The Lord of Huayin froze.

It was impossible to unleash the Dark Dazzle attack multiple times in a row. There was supposed to be a cooldown of forty-five minutes between each attack. But the increasingly dense Yin energy about the mouth of the Mechanical Beast sent a cold chill running straight down his spine. Within moments, he turned around from Hua Jieyu and dashed straight towards the Mechanical Beast instead.

I’ve got to stop them!

I can’t let them fire another shot of the Dark Dazzle again. The consequences would be unthinkable!

But as soon as he began to take off into the distance, a long flaming blade instantly cleaved down straight for his back.

“You’re courting death!!” The Lord of Huayin shrieked with rage, and his arms instantly swelled manifold, bursting right through the sleeves of his garments and revealing the pale, white skin below that was now covered in cracks. He didn’t have any nails at all. Instead, his fingertips had completely transformed into a terrifyingly sharp edge. He swung his hand back with great ferocity in an instant.

Ungh! A loud, muffled grunt came from behind, but he didn’t even turn to look at the damage his callous attack had caused. Instead, he dashed straight for the Mechanical Beast as quickly as his feet would take him.

Mythic Palace of Reflections… That’s the foundation of the entire Shanhai Pass. If we lose it, we’d be no different from drifting flotsam in the waters once more!

But just as he attempted to take flight again, something promptly wrapped itself around his legs and tugged down hard at him once more!

This time, he didn’t take flight.

Krr-krr-krr… His head swiveled about bizarrely as he looked at the chains around his leg coldly, before looking behind him with intense murderous rage.

There was a gleaming silver chain locking him down around the ankles. Then, as he followed the chain to where it came from, he soon noticed a majestic, blossoming cloud of Yin energy, from which a twenty-meter tall figure blazing with illusory Karmic Fire emerged.

He had rings around his neck, bracelets around his four arms, and a spinning Karmic Fire wheel right behind his back that was topped with three spots of one-meter large flames. His eyes were tightly shut, and long fangs protruded from his green-coloured face. A crack ran down the middle of his brows where the third-eye would be, while his arms were covered with a multitude of eyes. Each of his hands held a different weapon, all of which were aimed directly towards the Lord of Huayin.

“Aryadeva?”[1] The Lord of Huayin drew a deep breath as he muttered with trembling lips. He wasn’t afraid. He was incensed.

“Get lost!!!” He roared with a twisted expression on his face, “Scram!! I’ll spare you from certain death today!!”

Unfortunately, he didn’t get the verbal response he was hoping for.

Instead, it was a response though action. A multitude of blade lights soon flickered before his eyes. It was an attack that was filled with an unwavering source of determination!

Damn it… DAMN IT!!

The Lord of Huayin gnashed his teeth so hard that they clicked and clattered against each other. Aryadeva’s massive size wasn’t a cause of concern for him. But what angered him the most was the fact that he was currently the closest in proximity to the Mechanical Beast, Ugly Bull, and the fact that he had expended too much energy resisting the might of Dark Dazzle, so much so that he barely had anything left in the tank.

So much so that he… was forced to contend with something that he would readily consider vermin on any other day!

The blade lights soon arrived before his eyes. He looked up with an explosive intensity. An eerie wail of a thousand ghosts suddenly echoed from within his body. A split second later, his chest suddenly tore open from the middle, and countless grievous spirits abruptly poured forth from within, congealing in an instant into a pitch-black hand that instantly ran straight through Hua Jieyu’s abdomen.

Pshk… Hua Jieyu was sent flying away hundreds of meters, while copious amounts of Yin energy poured out from her seven apertures. Yet the Lord of Huayin didn’t even bother looking back at her. He turned back to the Mechanical Beast in the distance. Then, just as he was about to take flight, he was once again stopped for the third successive time.

Clatter clatter clatter… His teeth began to chatter in fury. He turned around and stared at his ankles. The damned chain is still there?!

“You’re asking for it!!” His fury went straight through the roof. The giant, illusory hand once again manifested itself. But this time, a scarlet eye materialized right in the heart of the palm and stared directly towards Hua Jieyu.

Just then, an earth-shattering sound rumbled from the heart of the inner city. Two majestic clouds of Judge-class Yin energy rushed straight into the sky like the duet of two black dragons.

