Yama Rising

Dead silence.

Immediately thereafter, raucous commotion erupted in all directions, and it was gradually growing louder and louder. In the blink of an eye, all eyes were on Qin Ye, and everyone was discussing this latest revelation among themselves.

This was the first time that anyone had lashed out at the Cathayan Underworld during an international conference, and it was also the first time that one of the four pillars had officially announced its exit from the treaty on the non-proliferation of forbidden arts!

The netherfire in the eyes of the nameless god of death flickered erratically as he turned to Qin Ye with an incredulous expression. The death gods of the Nipponese Underworld, the Red Moon Federation, the Hindustani Underworld... everyone felt as if electricity were surging over their skin, and several death gods had almost sprung to their feet!

If the Cathayan Underworld were to back out of the treaty on the non-proliferation of forbidden arts, it would be constantly exposed to the threat of forbidden arts!

This was also the case in the past, but at the very least, it had a contract as a form of protection, but now, the Cathayan Underworld had torn this layer of protection to shreds!

Shameless! Shameless! Shameless!

"Damn it..." Izanami almost swore out loud as she murmured to herself through gritted teeth, "Everyone has always played by the rules, yet he's suddenly decided that he doesn't want to anymore! No underworld has ever done this! I've never seen someone so shameless!"

Indeed, in order to convince other underworlds to interact with you and secure more benefits from them, one had to play by the rules.

Never had any underworld renounced the rules like this before, but the Cathayan Underworld had done so now.

Archimedes was also completely taken aback by this, and he turned to Hypnos for help.

Never did they even consider this to be an option.

On the world stage, the Cathayan Underworld had always been one that cared the most about its reputation. The first and second King Yanluos had been domineering and aggressive, but most of the time, they had abided by the rules, so why was the third King Yanluo so shameless? How could he just decide to exit this treaty on a whim? This completely went against all of the possible outcomes they had theorized!

Where was his sense of shame?

"Yanluo Qin." Hypnos finally rose to his feet and looked directly into Qin Ye's eyes as he said, "You're threatening the entire world."

Yamaraja also stood up from his throne as he chimed in, "You've gone too far, Yanluo Qin."

Anubis was the final one of the leaders of the three pillars to stand up, and he turned to Qin Ye as he said, "Forbidden arts are the most dangerous Pandora's Box in the entire underworld. I'm sure you're aware of how entire regions can be made uninhabitable for over a century following the detonation of a forbidden art. Your actions could throw the entire world into jeopardy!"

"Don't make me laugh!" Qin Ye also rose to his feet, and he wasn't backing down in the slightest as he looked at the three paramount death gods around him. "In this world, only the four pillars are aware of what stage forbidden arts have been developed to, and only the four pillars know how to assess whether a nation is attempting to develop forbidden arts or not, yet you're proposing to withdraw the Cathayan Underworld's rights as an initiator for the treaty on the non-proliferation of forbidden arts? Are you stupid or deranged?"

Several dozen bright red eyes immediately lit up beneath Yamaraja's cloak.

He had been the premier death god in one of the four pillars for thousands of years, and no one had ever insulted him so blatantly in front of so many people!

His Yin energy erupted forth without any warning, and it was like a sea of black ink tinged with wisps of red. The sea of Yin energy flooded in all directions, yet before the other death gods even had a chance to be alarmed, another burst of even more powerful Yin energy crashed down from the heavens, forcibly quelling Yamaraj's Yin energy!

Zhao Yun also rose to his feet as he looked at Yamaraja through narrowed eyes. "Death God Yamaraja, are you planning to attack our King Yanluo?"

Faint white light began to shimmer within his right hand as he spoke, and an indistinct outline of his Courage of Dragons Silver Spear appeared.

"How dare you?!" An enraged roar rang out as Durga, who was over five meters tall, also stood up in an instant. "Ghost King Zhao, you are only a subordinate to Yanluo Qin, yet you dare to threaten the ruler of our nation? Are you provoking our Hindustani Underworld?"

