"The Totality Catalyst is a being that can harness a certain aspect of the universe. They harbor the power create various combinations of powers and aspect as long as the catalyst can maintain its stability"
"..."
Philip was speechless. He didn't expect such being could exist and he's carrying one on his arms
"There is only one Totality Catalyst in the universe and yes, that's Tenshi. It was hard to find her and if other gods and higher beings were to learn this information, a universal war might occur just to obtain her"
"But, how did you even manage to find her if she's that hard to find?"
"During her baptism with her family, her spirit went through the Holy String and I was the first one to notice her soul structure. I looked into it and found out her true form, and that is the Totality Catalyst because the holy attribute of the Holy String is being sucked into her. I immediately stopped her spirit from going through the Holy String so that no other heavenly gods will notice her existence. I immediately went to the source of her spirit and immediately bestowed my power on her, so that no other unwanted aspects would be able to invade her being and take the whole catalyst. Unfortunately, in doing so, her family died from the collateral of her power exploding, accompanied by mine. The poor child wasn't able to see her family after she regained consciousness"
"..."
Philip was silent. He paused to take everything one by one. Holy String, soul structure, and Totality Catalyst. These are terms that are new to Philip. He wanted to ask more about them but he figured that it is what they are
The Holy String is a string that connects all holy, divine, and heavenly attributes all together. This is also the network that holy gods, divine gods, and heavenly gods share among each other. This includes angels, archangels, seraphims, and the likes. Mortal beinga pass through this string when their soul are under the influence of the holy and divine attribute such as baptism, meditation, prayers, faith, and any kinds of religious activities and cultivation
Philip didn't want to think about soul structures because he knows it will become very complicated. He can't even comprehend the power and energy of a soul yet and its true meaning and concept. So, he would stay away from anything that deals with the concept of soul, for now, until he understands and analyze the relativeness of souls to other aspects
"I see... So, Tenshi has your power now, right?"
"Yes, the divine power of light. It's being controlled by the Holy Cross, so the power won't overflow to her"
"I understand the gist of it... So, Tenshi could harness even darkness?"
"Yes, any aspects of the universe. Light, darkness, good, evil, fire, water, time, and space, even fate!"
"..."
Philip was alarmed. If Tenshi could have the power of fate, he doesn't even know what will happen. He only knows that since he could control fate, he may be able to control Temshi if she harnessed the power of fate
"What happens if light and darkness combined?"
Philip asked with curiosity
"Why do you ask? Did the God of Darkness infuse his power in Tenshi?"
"I saw that the mist of darkness is enveloping her body"
"Then the power of darkness might have been incorporated on her. There's no problem though, light and darkness are complete opposites and she can only use one power or the other at once"
"But, Tenshi's appearance changed before I got here. The light on her hair dimmed and her eyes became red"
"Hm... Perhaps light and darkness moxed together? Like how white and black makes gray. Although I don't know what's the mixture between light and darkness is called"
"..."
"If that's the case, then Tenshi might have became a Fallen Angel"
"Fallen Angel?"
"Yes, an angel that has sinned becomed a fallen angel, though Tenshi didn't sin, did she? It's just how light and darkness have mixed"
"That makes sense"
"Don't worry though! I think Tenshi can still come back to her Holy Angel form if you can manage to turn her back. Her personality might change every transformation"
"I understand. Is she stronger when she's a Fallen Angel?"
"It depends. A transformation is powerful in certain scenarios, isn't it? She may be strong as a Holy Angel in certain situations and she may be strong as a Fallen Angel in other situations"
"Alright..."
"Are you going?"
"Yes"
"Very well then. Take care of Tenshi"
"I will"
Philip turned around and began to walk away. There are nothing more to talk about and he decided to leave. Lux looked at Philip's back and watched him leave
Philip was about to close his eyes to deactivate Origin Seeker, only to stop in place. He slightly turned his head to right and asked one last thing to Lux
"By the way, Lux..."
"Yes, Philip?"
"Do you know the true name of the God of Darkness?"
"I am not allowed to tell you that because names are important to us divine beings"
"It's Tenebris, right?"
Lux was silent and startled
"How did you... Ah, he told you, didn't he?"
"Yes"
"Why are you asking about it if you already knew?"
"What happens when a god of an aspect of the universe died or ceased to exist"
Lux squinted his eyes and became suspicious. He considered the possibility that Tenebris died in the hand of Philip, but immediately denied it because it's impossible for a mortal to kill a god even if he's a Fate Controller. Knowing Philip, he has no power yet to control the fate of divine and higher beings
"An imbalance will occur in the universe. Various powerful beings will fight among themselves to become the god of that aspect and cause a different kind of universal war. The Divine Realm will also be alerted and everyone will become restless. Of course, they will also fight among themselves because being a god of two aspects is the next step in becoming a being higher than a god. So far, no one has achieved that myth in the universe history"
"I see..."
Philip replied with no effort and began walking away again. Lux gazed at him while feeling extreme restlessness. In the end, he couldn't enjure any longer and called out to Philip
"Did Tenebris die?"
Philip stopped on his tracks. The Blood Horn on his forehead cracked and the cracks glowed with blood red color. The horn is showing signs of activating
"He did"
"Did you kill him?"
"I did"
Philip told the truth. There was no point in lying to Lux and these series of events is within his expectations according to his Future Vision
The harmonious music and acapella stopped in the Palace of Light. Lux stood up and spread open his five pairs of wings. He emanated a powerful force of light that flooded the while palace
"Why did you kill him?"
