The soldiers were eager, too eager. They didn't even rush to kill him right away.
Instead, they pushed their swords down closer to his face, the sharp tips poking at him, one even tapping right at his lips, pressing there like they were lining up for something else.
Through their helmets they looked down on him, their eyes small, almost squeezed, like they were staring hard.
"Look at this one," a soldier said. "Face too smooth, body too slim. Doesn't even look like a demon. Looks like a soft boy lying there, waiting."
Another chuckled. "Yeah, his skin's white, his body's thin. He looks more like a pretty doll than an enemy. Almost too cute to kill."
"W-wait… so… is it a crime here to be handsome? Or is it a crime to be a demon? Wait, wait, I'm confused here, guys…"
At first only one laughed, then another joined, then another, and soon all of them were laughing around him.
Liu Yang's mouth was shaking again and again, his awkward smile still on his face and it didn't go away, his cheeks turned red hot from anger or from blushing even he didn't know and his chest felt heavy like something pressing down on him.
He looked left, then right, all around, so many swords pointing down at him, so many eyes inside the helmets staring like he was not a demon but a girl waiting for a bang from top to bottom.
"This… this doesn't look like they here to kill me," he whispered, his voice shaking, low, almost whiny. "This looks like… those dirty videos… where one person is lying down… and too many guys are standing over… holding their long things ready…"
His face turned even redder. He wanted to puke, but his mouth kept moving. A weak laugh slipped out. "Heh…heh… sorry… b-but I'm not the gang type, okay? I'm more like… solo actor… one man… one scene… not… not this many…"
His lips twitched again, and another thought pushed out before he could stop it. "E-even in my wildest dream… I only imagine twosome at most…"
One soldier leaned on his sword and said, "We low level soldiers don't get girls anyway. No noble daughters, no pretty wives, nothing. I think it's better to have a soft boy like you than end up with some fat ugly woman back in the village."
Liu Yang's eyes went wide, his lips twitching more. His stomach twisted, his head shaking side to side, and the words slipped out of his mouth, broken and scared.
"W-what the hell… did I get teleported into some BL novel world…?"
So when the soldiers heard the words coming out of Liu Yang's mouth, they stopped for a moment, their mouth not moving, like they didn't understand what they just heard.
One soldier moved his head a little. "What… BL novel?"
Another soldier stomped his boot on the grass. "How dare he! He is saying bullsh—noble!"
The other soldiers all made noise at once, their swords shaking in their hands and making clank clank sounds. They didn't hear it as a joke. They didn't hear it as nonsense. They heard it as an insult.
"He dares?!" one shouted.
"He dares to talk trash about nobles?!" another yelled.
"A mere demon talking against higher humans?!"
Their swords came down closer, the tips almost touching Liu Yang's chest. "We should kill him now! No more wasting time!"
Tears were coming out from Liu Yang's eyes, flowing down his cheeks like a small river. Both his hands pressed on his chest tight, and his mouth still had the weird smile stuck.
He let out a weak laugh, broken and shaking. "He…he… just kill me already and finish it. Better than… than losing my virginity like this…"
When they misunderstood the joke of Liu Yang, they all turned serious at once.
Their voices stopped, no more laughter, only silence and heavy breath inside the helmets. They could not accept it, they could not hear trash words about the noble class.
Their eyes inside the helmets went cold, their hands held the swords tighter, and without a second thought they all pushed their swords down into his chest.
It happened in one go, all at the same time, every sword going in, stabbing his chest, stabbing through his heart, leaving holes in it like it was paper.
Liu Yang didn't even get the chance to blink, he didn't even get the chance to flinch, it was too fast, faster than blinking your eyes.
His mouth still had that awkward smile, his lips twitched one last time.
His eyes still had tears inside them, not dry yet. His body lay there on the grass, lifeless, no strength left, just lying like a broken doll with swords sticking out.
Only lips were moving little by little, shaking, and his breath was weak, coming out like air leaking from a hole.
Inside his head he was thinking, "come on… at least yell something before killing me… yell the move name… make it cool… make it like those anime skills… not just push the sword in plain like this…"
Then another thought came, stupid but shiny in his brain. "Fine… if you won't name it… I will. I'll call it… A Thousand Sword Heaven Fall…"
The name rolled again and again inside his head, like his brain was repeating it loud even though his mouth couldn't say it.
It stayed there, bouncing around, sounding big and grand only to him, but outside no one heard it.
But the soldiers didn't yell anything. They didn't say a name. They didn't make it fancy. They only pushed the cold steel into his chest, nothing else, no sound, no words, just killing.
His awkward smile was still on his face, his eyes wet, the shine in them going away little by little.