New World Order『Shinigami!Light』

I

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"Once spirit was God, then it became man, and now it even becometh populace"
- Friedrich Nietzsche
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It was September 13th, 2023.

At least in the human world it was.

There was no concept of time within the Shinigami realm. There was nothing but dust and ashes in the long stretch of barren wasteland. And it was long. He had once trekked across it in an attempt to find a change of environment, to no avail. He remembered walking for what felt like days on end, only to discover that the Shinigami realm was really just as dull as its inhabitants - idle creatures who spent most of their time either sleeping or gambling. On the rare occasion, they would gossip - if there was any gossip worth discussing, that is. Since nothing exhilarating ever occurred in the that world, the only exciting news came from the one below - the human realm. For a time, he himself had been a popular topic brought up in conversation. He could hardly say he was surprised. Light had been told by the others that he was the only human being in existence to become a true God of Death - a prospect that might have pleased him in the past.

Now, if he had to be truthful, Light wished he had gone to *Mu. Perhaps then, he wouldn't have to stare down at the world in its rotting state and reminisce about the time when he ruled over it; when it was pure. The New World.

It had been ten years since then. Yes, a full decade had passed in his absence. He would've been well over thirty by now, he surmised. Though, age mattered very little to his skinless and unchanged form.

What did matter to him was how the world had become sullied once more despite all the progress he'd made in the past. Crime rates had risen significantly - almost tripled - since his passing. In fact, crime had been lower in 2003, before he had even began his killings. It was like humanity was mocking him, taking advantage of the lack of proper law enforcement, and rubbing his failure in his face. The fact he had failed at beating Near - a child - in their battle of wits was degrading enough. He didn't need to be reminded of his unceremonious defeat by lowlife scum.

He observed the humans going about their daily lives with a flurry of different emotions: anger; disgust; even a small twinge of envy. How dare they lives so fruitlessly, especially after all that he had sacrificed for them. It made him feel that all he had done was in vain; that all his efforts were for naught. He had witnessed many social and political changes over the years but nothing shocked him more than how the numbers of Kira supporters had diminished. They had become a minority - practically non-existent. In the past, Light always knew that many people who openly supported Kira only did so to save their own skins, not because they were genuine. At the time, he had dismissed this. Those who refused to conform to his cause weren't a threat to him, but rather a slight annoyance - one that he would deal with in due time. However, once the world came to realise that Kira was well and truly gone for good, society ceased to quiver in fear and reverted back to the old ways, damning Kira and all that he stood for. The few that did remain true were ridiculed and scorned for holding their view; some were even beaten. It appeared as though supporting Kira had become socially unacceptable. This sickened Light.

Had he really become some sort of farce? A joke?

Light stood and turned away from the portal with a sneer, glancing towards the small gaggle of Shinigami nearby, who were making an obnoxious amount of noise. He'd never bothered trying to befriend them. They were just as irritating and grimly mocking as Ryuk was, and he didn't have the patience for that.