The Strongest

In the clearing in the woods, the wind seemed to have stopped.

Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting fragmented patches of light on the leaf-strewn ground. The air still seemed to carry the scent of dust and debris from the battle.

Lowell stood in the middle of the open space, looking at Lupa in front of him.

His face was expressionless, his dark eyes reflecting the sparse light of the forest, as deep as a bottomless, icy pool. His voice was not loud, even calm, but every word struck the silence clearly.

"Lupa, kill Linié."

Lupa trembled.

She still held the long spear in her hand, its tip pointing diagonally at the ground. Her pink twin ponytails were slightly disheveled, and her eyes clearly reflected Lowell's expressionless face and Linié standing quietly to the side.

Linié was just a few steps away.

She was still wearing that exquisite pink gothic dress, the hem of which remained perfectly still in the breeze. Her pink twin ponytails cascaded smoothly over her shoulders, her small face expressionless, her icy blue eyes calmly gazing in her direction.

She was unable to move.

Countless almost completely transparent magical threads, like living spider webs, meticulously wrapped and secured her slender limbs, neck, and waist. The threads were so fine they were almost invisible, yet incredibly strong, deeply embedded in the fabric, restricting the flow of every strand of magic.

She remained frozen in place, like an overly exquisite doll.

"No, Master, I can't do it, I can't..."

Lupa's voice trembled. Her knuckles, gripping the gun, were slightly white. The tip of the gun drew messy, shallow marks on the ground, stirring up the fallen leaves and making a soft, rustling sound.

She looked at Linié, then abruptly turned back to look at Lowell, her heterochromatic eyes filled with panic.

"Master, why? Linié—!"

"Lupa."

Lowell interrupted her, his voice still steady, yet carrying an undeniable certainty. He took a step forward, crushing a few withered leaves under his foot.

"You can become the strongest warrior in the world. Isn't that your wish?"

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the bound Linié.

"Even without Linié... you still have me, don't you?"

Lupa's lips trembled slightly, but she didn't speak. The tip of her gun lowered even further.

"You're still a little short," Lowell said, looking at her. "That's... your heart isn't ruthless enough."

He raised his hand and pointed at Linié.

"Let's do it."

"Let go of this attachment. After all, she's just a Demons. Kill her, and no one will say anything."

"Kill her, and you'll reach the boundary of 'the strongest'."

His speech quickened slightly, and his voice carried a barely perceptible calmness, as if he were stating a given fact.

"Quickly, Lupa."

Lupa shook his head abruptly, took half a step back, and the tip of his gun dragged a deeper mark on the ground.

"No... Master, this..."

"Lupa!"

Lowell's voice suddenly deepened, sounding exceptionally clear in the silent forest. He took another step forward, his gaze fixed intently on Lupa.

You said you would listen to your master the most.

Lupa's breathing quickened, her chest heaving violently. She looked at Lowell, then at Linié, her heterochromatic eyes a cacophony of emotions swirling within them—fear, struggle, confusion, and a hint of helpless, fledgling desperation.

Her hand holding the gun was trembling.

The spear tip slowly rose, extremely slowly, aiming at Linié's direction, then trembled and fell back down.

Lift it up.

It drooped down again.

Linié's icy blue eyes gazed silently at her, reflecting Lupa's struggling figure and the trembling tip of the gun. She didn't speak, just looked, not even her eyelashes trembling.

Time seemed to stand still.

The fallen leaves hung suspended in the air.

The light spot stopped flickering.

Only Lupa's heavy breathing and the sickeningly faint sound of the gun tip rubbing against the fallen leaves could be heard.

Then--

"Click! Click! Click!"

A clear, slightly disgruntled female voice suddenly broke the suffocating silence from above the woods.

"Stop! Stop! What kind of performance is this?!"

The sound came from afar and grew closer.

A petite figure darted through the treetops and landed lightly on a thick, horizontal branch. Her fiery red curly hair billowed and fell with the momentum. Her large, emerald eyes stared at the two people in the center of the clearing, her hands on her hips, her face full of disdain that said, "I can't stand it anymore."

It's Ruby.

Dressed casually, she extended a finger and forcefully pointed at Lowell, then at Lupa.

"Lowell, your script framework is alright... but your acting is so stiff!" She jumped down from the branch, took a few steps closer, looked up at Lowell, her small face full of a director's heartache for a hopeless actor.

"Your expression! Where's your expression? That obsessive feeling of treating your apprentice like a tool isn't there at all! Your eyes are too gentle, be a little fiercer!"

She clicked her tongue and turned to Lupa.

"And also, Lupa, your eyes, yes, your eyes! You captured the emotion just now, but it lacked depth! I want to see that transformation from 'impossible' to 'wavering' and then to 'desperate acceptance'! What about the struggle? What about the pain?"

She Imitation Lupa's earlier gesture, making an exaggerated, hesitant gun-holding motion.

"The look in your eyes just now was like a burnt fried egg at breakfast, and you were debating whether to eat it or not! I wanted heartbreak, a collapse of faith! But what did I see? I just saw 'Linié's little fried egg is so delicious, I kind of want to eat her.'"

