Yama Rising

Nipponese Underworld, Yomotsu Hirasaka, Amano-Iwato.

Izanami was kneeling on the desert, looking up at the sky with a stunned expression.

Who am I? Where am I? What just happened?

Just now, she had witnessed all of the Nipponese Underworld's inter-realm mirrors shatter into countless fragments, which rose up into the air before being reduced to dust.

She also witnessed Amano-Iwato being torn apart down the center. All of the torii gates and shimenawa ropes were destroyed in an instant, and the earth had shattered violently, allowing a sea of lethal radiance to erupt up from down below.

She saw countless screaming Yin spirits around her being inundated by the sea of light before they were erased out of existence, following which their souls drifted up into the heavens.

How is this possible? What have we been attacked by? Even a forbidden art isn't this powerful! At the very most, a forbidden art would only be on par in power with Minakanushi!

Never in the past several thousand years of her existence had she been at such a complete loss for what to do.

Several seconds later, she lowered her head in a dazed manner before picking up a handful of sand, then watched as it was swept away in the wind. Only after a long while did her voice return to her. "Itoku?"

No one answered her.

The only sound was the fierce wind howling through the vast desert.

"Hirose? Ichikawa?"

Those were the names of her secretary and assistant.

In all honesty, she barely remembered what they were called. They would always appear when she needed them, and they never referred to themselves by their names in her presence.

There was still no response.

Izanami's expression remained unchanged. In the instant that she opened her eyes and saw everything around her, her heart had become as barren as this desert.

Deep down inside, she had already died, and it was as if she were no longer capable of feeling any emotions.

She wasn't an idiot. The scene around her was enough to tell her that the Nipponese Underworld had been attacked by a type of new weapon, one that was even more fearsome than forbidden arts. Kyoto had been completely destroyed, and she didn't know how many other cities had also suffered the same fate. However, she was still holding onto one final shred of hope that this was just an illusion.

The desert stretched on in all directions as far as her eyes could see, and it was as if Amano-Iwato had never existed at all.

The streets and buildings that had existed not long ago seemed like memories of the distant past now.

Izanami's chest was heaving slightly as she took a moment to arrange her hair, then asked, "Is there anyone here?"

There was still no answer.

Izanami remained seated in silence with her legs tucked beneath her on the desert, as if she were reminiscing about her past. Only after a full half-hour had passed did she stand up as she closed her eyes with a forlorn sigh.

Why did I have to devote myself so completely to the three pillars? Why did I insist on going against the Cathayan Underworld?

The two nations were situated so close to one another. If she had chosen the Cathayan Underworld, then both nations would've benefitted, but she had chosen the wrong side.

The fate of the Nipponese Underworld had been sealed from the very beginning. Ever since she took that firm stance during the conference in Nara, the demise of the Nipponese Underworld had already been decided.

She had tried to mend the fractured relationship between the two nations, but the Cathayan Underworld had never reciprocated her efforts. She had thought that the Cathayan Underworld's moves to encourage interaction between civilian-run enterprises would be a catalyst for the two nations to come together again, but it turned out that those measures were just the beginning to a sinister plan.

There was no use in lingering on regrets.

Izanami picked up the hem of her kimono before slowly strolling along the desert. She was the Nipponese Underworld's first and final death god, and she had to face the remaining netherworldly citizens of her nation.

Right at this moment, a patch of sand in the desert shifted slightly, and a humanoid figure struggled to their feet. As soon as they caught sight of Izanami, they immediately came stumbling toward her.

Izanami's expression finally changed slightly upon seeing this, and she reflexively extended a hand toward them. Even though she didn't recognize the figure stumbling toward her, it was still some solace for her to see another living Yin spirit.

In the instant that the Yin spirit grabbed onto her hand, he immediately urged in a trembling voice, "Your Excellency... It's time to surrender... We can't resist any longer..."

What little color that was left in Izanami's cheeks quickly faded, but a smile appeared on her face as she nodded in response. "Indeed, it's time..."

…………………………

Cathayan Underworld, Ashmound.

The city was brightly lit regardless of whether it was day or night. As one of the two major cities of the Cathayan Underworld, Ashmound was the equivalent of Shanghai of the mortal realm.

The city was also home to the Cathayan Underworld's naval headquarters. During the past few years, all of the troops that had been sent to the Hanyang Underworld had set off from here.

"Cheers." Inside the most luxurious booth of one of the most high-end restaurants in Ashmound, a man raised his cup in a graceful manner before extending a slight bow toward the others at the table.

He was wearing a black robe with golden chrysanthemum flowers embroidered upon it, and there was a white jade hairpin in his hair. He was quite thin and didn't appear to be remarkable in any way, but the servers of the restaurant that were bringing dishes into the booth were taking extra care not to make any sound, and the manager and vice-manager of the restaurant were both standing outside the booth with anxious expressions, overseeing every little detail to ensure that there were no faults with their service.

Three underworld emissaries were seated around the eight immortal table, and at the head of the table was a slightly rotund elderly man who had a very benevolent appearance. Two middle-aged underworld emissaries, one male and one female, were seated at the table with him.

