Yama Rising

Izanami abruptly raised her head, and a black hole appeared at the center of her head. Countless fat maggots crawled out of the hole before a rotten eyeball was finally revealed.

It was said that due to the fact that Izanami had eaten the food of the underworld, her entire body had transformed into a mass of maggots. In terms of ugliness, she was able to compete with the likes of Death Goddess Hela, and that was why she never revealed her true appearance.

"The five nations of Northern Europa have arrived and they've taken the initiative to request an audience with the Cathayan Underworld?" she asked in a grim voice, seemingly repeating a report she had just received.

"Yes," the underworld emissary standing before her replied in an uneasy manner.

Silence.

After a long while, Izanami finally waved a dismissive hand. "You can go now."

Thus, the underworld emissary departed, and she rose to her feet as she gently bit down onto her own lower lip. After another prolonged silence, she murmured to herself in a hateful voice, "So it really has come to this."

Just as the Cathayan Underworld had a series of backup plans, they had also prepared extensively before taking action against the Cathayan Underworld. They had simulated every possible situation countless times, and the five-nation alliance siding with the Cathayan Underworld was already within their predictions.

"Even with such extensive planning, we still cover all options..." she murmured to herself as she raised her head in a forlorn manner. "Not only has the Cathayan Underworld's reputation not been damaged by our provocation, they've taken advantage of our actions to re-establish themselves to a certain extent."

The room was very large and constructed in an authentic Nipponese style. The tatami mats that paved the floor were also of a very high quality, providing exceptional softness and warmth. Artworks by exceptional masters were hung up all around the room, and gold-plated vases were situated in the corners. Outside the room was a vast sea of blood-red blossoms hanging from Yin flower trees, and a series of light wind chimes were hanging under the eaves.

She gently massaged her own temples as she continued, "That wasn't all that significant. After all, their actions hadn't instilled their potential allies with much confidence. Confidence stems from power, and he only displayed aggression as opposed to power. That is the most fatal weakness they've displayed thus far. However, they've only remained silent for two days before shocking everyone with a divine descent during Count Dracula's welcome banquet, and that's not all! The third wave is about to arrive!"

The Cathayan Underworld's meeting with the five-nation alliance was going to even further bolster the confidence of those fence-sitters.

This was not something to be ignored, and the more she thought about it, the more she was struck by a sense of foreboding.

If these two incidents had taken place individually, she could still resolve them. Having survived for over 1,000 years while situated so close to the Cathayan Underworld, she had experienced far too much. The likes of Malaya, Daehan, and the Felipinas had all become colonies of the Cathayan Underworld, yet the Nipponese Underworld had managed to survive and retain its independence all this time, and that was due, in no small part, to her exceptional leadership.

Unfortunately, no one could've predicted the abrupt divine descent and the Alkebulan Underworlds' aggressive intervention. The fact that all of this was happening in such a short time meant that the cumulative storm was becoming impossible for her to weather.

"We've considered the possibility that the Alkebulan Underworlds will get involved. It's not that we can't afford to pay the price to convince the Alkebulan Underworlds to retreat, and in addition to that, they only have a single vote. However, we failed to consider the Alkebulan Underworlds' overall influence and territory. Even more importantly, the Plumed Serpent God has arrived in person, and that's completely different from that random assortment of Mythic Spirits! Damn it!"

She heaved a long sigh as she pondered the situation. Both sides were beginning to reveal their trump cards, and she had the best seat in the house to witness just how capable the four pillars were of stirring up the pot.

Under such unfavorable circumstances, the Cathayan Underworld had still managed to forcibly establish itself.

I have to report this right away and request the other three pillars to arrive here as soon as possible!

She couldn't afford to delay any longer!

She swept a hand through the air, and all of the doors and windows of the room instantly swung shut, following which she opened her mouth to expel a golden eyeball.

The eyeball was of a near-transparent faint golden color, and a constellation diagram was inscribed at the very center of its pupil.

She frantically injected her Yin energy into the eyeball, and soon, a golden door was opened. Boundless golden light seeped out from behind the door, and a voice rang out, seemingly out of nowhere. "What happened? I'm assuming it's something quite urgent for you to be using the relic of a saint."

