'Uh oh, looks like the big boss just dropped.'
The dust slowly settled, and the rest of the shinigami grew eerily quiet.
After a few seconds of undisturbed silence, Ryuk was the first to speak up. "So the old man finally decided to show up."
'Old man?! If a shinigami is calling someone an old man… How old is this dude?'
"I always arrive when I am supposed to, not a moment later, nor a moment earlier." An off-puttingly pleasant voice resounded from behind Light, one that carried weight and unmistakable power.
'Was this guy a movie narrator in his past life?'
The hollow-eyed Shinigami asked, "Now that you're here, I think it's time we start passing judgment on this human. I assume you already understood his story, right?"
The pleasant yet commanding voice of the Shinigami King reverberated through the air once again, "I am aware."
"Then what shall be the judgement bestowed upon him?" The Shinigami with the reindeer skull mask asked.
The Shinigami King looked straight at Light's back and said, "This case is truly unlike any other in all of human history. Not only did Light Yagami write his own name in the Death Note, but he did so without killing anyone else."
Light nodded while looking in the opposite direction. 'So throughout all of history, among all humans that were ever born, I alone stand at the top as the biggest idiot.'
The Shinigami King continued, "The first commandment shall remain unchanged; any human who uses the Death Note is forever forbidden from entering both heaven and hell."
Light unknowingly shivered upon hearing the King's words. Not only did it confirm the existence of heaven and hell, but it also implied that he had unknowingly blocked himself from ever visiting either of them.
'Not a good start…'
"But beyond the first condition, all others have become a bit more complicated. According to the second commandment, when a human Death Note user dies, his or her soul shall be brought into the Shinigami Realm.
"And for the sin of misusing the domain of death, he shall be punished by the Shinigami King. As for the punishment, said human shall experience the pain of every single death he bestowed upon each of his victim(s) using the Death Note."
Light's eyes twitched, 'Glad I didn't kill anyone else…'
"And after the punishment is over, the soul of the human shall receive one of two fates. The soul shall either be dissolved into nothingness or be transformed into a Shinigami."
Light unknowingly raised an eyebrow, 'Now that's something interesting…'
"The way the human uses his death note throughout his life decides which fate he shall receive. And the one to judge which fate the human is worthy of… is Fate itself."
'This again, Fate seems to be of even greater importance to the world than I used to believe.'
The group of Shinigamis gathered there looked at the Shinigami King with contemplative expressions, but Ryuk was as stoic as ever.
The Shinigami King continued, "Moreover, the domain of death belongs to the Shinigami; a human Death Note user is inherently wrong for using its powers.
"Which is why the victims who died at the hands of a Human Death Note user were killed unjustly. And for which they deserve a second chance. Henceforth, all such victims are reincarnated into the human realm and live another life before going to heaven or hell.
Light's eyes opened wide, with a flame of hope swaying within them. 'Am I going to be reincarnated?'
"But Death Note users aren't allowed to reincarnate in the human realm, regardless of how they died."
'Never mind!'
"When one of the earliest death note users killed himself by using it, he was just pardoned for the punishment of experiencing the death of another one of his victims, rather than letting him reincarnate. And that's the rule we have been following ever since."
The dozens of shinigami nodded, seemingly well aware of the rules and commandments of the Death Note.
Then, the Shinigami Kings finally addressed the main point: "Now here comes the problem. Light Yagami is a Death Note user who will be judged by fate after I complete his punishments. But how am I supposed to complete his punishment when his only victim is himself?"
"And even if he is a victim, he cannot be sent back into the human realm for reincarnation either, as all death note users are forbidden to enter it again as humans. And unlike other human death note users who killed themselves, he has no other victims whose punishments could be pardoned. So is he just supposed to sit here, stuck in the Shinigami realm as a vagabond human forever?"
All the Shinigami looked at each other with contemplative gazes, no one seemed to have anything to say.
Meanwhile, Ryuk whispered while looking straight into Light's eyes. "You were meant for a greater fate, idiot."
Light narrowed his eyes at that remark, 'What's up with the obsession with fate all of these damn Shinigamis have.'
…
For a while, nothing happened; all of them just stood there in the ruined world of the shinigami motionlessly.
But all this time, Light was thinking, he was thinking hard with every single brain cell he had. Every hint of emotion he had left in his soul enriched a single feeling. The feeling of being petty.
He was mad, really mad about being called an idiot. He had prided himself on being a genius for all his life. So being demeaned for his greatest talent because of one mistake was infuriating.
But he wasn't really mad at anyone else, just himself. He was mad at himself because he agreed with one thing; the mistake he made was extremely idiotic. It was something he was genuinely ashamed of, not because of someone else's comments but because of his own expectations about himself.
'I still can't believe how bad I failed…'
So he was determined to prove himself. He had to, not only to save his soul and prove something to others, but also to prove something to himself.
So with all the brains he had, he thought. He thought long and hard. And after a few minutes of intense thinking, he finally came up with a way to salvage his situation.
The inspiration for his solution came from his last lecture at the school, 'The multiverse theory…'
He was so exhilarated by his own solution that he almost turned around and looked directly at the Shinigami King to speak with him. But fortunately, he stopped himself before doing so.
Then he cleared his throat and spoke after getting everyone's attention, "Can I make a suggestion… my lord?"
All the Shinigami turned their heads and looked at the puny human, amusement dancing in their eyes.
The Shinigami King laughed, "A sinner suggesting his own judgement? How insolent."
…