Lux asked calmly. He didn't know what happened to Tenebris because he had no eyes and jurisdiction in his domain of darkness. He only knows that Tenebris took Tenshi and that he's trying to steal her away from him
"He told me he was Death... I lost control because of my immeasurable anger towards Death. But turns out he was a fake, that's a sin worse than being Death himself"
"What?!"
Lux didn't understand Philip. He has no idea what he meant by anger towards Death. He didn't know what Philip went through and the reason why he's angry at Death
"Where's Tenebris' Divine Soul?"
"In my mind"
Lux became angry and greedy. He flapper his wings and the palace changed. A loud thud was heard as the space around the palace was locked
"I changed my mind... I won't allow you to leave unless you give me his Divine Soul. I'll also let you live if you follow what I tell you to"
"Will your protection towards me stay"
"Only if you follow my orders"
"..."
Philip was silent for a few seconds and Lux waited. He then looked down on Tenshi's sleeping face and whispered to her
"This is troublesome Tenshi... Hold on, okay?"
He then lifted his head without turning around towards Lux
"What if I refuse?"
"Then you'll meet death!"
Philip was unmoved and unfazed. His emotions are empty and the Blood Horn is already beaming with red light. Lux lifted his right hand and aimed it at Philip. A large ring of light with eight thorns sticking out in eight directions appeared around his wrist
"Are you Death?"
Philip asked Lux with a cold tone
"No! But I'll let you meet him"
"This is unfortunate"
"What is?!"
"I thought you'll protect me. I even thought that you'll become a trustworthy asset. But now, you're blinded by greed on achieving another authority over an aspect of the universe"
"You won't understand since you're a mortal!"
"A complete 180"
"Now do as I say... Give me the Divine Soul and let's pretend that nothing ever happened"
"Greed is a scary deadly sin"
"Do you hear me?!"
"Even the most pure being can be tainted"
"Give me the authority over darkness so I can be a higher divine being!"
"I won't die without a fight"
Philip's hair bounced and instantly turned black-gold and his eyes glowed golden. He immediately turned around while still carrying Tenshi on his arms and aimed the Blood Horn towards Lux
"Blood Beam"
A large orb of red light and blood formed at the tip of the horn and blasted a thick beam of Soulblood Energy towards Lux. Red lightning surged around the palace and tainted the white and yellow palace slightly red
"Judgement!"
A large orb of yellow light formed on Lux's right hand and a large beam of yellow light blasted forth towards Philip in retaliation
The Blood Beam and Judgement made contact and underwent beam struggle. Shockwaves were generated and red and yellow lightning surged around the palace
After a few second the contact of different energies made an explosion and the beam struggle ended. Lux was unfazed and Philip ahd to turn around to protect Tenshi
"A mortal challenging a god?! You have no chance!"
"You're right..."
"So, I suggest you give up, give me what I want, and we can still salvage this relationship"
"..."
Philip was silent. The reason that Philips didn't want to give Tenebris' Divine Soul is because he doesn't want Lux to achieve the next level after a god. He might become an agent of destruction like in certain novels and manga. That's the whole plot of some stories when they reach the climax of the final arc
Another reason is that, as a collector, he wanted to keep the Divine Soul of the God of Darkness and use it for a more useful endeavor
This is worth sacrificing Lux's protection. He can protect himself and a World Goddess is already on his side, along with Fate Control
"Do you know Sai, the World Goddess of Saykrandae?"
Lux was confused at Philip's question but he decided to answer nonetheless
"I've heard of her. A well-known goddess in the Divine Realm"
"How about Fotiá?"
This time, Lux became shocked and surprised from hearing a name of a prestigious god from a mortal
"How do you know that name?!"
"Nevermind that. How about the Sword God?"
"A deadly god. Why are you asking me these questions?!"
Lux couldn't take anymore and asked
"I have liberated Sai from her duties as a goddess, I've made an enemy out of Fotiá, repelled him once and escaped him once, and earned the attention of the Sword God to which I barely escaped him twice"
Lux's eyebrows crumpled from Philip's revelation
"You know what this means right?"
"..."
Lux was silent
"The rank of light is higher than fire in the universe, so you should be able to eliminate me better than Fotiá. But you're just the God of Light whereas Fotiá is the Fire God. It's a different topic if you're the Light God, but you're not. This means that you're astronomically weaker than the Fire God, Sword God, and a lowly World Goddess according to the Divine Realm rankings"
"..."
Lux was still silent. Everything that Philip said was true and he knows that. He also became scared after mentioning Fotiá and the Sword God. Two dangerous gods couldn't bring down punishment on one mortal, what could he, the God of Light, do to him?
"You're not the one who's giving me a second chance. I am the one who's giving you a second chance"
"..."
"Forget about Tenebris' Divine Soul, it's mine because he made a grave mistake towards me. Let me leave and think twice on what you'll do. You're a divine being yet you were blinded by greed. That's a mistake. I'll give you a second chance for Tenshi's sake. I don't need your protection and I can get rid of you but I think you have potential. I'll be liberating Tenshi away from you"
"..."
"Don't forget, okay?"
Philip snapped his left fingers and an audible sound reverberated throughout the palace. Philip then disappeared in place and returned back to present
Meanwhile, Lux fell down back on his throne and his wings flopped over the backrest and armrests
"..."
Lux looked forward with darkness looming over his eyes. The bright illumination around his head has disappeared and revealed his face