Chapter 964: Forty-Fifth! He Made It Into the Top Fifty!
"It's out!"
"Holy shit! I see General Ling Zhan's rank—it's on the second page!"
"Damn! General Ling Zhan broke into the top fifty!"
At the exclamation of a squad leader, everyone in the dining hall looked up at the second screen on the TV—rank forty-five: 'Ling Zhan'!
Clearly—
Ling Zhan's merits for reclaiming Lemoris Fortress had catapulted him from who-knows-where right into the top fifty!
At this point, some people were puzzled...
Taking Lemoris Fortress was a massive achievement.
One with great strategic significance.
It was because that fortress fell that the Final Demon-Slaying Operation could formally begin.
By all logic, Ling Zhan should've ranked in the top thirty, if not the top twenty!
Indeed, some were confused.
But someone quickly gave an explanation.
"Our General Ling Zhan chose to share part of his merits with us members..."
A Demon-Slaying Legion member explained quietly.
That battle was an enormous accomplishment.
But Ling Zhan chose not to keep all the credit.
In theory—
Even if Ling Zhan had claimed it all himself, no one would've said a word.
After all—
Everyone knew Lemoris Fortress was taken almost entirely through his efforts. The rest of them just harvested demon heads.
"Ah, that explains it. No wonder he didn't break top twenty."
"Actually, even the merits for breaching Demon Valley were shared. You can log into the official Global Class Change Association site and check your rankings—see how much you've climbed."
With that said—
Everyone quickly opened their personal panels, connected to the Demon Valley network, and logged into the official site.
The Global Class Change Association serves class-changers worldwide.
Especially in the Demon-Slaying War.
This international body created the leaderboard and gave every participant an official account.
"Whoa! No way! I jumped from 34,000 to 22,333!"
An Amethyst Legion veteran exclaimed.
As someone who'd been in the war long-term, his global rank had always been top 50,000.
He'd racked up quite a few merits.
"Me too! I went from 40,000 to 30,000!"
"Same here..."
"I can't believe my rank actually went up! That means the end-of-month merit rewards will be even better—sweet!"
"Perfect timing! I was just about to redeem an equipment upgrade voucher. I've got enough points now!"
Every legion member's eyes lit up with joy.
Note...
All of them!
Because everyone progressed!
Aivina and Clodas, the two young generals, jumped from the 5000s into the 4000s globally!
They were still new to the war, having only led a few battles.
"Damn, that's insane!"
"General Ling Zhan is a beast!"
"No lie—this is the first commander I've seen who actually shares his merits! This is..."
Shock, delight, disbelief, excitement.
They truly couldn't believe a commander would divide up that much merit!
"Wait a minute—"
"Forget that for now—what about the wager? Isn't General Ling Zhan afraid of losing to Adasim?"
"Why be afraid? He's already ranked higher than Adasim now!"
"That's not the point..."
"What he means is—before the leaderboard even updated, General Ling Zhan already chose to share the merits!"
"Yet he still dared to wager against Adasim. That's top-tier courage!"
"Exactly..."
Every member respected Ling Zhan even more now.
They'd never seen a commander like this.
A commander who didn't care about personal merit!
No other military leader had ever shared like that!
And...
Ling Zhan's guts were next-level!
He wasn't worried about Adasim outscoring him at all!
"Haha! Look! Adasim used to be ranked fifty-fifth, but thanks to General Ling Zhan, he's now fifty-sixth..."
"No joke—wonder how Adasim feels seeing this leaderboard update."
What could he feel?
Swallowwind Valley.
After crossing the Abyss of Betrayal, the Xuantian Legion and the Eden Legion had set up camp in a place called Swallowwind Valley.
The entire valley had been turned into a mini magical fortress.
Naturally, courtesy of the Rotten Witch Cathy.
One magic architecture tool, and boom—no architects needed, a fortress appears.
Outside Swallowwind Valley—
Violent storms howled and lashed the land.
The whole region was engulfed in violent winds.
Temperatures could drop as low as -100°C in all directions.
Plus the lingering demonic miasma of the Ten Thousand Demons.
Right now—
Members of Eden and Xuantian Legions had very different expressions.
Xuantian looked especially grim.
They'd suffered major losses lately.
Many of their longtime comrades had fallen in battle.
They were used to clashing with top guilds—but casualties had never been this bad.
Meanwhile, under Cathy's lead, the Eden Legion was mostly intact, save for a few reckless maniacs who loved rushing the front.
The Abyss of Betrayal didn't crush the Xuantian Legion, but it did shatter their morale.
Outside, wind and ice battered the magic fortress walls, rumbling loudly.
Inside the mess hall, the mood was ice-cold.
"Look..."
"The World Demon-Slaying Leaderboard updated!"
A member of Eden gasped.
Everyone turned toward the screen.
Page one—top twenty-five.
No one reacted.
Those rankings hadn't changed in forever.
Honestly, the top 100 barely ever shifts.
Because it's packed with world-class powerhouses.
They've been in this war for ages, piling up massive merits year after year. Even old veterans can't shake up the top 100.