Here you can find the leader of all devils. His word is absolute in the Underworld.
Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2015 1:21 pm
Things you should know
Abilities on: * * * *
Inventory: * Phoenix tears * * *
Health: max Energy: max
Hell was boring that day--not the first thing you'd expect to hear, but it was true. Sirzechs was grinding away at his papers; the only obliterating he was doing these days was of the dreams of hopeful devils wishing to move up or get special permission to form their own set. The devil lord sighed. The breath came back at him with a melting flourish. He laughed a little to himself. In the corner his assistant adjusted her glasses, long since able to recognize the "let him in" cue, and did so with an intrigued smirk.
"Ahh! Now this is a lovely day, do you not agree, Lucifer?" Riser Phenix was standing there with arms wide to catch all the glorious air of his entrance. Sirzechs pulled out a chair with his mind, shaking his head.
"Yes, I suppose it is. The lower councils tell me you have a sort of--proposal. Naturally we of the pillars must heed each other's opinions and advice; what can I do for you today?"
"Oh, I don't think you need act so coy. You must at least know what this is about." Sirzechs was silent. "I'm sure you're tired of stamping approvals and denials on mountains of proposals a day from wannabe devils who we both know are is inconsequential as the fibers their names are printed on."
"... I'm not a huge fan of it, no."
"Then you'll like what I have to say. Suppose we speed things up a bit. Instead of each case being weighed according to merit, lineage, things we both know don't matter in Hell, what if we let their strength decide their worthiness to stand with us?"
"You, proud son of Phenix, saying lineage doesn't matter? I believe I feel a chill."
"You misunderstand. The devils wish to have their houses counted along the pillars... The pillars, Sirzechs!"
"That's preposterous. I only seen admissions applications."
"Is it? Have you heard what they say? They're forming houses of their own now, these lower-level trash. They're getting tired of three houses mattering in the Underworld." Sirzechs nodded thoughtfully. "Would you disagree with them? Even so, we can't very well allow all of them in... Some are barely devils at all. And weak too."
"I wouldn't disagree with that statement." Sirzechs looked at the pile of denied entries. It was three times the size of the accepted pile.
"But if we gave them something to shoot for, it might just shut the mongrels up for a while."
"What should they shoot for?"
"A place among us. Recognition as devils deserving the title. A house worthy of many sets of evil pieces and political weight in the Underworld."
"That's quite a prize... I assume you have a way to decide this? Another one of your rating games you're so fond of?" Riser laughed. The assistant took notes.
"No, not quite, but it was an idea I admit. I propose a tournament."
"Tournament?" The both of them echoed Riser.
"Yes, a tournament open to all Underworld. We will let the strength of the combatants speak for the nobleness of their houses."
"... I'm not sure."
"Sirzechs... You know it is the best way. The only way to truly decide a devil's worth is by his strength. How do you suppose the original pillars were deemed 'noble' over the other devils here at the time?"
"No, I see your point, it's just... How do we know this way won't produce a blood-thirsty house who'll make war for us. I complain about my job, but it beats war any day."
"Then what do you suppose?" Then there was silence. The clock on the wall could have been in Riser's ear for all he knew. A drop of sweat rolled of Sizechs' assistant's face and smeared some of her shorthand below.
"I want judges out there from all the pillars, including myself. We'll be looking for sportsmanship, but don't tell any of the combatants that's what we're looking for. I want a genuine devil who is strong but also noble and fair to come from this tournament. If that devil doesn't win... There will be no winner of this little tournament." Amazing what a little boredom would do to a devil's reasoning. Sirzechs' assistant couldn't believe he was going through with this.
"But of course, my liege." Riser bowed deeply to his lord and bid him farewell. Sirzechs sat back down in his fine leather chair and sighed.
"It looks like we'll be having some excitement here after all. Order a stop to all applications until this is finished... I think you'll know where I'll be off to now."
"Hyoudo-kun's?" The devil king grabbed his jacket out of the air from his assistant's toss.
After a little while of stamping even more papers Sizechs was ready see his next appointment. This one was more important than the others. Sighing a little, the devil king turned his great chair around to see the window. It was a lovely view; too bad he felt like a caged eagle.
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