Yama Rising

Rumble!! The sound of thundering hooves shook the heavens as the cavaliers parted, allowing the footsoldiers behind them to rush forward like an unstoppable wave. Atop the city wall, all of the Yin spirits of Dong Zhuo's army were stunned to discover that not only had the opposing army sprung into action, those Mechanical Beasts that they were completely unfamiliar with had also begun to move.

"Wh, what are those things?" Uncle Wu was staring at those massive instruments of war with a fearful expression, and from them, he could sense a hint of extreme peril.

He gulped nervously as he turned toward his nephew and said, "Once the clash begins, make sure to hide as much as you can; you have to at least live until your parents come down to join you..."

Many of the other Yin Soldiers of Dong Zhuo's army were also struck by a sense of foreboding. This was the instinctive fear that humans harbored toward death and the unknown. Everyone was deathly silent, and even the military commanders that were subordinates to Dong Zhuo didn't say anything. They could only look on as the enormous Mechanical Beasts reached within 100 meters away of their city gates, then continued to watch helplessly as the weapons were set up. There was nothing that they could do as West Capital had no weapons that could retaliate against such things.

Dong Zhuo was a man who had always been too quick to abandon his morality for profit, and that facet of his personality was very difficult to change. Ever since the day that the Shu Han Imperial Palace descended, he had never thought that anyone would be able to breach its walls. The prospect that Hell could pose a threat to him had been a downright laughable one in his mind. Hell couldn't even take care of itself, and the entire old Hell had been eradicated. The arrival of the blight vermin had wiped out everything, so Hell could only start again from scratch.

By the time they develop construction, a military, and all of the other important industries, he would've already left Hell far behind. Never did he think that Hell's retaliation would arrive so soon and that it would be so violent!

……………………………………………………

In the imperial palace of West Capital, Dong Zhuo and five Infernal Judge level evil ghosts, as well as over 20 Anitya Hellguards, were all staring intently at the scene unfolding before them. In contrast with the deathly silent city walls, the palace was in a raucous frenzy.

"Sir Dong, didn't you say that we had nothing to fear? Didn't you say that Hell had nothing that could pose a threat to us?"

"What are those things? Mechanical Beasts? Didn't you say there was no way Hell would be so advanced in their development at this point? What's going on?"

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"Master Dong, are we going to be able to defend West Capital City? Please give us your verdict!"

Dong Zhuo was seated on a five-meter-tall chair at the center of the palace. The entire chair was constructed from bones, and amid the raucous rabble around him, he was gripping the armrests of his chair so tightly that veins were bulging on the backs of his hands.

He was gritting his teeth so hard that they were making an audible sound as he stared at the Yin energy screen before him, which depicted a Ksitigarbha that was over 10 meters in length and was slowly opening up. On the other side, a dog-like Mechanical Beast split in half down the center. Everyone else was unfamiliar with what that Mechanical Beast was, but he knew that this was the renowned "Moon-Devouring Heavenly Dog", one of Cathayan Hell's immensely notorious five divine artifacts of war!

"My Lord..."

"Sir..."

"Your Excellency..."

One panicked cry after another was ringing out around him, and he finally snapped as he violently swept a sleeve through the air, releasing countless gusts of Yin wind that sliced a black rift over 10 meters in length in mid-air. Within the Yin wind were countless deathly pale hands, and they tore several Anitya Hellguards into pieces amid a string of alarmed cries.

The palace instantly fell silent.

All of the Anitya Hellguards and Infernal Judges rapidly retreated to several meters away, and their bodies were trembling with fear. Dong Zhuo gnashed his teeth together as he swept a furious gaze across them. "Are you questioning me?"

"No... We, we wouldn't dare!"

"We're just afraid and worried!"

"All of us have taken human lives and devoured blood food in the past; we're scared, Lord Dong!"

"Our fate is in your hands; we wouldn't dare to disrespect you!"

Dong Zhuo's spiritual body was far more massive than theirs, and as they rose to his feet, countless wailing Yin souls spread through the palace from beneath his feet. He swept his gaze over every single one of the evil ghosts present, and after a few seconds, he finally said in a hoarse voice, "You all need to shut up! I still have a trump card up my sleeve, one that only a Yama-King would be able to withstand. There are no Yama-Kings among them, so West Capital City is an absolute safe haven! If anyone dares to surrender and betray me, I'll be the first one to put an end to their existence! Now get out of here!"

No one dared to argue.

Soon, the entire palace was completely empty aside from Dong Zhuo. After a long while, he murmured to himself in a hateful voice, "That accursed Hell! They had nothing; how were they able to manufacture Moon-Devouring Heavenly Dogs so quickly? Shouldn't they only be armed with wooden spears and wooden shields? How did they manage to craft so much armor and weaponry?! And those mechanical weapons as well... Could it be that the old Hell left them a treasure trove?!"

……………………………………………………

Atop the city walls, everyone looked on as the Ksitigarbhas and Moon-Devouring Heavenly Dogs completely opened up. An oppressive silence that was heavy with killing intent had settled over the entire area. A second later, countless black shadows erupted out of the Ksitigarbhas like flocks of birds rising up into the sky, then rained down from above in a torrential downpour.

Those were arrows!

Now, they weren't normal arrows; these were incredibly sharp spears that were each as thick as a human arm! They emitted a deathly screech as they hurtled through the air, instantly encompassing an enormous area.

The Shu Han Imperial Palace wasn't very large, and this attack had encompassed close to half of the entire palace! Thousands of spears shot out of the Ksitigarbhas, and it was far more than what these machines should've been able to contain; it was as if they were all connected to arsenals of spears!

Whoosh... A terrifying shadow appeared overhead, and Uncle Wu didn't even have the time to yell the words "get down" as he frantically grabbed onto his nephew and threw himself behind the city wall for protection. However, the nightmare had only just begun.

In the instant that the spears rose up into the sky, the Moon-Devouring Heavenly Dogs suddenly opened their mouths to expel a surging sea of fire. As a result, the spears were ignited into hellfire spears, and the entire sky was illuminated a fiery color. The eternally dark sky was glowing with scintillating light, and the fiery spears descended in a frenzy like waves of venomous vipers.

Crack crack crack! The sound of shattering stone and rock instantly rang out alongside cries of alarm from the netherworldly citizens inside the city. Immediately thereafter, a wave of fire began to surge through the city. The hellfire ignited everything it came into contact with, and it refused to be snuffed out until its host was incinerated into ashes. This was the Karmic Fire that Zhou Yu had left behind, and it was capable of scorching the entirety of Red Cliff. 

Close to half of the city had been transformed into a fiery hellhole, and only after a full three minutes had passed did the Yin Soldiers atop the city walls dare to stand up fearfully. They were greeted by the sight of boundless Karmic Flames and the entire city wall had been transformed into a giant fiery beacon. Countless Yin spirits had perished during that attack, and they didn't even get a chance to cry out before they were annihilated.

Alternatively, perhaps they did cry out, but everyone else had been far too terrified to hear them.

Only the vast expanse of spears around them served as a reminder of what had just happened.

"Fuck this!" A Yin Soldier was trembling uncontrollably as he turned and fled down the city walls, and similar cries of panic and horror rang out in all directions.

"Is that the regular army of Hell?"

"They're way too powerful for us! There's no way we can stop them!"

"Run! Run to the Palace! Lord Dong may have a way to save us!"

"Waaah... I don't want to die!"

Right at this moment, a skeletal war horse emerged from the military formation, and Zhao Yun was riding atop the horse as he yelled from the foot of the city wall, "Do you surrender?"

His words were echoed by the hundreds of thousands of troops behind him, and even the heavens were shaking in the face of their combined voices. However, they received no response. Having just endured such a terrifying indiscriminate attack, the Yin Soldiers on the city wall were too shaken to even stand, let alone speak.

Zhao Yun slowly raised a hand. "Three! Two! One!"

The Ksitigarbhas opened up once again, and the grinding sound that its parts made was like a countdown to death, striking horror into the hearts of all of the Yin Soldiers once again. Just as Zhao Yun was about to lower his hand again, a head finally poked up from behind the city wall before yelling in a sobbing voice, "We surrender!! We surrender!!"

"Open the city gate!" Arthis demanded in a cold voice, "If it's not open in 10 minutes, then you'll have lost your chance to surrender!"

