Yama Rising

Right at this moment, his Yin energy suddenly faltered slightly, and he turned around toward a certain direction with an incredulous expression.

Right behind him was a werewolf that was keeping a low center of gravity by crouching low to the ground, rushing rapidly out of the pack of trembling werewolves and directly toward him at an incredible speed!

On a helicopter extremely far away, Cardinal Fernando unconsciously snapped the cross that he was holding in half as he rose to his feet while trembling uncontrollably. He stepped forward out of the helicopter, hovering in mid-air as he cast an intense gaze toward the other side of the city.

"Is he going to be able to succeed?"

On the rooftop of the Masonic Temple, the two bishops also turned toward Saint Peter's Church, and their gaze pierced through the distance of roughly 10 kilometers between them and the church.

"He's made his move..." one of the bishops said in a trembling voice. The other bishop didn't say anything, but the corners of his cross were digging into his palm.

His timing couldn't be any better! Oh, holy and gracious lord, please bless him with the light of success!

All of the witch hunters, church followers, paladins, and werewolves at Saint Peter's Church were resisting immense pressure as they raised their heads with all their might, staring at the werewolf that was charging directly toward Brando from behind.

They were all so stunned that they had lost the ability to speak!

No one could've anticipated that a third party would get involved in a battle between an angel and a demon!

Brando was also stunned beyond belief, and in this moment, he was struck by a truly chilling sensation. His assailant had the appearance of a werewolf, but it definitely wasn't a werewolf because he couldn't sense its bloodline!

Is this necromancy? Possession? Countless possibilities flashed through his mind before he suddenly thought back to the first exorcism flare that was set off to instigate this battle.

"It was you all along!!" His voice was filled with thunderous rage as he turned toward the werewolf charging toward him. "You were the one who completely foiled my plans! You were the one who instigated this battle between my people and the catholic church!"

"That's right, it was me!" A sinister smile finally appeared on Dusk 11's face. It was time for the big reveal and he was beyond excited.

"Die!!" Brando forcibly split off a section of his Yin energy before sending it sweeping through the air, and all of the space in its wake warped and twisted violently. However, right at this moment, a burst of extremely powerful Yin energy erupted out of the other werewolf's body in retaliation, and this Yin energy was almost comparable with that of Brando!

Brando was completely stunned by this.

Firstly, he was stunned by the fact that there was someone else lurking in the shadows this entire time. He had thought that he was the oriole hunting hte mantis, but it turned out that he was actually the mantis preying on the cicada all along! [1]

Secondly, he was astonished by the fact that this hidden assailant was also a Duke! Furthermore, they were definitely no ordinary Duke. Otherwise, there was no way he would've failed to sense them when they were so close to him!

Thirdly, he was shocked by the fact that he knew who this person was!

A devastating clash of Yin energy ensued, and all of the living beings present were completely rooted to the spot. It was only now beginning to dawn on them that they were witnessing a clash between Dukes!

A third Duke had just appeared on this battlefield!

At the center of the turbulent Yin energy, Duke 11 was suddenly replaced by Edward without any warning. Edward wore a cold smile as he thrust his palm toward Brando's back with all his might!

In this instant, Cardinal Fernando and the two bishops were all looking on with bated breath from afar.

The divine retribution descended from the heavens as a vast expanse of holy light, sending shockwaves erupting in all directions and producing a massive mushroom cloud. Brando's anguished howl rang out from within the mushroom cloud, and his voice was also tinged with shock and disbelief.

"You snide piece of scum!! I swear I won't let you leave Usonia alive!! Arrrgh!"

His voice was completely drowned out by the divine retribution, and at the same time, Saint Peter's Church abruptly collapsed.

………………………………………………

Qin Ye was rushing forward as fast as the wind.

His forehead was dripping with sweat, and his fingers were still cramping slightly. Behind him was an old metal gate, upon which was drawn the face of a demon.

No one aside from him and Brando knew what had just happened.

Right as Dusk 11 was rushing toward Brando, Dusk 12, the vampire concealed by its Moonlight ability, had already landed on top of Saint Peter's Church and was waiting patiently.

In the span of less than two seconds, Dusk 11 had undergone mutual teleportation with Qin Ye. Brando had been completely caught off guard by this abrupt turn of events, and he was placed into an extremely perilous situation. Originally, he would've been able to withstand the divine retribution 100% of the time, but in the face of Qin Ye's intervention, that probability dropped to 50% at most.

Two seconds later, Qin Ye clashed with Brando, and in order to defend himself against this surprise attack from another Duke, Brando had to divert at least a third of his power away from withstanding the divine retribution. However, in the instant that the two of them clashed, Qin Ye activated his Dusk Legionnaire once again.

As a result, he underwent mutual teleportation with Dusk 11 a second time, which meant that Dusk 11 was still the one to face Brando's attack. This caught Brando completely off guard again, and as a result, his chances of withstanding the divine retribution plummeted further to only 35% at most!

Meanwhile, Qin Ye had controlled Dusk 12 to destroy the entirety of Saint Peter's Church. In a battle between Dukes, the collapse of a church was an extremely normal sight. Most importantly, no one aside from Brando was aware of how important Saint Peter's Church was, not to mention that everyone else was left unable to even remain standing under the crushing weight of Duke level power.

As for Brando, his hands were tied.