Durga was a mountainous pile of body parts with three heads that were riddled with horns, and a giant mouth had spread open directly down the center of her body. Yin energy was also pouring out of the massive mouth to oppose Zhao Yun's overwhelming Yin energy.

Before Zhao Yun had a chance to respond, Qin Ye chuckled coldly, "Ha! I've never seen a Yama-King be so rude to a being above the Yama-King level before! Do you have a death wish?"

It was another threat, and this time, the threat was being made directly against Durga's life!

All of the death gods stared at Qin Ye with their mouths slightly agape. The way Qin Ye was acting now was completely different from their image for what the third King Yanluo of the Cathayan Underworld should've been like. He was the leader of one of the most powerful nations of the world, yet he was acting like a shameless ruffian, making threats at will! In contrast with Qin Ye, his two predecessors were tame in comparison!

At the very least, the second King Yanluo had never publicly made a threat against anyone's life!

If this were the mortal realm, any nation that dared to threaten other nations with nuclear weaponry would undoubtedly be ostracized by the entire world. Even tiny nations would definitely refuse to open their doors to such a nation, and all embassies and agreements would be terminated with immediate effect because no one wanted to deal with such a volatile nation!

However, this was exactly what Qin Ye was doing. Was this really the ruler of one of the four pillars? Everyone could scarcely believe their own eyes, and the fence-sitters were beginning to waver.

They didn't dare to support such an underworld that was displaying such blatant disregard for the unspoken rules of the world. It was like a vicious viper that was completely self-serving and would bite anyone as long as it benefited them to do so!

How could the third King Yanluo of the Cathayan Underworld act like this?

"Are you threatening us?" Hypnos paid no heed to the rising commotion in the hall, and his smile faded as his pristine white robe rose up all around him, revealing the pure golden suit of armor underneath. "Your subordinate is directly threatening an advanced death god's life! Do you think the world is your backyard?!"

Boom!!

Another burst of advanced Yama-King level Yin energy erupted across the entire hall, and Hypnos slowly rose up into the air as 12 inky-black wings formed by Yin energy took shape on his back, giving him the appearance of an almighty deity.

Before the death gods even had a chance to be alarmed by this, another burst of Yin energy that was just as powerful swept through the entire scene, and all of the Yin runes on Anubis's entire body lit up in unison. At the same time, a ferocious vortex of sand appeared behind him and he said, "As the ruler of the Cathayan Underworld, I thought you would know what rules can and can't be broken. Are you really planning to shatter all of the rules that have been established over the past thousands of years?! You should be setting an example as one of the leading nations in the world!"

"My apologies." Qin Ye didn't even bother to release his Yin energy. In the face of three advanced death gods, for him to release his nascent Yama-King level Yin energy would be nothing more than a pitiful joke. Zhao Yun's Yin energy would be more than enough to contend with theirs.

He rested his hands on the table and said with a smile, "I only have one goal, which is to make Cathay great again."

………………………………………………..

In a certain cave in the Amazon Rainforest of the mortal realm.

The second King Yanluo was seated with his eyes closed, but a smile suddenly appeared on his face. Osiris almost soiled himself at the sight of his smile, and he silently pressed himself against the wall of the cave.

After a long while, the second King Yanluo finally opened his eyes as he chuckled, "You shameless little bitch, you've well and truly disgraced the Cathayan Underworld! Having said that, this is exactly what the first King Yanluo and I couldn't do..."

He heaved a faint sigh as he leaned back casually against the rock wall behind him. "When you focus too much on keeping up appearances, you'll be constantly bound by self-enforced rules, and your hands will constantly be tied. Make Usonia... I mean, make Cathay great again, that's what he just said, right?"

He prodded Osiris with his toe, and Osiris immediately replied with a fawning smile, "That's right, that was the motto of the former Usonian president, Donald Trump. However, I think it's much more appropriate when spoken by Yanluo Qin. In fact, it's almost like he was the one who came up with this slogan!"

