Before the Eight Demon Generals handed over control of the Bronze Fortress, a grand reckoning had already begun.
Since the devil armies had been assembled through "secondment," the moment the war ended, they immediately regained their freedom.
"Regaining freedom isn't quite the right way to put it, because they've retained every memory of the Blood War intact, as if it were simply something they were supposed to do... Still, while the reverence for their superiors remains, that absolute obedience of a subordinate has vanished..."
Raylin glanced at the succubus Hannerlin beside him. Her eyes were clear and bright now — she still looked ready to throw herself at him, but her mind was evidently churning with far more schemes and calculations than before.
The lesser devils and lemures were much the same.
Yet before the devils fully reverted to their proper place in the infernal hierarchy, there was something even more important to attend to — the settling of this battle's merits and sins, the dispensing of rewards and punishments: namely, promotions and demotions!
For devils, the former was their eternal pursuit, while the latter was the root of all their fears!
The infernal hierarchy was exceedingly rigid, governed by a unique system of authority, so promotion for a devil was nothing like that of a demon — where accumulating enough soul energy during the Blood War was sufficient — but rather involved a complex process.
Typically, a devil had to obtain approval from its direct superior before it could be promoted, and under any circumstances, any devil of higher rank had the power to revoke a promotion that had just been authorized.
In other words, if a low-ranking devil wished to advance, it needed the consent of the mid-ranking devil it served under, and that mid-ranking devil would conduct the promotion ceremony. However, should any high-ranking devil find the promotion objectionable, it could strip the newly promoted devil of its rank and send it right back where it started.
Naturally, the highest authority of approval rested in the hands of the eight Hell Lords, who embodied the will of the Hell Primordial Source.
They oversaw the promotions of all devils — including the pit fiends — and could even use their authority to shatter convention, elevating a low-ranking devil through multiple ranks in a single leap!
The Eight Demon Generals' collective authority was evidently considerable, extending even to the promotion of high-ranking devils. While a devil's original superior technically had the right to revoke such a promotion, most would not dare offend the authority of the Eight Demon Generals.
By the same token, the Hell Lords could strip any devil of its current rank or transform it into a shape of utter disgrace.
As the opposite of promotion, demotion was the thing all devils feared most!
Any devil that was demoted would have a portion of its intellect stripped away and be sent to perform the most humiliating and agonizing tasks.
The demotions were carried out first!
Piercing screams echoed throughout the Bronze Fortress.
On the vast plaza, a colossal tribunal had been formed, and devils occupied every seat.
The unfortunate ones who had caused a negative impact due to various incidents during the war were locked in the prisoners' seats.
Among them were low-rank devils like Needlespikes and Inferiors, mid-rank ones like Imps and Hookbacks, and Lei Lin even spotted a few high-ranking devils.
Though their power levels varied, the only expression plastered across every one of their faces was fear.
Their charges had already been determined. What awaited them was the penalty of demotion.
Under normal circumstances, only their immediate devil superiors had the authority to decide their promotion or demotion. Unfortunately, the Eight Demon Generals held authority even higher than their original superiors, so they could impose this overstepping punishment! Such was the law of Hell.
At this moment, unless a Hell Lord with authority exceeding the Eight Demon Generals arrived to overturn or annul the previous judgment, there was no way for them to avoid punishment — but how could that possibly happen?
"I declare! You are guilty! You shall be demoted!"
With one of the Eight Demon Generals, Zapar, bringing down the judge's gavel, a sharp crack rang out, and the prisoners underwent strange transformations.
They howled in agony. Their entire bodies began to crack apart as invisible forces enveloped them, carrying out the most severe punishment.
During the demotion process, a devil's soul would be subjected to horrifying torment, potentially losing part of its intelligence in the process and becoming savage and ignorant — the most unbearable fate for devils who prided themselves on being beings of cunning.
The wailing of the unfortunate ones never ceased, while the laws of Hell steadfastly carried out the sentence. They shattered the devils' original forms, and hordes of Hell worms crawled out, constructing new devil bodies.
Overall, most convicted devils were demoted by one rank — for instance, mid-rank Hookbacks devolved into low-rank Needlespikes, or Needlespikes devolved into Inferiors.
A brand of shame was now stamped upon their foreheads. Whether here or under their former superiors, they could only perform the most wretched and painful duties, and their chances of future promotion grew ever more slim.
The even more unfortunate ones were reshaped into Slaves, Stygian Memory Thieves, and other devil forms unique to demoted devils. Their strength plummeted accordingly, and their personalities underwent drastic changes.
