Yama Rising

Thud... In the Nipponese Underworld, Izanami set her teacup gently onto the table, and the sound was very faint, but it was clearly audible within the deathly silent conference hall.

No one said anything. It had already been two hours since the fall of Kyushu, and six hours since the commencement of the Cathayan Underworld's invasion. It was already 3 AM, but no one felt like sleeping at all.

The atmosphere in the room could virtually be sliced with a knife, and the oppressive tension didn't come from the news of the Cathayan Underworld's invasion. Instead, it arose from the despair and powerlessness that they felt toward the army of the Cathayan Underworld.

Izanami couldn't stand the oppressive atmosphere any longer, and she finally broke the silence. "How is the propaganda coming along?"

"We're already on it," Susanoo-no-Mikoto replied. "Starting from 6 AM tomorrow, you'll be holding a video conference to issue an announcement to the entire underworld, rallying all netherworldly citizens and yokai to fight for the Nipponese Underworld. On the same day, all of the television stations will be playing your address on repeat. On top of that, a nationwide mobilization order will be released by all newspaper and media outlets starting from 7 AM tomorrow."

Shuten-doji was so numb at this point that he couldn't even decipher whether this was good news or bad news. He was slumped in his chair with his hand supporting his chin, and there was a vacant look in his eyes as he asked, "So what's going to become of Shikoku and Chugoku?"

It was a question that was completely unrelated to the topic at hand, but it was something that everyone was thinking about.

Indeed, Kyushu had fallen in less than four hours, and the Cathayan Underworld was definitely going to set its sights on Chugoku and Shikoku.

The great yokai of Chugoku, Susa Boy, had already gone missing in the Cathayan Underworld, so Shuten-doji was the only one overseeing two entire regions, which consisted of eight counties and several dozen cities. To compound the Nipponese Underworld's woes even further, Yamata no Orochi had gone into slumber beneath Amano-Iwato, and there was no way that it would be able to recover from its injuries without at least several centuries of rest.

Shuten-doji continued in a despairing voice, "Close to two million Kunitsukami were comprehensively defeated by less than 200,000 Cathayan troops... Morale has already plummeted to the lowest possible point. Who's going to guard Shikoku and Chugoku?"

After several minutes of silence, Susanoo-no-Mikoto finally replied, "I've already ordered the Kunitsukami not to retreat any further. They are going to join the local daimyos in Shikoku and Chugoku to oppose the Cathayan Underworld's army with the tenshu pavilions as their strongholds."

A hint of deep sorrow surfaced in Shuten-doji's eyes as he scoffed, "So we're retreating away from the inter-realm mirrors?"

The inter-realm mirrors were situated at all of the main roads, and they were the only things that could restrict the number of enemy troops flooding into the Nipponese Underworld.

No one answered his question.

There was no good answer that they could give.

The fact that they were setting the tenshu pavilions as their strongholds meant that they had abandoned the inter-realm mirrors. However, even if they were to defend the inter-realm mirrors at all costs, the outcome wouldn't be much different. The Cathayan Underworld's strategy was very clear: they were going to send mechanical weapons of war to wreak havoc among the Nipponese Underworld's forces, then deploy troops through the inter-realm mirrors to buy time for the Harken to descend. Once the Harken arrived on the battlefield, it would be all over.

The Harken had already displayed its powers in the town of Hasami. It was no exaggeration to say that it was like a lethal force of nature, as destructive as it was inevitable. In other words, if they wanted to defend the inter-realm mirrors, they would have to dedicate massive numbers of troops to oppose the Cathayan Underworld's forces, but it would all be futile anyway once the Harken arrived on the scene.

In abandoning the inter-realm mirrors, the Nipponese Underworld was giving up its only advantage.

In this situation, it seemed that no strategy was viable for the Nipponese Underworld.

It wasn't because the Cathayan Underworld had a vast array of tactics that it could employ, there was simply an overwhelming disparity in power that made all strategy and tactics meaningless.

