Yama Rising

They were howling and screaming as if they had gone insane, but they were so tiny and insignificant in the face of the tsunamis swept up by Kraken. They reached out with all their might, but there was nothing they could do.

Kraken could also sense a burst of unprecedented killing intent locking onto it, and it immediately began to sink downward without any hesitation.

It had to escape from this place. If it were to allow the attack aimed at it to strike itself, then its death would be sealed!

The sense of peril that had welled up in its heart was so intense that all of its tentacles were trembling as it instinctively curled up into a ball to protect its own head.

"No!!!" Leoric's mouth was gaped open as wide as it would go as he stared at the streak of light shooting through the air with an expression of utter despair. The streak of light covered a distance of hundreds of meters in the blink of an eye, and he was frantically rushing toward it, even struck by the impulsive urge to take the spear strike with his own body.

Brando's heart was also dripping blood. The Freemasonry had invested so much into this grand script of death. They had captured Tezcatlipoca on Aconcagua, they had created all of those artificial supernatural disasters, and as a Duke, he had to do everything in his power to appease a trio of lowly Marquesses, yet all of those efforts had gone down the drain. However, he wasn't in as much mental anguish as the three death gods of the Caribbean.

After all, what the Freemasonry lacked the least had always been money.

Thus, at the sight of the three death gods' deranged gestures, he immediately grabbed onto them and yelled, "Have you gone insane?!"

"Let go of me!!" Akana really was on the brink of insanity as the netherfire in her eyes spiked up to over 10 meters in height. The doorway to godhood had been beckoning to her just a moment ago, yet now, the door was slowly swinging shut.

Hope had turned to despair, then hope had arisen again, only to transform into despair a second time, and this emotional rollercoaster was so painful that she would rather be dead!

Brando ignored their cries and held them firmly in place. He couldn't allow the three of them to die here. There would only be chances for further collaborations in the future if they remained alive.

However, he was also looking at the scene unfolding before his eyes with bleak despair in his heart. This fatal stumble at the final hurdle was truly going to haunt him for the rest of his days.

In the blink of an eye, the streak of light flew into Kraken's head, and the entire surface of the sea was inundated by light. Amid the boundless sea of light, Kraken's horrified and agonized screeches could be heard ringing out incessantly.

"ARRRGH!!" Leoric clawed at his own head with all his might, and he begged in a sobbing voice, "No... No!! Stop! Please stop!!"

He really did feel as if he had gone insane.

This was far too heavy a psychological blow for them to bear. They had plotted for over 100 years and most of their troops had perished in this battle, but their grand script of death had been intercepted and their followers were completely oblivious.

There was no going back now. From the moment the Spear of Longinus was fired from the church, the final outcome was already set in stone.

Ironically, all of the followers present still had their palms joined together with extremely reverent expressions as they prayed in quiet voices, "Almighty God who oversees death, Your divine miracle is as deep as the sea and as vast as the sky. I worship You as the only true God, the only death god in history who has displayed a divine miracle!"

As they continued to chant their prayers, specks of white light rose up from the bodies of every single follower. In the end, tens of thousands of specks of light had arisen, rising up into the sky before falling like a meteor shower.

This was the light of worship!

The complete actualization of the divine prophecy erased all of the doubts they had toward Dax's existence, but unbeknownst to them, they weren't even worshiping the real Dax.

The real Dax was standing behind them, reaching out a trembling hand as he tried to grab onto these specks of light in a helpless manner. Unfortunately, the vast storm of light didn't even turn in their direction in the slightest before surging directly toward Philadelphia.

"NO!!" The three death gods of the Caribbean felt as if serrated knives had been driven into their hearts, and they transformed into bursts of Yin energy as they frantically pursued the light of worship.

"I'm going to tear you to pieces with my bare hands!! I'm going to eat your flesh and drink your blood!!"

There was no point in staying in Cape May anymore. Kraken was still alive and frantically trying to ward off the Spear of Longinus, but its death was only a matter of time.

Why would they stay here any longer? To watch exactly how their grand script of death became the biggest ironic tragedy in history? To continue basking in the taste of defeat?

He may have lost, but he certainly wasn't going to allow the shameless bastard who had stolen his worship to get away with this! He was going to capture him and torture him for all of eternity to vent his fury!

Thus, four furious streaks of Yin energy shot forth directly toward Philadelphia.

At the height of their fury, they were flying extremely quickly, and they arrived in Philadelphia after no more than 20 minutes. They didn't delay in the slightest as they rushed directly toward the Gloria Dei Old Swedes Episcopal Church with burning killing intent. Soon, the imposter god had already appeared in their field of view.

None of the three Caribbean death gods said anything upon seeing him. White netherfire erupted over Leoric's entire body, and the joints of his hands were cracking audibly, such was the force with which he was holding onto his giant warhammer. At the same time, six arms emerged from Akana's back, and each arm was holding a dagger that was around a foot in length, while Zerens had swelled drastically in size, transforming into a giant with an abnormal red pallor all over his body. Brando was also with them, and he was gnashing his teeth together violently with burning fury in his eyes.

The eyes of the three death gods of the Caribbean were filled entirely by Qin Ye.

It's all your fault! How could we live with ourselves if we don't kill you? You must die!

