Persuading Her to Surrender

The Sword Demons was bound by silk threads and unable to move. The feigned compassion on her face had long since vanished, leaving only a cold calm. Faced with Lowell's stilted "persuasion" to surrender, which she couldn't understand at all, she remained silent for a few seconds.

Then, she forced a smile, managing to tug at the corners of her mouth.

"Uh," she began, her voice still trying to maintain its gentle facade, though a hint of tension lingered beneath, "Although I didn't understand a word you said... well, you want me to surrender, right?"

She paused for a moment, then quickly continued.

I surrender.

Lowell was taken aback.

He blinked, seemingly surprised that the other party had agreed so readily. Then, his face was instantly filled with a smile that mixed surprise and immense satisfaction. He immediately turned around, his back to the Sword Demons, facing Frieren and Fern, arms outstretched, his eyebrows practically flying.

"Look! Frieren! Fern!"

His voice was filled with barely suppressed pride, even bordering on boastful.

"My persuasion skills have improved! I've convinced one combatant! Not bad, right? I told you this trick would work! Haha!"

Frieren glanced at him, then at the seemingly submissive but still cold-eyed Demons behind him. Her emerald eyes remained calm, and her lips moved slightly, uttering a few flat syllables.

"Yes, yes, yes."

Her tone was as indifferent as water.

"Wow, that's amazing!"

Fern let out a soft breath, her pale purple eyes sweeping over Lowell's "praise me" expression before returning to the Sword Demons. She didn't speak, but simply crossed her arms and silently turned her face to the side.

Frieren ignored Lowell, who was still lost in his own world. She took two steps forward, stood in front of the Sword Demons, tilted her head back, and stared directly at him with her emerald green eyes.

"So," she began, her voice as still as her eyes, "Why did you attack the village?"

Lowell snapped her fingers. The transparent threads binding the Sword Demons vanished silently. The Sword Demons swayed slightly, then quickly regained her balance. She took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and stretched her stiff shoulders and wrists before looking at Frieren.

"I need to kill them so I can have something to eat," she said calmly, as if stating something perfectly ordinary. "I have no other choice but to survive."

Frieren tilted her head slightly.

"Even if you don't eat humans, you can survive, right?"

A genuine look of confusion crossed the Sword Demons's face, as if Frieren had asked a foolish question.

"Why not eat humans?" she countered, her voice still gentle, yet carrying an unyielding air of self-righteousness. "Even without pork, lamb, and beef, humans can survive. But they can't."

She shrugged.

"So, I'm just like humans, killing other races to fill my stomach. Is there anything wrong with that?"

Frieren looked at her and remained silent for two seconds.

Then, she pursed her lips and looked away.

"... Tsk."

She uttered a syllable indicating that she had nothing to say.

I can't reason with you.

Lowell seemed still basking in the joy of his "successful persuasion," his back to the Sword Demons, seemingly oblivious to her subtle changes in movement. He stroked his chin, as if still savoring his "brilliant speech," a smile playing on his lips.

The Sword Demons's gaze silently swept over the three people in front of him.

Frieren, the elf, seemed to have lost interest in what was happening before her and was looking elsewhere. Fern, the human girl, although holding a staff, had proven her limited strength in the previous exchange, and at this moment her attention seemed to be more focused on sighing.

Finally, her gaze settled on Lowell, who had his back to her and was completely unguarded.

This seemingly carefree man, yet one who speaks the truth the most... those strange threads just now... he was the one who released them. Although she didn't understand the principle, it was indeed him who restrained her. Now, he has his back to her.

Chance.

Judgment is made in an instant.

With a flick of her Sword Demons silently raised the longsword she had been holding. There were no unnecessary movements, no prelude to gathering power, only a cold, swift arc of light, embodying all her strength and resolve, aimed at Lowell's nape and slashed down with ruthless ferocity!

"Whoosh--!"

The sharp blade sliced through the air with a very short, sharp sound, like fabric tearing.

A flash of sword light streaked past.

Lowell's head detached from his shoulder and tossed upwards. The smug smile on his face hadn't even completely faded.

The Sword Demons sheathed her sword and stood still. She glanced at the headless body that was still standing, then at the head that had rolled to the ground face down, and the breath she had been holding in slowly eased.

"Humans," she said softly, her tone flat, as if addressing no one in particular, "Are so naive."

She looked up, bracing herself for the possible outburst of fear or anger from the other two.

However, the expected screams, roars, or desperate counterattacks did not occur.

Frieren and Fern remained standing in the same spot.

Frieren even turned her face back, her emerald eyes calmly looking at her, then at Lowell's head on the ground, then at the headless body. Her face was clean, without sadness, without fear, not even surprise.

Fern looked at her too, her pale purple eyes clearly reflecting her image, and there was also a hint of... something like "This is troublesome now." She even raised her hand and gently pressed her temples.

The Sword Demons were stunned.

This reaction is wrong.

The person is dead, so how did these two manage to make such a scene?

Weren't the dead your companions? Or are these two women like the Demons, the type who don't care about their comrades? Even if they didn't care about their companions, shouldn't they know that they were in danger after that man died? After all, the elf hadn't made a move, so she must not be good at fighting, and the purple-haired girl was clearly no match for them.

"..." Her grip on the sword tightened almost imperceptibly. Her gaze swept back and forth across the two faces. The chill that had just subsided in her heart surged up again, colder and heavier than before.

"Our comrade is dead," she began, the slight mockery in her voice vanishing completely, replaced by a hesitation and tension she herself didn't even realize. "You... are you all making this face? Shouldn't you be rushing in, shouting things like 'That cunning Demons, I'll avenge him!'"

Just then--

"Tsk."

A familiar voice, tinged with impatience and laziness, suddenly rang out.

The sound came from... that headless body that should have been dead.

The Sword Demons's pupils suddenly shrank to pinpoints, and he abruptly turned his head.

At the severed neck of Lowell's standing body, no blood spurted. Instead, countless strands of thick, tangible black magic, like living tentacles, writhed, intertwined, and extended wildly.

A new head "grew" from the neck at a speed visible to the naked eye. Skin, facial features, hair... quickly took shape, and in the blink of an eye, it returned to its original form, indistinguishable from the head that had rolled to the ground before.

The newly grown head moved from side to side, and a slight "crack" sound came from its neck.

"... Is it Demons? No, even an ordinary Demons wouldn't have this ability..." A bead of cold sweat trickled down the Sword Demons's forehead and down his cheek.

Lowell turned his head and looked at the Sword Demons with that familiar face. He curled his lip, his eyes showing a hint of disdain and a touch of helplessness at his ignorance.

"Yeah, not just Demons, but the Demon King too, haven't you heard of him? Cut off my head?"

He dragged out his words, as if he were commenting on a poorly prepared dish.

"You think this is Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba? You think you can kill me by cutting off my head?"

He raised his hand and tapped his temple with his index finger.

"Come on, even in that story, the top three Upper Moons don't die instantly after their heads are chopped off. How could I die so easily?"

The Sword Demons's throat seemed to be blocked by something; he opened his mouth, but no sound came out immediately.

"That..."

"I was just momentarily out of my mind."

She swallowed, her voice a little dry.

"... Is it possible to reach a settlement?"