"Are we just going to give up on Shikoku and Chugoku?" Shuten-doji asked through gritted teeth. "That's my territory!"

"We can't make any more concessions!" Izanami declared with a serious expression. "We can't allow the Cathayan Underworld's forces to advance any further... Susanoo-no-Mikoto, you and Shuten-doji will be responsible for defending Chugoku and Shikoku!"

Susanoo-no-Mikoto was struck by a reflexive urge to refuse. There was no way he could oppose the Harken!

"Take Kusanagi no Tsurugi and Yata no Kagami!" Izanami said as she stood up with tightly gritted teeth. "We have to defend the inter-realm mirrors with our lives! Before the Coalition of Underworlds agrees to send reinforcements, we must fight tooth and nail for any inch of territory that we can! Otherwise, even if reinforcements arrive, we'll potentially have to sacrifice territory in exchange for a truce."

She raised her head and swept a serious gaze around the room. "Everyone, this is a crisis the magnitude of which our Nipponese Underworld has never encountered. If the Cathayan Underworld is allowed to establish a foundation on our territory, we'll be assimilated and devoured. Have there not been enough similar examples throughout history? We must defend Shikoku and Chugoku no matter what!"

She slammed her fist forcefully onto the table as she declared in a decisive voice, "We must protect our nation at all costs! Deploy the remaining two million Kunitsukami! At the same time..."

"Your Excellency!" Right at this moment, the doors were flung open, and Izanami's secretary and assistant rushed in frantically. "The Hindustani Underworld has strongly denounced the Cathayan Underworld's barbaric invasive behavior, and at the same time, they've opened up the Strait of Tsushima! The Naga Fleet and the Golden Fleet are already traveling toward the Nippon Sea, and they're set to arrive within three hours!"

A collective sigh of relief rang out across the entire hall, and Susanoo-no-Mikoto asked, "How are they able to get here so quickly?"

"The Golden Fleet has always been docked near the Strait of Tsushima!" the secretary immediately replied, but no one noticed the desperate look on the assistant's face.

"Thank the heavens," Tamamo-no-Mae murmured to herself as she joined her palms together, then turned to the assistant and asked, "Is there anything else?"

The assistant was silent for a long while before finally replying through gritted teeth, "Hokkaido has been attacked by over 200,000 enemy Yin soldiers! Also... Also..."

Tamamo-no-Mae immediately sprang to her feet.

Hokkaido was her territory!

"What else is there?!" Her voice abruptly sprang up a few octaves as she made a grabbing motion, and the assistant was pulled toward her by the collar from afar. "Spit it out!"

"Also... Also..." The assistant didn't even dare to look at her, and only after a few seconds of stuttering did he finally manage to squeeze out the words: "The Reincarnation King of the Cathayan Underworld has arrived in Hokkaido in person..."

As soon as his voice trailed off, his body fell onto the ground, while Tamamo-no-Mae stood rooted to the spot with a vacant look in her eyes, looking as if she had lost her soul. "What's the situation in Hokkaido currently like?"

The assistant gulped nervously before replying, "The entire region north of Asahikawa, Biei, and Furano has already fallen..."

Deathly silence ensued once again.

Essentially, 60% of the entirety of Hokkaido had already been conquered by the Cathayan Underworld!

No wonder they hadn't continued in their assault to attack Chugoku and Shikoku, choosing to continue to apply pressure on the west instead. Their real objective had been Hokkaido all along!

Their army was advancing from both the east and the west, and eventually, the Nipponese Underworld's forces would be forcibly compressed to Chubu and Kansai!

Only in this moment did they realize with startling clarity that the Cathayan Underworld really did intend to conquer their entire nation.

Even after the fall of Kyushu, they were still holding onto a shred of hope that the Cathayan Underworld was merely teaching them a lesson, and that once it was content that the Nipponese Underworld had learned its lesson, the Cathayan Underworld would withdraw its troops.