She waved her hand dismissively, then turned to Linié, who was bound by silk threads. She looked her up and down, then her expression softened slightly, and she nodded.

"Tsk... One by one, Linié is the least troublesome. Her expressionless standby state perfectly expresses the helplessness and heartache of being betrayed by a close friend..."

She walked over and stretched out her hands.

"Come on, let's give the hardworking demonstration actor a comforting hug~"

Before she finished speaking, her small body had already floated up gently and caught Linié, who was fixed in place. Because she wasn't tall enough, she deliberately flew a little higher to catch her securely.

Linié didn't react much, just quietly let Ruby hold her, her hands hanging at her sides, her pink twin tails swaying gently with Ruby's movements.

"Does she need acting skills?" Lowell slumped his shoulders, let out a long, deep breath, and raised his hand to rub his cheeks hard, as if to crush the expression he had just worn. The tense, deliberately created coldness instantly dissipated, and he returned to his usual lazy and helpless look.

"That's always her expression..." he muttered, his voice filled with a weary plea for mercy. "I've already written the script and given her the lines. The actors are up to their own interpretation."

Lupa breathed a sigh of relief and wiped her forehead with her sleeve.

"I'm not good at this either," she complained softly, a lingering emotion in her heterochromatic eyes. "Besides, how could Master really make me do something like this... It's too distracting, I can't get into it at all."

Ruby was holding Linié, peeked half her face out from Linié's shoulder and pouted.

"Honestly, it's precisely because they know it's fake that they have to act like it's real! Otherwise, how can they get those students in the audience to contribute gold coins... no, I mean, to contribute their enthusiasm for learning?"

As she spoke, she jumped off Linié and landed on the ground. Lowell snapped her fingers, and the transparent threads binding Linié vanished silently. Linié stretched her wrists and ankles, walked over to Lupa, and stood quietly beside her.

Ruby her hands on her hips, puffed out her small chest, and looked at Lowell with a smug expression.

"Hmph, Lowell, your acting is terrible. Look, a real performing artist! He can act out a scene with thin air!"

She raised her hand and pointed to the other side of the open space.

There, Himmel seemed oblivious to everything that was happening on this side.

He stood alone under a large tree, one hand on his chest, the other outstretched towards the sky, his face slightly tilted back, his short blue hair shimmering in the sunlight filtering through the leaves. His expression was a profound mix of rapture, admiration, and undisguised narcissism.

He faced the empty air before him, rehearsing in a melodious, theatrical tone, seemingly oblivious to his surroundings:

"Oh! So elegant! So very elegant!"

He seemed to see something breathtaking, his eyes narrowed slightly, and his tone was full of admiration.

"This person's elegance... is no less than mine!"

He paused, then lowered his hands, crossed his arms, raised his chin slightly, and gave a confident yet reserved smile.

"Mmm... I'm so beautiful... so beautiful!"

Finally, he opened his arms as if to embrace the whole world, and declared in a clear voice:

"Pure beauty! Forever!"

He waved his hand, making a sword-wielding motion.

"Glory above! Let us now do good! I will defend all the beauty in the galaxy to the very last moment!"

Lowell looked at Himmel, who was completely absorbed in her own world, and her lips twitched uncontrollably. She raised her hand to her forehead.

"... That's because I gave him a good script and a good character design. He was just being himself, it was so easy for him."

He sighed, looked at Ruby with a slightly aggrieved expression, and tried to defend himself.

"And me... I clearly have much more complex inner monologues to prepare... Can't you be a little more lenient with me? For example, let me act out my true personality?"

Ruby immediately wrinkled her nose in disgust and waved her little hand vigorously.

"With your lazy, lazy, and averse-to-trouble personality, playing this kind of paranoid villain is inherently incongruous, but there's no other way. No one else can choose, so you have to take the role. We can't let Frieren play this character, can we? Students like to see dramas with tension, comedy, tragedy, and heart-wrenching moments. That's what makes it good."

She drew out her words, glanced at Lowell from head to toe, and said in a tone as if announcing a conclusion:

"Someone like you, hmph--"

"Nobody wants it, nobody wants it."

Lowell: "..."

He blinked, his expression instantly crumbled, his lips trembled, and he raised his hand as if to wipe away tears, letting out an exaggerated, utterly fake sob.

"Waaaah... I was rejected..."

Frieren appeared out of nowhere, carrying a small bowl filled with glistening, mint-leaf-decorated Mercury Pudding. She scooped a spoonful with a small silver spoon, squinted her eyes in satisfaction, and then glanced at Lowell, who was feigning tears, blinking her emerald eyes.

She reached out her free hand and gently patted Lowell's back. The gesture was somewhat reassuring, though her expression remained unchanged.

"Okay, okay," her voice was muffled because she had pudding in her mouth, "If nobody else wants it, I do."

Ruby watched from the side, arms crossed, pursing her lips, but didn't say anything more.

She turned to Himmel, who was still lost in thought under the tree, cupped her hands to her mouth, and shouted:

"Himmel! Stop being so vain! Come over and let's discuss the next scene!"

Himmel slowly opened his eyes, snapping out of his reverie. He elegantly straightened his clothes, his usual cheerful smile returning to his face, and walked over with unhurried steps.

"Here I am, Ruby."