Izanami immediately provided a recount of the events that had just unfolded, then pleaded, "Your Excellency, I request that you arrive here as soon as possible or that other members of the three pillars make haste in their journey to Nara. Everyone's eyes are currently focused on the Cathayan Underworld, and that could give them an opportunity to make a resurgence!"

The owner of the voice was silent for a moment before replying, "You seem to have forgotten that the four pillars are not bound by any rules, we turn up when we want to."

"But Your Excellency..."

"Having said that, I understand your concerns. We'll be setting off from Athens tonight, and we'll be arriving in Osaka in four hours."

"Thank you, Your Excellency" Izanami heaved a long sigh of relief, and the golden door flew back into the eyeball as a streak of light, but Izanami didn't immediately stow the golden eyeball away.

Instead, she inspected it with a cold look in her eyes, and after a long while, a derisive smile appeared on her face.

"Those idiots are still valuing appearances above all else! Of course it's an impactful statement for the four pillars to arrive later than everyone else and to make all of the other underworlds wait for them, but for god's sake, think about what we're trying to do!"

She grabbed onto the eyeball and gnashed her teeth together so vigorously that they were beginning to creak and groan. "This is the weakest the Cathayan Underworld has been in 3,000 years! If we miss this opportunity, who knows when the next one will come? You should all thank the heavens that you were born with golden spoons in your mouths! You've been so privileged for so long that you no longer even have any sense of urgency or awareness of danger! You can't even begin to imagine what it's like for small nations like us living under constant fear and crippling stress! If I were you, I would've arrived even earlier than the Cathayan Underworld!"

However, it was too late to be thinking about such things. The good thing was that they were going to arrive the next day, and she could only hope that nothing happened in the meantime.

She took a deep breath before stowing the eyeball away, then swept a hand through the air, and a door was flung open as she called out, "Tsutkiyatsu."

"I'm here." A gust of Yin wind swept past, and a female shinobi appeared at the entrance in a half-knelt position.

"Bring me my calming incense. For some reason, I can't help but feel very uneasy..."

…………………………………………………..

The way that nations interacted with one another was different depending on the nations involved.

For example, Giltine's Lithuanian Underworld could only survive within the cracks, and she couldn't even make any demands toward the major underworlds.

However, the five nations of Northern Europa were different.

They had a splendid past record and several death gods among their ranks. They were a tried and proven powerhouse.

They still only had a single vote, but their vote was far more influential than the single vote held by the likes of Giltine.

Right at this moment, the door was finally shut, and all of the death gods snapped back to reality as if they had just awoken from a trance. Qian Duolai said in an apologetic voice, "My apologies. Our King Yanluo hasn't gone anywhere these past few days, but several important agreements were already negotiated in advance, and they're currently being signed right now..."

So he doesn't have time to see you.

Qian Duolai didn't explicitly say this, but everyone understood what was being implied, and they all nodded with expressions of understanding before departing.

Inside the room, Qin Ye had already gotten fully dressed up.

He was wearing a spectacular golden crown and a long dragon robe with intricate dragon and phoenix designs embroidered onto its surface. Around his waist was a white jade belt, upon which were embedded 24 top-quality Aurogon's Eyes, and hanging from the belt was a piece of exceptional blood jade. As he caught sight of himself in the mirror, Qin Ye couldn't help but nod in approval at how handsome he was.

"When and where are we meeting?" he asked as the servants helped him button up his robes.

Qian Duolai had been standing silently beside Qin Ye this entire time, and he replied, "The meeting will take place at Tōdai-ji during the day. There will only be six Yama-Kings in attendance, and Ghost King Zhao was also invited. On top of that, they hope to have the opportunity to share a table with us."

Qin Ye nodded in response, and his mind quickly began to race.

Qian Duolai's reply had been quite concise, but there was a lot of information to be processed.

