Yama Rising

Viracocha returned to his room.

He was noticeably very restless, and he picked up his cup of coffee, only to set it down again. This sequence was repeated over and over again until finally, the sound of door-knocking rang out 10 minutes later, and an underworld emissary reported, "Your Excellency, the three death gods of the representative team have arrived as per your instructions."

He took a deep breath before rising to his feet, then opened the door with a smile. "I'm very sorry to call everyone over right after the long journey to Nara, but I really do have something extremely important to discuss with you all."

Xolotl took an indifferent glance at him before taking a seat, and Supay and Ah Puch were also clearly not very fond of him.

This was only to be expected considering there was a fundamental conflict of interest between them.

All those who had a thorough understanding of the three religions of the new continent were aware that these three formed the initial trio of death gods who had truly developed and grown alongside their respective religions. All of them had experienced past glory, although they were well past their heyday. Even so, it was still very demeaning that they couldn't call the shots during international conferences.

In addition to that, Viracocha was a descendant of Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa.

They wanted nothing more than to see the demise of Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa so they could take over the new continent, yet Viracocha's mission was to do everything in his power to find ways to prolong the lives of Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa. As such, they were in direct conflict with one another in this regard, so there was no way that the three death gods would be on friendly terms with him.

Viracocha was also very much aware of this, and he poured three cups of tea in person before offering them to the three death gods. After a brief silence, he declared, "I have to leave Nara."

The three death gods immediately turned toward him in unison.

Supay was a bald humanoid being with holes all over his head, from within which countless snakes and other reptiles were crawling out incessantly. His eyes were proportionally massive, resembling those of a frog, and he asked in a surprised voice, "Why the sudden need to leave? Have you found some important leads that would help Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa extend their lifespans?"

Viracocha smiled and replied, "No, it's just that I have something I need to report."

"Oh?" Xolotl pulled out a pocket watch before taking a look. "You already have something to report after spending less than an hour in Nara? Why have we not heard anything?"

His eyes narrowed slightly as he asked, "Also, I heard you paid a visit to the Cathayan Underworld's pavilion, is that right?"

"It has nothing to do with that," Viracocha denied with a serious expression. "Anyway, I must go and I'm not sure when I'll be able to get back. If I don't make it back by the time the conference commences, don't submit your votes no matter what!"

He gritted his teeth for a moment before concluding, "If you must vote, then make sure you vote for the Cathayan Underworld!"

The expressions of the three death gods changed every so slightly upon hearing this, but none of them said anything.

The room was completely silent for a long while before Ah Puch finally asked, "On whose behalf are you saying this? Yourself or the two rulers of our new continent? If it's the latter, then why didn't they inform us of this?"

The corners of Viracocha's lips turned down slightly upon hearing this, further accentuating the wrinkles around his mouth.

Once again, none of the death gods were idiots. Following their arrival at Nara, Viracocha had only gone to visit the Cathayan Underworld, following which he immediately expressed an urge to leave, and it was clearly extremely likely that the Cathayan Underworld had promised him something.

He wanted to pull the wool over the three death gods' eyes, but he discovered that this wouldn't be possible. All of them were wily old foxes that couldn't be tricked so easily.

He heaved a faint sigh before replying, "This is my personal decision. However, prior to our departure, the two rulers of our new continent gave me the right to make decisions for our representative team, and I choose to exercise that right now! During my absence, I want everyone to stabilize the situation and even stand with the Cathayan Underworld ef and when required."

"Alright, we get it," Xolotl said in an impatient manner as he rose to his feet. "You didn't have to gather all of us just to say something so trivial, you could've just sent a servant to inform us of this. You kicked up such a big fuss that I thought something important had happened."

The door slowly swung shut behind Xolotl, and he departed with a wooden expression. His servant immediately followed behind him, but he didn't say anything. Having served Xolotl for quite a long time already, he knew Xolotl quite well, and he could clearly sense that Xolotl was in a foul mood.

Xolotl made his way back to his room in silence, and the servant closed the door behind them. Before he even had a chance to turn around, a resounding boom rang out behind him.

"That meddling piece of scum!" Xolotl had already reduced a table to wooden shards as he spat through gritted teeth, "He must've learned some secret that could allow those two old bastards to survive, and that's why he had to go back so urgently! Why has the Cathayan Underworld done this to me?! We already worked together once to capture Xu Fu, so why have they chosen to betray me at a time like this?"

Indeed, in his eyes, this was blatant betrayal!

The two sides had already established a type of tacit understanding with one another, so why had the Cathayan Underworld gone and stabbed him in the back? Was it because he wasn't the ruler of the new continent? How much longer could the current rulers live?

Why do you insist on helping them rather than investing in the future, in me?!

The servant was trembling in fear in a corner, and after an instant of thunderous rage, Xolotl immediately calmed down once again. He picked up his cup and took a sip of coffee, then sat down on his chair and fell as still as a stone statue.

However, he wouldn't get a chance to sit still by himself for long.

Shortly thereafter, the sound of door-knocking rang out, and Xolotl casually gestured toward the door, upon which it was quickly opened by his servant. Supay and Ah Puch were standing outside, yet before they had even entered the room, Xolotl said in a cold voice, "I don't want to see you two right now."

All of the death gods below Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa were pining to take over their positions after they passed away, so strictly speaking, they were all adversaries to one another.

Ah Puch was a thin man wearing a skeletal mask, and colorful designs were painted onto his sinister-looking mask. He waved a hand to dismiss all of the servants behind him, then ignored Xolotl's warning and entered the room with Supay before taking a seat across from Xolotl.

Several seconds later, he said, "Coffee can't solve any problems. As opposed to sulking here by yourself, why don't we have a nice chat?"

"What do you want to talk about?" Xolotl slammed down his cup as he yelled. "Do you want to talk about how we have to follow the orders of a mere tribal witch? Or do you want to talk about what that bastard is so eager to report to the two rulers of our new continent? Or perhaps you want to talk about whether us three death gods have the autonomous right to cast our votes as we please?"

He heaved a long sigh of frustration before continuing in a cold voice, "Out of all of the death gods in the world, we lead the most pitiful existence. What is there to talk about? Should we discuss how to make ourselves even more pitiful and useless?"

Supay ignored his furious rant and asked, "Have you thought about why the supervising ambassador suddenly decided to leave?"

Xolotl raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, but he didn't say anything. Supay continued, "I just so happen to hear from an old friend that the current state of the Cathayan Underworld isn't all that great. The Cathayan Underworld requires allies, so they're frantically unveiling all of their trump cards. Once I heard that, I finally realized what it is that could've gotten Viracocha so excited.

"So what is this trump card of theirs?" Xolotl asked.

Supay lowered his voice, and Yin energy came surging out of his mouth as he said, "It's something that Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa want more than anything else."

Xolotl immediately raised his head upon hearing this, and the netherfire in his eyes flickered erratically.

They had a method to allow one to progress beyond the Yama-King level! The more he thought about it, the likelier this possibility seemed to him.

It simply made sense from every perspective that he could think of!

"Countless death gods are hoping for them to die earlier, yet the Cathayan Underworld intends to help them prolong their lives?" he spat through gritted teeth, and he was very much regretting his decision to help the Cathayan Underworld stop Xu Fu.

If he had known that this would happen, he would have opened up Xolotl's Screen and granted Xu Fu free passage!

"Regardless of whether this is the case or not, we can't allow him to return to the new continent," Ah Puch said in a menacing voice.

A derisive sneer appeared on Xolotl's face. "Do you have a death wish?"

"No. On the contrary, I want to live the best life possible," Ah Puch immediately replied without any hesitation. "Have you thought about our current circumstances? It would be impossible for us to do this under normal circumstances, but it's entirely possible for us to pull this off now! From that old friend I just mentioned, I learned that the representative team of the Alkebulan Underworlds has already been intercepted by the three pillars, so surely it won't be too much trouble to intercept another death god."

Xolotl raised an eyebrow and didn't reply right away. After several seconds, he asked in a calm voice, "Which old friend is this?"

Supay and Ah Puch stood up in unison with sly smiles on their faces. "We were afraid that you would never ask."

The door silently swung open, and Xolot's pupils abruptly contracted.

Izanami and Archimedes were standing outside!

"I'm impressed..." Xolotl was stunned into silence for a few seconds before turning to the two new continent death gods. "You've latched onto their coattails even faster than I could!"

In order to win the battle for supremacy on the new continent in the wake of Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa's passing, it was absolutely necessary to receive the assistance of a powerful backer, but never did he think that these two would have already established ties with the three pillars.

"You've made a wise decision." Archimedes stepped forward with a smile as he said, "We can give you what you want as long as you stand with us during the final vote to be held during the conference in 11 hours from now."

"Our supervising ambassador is still here."

"What if he's no longer here?" Archimedes stepped forward as the smile on his face took a sinister turn. "What if he just so happened to be delayed or even killed out at sea?"

Xolotl's grip around the armrests of his chair immediately tightened upon hearing this. If Viracocha were to perish, then the secret that he was trying to report back to the two rulers of the new continent would also disappear!

"Rest assured, the two rulers of your continent may be deranged, but I'm sure they still know that there are certain people they can't afford to mess with. Viracocha is a death god that was forcibly raised through sacrificial arts, so he's completely expendable in their eyes, and there's no way they would challenge the three pillars over the demise of such an insignificant pawn."

Archimedes's voice was full of temptation, and he was wearing down Xolotl's willpower and inhibitions by the second.

Ah Puch turned to Xolotl with a meaningful gaze and said, "Most importantly, the three pillars have sufficient reason to step in, so our rulers won't have any reason to suspect us."

Supay chimed in in a grim voice, "If he really is delivering the secret to transcend above the Yama-King level back to our rulers, the new continent would return to the same state as it had been several hundred years ago. Do you want to see that happen? The demise of a death god only takes place once in several thousand years, are you really willing to let this opportunity slip?"

Xolotl's eyes narrowed slightly in contemplation.

"What are our chances of success?"

"Success is guaranteed," Izanami replied with a smile. "Death God Osiris has been waiting at the Pacific Ocean all along, and he will be the one to intercept Viracocha. Your supervising ambassador is just like the Mythic Spirits of the Alkebulan Underworlds, all of them were forcibly raised to their current levels, and they're no match for a true death god."

The room fell into deathly silence.

All eyes were on Xolotl, waiting for him to make his final decision.