I don't care about the state of the world, I'm only open to discussion if the terms are favorable for my nation! I'm shameless? That's right! I'm a fucking clown! What're you gonna do about it?

The second King Yanluo nodded as he closed his eyes once again. Even so, Osiris didn't try to escape. Instead, he obediently tossed more wood into the fire, aiming to make the fire great again as well.

The second King Yanluo got into a more comfortable position before suddenly chuckling, "Is he stalling for time? Is he stalling until Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa arrive? Is that his true trump card? Prior to that, he's going to act like a deranged idiot who has no shame or inhibitions. It's a pretty good strategy, but he's the only King Yanluo in history capable of using it. Neither Bo Yikao nor I would've been able to convince ourselves to be so shameless. Only in the final instant will the other underworlds see your true self. However, at the end of the day, you still have to follow the rules. No matter how you act now, you have to return to within the constraints of the rules when the final vote begins, unless you want to truly become an outcast in the world. What if you don't manage to stall until Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa arrive? What will you do then? I'm really looking forward to this..."

He paused momentarily before his brows suddenly furrowed slightly, and he gave Osiris a casual kick as he grumbled, "Make the fire stronger! It's pouring out there!"

Osiris immediately fed more wood into the fire like a pitiful servant...

………………………………………………

No one was aware of what was happening in the cave as everyone's eyes were currently focused on the four death gods of the four pillars.

Many death gods had already risen to their feet, and the Yin energy of around a dozen death gods had gathered behind the rulers of the three pillars, forming a menacing cloud of darkness. At the same time, the Mythic Spirits of the Alkebulan Underworlds and all of Northern Europa's representatives had also stood up to join the Cathayan Underworld's camp. In terms of numbers, the Cathayan Underworld wasn't at a disadvantage.

The Yin energy of the two sides were on the verge of clashing, and everyone was unconsciously joining their respective camps. Hypnos stared intently at Qin Ye as he asked, "Are you sure you want to shatter the rules? Are you sure you can handle the consequences of your actions?"

"I don't want to break the rules," Qin Ye chuckled. "You already broke the rules, so there's nothing left for me to break! As soon as I arrived in Nara, I was immediately met with an assassination attempt!"

"But..." Izanami reflexively wanted to say something, but she had only just opened her mouth when Zhao Yun interjected, "Shut up! You have no right to talk here."

Izanami gnashed her teeth together so hard that they almost shattered.

"The Alkebulan Underworlds were intercepted, and the messenger I sent was also intercepted!" Qin Ye slammed a hand onto the table and asked in a thunderous voice, "Who is it that's breaking the rules?! You want to break the rules? Then let's all break the rules! None of you have any shame anyway, so why should I bother to try and keep up appearances?"

"How insolent!!" the three death gods of the three pillars roared almost in unison, and the Yin energy of the two opposing camps clashed violently.

All of the windows in the hall shattered in the wake of the clash, but only Erinys could sense that something was wrong.

Qin Ye was being far too shameless here!

The Cathayan Underworld could perhaps weather this storm like this, but this farce was far too damaging to the image of their nation. An image was something that took decades, even centuries to build up, yet it could be shattered in an instant.

In particular, this was the third King Yanluo's first appearance on the world stage. How was the Cathayan Underworld supposed to survive after this episode?

He was like a mental asylum escapee who was impersonating the third King Yanluo!

She was certain that the successor chosen by the second King Yanluo wouldn't be this foolish. Furthermore, during the past seven days, Qin Ye had displayed an exceptional ability to lie low under pressure without making any rash moves. In that case, what could his objective be for acting like this? Erinys's eyes narrowed slightly as she pursed her lips in contemplation.

Could it be that he was stalling for time? Could he be putting on this act on purpose? Was he waiting for something?

Her heart abruptly skipped a beat as this thought occurred to her, and she suddenly couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen.