had sustained.

You have no backup. You are alone and there are only 10 seconds left until the firing of the Spear of Longinus, upon which the grand script of death will draw to a conclusion! I am the winner here!

A satisfied smile appeared on his face as his body disintegrated into countless bats, leaving behind only a skeleton, which then also quickly dissipated into Yin energy.

"What a pity..." Fernando withdrew his gaze and turned his attention back to the Spear of Longinus.

The spear had to be fired, after all.

There were still countless werewolves and bats in the city watching them, so they had to fulfill their end of the deal.

"Hold on..." Right at this moment, a strangled voice that sounded like a set of bellows rang out, and Fernando and Owen both faltered slightly upon hearing this before immediately turning back to look up at the sky with incredulous expressions.

That Cathayan Underworld Yama-King isn't dead! How is this possible?! That should be a lethal injury!