The three of them downed the contents of their cups in one go, following which the elderly man stroked his white beard as he chuckled, "This meal isn't being paid for with public funds, is it, Governor Zhang?"

"Of course not," the thin man replied with a smile. "Among the new generation of Yin spirits, I'm the only one to have reached this status. There are countless underworld emissaries from the older generation watching my every move, hoping that I slip up, so I certainly wouldn't dare to do something as foolish as use public funds for my meals. Rest assured, this is all coming out of my own pocket, so please go easy on the orders."

"Haha, of course."

Shortly into the meal, Governor Zhang filled the elderly man's cup once again, then finally asked, "Do you know what's going on here, Director Fang? Why are all provincial-level officials suddenly being examined?"

Director Fang shook his head in response. "I'm afraid I don't."

Before Governor Zhang had a chance to ask any more questions, he continued with furrowed brows, "All of the new generation of underworld emissaries want to see you promoted into the central government, but they're encountering quite a bit of resistance. After all, the old guard has been with Yanluo Qin from the very beginning, and we don't have the power to contend with them yet. Among the 50 members of the standing committee, we only have seven or eight, so we're not privy to a lot of information. Going by past convention, examinations like this are only conducted once every 10 years, but it's only been five years since the last examination, and personnel from our organization department were sent to each province to conduct the examinations in person. If you ask me..."

He took a glance out of the booth, then lowered his voice as he concluded, "I think there's going to be a very important position vacated soon."

"What makes you say that?" Governor Zhang asked with a serious expression. "All of the high-ranking provincial officials have undergone countless trials to reach their current positions, and nationwide examinations are only conducted in major cases where all of the officials of a province are involved, but I haven't heard of any cases of that magnitude recently."

"That's what's strange about this situation," Director Fang sighed. "Unfortunately for us, we don't have the connections that'll grant us access to this information, so we'll just have to wait and see..."

Right as his voice trailed off, the doors of the booth were suddenly opened, and the restaurant's manager carefully made his way into the room. As soon as he arrived at the table, he immediately bowed as he said, "Esteemed guests, I carry some instructions for you..."

Director Fang and Governor Zhang were astonished to hear this.

Instructions had been sent to this restaurant? And they were being delivered by the restaurant manager? Was this supposed to be a prank?

An awkward look appeared on the manager's face as he explained, "Just now, Department Six informed the entire city that all television stations and screens in shopping malls will be switched to Cathay Underworld Central Television Channel One in 10 minutes. This instruction came from the central government, so I had no choice but to come in and inform you. Please pardon my intrusion."

Director Fang nodded in response, and the manager pressed a button, upon which a screen was lowered down from one of the walls of the booth.

"What's the meaning of this?" Director Zhang's brows furrowed even tighter upon hearing this. "A special broadcast? Even I haven't heard anything about this!"

"That can only mean that the instruction came straight from the central government without passing through any other avenues," Director Fang replied. "There must be an extremely important announcement that's about to be made. Let's wait and see."

10 minutes passed by in a flash, and right at this moment, the screen flickered slightly, immediately following which a woman with a head of white hair wearing a Nipponese kimono appeared on the screen.

"I am the ruler death god of what was once the Nipponese Underworld, Izanami," the woman said as she extended a slight bow. "I will now be reading out the terms of the Nipponese Underworld's unconditional surrender."

Both Director Fang and Governor Zhang immediately sprang to their feet upon hearing this, and the netherfire in their eyes sprang up like flaming pillars in disbelief.

They weren't the only ones shocked to hear this. At this moment, all of the Yin spirits throughout the Cathayan Underworld were staring at their television screens with their jaws on the ground.

This was a live broadcast of the Nipponese Underworld's unconditional surrender declaration!

Director Fang and Governor Zhang were both enlightened upon seeing this.

No wonder a nationwide examination was taking place! There weren't just vacancies in a province, there were vacancies throughout the newly conquered Nipponese Underworld that had to be filled!

The two of them were barely able to repress their excitement as they continued to watch the broadcast.

"... I hereby declare that the Nipponese Underworld and all of the armed forces in the Nipponese Underworld will be surrendering unconditionally to the Cathayan Underworld..."

"... I hereby declare that all armored forces and netherworldly citizens in the Nipponese Underworld are to cease all resistance. All fortifications, fortresses, tenshu pavilions, and non-military assets are to be preserved. All of the Nipponese Underworld's government organizations will obey the orders of the Cathayan Underworld's ruler..."

"... I hereby announce that all underworld emissary of the Nipponese Underworld, including myself, will immediately enact the duties of a defeated nation, and we invite the ruler of the Cathayan Underworld to delegate duties to us..."

There were only seven clauses, none of which were very long, but it took Izanami over 10 minutes to read them out. In the end, she closed the imperial edict before lowering her head. "The Nipponese Underworld and its government will follow all arrangements set out by the ruler of the Cathayan Underworld. The ruler of the Cathayan Underworld will be free to take all measures that they deem to be necessary to complete the proceedings of the unconditional surrender."