Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon

daughter of Chun Hwi, this Woon-seong knew for a fact.
Nevertheless, his voice towards his daughter was inexorable.
Lessons were lessons.
The Cult Leader seemed to draw a clear line between work and life. 

“Do you concur?”

A-young bit her lips as the Great Demons repeated the question in unison.
She could only shake from the pressure and lower her head.
“I concur.”

The Heavenly Demon nodded.
“Good.
Then I shall give you punishment.
I order the 2nd Latent Demon Squad, including its Squad Master, to conduct closed training at the Valley of Thousand Spirits for half a year.”

“Yes, sir.”

They had no right to refuse, even though that sounded less like a punishment and more like a death sentence…  

A thousand ghosts and spirits gathered in that valley.
Unless they endured, they would not survive; the weak would be tormented to insanity, eventually turning into a vengeful spirit themselves. 

Despite this, Chun Hwi was calm as he looked at the 1st and 3rd Squads.
“That was all for the punishment.
Next, the rewards.” 

As he spoke, his sight seemed to fall upon the spear, the one of black iron that Woon-seong was trying to cover. 

“1st Latent Demon Squad and 3rd Latent Demon Squad, listen!”

“I listen upon our Leader!” Both Woon-seong and Dal Mu-ji shouted like A-young had. 

“You have done a wonderful job.
You have proved yourselves as worthy strike forces within the Cult of the Heavenly Demon.
Therefore I order…” 

Hundreds of eyes slowly widened as realization dawned. 

“The 1st Latent Demon Squad shall be promoted into the Charred Dragon Unit! The 3rd Latent Demon Squad shall be promoted into the White Ape Unit! The Charred Dragon Unit and the White Ape Unit are two of the Twelve Supporting Units that guard our Cult.
Take your responsibilities seriously and I hope you all do your best for the Cult.”

At the end of his words, the eyes of the Great Demons shook. 

The Twelve Supporting Units each had between twenty and fifty members, with more than one Demonic General.
These were some of the Cult’s elite forces, numbering less than 5,000.
In addition, if the former troop disappeared for some reason, the next troop inherited the zodiac-derived name.
Thus, the names of the Charred Dragon Unit and the White Ape Unit had existed since the founding. 

“If you have an objection, speak up!”

A few of the Great Demons flinched, then one bravely stood up.
“We acknowledge the skills of the two Latent Demon Squads, but I believe that promoting them to the Twelve Supporting Units is excessive!”

After one man spoke, the others opened their mouths more easily.

“The Twelve Supporting Units are the elite forces of our Cult, in which every member is at least a Demonic Captain.
That is an excessive position for those who have just finished their Cave of Latent Demons training!”

“We are worried that an important position of the Cult might be misrepresented by the senselessness of the young.”

“The Captains of the Twelve Supporting Units all possess the rank of Great Demon.
The Squad Leaders of the 1st and 3rd Squads do not possess the necessary rank, my Lord!”

Woon-seong snorted.
Dal Mu-ji’s and A-young’s levels were unknown to him, but Woon-seong clearly had the same ability level as the Great Demons.
This had been proven when he killed the Blade Ogre of the Green Mountains by himself. 

Sure, this feat did not mean that Woon-seong could immediately join the rankings. 

Unlike the Demonic Generals, who were fluid in number, the Great Demons had a limited number: the number of Great Demons in the Cult was exactly 300.
If someone wanted to become a new Great Demon, they had to first defeat an existing one. 

Since Woon-seong had yet to issue a challenge, it was true that he technically did not possess the rank of a Great Demon.

“It is so.” Neither Woon-seong or Dal Mu-ji had done so, Chun Hwi agreed with this.
“Therefore, right now I shall allow the Squad Masters of the 1st and 3rd Latent Demon Squads to challenge for the rank of Great Demon.” 

As his words fell, the faces of the Great Demons paled. 

This was an exhibition that the Cult Leader was officially presiding over.
When defeated, it was obvious that they would be demoted to Demonic Generals.
In addition, the traditional confrontation was one of life or death.
If you made a mistake, not only could you lose your rank, you could lose your life. 

Chun Hwi continued, ignoring what anyone else thought about his decision. 

“The time and location of the challenge shall be here and now.
Squad Masters, each of you shall choose the Great Demon you want to challenge!” He then added some sarcastic words, almost to himself.
“Conveniently, we happen to have all the Great Demons gathered here.”

How convenient indeed. 

It was now obvious why Chun Hwi had called them all here: he had anticipated the present situation. 

The original purpose of the Cave of Latent Demons is to replace the generations within the Cult of the Heavenly Demon.
Even so, I never imagined the Heavenly Demon to have such surprising decisiveness… 

Woon-seong suddenly felt that his heroic spirit and determination were less than the Cult Leader’s.
Even so, he found this to be a good chance to prove his worth. 

He slowly looked up and began to assess the Great Demons, as he was commanded.
“Hmm.”

When the eyes of the boy turned to them, the Great Demons looked uncomfortable. 

“Hmph.” Some were blindsided and felt threatened, glaring down at him.
Somehow, a child was looking to join their ranks. 

Others, though, were just laughing to themselves.
These were the ones confident in their abilities.
Just as Woon-seong could read their qi presence, they could also read his.
Considering their power, it was unlikely for Woon-seong to challenge them.
If he was stupid enough to do so, they would just smack him around a little — it wouldn’t do to humiliate a weaker, younger opponent too much in front of the Leader.

Sang In-hyo was one of those unbothered.
He smiled softly when his eyes met with Woon-seong’s, sending the boy an encouraging glance. 

The boy appeared even calmer after that, relaxing his shoulders.
He finally spoke.
“I will point to my opponent.” His eyes penetrated to the center of the group, where someone stood. 

“My opponent is…”