Time crawled.
At least, that's how it felt to Velmira as she paced back and forth like a frantic cat with too much mana and not enough brain-cell density to manage it. Meanwhile, Rivel sat miserably on the stone floor, elbows on his knees, eyes half-closed as he tried to force a plan into existence through sheer mental pressure.
Velmira lasted two minutes.
Maybe.
Then she spun toward him, grabbed his shoulders, and shook him as if he were a vending machine refusing to drop a snack.
"Rivel! Do you have a plan yet? Please tell me you have a plan, any plan, even a bad one, I'll take a slightly terrible plan-no, a disastrous plan is also fine, just please tell me you have something!"
Rivel slowly lifted a hand and placed it over her mouth.
"Velmira. Shut up," he said with all the calm of a man clinging to sanity by dental floss. "I can't think with you panicking at Mach three."
Velmira puffed her cheeks like she wanted to yell at him for daring to silence the Demon Queen, but the heavy doors to the throne room slammed open before she could.
A demon soldier sprinted forward, breathless. "My Queen! Human Rivel! Our scouts report the opposing team is advancing toward the castle!"
Velmira screamed and immediately resumed shaking Rivel so violently his teeth clicked.
"THEY"RE COMING! RIVEL! DO SOMETHING! HURRY! THINK FASTER-"
"Velmira, stop." Rivel pried her hands off. "Soldier. Was it the entire enemy team?"
"No, sir. It appears to be only part of their forces."
Rivel's eyes narrowed. "Is their captain with them?"
"Yes. He is leading the advance."
Rivel pressed a thumb to his lips, gaze lowering to the floor. Silence. Thoughtful silence.
Velmira leaned closer, worried. "R-Rivel... I can stop the game if you want. I can pull you out. I-I know this is a lot, and maybe I acted too hastily summoning you, and maybe this was a mistake, and maybe-"
"No." Rivel stood, brushing dust off his coat. "I can still make something happen."
The conviction in his voice startled her. Even the soldier blinked.
Rivel turned toward the demon. "Go deliver my orders. Have some soldiers prepare to hold the castle. The rest will move to intercept the enemy. We're meeting them halfway."
The soldier's expression brightened with something sinister. "Yes, sir!" He sprinted out while covering his mouth.
Rivel exhaled slowly.
Velmira still looked tense, hands wringing. "Rivel... please be careful."
"Working on it." He pointed toward a corridor. "You go hide. Seal yourself somewhere nobody can find you. I don't need you being kidnapped or killed because you stuck around."
Her ears flattened. "But-"
"No arguing." He gave her a bland, exhausted stare. "So go hide and stay alive."
Her lips trembled in irritation and worry. "Fine. But if you die, I'll find a way to resurrect you just so I can kill you for dying."
"Comforting."
Velmira huffed and stomped away somewhere deeper into the castle.
Rivel rolled his shoulders, stretched his neck, and muttered under his breath, "Okay. Step one: Don't die. Step two: ... still working on step two."
He headed out.
___________________________________________________
Iratai strutted across the battlefield like he owned it, because in his mind, he already did. His fifteen soldiers marched behind him, disciplined and sharp. Ahead, the distant figures of Rivel's troops emerged.
A smirk spread across Iratai's face.
"Perfect."
He raised a hand, signaling his men to halt. He was waiting, waiting for his inside advantage.
Right on cue, a demon soldier wearing Rivel's team colors approached with a smug smile.
"Captain Iratai," he said, bowing. "The human has no plan. Truly clueless. He intends to fight you head-on."
Iratai's grin widened. "How many soldiers did he send out?"
"I was left in charge of deployment. I only sent ten of the twenty."
Iratai let out a victorious laugh.
Even the wind seemed to cringe.
"With five of my own guarding our base," he said, "I already have a number advantage. And with you on the inside... victory is guaranteed."
The traitor bowed again.
Iratai waved him off. "Return. When his guard drops, kill him."
The demon nodded and sprinted back.
Iratai laughed hard enough that several soldiers exchanged uneasy glances. "Lord Bastien will be very pleased."
___________________________________________________
Back in the Demon Kingdom's viewing hall where the game's events were being projected spectators roared with laughter.
"LOOK AT HIM! TEN SOLDIERS!? AGAINST FIFTEEN!?"
"THE HUMAN WON'T LAST TEN MINUTES!"
"No strategy, no brain, what a idiot!"
Demons pointed and jeered at the image of Rivel's small team forming ranks on the field.
They didn't know how wrong they were.
___________________________________________________
Rivel stepped out from the castle gates, fake horns adjusted, uniform still a little too big for him, and walked toward his ten gloomy, distrustful soldiers.
They turned. Their eyes were sharp. Cold. Disdainful.