The servants that were helping Qin Ye with his attire were Yin spirits from the late Qing Dynasty, and they were once palatial servants. Qin Ye was enjoying the corruption of the feudalism as he mused, "There are two types of meetings on the world stage, the first of which is private, such as the meeting on the golf course between Abe and Trump, even though Abe fell over and the footage was broadcast by television stations throughout the entire nation..."

Qian Duolai cracked a rare smile upon hearing this. It seemed that the improving situation was also improving his mood as well.

Qin Ye continued, "The second type is the official meeting, where representatives from each part will meet up to finalize agreements."

He raised his hands to allow the servants to adjust his belt and attach other accessories to the belt as he continued, "The first type of meeting is more of a genuine heart-to-heart affair, while the second type is usually where the subject matter being discussed has already been finalized in advance. Generally speaking, the negotiations would've been completed as far back as half a year to a year ago, and all that was left to do was to sign the agreement."

After completing their duties, the two servants silently departed, and Qin Ye clasped his hands behind his back as he asked in a serious voice, "Which type of meeting do you think this one will be?"

Qian Duolai thought about this for a moment as he followed Qin Ye out of the room, then replied, "This is neither of those. Instead, it's both at the same time because they're desperate."

"Oh?" Qin Ye was rather intrigued by this response.

Qian Duolai explained in a respectful manner, "I'm just saying what I think, please take what I say with a grain of salt. They requested a meeting at Tōdai-ji for a day trip, and that's the first type of meeting, one that is private. However, they then want to share a table with us, and that undoubtedly entails negotiation. However, we haven't had any contact with them in the past. The Cathayan Underworld had been isolated from the rest of the world for over a century, and according to international underworld laws, diplomatic relations will be severed between two underworlds after 30 years of no interaction. This is a bold assumption, but I think they're in desperate need of protection, which is why they want to negotiate a few agreements during the day trip to Tōdai-ji, then immediately sign the agreements on the same day. They'll definitely be willing to offer some benefits in exchange for your signature, so you should be able to make some aggressive demands."

Qin Ye made his way toward the door, which had already been opened by a servant, and he said, "How will those agreements be able to protect them?"

Qian Duolai took a glance at Qin Ye to find that the latter's expression was very calm and confident. As a result, Qian Duolai was immediately able to confirm that Qin Ye was testing him, assessing whether this past top-tier spy from the mortal realm had grown accustomed to the way things are done in the underworld.

His heartbeat immediately began to accelerate.

Technically speaking, he was the current leader of the darkfeathers, but he didn't have the jurisdictive power to sign off on important decisions. That was a right that belonged to Qin Changxin.

If his response were satisfactory to Qin Ye, would he be able to make the darkfeathers truly his own?

He replied in a cautious manner, "The contents of those agreements aren’t important at all to them. All they need is to be able to tell the world that they have close ties with the Cathayan Underworld, and that would serve as a warning to the underworlds with malicious intentions toward them. All they want is an expression of benevolence from the Cathayan Underworld. Hence, their needs are congruent with our own. However, our opposition will definitely have anticipated all of this. The only thing they would have completely failed to anticipate would be our ability to earn the full support of the new continent. As for everything else, no matter how well we execute our plans, it'll still be extremely risky for us. We don't know how many underworlds will relinquish their right to vote so that they wouldn't offend either side. In fact, I think many underworlds will do this. What's dangerous for us is that our opposition has most likely already secured many votes at this point. The support of the Alkebulan Underworlds and Northern Europa Underworlds alone isn't going to be enough, we need to get those fence-sitters to vote for us as well."

The gate was opened, and there were already countless Yin spirits gathered outside. There were 15 carriages parked beneath the swaying Yin flower trees, and a raspy female voice rang out from within one of the carriages. "It's an honor to finally meet you for the first time, Yanluo Qin."

There were many death gods present, yet only she had greeted Qin Ye.

In fact, she had completely ignored Izanami, who was standing right beside her carriage, and it was clear that she was acting with a high degree of urgency.

Qin Ye nodded with a smile as he said, "Death Goddess Hella, World Serpent J?rmungandr, it's an honor to make your acquaintance. The Cathayan Underworld welcomes your arrival."