However, they couldn't delude themselves any longer.

It was clear that the Cathayan Underworld was intending to herd the Nipponese Underworld's forces into Chubu and Kansai, and if they were to succeed, that would be the prelude to the fall of the entire nation! There was no way that they would allow the Nipponese Underworld any time to recover!

"How could this be..." Tamamo-no-Mae finally returned to her senses, and her black hair and nine tails fanned out behind her as she exclaimed, "There were no Cathayan forces near Hokkaido! We've been monitoring them the entire time! How did they get over there?!"

The assistant replied in a trembling voice, "According to our sources, they set off from Tokyo Bay, using the Mitsubishi Consortium's newest submarines to travel to Hokkaido in secret, and.... and the daimyos in Hokkaido have already surrendered..."

Susanoo-no-Mikoto's hands balled up into tight fists upon hearing this. This was the worst possible news! Hokkaido was the northernmost prefecture of the Nipponese Underworld, and it had never been heavily guarded. In order to ward off the Cathayan Underworld's troops, most of the Kunitsukami were already on their way to Chugoku and Shikoku. Who could've anticipated that this would happen?!

"Hold on a minute! Even if submarines were used, they would still have to contend with the inter-realm mirrors! Our waters are currently filled with inter-realm mirrors, how were the daimyos unable to muster up any resistance?" Tamamo-no-Mae asked. "With Hokkaido's defenses, there definitely would've been enough time to at least get the word out! Why is it that we haven't heard anything before most of the prefecture was conquered?"

The assistant naturally had no answer to that.

However, everyone else present already knew the answer.

It was because there were traitors!

There were traitors who had allowed the enemy to enter the inland sea! At the same time, those traitors had opened up a path between the mortal realm and the underworld! There was no way that these Yin soldiers had come from the underworld as everything around the sea had been under their constant surveillance ever since the beginning of the war!

Who was it that had opened the shimenawa between the mortal realm and the underworld?

Who was it that had allowed the Cathayan Underworld's forces to access Tokyo Bay?

Izanami's lips were pursed so tightly that the color had completely faded from them. "Amanozako, you shameless bitch! The daimyos must've been involved in this as well! I should've never allowed those pieces of scum to continue living! Susanoo-no-Mikoto!"

"I'm here," Susanoo-no-Mikoto replied with a bow.

"Take 150,000 Kunitsukami and travel to Tokyo right away to decimate all of the daimyos and seal Amanozako's shimenawa!"

"Yes!" Susanoo-no-Mikoto departed as a gust of Yin wind.

Even though it was already too little too late, it was still better than doing nothing.

"I'll go as well." Tamamo-no-Mae stood up after taking a moment to calm herself down. "I have to return to Hokkaido right away. Perhaps I can still rally the troops to muster up some resistance."

Izanami nodded in response, and Tamamo-no-Mae immediately also departed as a gust of Yin wind, following which Izanami closed her eyes in an exhausted manner.

There was no way that the Cathayan Underworld's forces could be stopped.

With two Yama-Kings present on the battlefield, it would only be a matter of time before the inter-realm mirrors were torn wide open. Under normal circumstances, perhaps it would've taken the Cathayan Underworld's army as long as a year to break through the inter-realm mirrors, but with the two Yama-Kings among their ranks, the entirety of the Nipponese Underworld would be conquered within a week!

At this point, they could only rely on eternal aid.

Izanami rose to her feet as she said in a cold voice, "Contact all of the underworlds right away! In 30 minutes, our Nipponese Underworld will be holding a press conference to declare an official state of war!"

They couldn't delude themselves any longer.

They could only rely on reinforcements from the rest of the world, pinning their hopes on the Golden Fleet and the Naga Fleet to resist the Cathayan Underworld's forces.

At the very least, they had to preserve Amano-Iwato!