From their perspective, Qin Ye was still a figure in a black cloak with a scythe casually resting on his shoulder. There was no one around him. The two cardinals of the church had disappeared, and Arlot was also nowhere to be seen.

"Die!!!" Brando and the three Caribbean death gods roared in unison as Brando made the first strike, slashing his sharp claws straight toward Qin Ye's throat.

You piece of scum! You should be crucified with vultures tearing away your flesh bit by bit until your final breath!

However, right as his attack was about to strike Qin Ye, he was suddenly stopped cold in his tracks. It was as if his claws had plunged into a lake, and there was immense resistance all around him, preventing him from advancing even an inch further!

"How insolent!" At the same time, a spear-wielding figure emerged from behind Qin Ye. No one had sensed him, nor had they been able to see how he had appeared, but in the instant that he emerged, Brando was immediately struck by a sense of grave peril that made all of his fur stand up on end, and he let loose a fearful yelp before hurriedly retreating to 100 meters away.

"M... May I ask your name?" His voice was trembling slightly as he stared intently at the imposter god. Immediately thereafter, a resounding boom rang out inside his mind, and he felt as if a mountain had fallen directly upon him, forcing him to fall heavily to his knees with a dull thump before kowtowing to the ground.

This was a being above the Duke level! An invincible being in this world!

Unfortunately, the three death gods of the Caribbean were too enraged to see Brando's reaction.

Their eyes were focused obsessively on the imposter god before them, and there was no room for anyone else!

They had witnessed the slaying of Kraken.

They had witnessed the convergence of the power of worship.

They had witnessed someone else steal their right to godhood!

This was absolutely unforgivable!

Right as they were about to reach Qin Ye, the figure behind Qin Ye seemed to sway slightly, and even though he didn't unleash any arts, the three Caribbean death gods felt as if they had crashed into an insurmountable mountain. They were sent flying back several hundred meters with Yin energy gushing out of their bodies, and their souls were almost sent flying out.

"Lord Brando!" Leoric was the first one to rise to his feet as he roared in a furious voice, "What are you doing?! Are you just going to watch as... Huh?!"

They had been sent flying back by several hundred meters, while Brando had only retreated around 100 meters, so they were situated behind him.

As a result, they could see the pitiful gesture that Brando had adopted, and they were all rooted to the spot.

They looked at Brando, then cast their gaze forward to find an emissary of the Cathayan Underworld wearing Yama-King robes. He appeared to be quite young and also... somewhat familiar!

Hold on, isn't that the man who was accompanying the Cathayan Underworld's King Yanluo during the conference for the re-signing of the treaty on the non-proliferation of forbidden arts? What was his name again? Ghost King Zhao? In that case, that imposter god has to be... the Cathayan Underworld's King Yanluo?!

As soon as this thought sprang into his mind, Leoric became even more furious, and his breathing had become ragged and strained with rage. Despite the fact that Zhao Yun has almost just slapped his soul out of his body just now, his gaze was focused intently on that imposter god this entire time.

All of a sudden, he burst into raucous laughter that was becoming louder and more deranged by the second.

An amused smile appeared on Qin Ye's face as he made his way over to Leoric's side. Leoric immediately tightened his grip around his warhammer, yet before he could lash out, he had already been forced to his knees.

"You're trying to attract my attention and goad me into asking 'why are you laughing?', so you can reply by insulting me, right?"

"You..." Half of Leoric's body was buried in the earth, and he raised his head with great difficulty to glower directly at Qin Ye.

"You're like a cheesy pantomime villain!" Qin Ye chuckled. "You must be really angry and indignant right now, right?"

"Die!!"

Qin Ye took a step backward with an insulting smirk on his face. "Oh, I love that expression. You want to kill me so much, but you can't do anything to me!"

"You piece of..."

"Shhh..." Qin Ye cut him off by raising a finger to his own lips. "Take a listen."

Before Leoric had a chance to say anything, Qin Ye continued, "Listen to the howling of the sea."

In the next instant, a blood-curdling screech erupted in the night!

The voice belonged to Kraken!

The three Caribbean death gods turned around with all their might in the direction of Cape May, and what they saw plunged their hearts even deeper into the abyss of despair.

A flurry of worship was currently surging from Cape May to Philadelphia.

No, that wasn't all. More and more dazzling specks of light were appearing all over the nation, then frantically converging toward Philadelphia!

"No... No... No!!" Zhao Yun cast a stunned gaze toward Leoric. Never did he think that Leoric would be able to break through his restrictions and stand up! What kind of powerful emotions could've lent him such immense power?

Leoric didn't know anything anymore. In the darkness of the night, countless specks of light were surging rapidly toward Qin Ye. Leoric dragged his broken warhammer behind him as he walked shakily toward the light. The light was so close to him, yet it felt so far out of reach.

"Mine... This is mine... It's all mine!" he howled in agony and heartbreak. "This worship belongs to me!! We slowly built up this worship over the course of 100 years! This is all mine! Arrrrgh..."

The storm of worship consisted of at least 100,000 specks of light, and he spread his arms open in front of it, as if doing so would allow the power of worship to flow into his body.

However, the storm of worship merely passed through him as if he didn't even exist, further compounding his agony.

"Give it back! Give it back to me!! Arrrrrgh!!"