Dusk 12 immediately found the hidden door beneath the church, and after rushing into it, Qin Ye unleashed his final mutual teleportation of the night, swapping places with Dusk 12 on this occasion.

At this point, he was already situated inside the underground church.

This was the vault of the First Usonian Bank, a bank that had always been shrouded in mystery throughout the course of Usonian history, and it was very likely to be where Xu Fu's notes were hidden.

As for Brando, who cared if he lived or died?

At the very least, he had to ensure that Brando was severely wounded. Without Brando's orders, there was no way that the werewolf army would dare to venture into the wreckage of Saint Peter's Church. On top of that, the hidden door to the underground church was buried under a mountain of rubble, making it even more difficult for Brando to track him down.

In the end, Qin Ye had come out on top.

This was a seemingly impossible mission, but he had the last laugh in the end, and it was impossible to describe the sense of achievement that had welled up in his heart. He licked his own lips, which were slightly dry from excitement, and he repressed his own excitement with all his might as he rushed forward like a speeding arrow.

He was going to take Xu Fu's notes, then get out of this cursed continent!

The passageway was very long, and the Yin energy here was very dense. It wasn't the azure Yin energy of the mortal realm. Instead, it was pure black Yin energy of the underworld, and there was a vast quantity of it!

This could only mean one thing: there was a giant Yin Yang Mezzanine under Saint Peter's Church.

Soon, a wooden door appeared up ahead. A design of a three-headed serpent was inscribed upon it, and it seemed to be an extremely old door, as evidenced by the cracks on its surface.

In the next instant, the wooden door was shattered explosively. Qin Ye wasn't in the mood to be appreciating any artwork at this point in time. He cast an urgent gaze into the room, only to immediately shoot back in retreat as if he had been stung.

"Come... Come to me..." An indistinct voice rang out. The Yin energy within the area beyond the door was as dense as black mist and visibility was zero.

"I am the first sun... I am the original... My brother, it's time for us to fuse as one..."

However, upon exiting the room, Qin Ye was no longer able to hear the voice.

He took a deep breath. Brando could come chasing after him at any time, so there was no time for hesitation. With that in mind, he rushed through the dense black Yin energy, upon which he arrived in a church that was entirely constructed from human bones!

Every single pillar, ornament, tile... Everything was made from human bones. It was an extremely harrowing sight, and Qin Ye felt as if there were sinister souls lurking throughout the church and inspecting him from the shadows.

"This is the Sedlec Ossuary of the Czech Republic, one of the world's seven supernatural locations. I've seen pictures of this place and it looks quite similar, except this one is bigger than the one in the pictures." He began to carefully inspect his surroundings, doing his best to not look at the altar at the center. He was afraid that if he looked at it, he wouldn't be able to move his gaze away.

It was often the case that the most venomous of insects were hidden in the most beautiful of flowers.

"In the underworld, human bones are an exceptional medium. Following one's death, there would always be a small part of their soul left in their bones, making it a very good construction material in the underworld. According to what the second King Yanluo taught me, the first underworld village was constructed entirely from human bones."

He had already released all of his Yin energy and was forcibly repressing the urge to rush forward. He was extremely close to reaching his target, and he had to take extra care not to fall at the final hurdle.

He made his way over to a pillar and inspected the continuous and complex Yin runes inscribed upon the human bones. The runes were flashing with Yin energy, and a cold look appeared in his eyes as he murmured to himself, "Humans are the foundation of the three realms. This human bone church has been built upon aYin Yang Mezzanine, thereby sealing it, while the Yin energy seeping out of the Yin Yang Mezzanine will reciprocate this place, acting as a source of energy for the operation of the array here."

The surrounding Yin clouds shuddered slightly, and within the span of a few seconds, he had finished inspecting this entire area.

Finally, he cast his gaze toward the center of the church, and his heartbeat immediately began to accelerate.

At the center of the church stood an altar.

The entire altar was built upon the design of a sun totem. 20 rays of light were being released from the totem of the sun, and at the top of each ray of light was a statue of a half-woman, half-snake creature. Their hands were held high above their heads, and their heads were raised to the heavens. Their upper bodies were completely nude, yet perhaps it was due to the craftsmanship, but there wasn't anything lewd about the statues at all. Instead, they were giving off an air of holiness and purity.

The statues seemed to have been completely unaffected by the passage of time, and their surface was still as smooth as marble. The serpentine women had their hands held high up to the heavens, and of them was holding an object.

Qin Ye could sense the aura of a Yama-King here, and it was extremely strong!

After all, just like Fate, Xu Fu's notes had been within a Yama-King for many years, thereby giving it a hint of divinity. At this moment, Qin Ye's attention was entirely focused on one of the snake woman statues in the northwest corner.

She was holding a notepad in her hands.

It was identical to the one in that oil painting of Richardman. The surface of the seal was undamaged and Yin runes were flashing upon it, indicating that it had never been opened before. The words "wanderer among the clouds" inscribed on the cover of the notepad in free-flowing text, and Qin Ye felt as if his heart had fallen completely still as his breathing began to rapidly accelerate.

He had finally found Xu Fu's notes!

This was the key to the Cathayan Underworld's future resurgence and his ultimate goal for this trip to the new continent, and now, it was right before his eyes!

[1] [This is derived from a Chinese idiom: "the mantis hunts the cicada, while the oriole lurks behind". Basically, it depicts a situation where one thinks they're the hunter when they're actually the prey.]