Back on the streets, countless citizens couldn’t help but exclaim in horror as they took shelter back in their own homes, “My god…” “What’s happening to Qufu… W-what in the world is going on?!” “Hide! Quickly, hide!” “I don’t even know whether these Infernal Judges are friend or foe!”

Unfortunately, the ghastly citizens were clearly outside of the considerations of the two Judges in the air. The two mighty clouds of Yin energy suddenly flared up with copious amounts of netherflames, before they soon exploded!

A tall, thin man and a lady stepped straight out of the clouds of Yin energy and onto the air. They were now in their true forms, and both of them appeared incredibly bizarre. Yet, even then, both of them were staring intently at the Mechanical Beast, Ugly Bull. A mighty army numbering approximately 200,000 was formed up in ranks behind them, almost as though they were a dark canopy of clouds that blanketed the lands below.

The tall thin man took a deep breath, and the netherflames pouring forth from his body flickered wildly. His chest rose softly, and then he bellowed with all his might, “CHARGE!!!”

Whoosh!!! In an instant, countless spots of netherflames rushed straight towards the western walls of the outer city, just like a great flock of migratory birds. The sight was incredibly stunning and majestic. Meanwhile, everyone on the eastern walls, northern walls and southern walls felt their hearts stir and their blood boil as soon as they saw this scene.

Yelu Jiner glanced vacantly at the sky above the inner city. The paper cranes blotted out the sky like clouds, while the Yin energy pouring forth appeared no different from a curtain of rain. Her body was trembling because she knew that this definitely had to be one of Qufu’s hidden trump cards! These had to be one of the last of their troops!

They were finally collapsing under the pressure of Hell’s invasion. They were finally moving the final pieces of the puzzle.

Everyone, are you seeing this?

Her heart was filled with passion in an instant. With a long, shrill whistle, she instantly transformed into her true form as a Rakshasa, and the Yin energy in the vicinity promptly poured towards her like a raging tide. The cold gleam of her blade shone as bright as ever amidst the darkness, almost as though it were a glimmer of hope.

“Everyone…” She drew a deep breath, before charging onwards with reignited vigor, “All glory to Hell! Onwards, with me!!!”

“All glory to Hell!!!” The remaining 8,000 Yin soldiers behind her echoed with passion as they rushed forward after their valiant general.

Boom, boom, boom… Back on the ground, Hua Jieyu desperately held back the Lord of Huayin. Meanwhile, in the heart of the Mechanical Beast, Mu Guiying drew on the last of her strength to charge up the next Dark Dazzle attack. Likewise, Yin energy erupted from two other city walls, bringing the intensity of the definitive war to yet greater heights!

The battle on all four outer city walls was now white hot. The effects of tactics were slowly giving way to a battle of sheer endurance. Even in the face of Hell’s all-out attack, they were likewise greeted with an equally desperate counterattack!

Clouds of Yin energy and flares of netherflame abounded on the city-wide battlefield.

Every instant saw more and more Yin soldiers perishing for all eternity. There was indiscriminate bloodshed everywhere.

………………………………………………..

Back in the underworld. Everyone watched with bated breaths.

All eyes were staring transfixed on the screens of Yin energy in front of them. Several commanders were already cupping their hands respectfully towards Qin Ye as they pleaded for him to give the order, “Lord Qin… please give us the command!!!” “Qufu has already pulled out their hidden trump card! They must have deployed at least another 100,000 troops. The inner city would at best have no more than 150,000 troops remaining! No matter how powerful the Mythic Palace of Reflections is, we’ll still have a 50% chance of success!” “Lord Qin, if we don’t seize the opportunity and make the move now, it might all be too late! Our generals on the battlefield can’t hold on much longer!”

Everyone could tell that the latest deployment of troops led by two Infernal Judges were no mere rabble.

Each and every single skeletal puppet was at least an Operative-class Yin soldier!

And the difference would be even more stark under the might of a military formation!

On the other hand, Mu Guiying and the rest of Hell’s forces were undoubtedly drawing down on their final reserves. To that end, the skeletal puppets were by no means an easy force to contend with, even if Hell’s forces had confronted them right from the onset.

“Insolence!!” Yang Yanzhao bellowed back before Qin Ye could even respond, “There’s no room for emotions on the battlefield! As Yin soldiers, we live by the battlefield, and die by the battlefield!”

