"So, let me get this straight. You're telling me that Beel and Satan both gave you hints for how to defeat Levi?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I said."
"Ya don't say... How very interesting."
"Oh please, Mammon. Stop with all the mystery. What's wrong about it? They're just nice people."
"I'd believe that if it was just Beel, but Satan? Ya know it's all because I'm lookin' after ya. You've got Mammon to thank for this."
"Yeah, right. Whatever the Great Mammon says. Can you get out of my desk now?"
"Ugh, forget it. Let's just get down to business. You and me need to figure out what our strategy's gonna be with this Levi thing."
"If what Beel said is right, then we just gotta make him jealous. It involves some risks sure, but it's our only choice."
"He may be called the Avatar of Envy, but it's hard to make him give in to it. Instead of gettin' super jealous of you, he'll get all negative about his own situation."
"I know, I know. That's why we need Simeon."
"Simeon? What does he have to do with this?"
"Did you heard what I said? Satan told me Simeon could help us with Volume 9. You know, the one that isn't out yet."
"Ah yeah, that. I'm curious to know too, so let's go."
Only then, Mammon hop off your desk, and starts heading outside.
"You came all the way here, and aren't even going to wait for me to pack up?" you whined.
"Geez, okay... Hurry up."
With that, you finish packing and walk outside the classroom, seeking for Simeon.
I can only hope that it will help me figure out how to make Leviathan jealous...
***
"Can you believe that?!" Mammon shouted, enthusiastically.
"Calm down! We can't have Levi find this out. It's our only chance to win."
"All that talk about having to believe you, and now this is our only chance?!"
"Dunno what you're talkin' about."
"C'mon y/n. This is amazing! You're gonna win that competition and you're gonna have Levi give you that soundtrack. That's so cool!"
You laughed seeing Mammon so excited.
"Heh, I knew it. You're happy too! Just come out and say it."
"All right, all right. I'm thrilled." you admitted "Happy now?"
"Very. Let's go now, before we're late."
Mammon crouched, letting you climb up his back and rushed to the council room, where the competition would take place.
"You can put me down now." you said, just a few feet away from the door.
Mammon crouched once again, and you hoped off.
"Alright, let's win this thing."
He opened the door and everyone was sitting in place for the competition.
In the middle of the room, between the student council students' chairs and the restant seats, there were two obvious extra spots, making it look like a real court. Levi was standing behind one of them and you were going to take the other.
"Good luck, y/n." Mammon whispered before walking toward his own chair.
Alright, y/n. This is it. You just have to answer all the questions correctly and then spit out what Simeon told you.
You took a long breath and went to the empty spot, in the middle of the room.
"All right, everyone! Finally, the wait is over! It's time for Devil's Trivia Showdown, the quiz show that pits demon against human!" Asmo spoke through the microphone on his table "Today our competitors will be testing their knowledge regarding a super-famous, super-popular fantasy series. One that's known by young and old alike... The Tale of the Seven Lords!"
Asmo really is the perfect demon for this...
"Now, it's time to introduce our two competitors. First, he's a demon who freely admits to being a giant TSL nerd! Meet Leviathan!"
"I am the G. O. A. T. None can oppose me!"
Bro, I thought you were supposed to be the cringe introvert brother!
I'm dead.
"And his challenger claims to have been introduced to TSL only very recently after binge watching the DVDs! Say hello to y/n!"
"Hi there." you waved to whoever was there.
"Serving as judge for today's competition is our very own Demon Lord himself, Diavolo!"
"Hello there, everyone. Good to see you."
As soon as Diavolo finished his presentation, the demons started clapping enthusiastically.
I knew he was the future king, but eveyone here really adores him.
Or at least they respect him.
"Color commentary will be provided by Satan, Avatar of Wrath. But a good commentator needs to keep a cool head. I wonder, is he up to the task?" Asmo continued.
"I don't think that's going to be a problem. So, I'm doing the commentary? That's a lot of responsibility."
"Now, say hello to our guest demon, the always-famished Beelzebub! For his appearance fee, he requested to be compensated in cheeseburgers. How very Beel of him..."
"Nothing beats one of Hell's Kitchen's special cheeseburgers." Beel said, munching on his compensation "They age the cheese for 4000 years for maximum flavor."
"And your host for the day is none other than yours truly, Asmodeus!" he said, talking about himself "The demon who can make you swoon simply by whispering into your ear. You all know me, you all love me!"
