"Ok, kids, it's time to review the past few weeks of work whether you like it or not!" A chorus of groans and sighs echoed around the room as I grinned at the class, all of my precious, adorable students pulling textbooks and notebooks from their bags while glaring daggers at me.
I would have chuckled just a little on any ordinary day as I love to tease my students, but the one empty seat in the class made my furrow my brow instead. That empty seat belonged to Issei, believe it or not, and, although he hated to pay attention in a lot of classes, mine excluded, and despised homework with a fiery passion, he never missed a day of school.
And, if I was being honest with myself, I was really concerned for his wellbeing. I mean, he went off to fight two supernatural beings that had the ability to destroy anything they wanted to. As I haven't even seen or heard of him after he ran off, I honestly thought he had died. However, because I am not the person to believe in someone's death until I have definitive proof, I'll have to keep on hoping that he returns to school.
As that train of thought was completed, the classroom door was slammed open and an unfamiliar little girl burst into the room. She was wearing the school uniform and, as she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, I noticed the seriousness that was displayed on her face.
"Miss Chiharu Yamada, correct?" I nod once in response, staring into the girl's hard violet eyes while knowing that something bad had happened to my student.
"I am Chiharu, yes. But what business do you have with me, coming straight to my class…Shitori?" I wasn't sure if this small girl was the infamously harsh Sona Shitori as I somehow haven't seen her before, but her hard stare, serious expression and deep frown pretty much forced me to recognise her as such.
"Issei was captured by Sirzechs, that red-haired man you met the other day."
If the classroom wasn't already silent, all sound would have ceased to exist as if a vacuum of shocking news had suddenly been created.
"So something bad really did happen to that idiot, huh?"
"Rias, I have bad news." I pulled my head out of the fantasy novel I was reading and stared up at Grayfia, the maid protecting her modesty with a towel she held out in front of her. If I was shocked by seeing her immodest form, what shocked me more was the fact that her braids were undone. Well, actually, it was the fear on her face, not her appearance that shocked me, even though this dastardly, unseen form was new to me.
"Bad news? What do you mean by bad news?" Grayfia, although a little out of breath from some kind of running, showed no signs of fatigue and willingness to catch her breath as she happily told me of this bad news.
"Sirzechs has captured Issei Hyoudou." I physically recoiled and instantly gripped the armrests of my wheelchair so hard my knuckles turned white to cope with the shock and fury I felt. I wasn't angry at Issei because he wasn't the one that had hurt me. No, I was angry at Sirzechs because he went against my wishes and captured the one human I felt I could trust my life to.
"Grayfia, you're not kidding, right?" My sister-in-law rapidly shook her head from side to side, her hair, as well as the water that soaked it, flailing around in the air.
"I heard the news myself from mother and father. They seem to be joyous at the fact that Issei was captured." I lowered my head as a shaky breath escaped my mouth, my body trembling as I began to grind my teeth together.
"Grayfia, after you get dressed, please take me to where Issei is." Grayfia seemed to blush as I pointed out her state of undress but nod in agreement nonetheless.
"What do you plan to do, Rias?" I raised my head and stared into Grayfia's eyes.
"We're going to break him out whether you like or not."
"Attention! Attention in the court."
There were four sides to the room. The north side, the east side, the south side and the west side. On the east sat were rows of seats, many important figures sitting there. The west side had nothing but a blank lavish wall. On the north side was an elevated seating area, three of four armoured but lavishly dressed rulers sitting on their thrones. In the centre were two evenly spaced apart desks. Behind the most western desk stood one figure, their hand on their hip, with a second figure slumped over in a chair beside them. Behind the most eastern desk sat two figures, paperwork littering the top of the desk. On the south side were many rows of seats, many unimportant people spread out among the seats.
Indeed.
This was a courtroom.
And I, Sirzechs Lucifer, was here against my will.
If it wasn't for that damn Issei Hyoudou, I could already have his head on a silver platter. But everything Rias had told me of him in her unexpectedly excited and somewhat dreamy manner was true.
He was powerful beyond all imagination. He was somewhat charismatic. Unknowingly snarky at times while meaning well. Shameless… If he hadn't ruined my sister's life, he'd be the perfect suitor for her instead of that stupid Raiser guy.
And so I glanced at the man that sat next to me.
