I Reincarnated As The Lazy Demon King's Butler

Tonight, Lord Ravion would learn what it meant to face an enemy who had already decided his fate.

The Plan to End a Rebellion

In the war chamber, a tense silence filled the air.

Generals, ministers, and demon lords leaned over the massive obsidian table, where a detailed war map of the Eastern Provinces lay unrolled. At the head of it, Elias placed a single black marker over the rebellion's stronghold—Black Hollow Keep.

"This is the heart of Lord Ravion's forces," Elias began, his voice steady. "He has two thousand trained men inside the fortress and three hundred more patrolling nearby villages."

Vardok, the minotaur general, grunted. "We don't have the numbers to siege that keep without losing half our army."

"We won't need a siege," Elias replied, glancing at him. "We will let them destroy themselves."

The room stilled.

Seraphine chuckled, tossing a dagger between her fingers. "Oh, this should be good."

Elias walked around the table, golden eyes gleaming.

"First, we cut off every supply line to Black Hollow Keep—no food, no water, no reinforcements. We starve them."

"They'll have stockpiles," Vardok said. "They won't break that easily."

Elias smirked. "That's where step two begins."

His hand hovered over the surrounding villages, marking them with red ink.

"These outlying settlements are still loyal to Ravion. He relies on them for fresh recruits, messengers, and emergency provisions."

Seraphine's eyes flickered with interest. "And we take them out first?"

Elias shook his head. "No. We turn them against him."

The room fell silent again.

Azazel, who had been lounging in his throne, watching with mild amusement, finally spoke.

"You're planning to break his army without even touching it?"

Elias nodded. "By the time we're finished, they'll be too weak, too paranoid, and too desperate to fight back."

Azazel grinned. "I like this plan."

Phase One: The Silent War Begins

Three nights later, the rebellion's supply lines were in chaos.

Merchants transporting grain, dried meat, and medicine toward Black Hollow Keep suddenly found themselves waylaid by bandits, harassed by demons, or—more curiously—misdirected by false road signs.

Within a week, food shortages had begun.

Within two weeks, fistfights over rations erupted among Ravion's men.

Phase Two: The Seeds of Betrayal

As the fortress grew weaker, Elias's spies infiltrated the surrounding villages, planting carefully crafted rumors:

"Lord Ravion is hoarding supplies while you starve.""His men eat well while your families suffer.""There will be no reinforcements—the Demon King has already won."

By the third week, panic had spread through the villages. Small uprisings against Ravion's officers turned into full-blown riots.

His own people were deserting him.

Phase Three: Breaking the Chain of Command

Then came the mercenaries.

Unlike Ravion's loyalists, these men fought for coin, not honor. And Elias had deeper pockets than any rebel lord. Damn collecting tax is the best business.

A single anonymous letter reached Ravion's second-in-command, offering a generous sum for switching sides.

It worked.

By nightfall, nearly a third of the mercenaries had vanished—taking what little supplies remained with them.

And as the first snowfall of the season arrived, Black Hollow Keep was on the verge of collapse.

Phase Four: The Final Blow

Elias stood at the edge of the battlefield, watching the rebellion devour itself.

Lord Ravion's once-proud forces were fighting each other—desperate, starving, paranoid.

Soldiers killed their own officers over food. Messengers were hunted down as suspected traitors. Those who remained were too exhausted to lift their weapons.

Elias turned to his army, which had yet to lift a single blade.

"Move in," he ordered.

What followed wasn't a battle.

It was a slaughter.

Ravion's army was too broken to resist. The fortress fell without resistance as the gates were thrown open by those eager to surrender and live.

By dawn, Black Hollow Keep belonged to the Demon King.

The Last Lord Falls

Elias walked through the keep's ruined halls, stepping over the bodies of men who had been promised a revolution.

At the center of the great hall, Lord Ravion knelt in chains.

The once-proud rebel lord looked like a ghost of his former self—clothes torn, face bruised, eyes hollow.

Yet, as Elias approached, Ravion grinned through bloodied teeth.

"You think you've won?" he rasped. "You think this ends here?"

Elias didn't react.

"There will be others," Ravion continued, voice hoarse but defiant. "There will always be others."

Elias crouched to his level, golden eyes gleaming in the torchlight.

"If they are as foolish as you," he said coolly, "I welcome the challenge."

Ravion lunged—or tried to. The soldiers yanked him back. "Get the hell away from his highness!"

Elias sighed. "Stand down its okay, but what a shame. You would have made a useful example."

Then, without hesitation—

He drove a dagger into Ravion's heart.

The rebel leader gasped, eyes wide in shock, before collapsing to the floor.

The rebellion was over.

And Elias hadn't lost a single soldier.

A Kingdom Secured

Back in the Demon King's castle, Azazel sat in his throne, swirling a goblet of wine.

"You know," the Demon King mused, watching Elias with amusement, "most people would have just sent an army and burned the rebellion to the ground."

Elias adjusted his gloves. "Most people are inefficient."

Azazel smirked. "And what now? The humans are still coming."

Elias turned toward the grand balcony, gazing at the dark horizon.

"The real war has yet to begin."

And this time, it wouldn't be against scattered rebels with weak leadership.

This time, the enemy had a Hero.