Rivel nearly flinched.
Seriously? Is this what being a manager feels like?
He sighed and straightened his horns. "Alright. Nobody here likes me. That's fine. But we're about to fight, and I'm not here to give a big motivational speech. Mostly because none of you would care."
Some muttered in agreement.
"But," he continued, "I do have a different way to motivate you."
Eyebrows rose.
"What could a human possibly offer us?"
Rivel pulled a rolled-up parchment from his coat and let it unroll dramatically.
The demons leaned in.
Their eyes widened.
Velmira's royal seal.
Her signature.
A magically binding mark.
Rivel cleared his throat smugly. "In agreement with Queen Velmira, anyone who contributes the most to our victory will receive a reward of their choice, as long as it's reasonable.
Gasps, shock and immediate greed all began to spread throughout them.
One demon started muttering about wanting a personal mansion.
Another whispered about a wyvren mount.
A third was already imagining marrying into nobility.
The traitor, however, smirked.
It won't matter. This so-called motivation is all for nothing. You'll be losing this.
Rivel rolled the contract back up. "If that's enough motivation, then move. Win fast, win hard, and maybe Velmira will even give something extra to the top performer."
That sealed it.
His soldiers erupted into excited, greedy screams and charged forward like a stampede of wild beast desperate for prizes.
___________________________________________________
Iratai saw them rushing.
"Tch. Foolish human. They're running to their deaths!" He pointed forward. "CHARGE! SLAY THEM ALL!"
The battlefield erupted.
Steel clashed.
Screams and roars tore through the air.
Blood splattered on stone, grass, and armor.
Several demons took to the sky, only to speared mid-flight. Bodies fell like broken comets.
Rivel's soldiers were fierce but outnumbered.
Seven remained.
Iratai's forces still had thirteen.
Iratai smirked and motioned to a nearby warrior. "Fetch the others from the castle. We'll finish this quickly. Victory is ours."
___________________________________________________
Back behind the lines, Rivel watched the chaos, biting his thumb anxiously.
The traitor rushed up behind him, panting. "We're down three men already!"
Rivel winced. "Yeah, I can see that."
"What should we do, human?" The traitor reached slowly toward his sword, fingers curling around the hilt.
Rivel didn't look at him.
He simply muttered, "You're an idiot."
The traitor froze.
"...What?"
"You heard me," Rivel said. "Idiot."
The traitor hissed and raised his blade. "No, human you're the idiot!"
SHIIIIK-
A spear pierced his side.
The soldier collapsed, coughing blood.
Before the traitor could process what happened, panicked screams burst from Iratai's forces.
"THEY"RE COMING FROM BEHIND!"
"AMBUSH?! HOW!?"
Rivel's nine remaining soldiers that were supposedly guarding the castle appeared from the rear, charging into Iratai's back lines like a second wave of death.
Iratai's eyes bulged in shock as he watched his forces slowly become overwhelmed from both sides.
"This can't be! That idiot informed me that he only brought out ten," Iratai snarled angrily.
Iratai whipped his head around towards Rivel's position to see if he was truly tricked or not only to be met with something more surprising.
Rivel stared back at him from across the field...smirking standing over the traitor he had inside Rivel's ranks.
Iratai staggered. "W-what how?!"
___________________________________________________
The demon who threw the spear ran up beside Rivel. "Sir! Orders?"
"Help the others," Rivel said. "And remind me later that I owe you a reward for saving my life."
The demon grinned and shoulder-bumped him. "For a human, you really know how to get demons moving." He sprinted off, laughing."
"H-how... did you know...?"
Rivel crouched beside him with a tired sigh.
"Easy," he said. "You said another demon reported the enemy advance to you. But the scout should've returned directly. Also there's the fact I never sent out a scout. So I gambled on you being the traitor."
"You... bet everything... on that...?!"
"Yep."
"That's insane..."
Rivel stood, taking the traitor's sword. "Thanks for helping me win."
The traitor tried to curse him, but blood loss dragged him into unconsciousness.
Rivel lifted his gaze back toward the battlefield, toward Iratai, who now glared at him with pure hatred.
"You damn HUMAN!" Iratai roared.
Rivel smirked back calmly.
___________________________________________________
In the viewing hall of the Demon Kingdom-
Silence.
Not a single demon spoke.
Every jaw hung open.
Their previous mocking laughter was dead.
"...H...he tricked him..."
"... A human... outplayed Iratai...?"
"...Isn't Iratai meant to be cunning?"
Even veteran generals of the kingdom leaned forward, eyes wide.
At this point of time...
Rivel wasn't seen as someone to take lightly.
He was a threat.
A wildcard.
A gambler with terrifying instincts.