He was Lord Phenex. Tall, stunningly handsome with the generic blonde hair of the Phenex clan and a noble air. Otherwise humble and extremely polite, he seemed to be impassive today, probably because of this whole court judgement that made no sense to him or the other Devils.
"Lord Lucifer, may I know what that demon is doing here?" A whisper from Lord Phenex forced me to release a much needed sigh. While I would say that Issei was too powerful for me to capture and explain how he got bored and asked to be here in exchange for his capture, it'd probably ruin my reputation as a Satan.
"In return for not ending anymore lives, he agreed to come here and receive his judgement." Was what I whispered in return, eyeing the other three Satans as the chatter behind me died down, my pride intact. I quickly glanced over my shoulder and saw the curt nod of my father, his expression grave and unforgiving.
"Okey dokey," Serafall Leviathan started, staring at a sheet of paper on the wood in front of her, "it seems that we've got quite a ridiculous case here!" A burst of complaints erupted in the courtroom as Serafall's careless statement contradicted the feelings of many of the people here.
"Attention!" Ajuka Beelzebub's voice was loud and overpowering, so it naturally shut everyone up. However, that didn't stop the many glares I could feel from behind that were clearly pointed at Serafall.
"Right," Serafall cleared her throat, "I apologise for my earlier statement, I guess?" I struggled to hold back a groan as Serafall's 'apology' sounded more like a question, prompting me to purse my lips and fold my arms.
"Anyway," Ajuka continued, waving a hand around in the air in dismissal of Serafall's statement, "we're here today to deliver a fair trial. The plaintiff is Sirzechs Lucifer and Lord Phoenix while the defendant is Issei Hyoudou, the human you may have never heard of before. In short, the case is that Lucifer and Phoenix want him to receive the death penalty for killing Raiser Phoenix and crippling Rias Gremory. The plaintiff may begin."
I cleared my throat as I stood up and, as I opened my mouth to speak…
"Objection." Straight off the bat, Issei, even though he was already standing, jumped to his feet and pointed an accusatory finger at me. I groaned and sat down in my chair, burying my head in my hands.
"How can you object if Sirzechs hasn't even said anything?" Oh, thank Satan, Serafall was backing me up. However…
"Bah, just let the human do whatever he likes. I don't care." Falbium Asmodeus' first words in this procedure forced Serafall to pout, her mouth opening to say something. Ajuka promptly slapped her across the back of her head, whispering something along the lines of, "Shut up before I kill you."
Serafall awkwardly coughed into her hand while muttering, "Objection overruled."
"Objection." Issei shouted again, this time standing on the table so he was eye to eye with the Satans.
"Just speak, kid." Asmodeus yawned as he kicked his legs up onto the wood in front of him, his hands behind his head.
Ajuka, however, was having none of this and delivered a swift hand chop to Falbium's midsection, forcing the unenthusiastic Devil to fold up like a beach chair.
"Ok, I'm bored now." Serafall spun around in her chair and faced Ajuka with the most serious expression I've seen her have in a long while. "Heeeeey, Ajukaaaa, can we go now?" Serafall asked with her best puppy eyes, her seriousness a complete lie. Meanwhile, I felt like crying into my hands as my hope of delivering justice was slowly dying at the hands of the antics of those three.
"No, you cannot leave, Serafall. We have a duty to overlook this case because…" Ajuka paused as he struggled to think of a reason as to why he was doing this whole court procedure. My friend glanced at me for help, though, and I shrugged in response, unsure as to why they're even here themselves.
Falbium sighed and stood on his feet, staring down at everyone that met his gaze. "You're all dismissed or something like that. Playtimes over. Go home because I want to go home."
A chop to the head seemingly knocked Falbium out, his body slumping over the edge of a wooden railing as Ajuka glared at anyone and everyone that had made an attempt to move. "None of you will be leaving until we have a verdict. Is that clear?"
There was absolute silence.
Well, there was silence when you excluded my sudden scream.
"God dammit, you guys!" I ignored the painful shock that was delivered to my skull. "You, Serafall, and you, Falbium! Get out! Now!" I pointed to the door behind me and watched as the supposedly unconscious Falbium beamed, Serafall pouting at me.
"But…but I keep on telling you to call me Sera, Sirzechs!" I began to slam my head against the desk as Sera's stupid made me want to physically hang myself.
"Just…can you just leave, Sera?" She seemed to gasp as I called her by the name she wanted me to call her, her eyes lighting up as she vaulted over the railing of the elevated platform and onto the floor, her arms outstretched as she did a flying leap in an attempt to embrace me.
Meanwhile, Falbium had already reached the door and had gone to grab it when the door was slammed open, his body being crushed between the door and the wall. All I heard from him was a quiet whimper.
"Sirzechs, you have some explaining to do!" My face immediately paled as I started to hyperventilate.
Why?
Because my wife was here.
"Yeah, Sirzechs, you have some explaining to do!" I felt my soul try to escape through my mouth as my body slumped in my chair, my eyes almost rolling back in my skull.
Why?
Because my sister was here.
"H-hey, Grayfia, Rias." I rose a shaky hand and forced a faltering smile onto my face as Sera's leap stopped mid-air, her body falling to the floor as quickly as she stopped.
"Ow, my chin!" Was the only thing she said as she lifted her head…until her entire body went limp.
"Are…are you okay, Sera?" I peered over the edge of my desk and groaned as I realised that she had fallen unconscious…or was doing a Falbium.
Anyway, Grayfia stormed over to me with Rias being pushed in front of her, their fiery expressions almost identical as they bore holes in me with their eyes. As they reached me, standing and sitting in front of my desk respectively, I couldn't help but shrink under their stares.
"You…!" I almost squealed in fear as Grayfia grabbed me by the collar of my suit, pulling my face close to hers as she growled. "What do you think you're doing, you idiot?" I glanced to my side to try and receive help from Lord Phoenix but died a little on the inside when I saw that he was looking away from me, innocently whistling as he stared at everything but me.
"W-well, you s-see, Grayfia…I thought it was a nice idea to invite Issei Hyoudou over for some tea…" A collective echo of many face palms resounded throughout the courtroom.
"Tea in a courtroom, huh? Okay, I believe you." Grayfia let go of my collar, much to my relief, and turned away from me, a collective echo of many gasps of disbelief resounding throughout the courtoom. I, myself, sighed in relief, my heartrate slowing down. "As if I'd believe that!"
And then Grayfia grabbed me by the collar, shaking me about as she screamed about me being stupid, me not respecting Rias' wishes and me making stupid decisions. I took it all in stride, though, as, in the corners of my eyes, I saw Issei casually stroll over to Rias and start a conversation with her. The contents of their talk was inaudible, though, as Grayfia's screams and shouts drowned out everything but my thoughts.
Meanwhile, the jury on the east side of the room sighed in annoyance, the crowd to the south slowly dispersed and all that was left was Issei, his Fallen Angel friend, Rias, Grayfia, an unconscious Serafall, a flat Falbium, an annoyed Ajuka, Lord Phoenix and me.
"Now, do you repent for your sins?" My wife stood with her arms crossed under her bust, her expression a little lighter but still filled with fury. I had metaphorically lost my soul and what had made me a man, like my pride as a Satan, but I thought this outcome was better than the one I was thinking of. I mean, no one has died, right?
…
…
…
Cough, cough, we'll pretend I never said that, okay?
"Yes, I repent. So please forgive me, Grayfia." Grayfia turned her head away from me with both of her eyes shut as she humphed, acting like a total tsundere. But that was something I could dig.
Anyway, she cracked an eye open, smirked at me and said, "You were wrong the entire time."
I tilted my head to the side in confusion but, as I did so, I fell to the side and out of my chair as my body suddenly felt really heavy, my eyelids even heavier. Through the blurry vision that had come with my fall, I saw Grayfia teetering on the edge of collapsing and reached out to catch her.
However, my body wouldn't move and, as I watched on in horror as she collapsed to the floor in a dangerous way, landing on her head, a vicious, black swirl appeared in the centre of the room, a familiar figure stepping out of it…
A new chapter so soon!? Blasphemy! This is a dream, right!? I can't believe I put in enough effort to release this so quickly! Well, anyway, we're onto the main plot of the story that the title is derived on. This arc, even though I've never named any arcs before, is called World's End…get it? You understand the title of the story now, right? Wrong! We're not even close to the end! Give me twenty more chapters, dammit!
Thank you for reading World's End!