Zhao Yun took a surprised glance at her, and he was greeted by the sight of an extremely seductive smile, the type that was far more fitting on the bed of a pair of newlyweds than on a battlefield.

Zhao Yun turned away with a wooden expression.

Qin Ye also wore a numb expression.

Ever since Zhao Yun's return, Arthis had taken every possible opportunity to seduce him; she was either in the process of making love or on the way to make love...

"We, we'll do our best..." The head above the city wall ducked back down, and Uncle Wu grabbed onto his nephew before sprinting down the city wall like a madman.

"Uncle!" The netherfire in the young Yin spirit's eyes was dancing wildly as he asked in a trembling voice, "Ar, are we really going to open the city gate for them?"

"Run!!" Uncle Wu's eyes had turned completely red as he yelled, "Their army is on a completely different level compared to ours! Run away and find a place to hide..."

All of a sudden, his voice drew to an abrupt halt.

They had already sprinted to the corner of the city wall, where they were able to clearly see the scenes down below. They were greeted by the sight of a sea of fire that was expanding extremely slowly, but burned eternally. The sea of fire had spread to either side of the city gate, where dozens of Yin spirits were already gathered, frantically trying to lift the bolts that held the gate shut.

No one wanted to die.

Uncle Wu had managed to retain a shred of his clarity of mind, but they were already in a state of blind panic. Upon hearing the demand for them to open the city gate, they reflexively did as they were told. No one could guarantee that they would be able to withstand the next round of attacks, so they had no choice but to comply.

"There's nowhere to hide..." Uncle Wu looked on in despair at the city, close to half of which had already been set alight. He then cast his gaze toward the palace at the very center of the city. He had a feeling that the city, which had once conquered three provinces, most likely wouldn't even be able to last another hour...

The other army was so overpowered that it was akin to using a cannon to kill a swarm of mosquitoes. In this dire situation, a sense of relief welled up in his heart.

Is it all finally  about to be over? 

Kkkrrrr… The gate was slowly opened, and in the instant that it was opened up to its widest point, a black wave flooded into the city in a frenzy, led by the cavaliers that were carrying those vivid red flags.

Howling Yin winds surged in from all directions, and they were so fierce that the Yin spirits could barely keep their eyes open. Furthermore, the same scene was unfolding at all four gates in the east, west, north, and south!

How many of the Yin spirits were truly loyal to Dong Zhuo?

At the eastern gate, Qin Hui had his hands clasped together within his sleeves as he advanced through the air with a cold smile on his face. Below him were hundreds of thousands of skeletal hounds that were burning with scarlet netherflames as they flooded into the city through the gates and over the walls.

At the southern gate, Su Daji was gently fanning herself as she sat atop a carriage. Her chin was resting on her hand, and she was beautiful beyond description. She was also surrounded by hundreds of thousands of hungry ghosts, and she was like a flower of paradise floating amid a rotting sea, allowing herself to be carried into the city by the current.

At the western gate, Oda Nobunaga and Oda Nobutada were leading their Umamawari, which also numbered in the hundreds of thousands, through the city gate. Unfortunately, many of them were unable to make it through, and as a result, the western gate had become extremely congested.

There was nowhere to run.

Countless Yin spirits were hiding in their houses, trembling with fear. Even the Yin spirits of the lowest grade could sense that two unspeakable beings had entered through the eastern and southern gates, beings that could definitely stand toe to toe with their ruler!

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"Grandpa, is West Capital City really about to be conquered?" Inside a dilapidated house, a young boy was carefully peering through a slightly ajar door, looking on with an incredulous expression as he mused, "This is a city that's swept through three provinces, yet the enemy has breached its walls in less than an hour!"

"Get back here!" His grandfather hurriedly tugged the young back as he gritted his teeth and said, "Those beings are countless times more fearsome than Master Dong! This is the regular army of Hell! Don't spy on them, and whatever you do, don't go out there! At a time like this, death is the only fate that can befall anyone who goes outside!"

In the eyes of the netherworldly citizens, this was a scene of complete chaos, but to Qin Ye, everything was going exactly according to plan.

Two hours later, all of the resistance was quelled, and he arrived before the imperial palace.

"Sir Dong," he greeted with a smile, "Have you been well since our last meeting?"