Watching those devils being demoted, most of the normal devils wore expressions of dread and lingering fear — and that was precisely what drove them to work hard and uphold order.
"Next, we shall proceed with the promotion reviews!"
After Zapar stepped down, another of the Eight Demon Generals, Barzaphen, stepped forward and made the announcement in a booming voice.
Compared to demotion, promotion for devils was a cause for great celebration. The standards were extraordinarily stringent, so only a fortunate few could earn such an honor.
For devils, every opportunity for promotion was incredibly rare.
A promotion often required a formal ceremony, and any such ceremony demanded a ritual presided over by a supportive superior, along with a massive expenditure of soul energy.
At this time, the supportive superior would be none other than the Eight Demon Generals themselves, while the soul energy came from the accumulated reserves of the previous bloody battle.
The hierarchy of devils was quite simple, starting from the most basic petitioners, to the low-tier devils—lemures, spinagons, then mid-tier devils: barbed devils, bearded devils, bone devils, chain devils, pain devils, and amnizu—followed by high-tier devils: osyluths, howlers, hamatulas, ice devils, horned devils, erinyes, vrocks, and several other forms. At the very apex stood the pit fiends. Each devil form was exactly one rank above the previous!
Promotions and demotions alike revolved around this hierarchical order.
Typically, one would advance or regress by a single rank—for instance, from a bone devil to a chain devil, or from a chain devil to a pain devil.
A leap promotion, such as advancing directly from a bone devil to a pain devil, would skip two ranks! There were also cross-tier promotions—for example, going from the low-tier spinagon to the mid-tier barbed devil. Although it was only a single rank higher, it required vastly greater amounts of soul energy to sustain.
There were also succubi and pleasure devils, as well as the rare wretched devils and Styx memory-thieves, which only appeared under special circumstances of demotion.
Raylin glanced at the devils around him. Nearly every one of them wore a smile on their face.
Although they would still have to face their superiors after returning, those superiors would hardly dare challenge the authority of the Eight Demon Generals and revoke the promotions. This was an absolutely massive windfall!
Even for those whose merits were insufficient for promotion, the soul energy they had gained made the trip entirely worthwhile.
However, with Raylin's merits from slaying a six-armed serpent devil and a balor, he had more than met the requirements for promotion. Even his subordinates had managed to secure promotion opportunities.
In truth, as Raylin saw it, this promotion ceremony seemed no different from the demotion punishment he had undergone before.
Both processes required shattering one's original body and reconstructing it from scratch, and both were equally bloody—enough to plunge the weak-willed into chaos and unconsciousness. Though devils who were promoted retained their complete memories and intelligence, their personalities underwent dramatic changes.
The low-tier devil grunts were not worth mentioning. The only one worth noting was Hanalin, under Raylin's command.
Because most of Raylin's mid-tier devils had perished in the battle against the balor, her share of the merits was second only to Raylin's, and she was promoted into the powerful pleasure devil form!
This was an enormous leap! After all, even Hanalin's former superior was likely only a pleasure devil at this very moment!
Raylin could already imagine the chaos that would erupt when Hanalin returned.
After all, given how notoriously harsh devil superiors were toward their subordinates, Hanalin would probably be consumed by manic hatred for her former boss, constantly scheming to drag them from their position. And now, with her newfound power, such a plan suddenly seemed very feasible.
After presiding over such a massive promotion ceremony, the Eight Demon Generals received unanimous praise from the devils. Titles like "merciful generals" and "generous masters" were heaped upon them without hesitation. The devils spared no effort in their flattery—only Raylin noticed something different.
"The promotion ceremony they presided over was almost too generous," he mused. "Many of these devils had merits that were borderline at best, yet every single one was approved… with absolutely no regard for what their original superiors might think…"
Raylin thought to himself.
He could already predict the chaos that would ensue once the newly promoted devils returned to serve under their original superiors.
From a devil's perspective of conspiracy, this was practically inevitable!
Soon after, Balzevin, one of the Eight Demon Generals and Raylin's temporary superior, approached him.
"Warrior! You slew a Balor on the verge of ascension! Such a feat should have been enough to qualify you for promotion to a Pit Fiend!"
Balzevin's face held sincere regret, as if he were truly indignant on Raylin's behalf.
"It's a pity your superior, the greedy Azroch, is a raving jealousist. Therefore, we cannot approve your advancement unless we receive Azroch's permission..."
As soon as these words left his lips, the gazes of many devils turned toward Raylin, filled with mockery.