With that, he turned towards Qin Ye and bowed respectfully, “Lord Qin… please… be patient!”

Qin Ye didn’t respond outright. His eye glistened, and his chest rose and fell with greater intensity than before.

“Lady Arakshasa has already made her move.” Yang Yanzhao added hurriedly, “My lord… we cannot rush things… we absolutely cannot rush things! These can’t be the only cards hidden up Qufu’s sleeves! Please wait a little while more… The Mechanical Beast is already aimed at the inner city. Coupled with Lady Arakshasa’s deployment, we can be sure that Qufu’s hands would be forced in no time. And that’s when we can finally unsheath our blade and deliver the final blow!”

Qin Ye didn’t say a word. He simply bit down on his lower lips and nodded softly.

Nobody noticed that his hand was already wrapped tightly around his faux Judgment Pen under his sleeves.

……………………………………………

Qufu City, Shanhai Pass.

Back in the air, the tall, thin man and the female ghost that was split right down the middle jointly led an army of 200,000 troops as they made a beeline straight for the Mechanical Beast.

Their eyes were completely bloodshot. How did things come to this? How could Qufu, a city with millions of Yin spirits, be forced to such a tragic situation?

But it clearly wasn’t the time for such thoughts. The tall, thin man shrieked hoarsely, “How much longer?! How much longer do we have?!”

“Eighteen minutes!” The female Judge gnashed her teeth, “The Dark Dazzle will fire again in just eighteen minutes!”

Eighteen minutes… We’re cutting it too close… The man’s heart thumped wildly. We still have a chance at stopping its next attack. The Mythic Palace of Reflections might still have other secrets hidden up its sleeves that Lai Junchen has never told us before. But even then, this next attack…

“We cannot let you have your way!” Gritting his teeth, the tall, thin man whistled through the air at top speed towards the Mechanical Beast.

But a split second later, an incomparably tyrannical source of pure Yin energy suddenly roared from the heavens with domineering might!

Buzz… A spell array far greater than any other before appeared in the sky. It was thousands of meters large, formed by a series of incomparably complex patterns and symbols. A terrifying pressure, one that caused all ghosts to retreat instinctively, instantly enveloped the entire city.

Back on the sixth floor of the building in the heart of the inner city. Lai Junchen shrieked in horror as he looked to the east, “A Judge?!”

A split second after the spell array appeared, a massive hand formed out of Yin energy materialized from nothing and with a soft, dull thud… slapped hard onto something.

What is it?

Was there something there in the first place?

Lai Junchen blinked vacantly, and then gasped in horror as he leaned heavily against the door behind.

The Yin energy signature of the Lord of Huayin had vanished completely.

“This is… a true Emissary of Hell!! An Infernal Judge at that!! They’re finally pulling out the big guns!!” He clenched his fists tightly, while his heart was almost bursting at its seams, “They have a Judge… they actually have a Judge! Are they trying to intercept the two vassal lords that have just been deployed? Are they trying to protect the Ugly Bull?!”

That would be the worst case scenario for them.

But it would also be the most realistic assessment of the things to come.

Because in an instant, the massive hand disintegrated into countless black butterflies that soon transformed into a hundred-kilometer long curtain stretching directly from the eastern outer city walls to the western outer city walls!

A terrifying source of Yin energy erupted, and a bizarre talisman appeared right above the curtain of Yin energy. Just then, Arthis’ voice thundered loudly with oppressive, murderous intent, “Hell’s Talisman, Ninth Style - Godless.”

BOOM!

An endless stream of mixed nethergale and white bones swept through the air, while a terrifying hole appeared in the sky right in front of where the army of skeletal puppets were arrayed. And then, a dazzling black light erupted from the hole in the air, sending a soft shockwave of dark energy rippling through the city. Finally, a hundred-meter high lotus platform formed out of human bones appeared from the hole in the cloud, almost as though it were a hellish Bodhisattva.

“True Infernal Judge of the Dark Leader Star, Arakshasa.” Arthis slowly opened her eyes and looked around with a deep, abstruse gaze, ‘By Hell’s Dictum, all rabble shall disperse.”

She stood right in front of the two Qufu Judges, as well as a multitude of skeletal puppets that filled the sky.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryadeva