Chapter 1 Death Comes Suddenly

Death came unexpectedly.

Miko had given up her life, her resolute attitude heartbreaking.

Suren watched the pink cherry blossoms scatter on the altar, his eyes filled with mixed emotions.

In that instant, images of his encounters with Miko flashed through his mind. The quiet and refined shrine maiden was always polite, pure, kind, and fresh, with a hint of "old-fashionedness" that Qian Tiao often teased her about. She would blush when teased; as a princess who was always served, she awkwardly tried to help him with his daily life; she gave up the opportunity to live so he could have it...

Although they hadn't known each other for long, Suren considered her a very important friend.

Now, her life had frozen before his eyes, gone forever with the scattered petals.

Suren reached out to catch some, but the petals slipped through his fingers. He remembered Miko's poignant smile as she looked back.

For some reason, Suren felt a deep sense of loss.

This was the first time he had experienced the death of someone important to him.

It came so suddenly.

So unexpectedly.

It made him suddenly realize that life was so pale and fragile.

Like a breeze, it passed, and when he came to his senses, she was gone.

Qian Tiao beside him also looked sad.

Miko had exchanged her life for a chance for them to escape.

But they didn't want it.

...

Just then, a mocking laugh came from the sky.

The "Izanami" urged, "Have you decided who I should send out of Yomi?"

Every word in the sentence was full of arrogance and mockery.

In her eyes, Suren and Qian Tiao could only live if she was willing to bestow it upon them.

The lives of ants were not worth mentioning.

Suren sneered inwardly when he heard this.

No wonder they said that in the eyes of the gods, lower-level humans were like ants.

Reminded by this, he instantly put away his scattered thoughts, bowed with his hand on his chest, and said, "Your Majesty, Lord of Yomi, may I pay a price to have you send me and my friend out of Yomi?"

"Oh?"

Hearing this, the one in the sky seemed completely unsurprised.

She made no secret of her sarcasm, saying, "Greedy humans, do you really think you are qualified to speak to me? If that foolish shrine maiden hadn't chosen to give you a chance to live with her life, you wouldn't even have the qualification to see me."

In Izanami's view, the entire Yomi was hers, including Suren and Qian Tiao. The two humans naturally had no right to negotiate.

"..."

Suren's expression remained unchanged when he heard this.

He had been right not to go directly to the palace to find the lord of this country.

This kind of negotiation was simply unequal, and they couldn't come up with anything that would interest her.

On the contrary, they were probably still alive because this god had a slight interest in playing with human nature, and that was why she said a few more words.

But...

Was she really a god?

No, something must have gone wrong.

Even if Fujiwara Hayato was powerful, he couldn't possibly exceed the "demigod" rank in this plane. The characters he created were definitely not "gods"!

Qian Tiao looked at Suren.

She wanted Suren to agree to leave first.

But the words came to her lips, but she swallowed them back.

Who would go?

Neither of them would.

They both had a tacit understanding that they would never give up the other's life to save their own.

Since there was no room for negotiation, Suren didn't plan to waste any more time on this path.

He still responded politely, "In that case, Your Majesty, the great lord, we give up the choice."

"Heh... do you know what these words mean?"

Hearing this, Izanami's tone became even colder, as if she felt that the play wasn't satisfying because she didn't see the twisted human nature.

She said, "Giving up this opportunity means that your foolish friend will have died in vain."

Suren's expression changed slightly when he heard her mention Miko again. He said in a deep voice, "Yes, we have decided."

After a pause, knowing that this was not a place to stay for long, he bowed again, signaling Qian Tiao beside him to prepare to leave.

But this attitude of sharing life and death seemed to completely enrage this twisted god. She shouted angrily, "Stupid humans, what if I insist that you choose?"

When talking to gods, you can only obey, there is no choice!

As soon as these words came out, an overwhelming sense of oppression instantly struck.

It was as if a mountain had been pressed down on them, making it difficult to breathe.

This was a tangible killing intent!

If they didn't choose, they would die.

...

Feeling this savage and overbearing killing intent, Suren's expression was very calm. He murmured in his heart, "So, it's finally come to this..."

A touch of violence instantly appeared in his eyes.

It was as if endless anger had been provoked.

This was the expected script!

He could fight for his own life, not have Miko exchange her life for it!

Also, couldn't Qian Tiao's death prophecy be avoided?

At this moment, Suren felt a kind of helpless rage in his heart.

If he were stronger, could he change all this?

He knew very well that from beginning to end, in Izanami's eyes, they were ants that could be crushed at any time.

Seemingly, there was a choice, but in reality, there was none.

This Izanami would never want to see an "incomplete ending."

But this was originally the worst plan he had made from the beginning.

"Heh..."

Suddenly, a cold arc appeared on the corner of Suren's mouth.

He ignored the existence in the sky, looked at Qian Tiao beside him, and said something seemingly irrelevant, "I asked Senior Sister how to condense domineering aura, and she asked me if I had ever risked my life for someone. I said, no."

After a pause, he looked at Qian Tiao's heroic face and smiled, "Now, I have."

If he had to survive by carrying the lives of two friends,

He, Suren,

Wasn't that useless.

Hearing this, Qian Tiao also smiled back and shook her head. "Suren, I know you will definitely accompany me to death, and so will I. But if there is a chance, I want you to live well."

Suren's eyes were filled with red light, and he couldn't hear these words.

He grinned, the anger in his heart instantly ignited, and he grinned, "Then let's fight for our lives first!"

If you haven't risked your life for others, how can you feel at ease letting others die for you!

As soon as he finished speaking, a phantom of the Grim Reaper holding a scythe suddenly rose behind him.

In an instant, the pressure suddenly disappeared, and he regained control of his body.

"Okay! Then let's fight!"

Qian Tiao next to him gave a delicate shout, and the phantom of Rakshasa with flaming hair also appeared instantly. She placed her hand on the demon sword, and the Magatama Thunder Drum instantly condensed, and her whole body bloomed with the thunder serpent light dance condensed by domineering aura.

...

The two suddenly burst out, without any hesitation, they turned around and rushed down Cang Mountain.

Seeing the two fleeing, Izanami in the sky let out a creepy strange laugh, "Hahaha..."

She was jealous of all the beautiful emotions in the world, but now they were being staged in front of her one after another.

Suren's attitude offended a supreme god!

Izanami's voice was almost distorted: "Stupid humans, do you think you can come and go as you please in front of me?"

Since they had already torn their faces apart, Suren didn't need to be polite.

He looked back, and the all-knowing eye in his left eye directly hit the existence in the sky.

Looking at the god whose true form had probably never been seen by humans.

Then, his pupils suddenly shrank.

That one glance seemed to make him see something extremely terrifying.

"It really is the legendary 'Great Horror'..."

Suren's heart trembled.

He couldn't describe the terrifying picture he saw, even after the all-knowing eye had filtered it, it was still indescribable.

If he hadn't been able to strip away his fear, he would have been paralyzed on the spot.

Legend has it that Izanagi was frightened by the corrupt body of the Lord of Yomi, this landscape known as the "Great Horror" of the world was indeed well-deserved!

With that one glance, a furious roar came from the sky.

"Mortal, how dare you look directly at me! Ah... damn it..."

Her extremely ugly body was actually seen by others?

Moreover, after looking directly at her, he wasn't dominated by fear?

...

Humph!

Suren sneered in his heart.

If he hadn't looked, he wouldn't have known that the level of death law condensation of the Lord of Yomi was not much higher than his.

It was like comparing height, although it was not enough, he could see that her height was not much higher!

God rank?

The problem lies here!

There were no flaws in other aspects, but this law level definitely did not reach the level of a god.

Suren felt that this might be one of the opportunities to break the situation.

The more critical the moment, the clearer his mind became.

Various countermeasures flashed through Suren's mind. As he ran, his warlock seals didn't stop. The [Eight-Armed Spider Spear] and [Rune Vajra] spells had been released, and he was ready to fight at any time.

...

Suren and Qian Tiao rushed down the mountain rapidly, their speed as fast as a stream of light. In just a few breaths, the two had already reached the foot of Cang Mountain.

But at this moment, the enraged Izanami also moved!

He didn't directly kill people, whether because of disdain or some limiting reason.

But at this moment, the world suddenly changed, and an extremely exaggerated ghostly aura appeared near Cang Mountain.

Seventh order?

Eighth order?

Even higher?

Suren had never seen such exaggerated energy fluctuations. He was greatly puzzled: How could her law level support the mobilization of such a massive amount of ghostly aura?

Compared to it, their auras were like a small boat that could capsize at any time in a tsunami.

This kind of spell was definitely not something they could resist.

Qian Tiao's expression also changed, and she gave a soft shout: "Be careful!"

Before Suren could figure out why Izanami had this almost "unsolvable" method, the two watched the demon energy in front of them roll, and suddenly formed a huge stone gate thousands of meters high.

The stone gate was ancient and heavy, as if summoned from ancient times. Countless ferocious ghost head reliefs were carved on the door. On closer inspection, all kinds of mountain goblins and monsters were among them. Standing in the void, a strong mysterious aura rushed towards them.

Suren couldn't figure out what the appearance of this giant gate meant. After identifying it, it was a summoning technique - [Divine Art · Gate of Yomi].

At this moment, the stone gate slowly opened, like a reservoir releasing floodgates, and countless evil ghosts poked their heads out from behind the gate.

In an instant, Qian Tiao also understood.

Behind the gate was a large black mass of monsters, all kinds of ghost eyes overflowing with oily light, green, red, white... densely packed, countless in number.

This gate was summoning all the evil ghosts in Yomi.

The foremost ones were the six remaining of the "Eight Ghost Kings" of Ghost City, [Kawaakago], [Shinkirou], [Kamaitachi], [Mitsume Kozou], [Akashita] were all present.

There were also various legendary hidden ghost kings, [Kyubi no Kitsune], [Sojobo], [Ushi no Toki Onna], [Rokurokubi]...

Even many legendary figures who died in history could be seen.

Summoned by the Lord of Yomi, all the ghosts responded.

Behind these ghost kings, there were millions of ghosts!

In an instant, millions of ghosts gushed out like a collapsed dam, and the entire sky was dyed black by the ghostly aura, making it impossible to see one's fingers.

Suren and Qian Tiao's expressions changed drastically at the same time when they saw this scene.

They thought they were facing one enemy, but they didn't expect that they were facing... the entire Yomi!

...

For a time, ghosts wailed and the yin wind howled.

The two looked at each other.

Suren said, "Sister Qian Tiao. This seems bad..."

Qian Tiao's eyes rose with surging fighting spirit, without any fear: "Didn't we expect this?"

The sword intent on her body was becoming more and more sharp, like a sharp knife facing the distant ghost tide, and she rushed over.

Suren watched, smiled bitterly, and followed closely behind.

Unlike when they first arrived in Yomi, the two were in a desperate situation surrounded on all sides. This time, because they had arranged a way out in advance, the bombs and traps that Suren had set up in various mountain canyons also played a huge role. As they fled, various bombs were detonated.

"Rumble~"

"Rumble~"

"Rumble~"

"..."

The earth-shattering movement, mountains collapsed and bridges broke.

Suren had expected a similar situation to occur, and these arrangements were enough to stop a million-strong army.

But even so, within sight, there were at least dozens of "Ghost King" level monsters, as well as those monsters that were good at escape techniques, still chasing after them.

Without Izanami's summons, Suren would not have known that Yomi hid so many powerful existences.

There were also endless streams of monsters pouring out of the [Gate of Yomi].

Even though Suren and Qian Tiao were extremely fast, they were slowed down by being entangled by several Ghost Kings.

The Ghost King [Kawaakago] had the ability to change mountains and rivers. It released spells, the mountains and rivers changed course, and there was a swamp in front of them...

[Shinkirou] used mirages to make people instantly "confused" and unable to figure out the direction...

[Kamaitachi] controlled the sky with ghostly fire, unafraid of attacks...

All kinds of methods emerged one after another.

Those who could become Ghost Kings had more or less some tricky methods, which made Suren and Qian Tiao suffer a lot.

No matter what abilities they used, they would always encounter monsters that restrained them.

Fortunately, Qian Tiao's sword intent had been completed, and her combat power was unparalleled.

She used Thunderous Hell, her sword energy cut hundreds of meters with one slash, and one slash could clear a path. Even the ghosts who were said to be indestructible like [Shuten-doji] had to avoid the edge of this sword energy.

Otherwise, if they had the strength they had when they first came, the two would have been drowned by the tide of monsters as soon as Yomi opened.

Suren followed Qian Tiao, reaping the monsters' demon energy and soul fragments along the way. The Ghost Kings, whom they had been unable to find anywhere to kill in the past few days, were all over the place. As a result, his "experience" skyrocketed. The phantom of the Grim Reaper behind him was becoming more and more solid.

As the understanding of the law of death increased, Suren felt that the feeling of looking at flowers in the mist became clearer and clearer.

He always felt that this was the key to breaking the situation!

...

Unfortunately, human power has its limits.

Although Qian Tiao's slashes were fierce, the tide of monsters did not diminish at all.

Suren and the two tried their best to escape, but they were finally blocked by monsters from all directions.