How can you have the nerve to keep that seat?!

Evening fell, and the dying sun sank below the horizon.

More than twenty Deputy Generals and Captains gathered together, watching the valley entrance to Black Miasma Ravine with tense eyes.

Even the slightest stirring of the poisonous mist drew the gazes of a dozen Captains at once. They refused to miss even the smallest movement.

Granted, two officers from the Demon-Slaying Battalion were guarding this place in Deputy General Han's stead while he neglected his duties.

But they were outsiders who had only just arrived. The others still hoped nothing would go wrong on their own turf.

A great poison demon at perfected Core Condensation, living in a deadly poisonous wasteland that martial warriors could scarcely enter—almost any Deputy General would have been helpless against it.

Had it not needed to recuperate in Black Miasma Ravine year-round, making it something of a homebody compared with other great demons, the Deputy General stationed here would never have been Han Dingshan, who had only barely reached perfected Core Condensation.

"Will he make it out?"

One Captain rubbed his hands uneasily. "Surely not? That place is a nest of venomous creatures. Even Deputy General Han wouldn't set foot inside lightly. What did he go in there for?"

"For merit, of course."

Another Deputy General answered, thoughts churning behind his eyes. "Joining the Demon-Slaying Battalion means fighting your way up the ranks. Kill a few great Aperture-Opening demons, and you earn as much merit as we do in several years."

"You accumulate merit quickly, but the danger is just as great."

He had once stood at that same crossroads. In the end, he had chosen to keep to a remote corner and been transferred here to stand guard.

Though he still lived alongside a terrifying great demon, it was far more secure than venturing