Man, I wish I had that confidence...
But it's true. Everyone here knows and loves him. Even I can't dislike him.
On the other side, people here know me, but not for good reasons.
Some demons know me because I'm one of the exchange students, others know me because of the pact with Mammon.
If I mess up, it'll only get worse...
You glanced all over the room, stopping when you meet Mammon's blue eyes. You hesitantly smile at him, knowing he'd be pissed if you backed off now.
He raises his brow a little, not quite sure what's going on.
"All right, enough. This is gettin' ridiculous. Let's get this show on the road!" he frowned.
Maybe he was just tired of Asmodeus's presentation already, but something inside made you want to believe he was trying to distract you from your negative feelings.
"I thought you hated wasting your time at events like this, Mammon. Yet here you are. Truly, wonders never cease."
"Shut up, Lucifer. I've got some free time, that's all."
He doesn't like this?
Is he here just because of me?!
I'm so sorry, Mammon. I promise to take you to dinner after this ends!
"Well then, we'll start with you, y/n. Get ready for TSL Quiz question number one!"
"I'm ready."
"The seven lords are all brothers, and each has a specific name that people know them by. In birth order, name the oldest, second oldest and third oldest lords."
The three oldest... I studied that with Mammon.
"Lord of Corruption, Lord of Fools, Lord of Shadow." you said.
"Well, how about that! You're absolutely correct! Way to start the game off on the right foot, y/n!"
"That's my human!" you heard someone shout.
Eh?!
You look over Mammon's seat and the demon is smiling brightly at you. That, until he realizes what he just said.
But Leviathan's comment came in time to rescue him.
"Oh, come on. Anybody could've gotten that one right."
"Mm, my cheeseburgers came with onion rings, the king of all side items."
"All right, Leviathan, it's your turn now. Here comes question number one. In what year did the Lord of Shadow build the Blue Palace for his imaginary mistress?"
"Year 693 of the ancient era."
What?! What are they even talking about?
"Correct! What an impressive showing from the self-described TSL nerd."
"In me you bear witness to a legend!"
"Even so, is it just me, or was that question a little too specific?" Satan sighed "Only a mega nerd would know that."
"This is shaping up to be quite entertaining, isn't it, Lucifer?" Diavolo laughed.
"I'm glad you find it to your liking, Diavolo."
"All right, back to you now, y/n! Get ready for TSL Quiz question number two. The sixth lord is the Lord of Flies. What does he love to eat more than anything else?"
Uh...? Uhm...
I don't know...
"Oh, we're talking about food now?" Beel said, looking up from his cheeseburgers.
That's right!
"A cursed goat tartare sandwich with cheese!"
"Correct! Very impressive! That was a though one. You really do know your stuff, don't you?"
I only got that one because of Beel...
"Hey, Beel, come on! Take a napkin to that stream of drool comin' outta your mouth. It's gettin' all over my clothes!" Mammon complained.
The quiz continued for a long time. More than half of the demons on the audience had gone away, and both you and Leviathan got all the questions answered correctly, putting you in a tie.
"Hey, is it just me, or have all of my questions been way harder than y/n's? Like, suspiciously harder." Levi said "Though they're still so easy for me that I'm ready to fall asleep here."
He's right. If any of his questions had come to me, I'd get all of them either wrong or unanswered.
"Anyway... How long are we going to put this charade up? This is getting boring."
"Yep, I say it has. All right, y/n, it's time to pull out the big guns! Let's see how Levi here likes your trump card!" Mammon said, confidence spreading all over his face.
Then he got up from his seat and hastily pointed at the Avatar of Envy.
"Levi, you're way too full of yourself. Which is why we're about to reach inside ya, yank out that pride, and crush it like a bug!"
"What...?"
"Well, well... Interesting." Diavolo hummed.
"Wow! It sounds to me like the gauntlet has just been thrown down! It would seem y/n has some sort of trump card to use against Leviathan!" Asmo commented "Perhaps now would be a good time to check in with our color commentator. Satan, what do you think this could be about?"
"Well, it's not at all surprising that y/n would come into this with a secret weapon. It seems that the advice I gave is about to pay some dividends. Excellent."
"Just a minute... Satan, are you telling us that that you provided aid to y/n? How very wicked of you! I suppose this would be a good time to get your take on this as well, Beel."
"If you want to hear what I have to say, it's going to cost you. Let's say one extra-large bowl of katsudon and some miso soup to go along with that."
"Okay, whose idea was it to invite Beel to this, huh?! He's done nothing but eat this entire time!" the fifth born complained.
"Yours." Satan replied, dryly.
"In any event, if y/n really does have a secret weapon, it could mean something that will make winning against Leviathan possible. Perhaps we should hear to what y/n's opponent thinks about this. Tell me, Levi, what's running through your head right now?"
"Roflmao! Lol!" Leviathan laughed.
"Right... I have absolutely no idea what you're saying! But clearly, you don't see this as a threat... Got it! So, what could this trump card of y/n be? Let's find out!"
"Alright, so..." you started.
With that, you proceed to summarize the major plot developments in the as-of-yet unreleased TSL Volume 9.
Thank you so much, Simeon!
***
"What...? No... That's insane! The Lord of Masks wouldn't do that to the Lord of Shadow." Levi whimpered "Lies, all of it! Pure hogwash! Don't think you can fool me by making up random stuff like that!"
"Actually, y/n doesn't appear to be lying as far as I can see."
"Levi, you know as well as I do that Lord Diavolo has the ability to discern whether someone is telling the truth." Satan called out.
"B-but...no...! Everyone online has been talking about how the Lord of Masks and the Lord of Shadow are totally going to make up... What you said can't happen! It...it just can't!"
"Huh, so all that stuff Simeon told you was true then? How about that." Mammon mumbled "Still though, how is it that he knows all that?"
"All right, um... Okay, I suppose that settles who the true TSL nerd is..." Asmo said.
"I won't stand for this."
Levi stepped away from his stand and walked closer to you, only leaving a few inches between your bodies.
"All you did was stay up one night marathoning the DVDs. The idea that someone like you could actually be a bigger TSL fan than me, it's..."
"Whoa, calm down there, Levi...!" Mammon stepped in.
"No... No! I will not stand for this!"
What's happening...?
As quick as a blink from your eyes, Leviathan had turned into his demon form.
You could see two dark branched coral-like horns that curl upwards, his scale-like birthmarks visible on the right side of his neck, and a long, serpentine tail covered in scales.
"Uh-oh...! Y/n, run! Get out of here!" he yelled.
He doesn't control it?
So it wasn't on purpose...?
You tried to run away, but as soon as you gave the first step, your legs gave in and you fell on the floor.
Why do people have legs if they decide to stop working when they're needed!
"Enough... I believe you were going to settle this via a quiz, weren't you? Not through violence."
You opened your eyes to the dominant voice that had been quiet for so long.
Eh?
Lucifer...on his demon form?
That's kinda hot, not gonna lie. I'm starting to believe he's actually the reason why my legs gave out.
Ahem! Stop thinking that!
"You're out of control, Levi."
"L...Lucifer..."
"Wh-...?!"
"Unbelievable! Just as Leviathan was about to strike who should step in and stop him but the one and only Lucifer himself! Simply incredible!"
"I haven't seen you leap to someone's rescue like that in quite some time, Lucifer." Satan noted.
But ignoring all the comments, Lucifer kept his focus on the Avatar of Envy.
"Levi, go back to your room and cool off."
On the other side, Levi didn't move. He just stared down at his shoes, on his own thoughts.
"Levi? You heard what he said, right?" Diavolo intervened.
"...Yeah."
The demon glanced over you. You saw him extending his hand a little, but then he backed off and walked away.
When Levi wasn't on his sight anymore, Lucifer helped you up and made sure you were alright.
Mammon was standing somewhere close, staring at the whole scene in third person.
"What is it, Mammon? You look like you want to say something." Lucifer spoke.
"No. I don't wanna say nothing."
"So, what are we going to do now? How are we supposed to have our competition without Levi?" Asmo asked.
"I guess this means the competition ends in a draw. Neither one of them won."
"I've got an idea. You should give your guests free cafeteria meal tickets as a parting gift. Fifty years's worth ought to do the trick."
"Still, I have to say I find it surprising that you would go out your way just to rescue a mere human, Lucifer. Very surprising." Satan grinned "Don't you agree, Mammon?"
"Huh? Why're ya asking me?"
"As the oldest, it is naturally my duty to clean up all my younger siblings' messes."
Hearing Lucifer's words, Mammon frowned and looked away. But it didn't seem like he was mad at all. Rather, he looked like he was feeling empty.
I should talk to him later...
"Mammon, take y/n back to The House of Lamentation, and treat their wounds." the oldest ordered.
"Sure..."