"You want to enter a contract with me and bargain about that Camille person?"
Katara asked Philip with curiosity
"Why that person again?"
"The reason why you're here is because you have to put a curse on her, as per the rules, right?"
"Hm, that's correct. It's the Curse of--"
"Curse of Clotting"
Philip spoke for Katara
"Hm, you really are from the future if you knew what curse I'll be putting on for her. So, what will you be bargaining?"
"I want you to not put any curse on her"
"Hm... That will be hard... It depends on what you have to offer"
"Yes, I have one offer and we will enter a contract with it"
Katara smirked and her eyes flashed with interest. Sumpaka seemed to be suspicious, but he knows that entering a contract with Katara is beneficial to her
"Go on..."
"As I have said earlier... I want you. The details of the contract will be that you shouldn't harm any of my people or beings that are acquainted with me or have any connection to me. That means you don't curse them and you have to remove any and all curses within them"
Philip stated a complicated contract to Katara, to which she frowned, same with Sumpaka
"Hm... Those conditions are pretty hard, especially the very last part... How will it benefit me?"
"My power and influence"
Philip waved his left hand upwards and mana conjured as it immediately dissipated
"Power and influence? How could a mortal turned into a god benefit me, the second Goddess of Curses, when you're still obviously weaker than me?"
"I admit that you're more powerul than me, but I'm already helping you, aren't I?"
"What, these cracks on my curse circles?"
"Yes"
"Alright, I'm intrigued..."
"Also, if I'm able to... I can make you evolve"
"Evolve?
Katara was confused but Sumpaka's eyes bulged in surprise
"Puredivinity"
Philip gave a clue, but he practically revealed one of the most secret concept in the Divine Realm. Katara was still confused but Sumpaka gave an intense reaction
His aura exploded and screamed across the [Plane of Malediction]
"Sumpaka? What's the problem?"
Katara asked in curiosity. She was interested because Sumpaka never showed this kind of reaction before
[Your name is Philip, right?]
Sumpaka asked Philip directly
"Yes"
[Philip... I'll remember it. Katara... You should accept the contract]
Sumpaka turned his head next to Katara's and gave her the puppy eyes
"Hm? This is your first time acknowledging someone... What is happening... But if you say so, then I guess I could accept the contract. But, what are you going to bargain first?"
Even if Katara is old enough to have lived more than half of the age of the universe, she isn't that much knowledgeable. She knows several important things about the universe though, but information that isn't recorded aren't known to her
"I know you have to place a curse on Camille because it's within the rules, so instead, you can apply five curses on me"
Philip showed his five fingers
「 ... 」
"Hm, a noble sacrifice just to save a person you're close to, huh? Well, the fact that you're granting me power through your influence, evolution, and completing my curse circles... It seems way too beneficial to me, plus you're asking more for the exchange of not putting any curse on this Camille. Are you sure you want to do this contract and finish this bargaining?"
"Yes... Just you being on my side and granting and dispelling curse on the people around me is enough"
"Hm, I see... I accept all the conditions then! I, Katara, the Goddess of Curses, bid to the God of Contracts, that I sign this contract with my blood!"
"And I, Philip Ibasco, the God of Darkness and the Fate Controller, also bid to the God of Contracts, that I sign this contract with my life"
"!!!"
[!!!]
Philip just imitated what Katara said and he offered his own life to sign the contract. This made Katara and Sumpaka shock because no sane being would use their life to sign a contract. This means that if the contract was broken, Philip would die and Katara would just bleed
This made Katara and Sumpaka think that Philip is serious in his endeavours
A deep and sexy male voice echoed in their heads. But that didn't distract Philip as he snapped his left fingers
An audible sound reverberated throughout the [Plane of Malediction]. Philip basically controlled the fate of the contract to never be broken are defied. This means that he also indirectly controlled Katara's fate since the contract is mostly about her. This also in turn affects Sumpaka, since he's Katara's divine dragon
When a bound concept connects different concept and one fate was controlled, it will cause a chain of effect that will ultimately affect a bigger concept in the long run
A Butterfly Effect, as one would might say
This caused a ripple across timelines
Katara and Sumpaka witnessed Philip snap his left fingers, but they ignored it since they don't know that Philip does that when he's controlling fate. Also, for some reason, they didn't feel any disturbance anywhere around them
"Oh yeah, you only specified that Camille won't get a curse, but the other individual inside there... I don't know his name... Will get a curse"
"Hm?"
Philip was then confused. There was none other than Camille and Braham inside the sanctuary and Katara seemed to have been pertaining to him. He thought that he sacrificed his life to revive Camille
'So, why is Braham going to get a curse if he's dead? Is he going to get cursed when he goes to the underworld or his next life?'
「 The Goddess of Curses cannot put a curse that lasts after death. Curses will only stay for one lifetime and Katara have to find the same soul around the universe to curse them again, if needed to. She is bound by the rules of the universe, so she has no choice but to keep cursing 」
'Is that so...'
Philip inferred that Braham did not actually die reviving Camille. He must've lived either by sheer willpower or with the help of he curse
'If he's a vampire, then he's still must be living! I have to find him and let him and Camille meet!'
A side quest was generated
"Is that understood?"
Katara snapped Philip back into reality
"Yes... I have one question though..."
"I'll answer the best I can"
"What curse are you going to place on the other individual?"
"Oh? You don't know? Then, there's no point in telling you..."
"..."
Philip wanted to urge Katara, but he stopped himself to show respect to her decision
"Alright, let's move on... Are you sure you want me to put five curses on you? I could also not put the curses on you"
Katara blinked repeatedly and her eyes glowed with maroon color. Her eyes became narrower the more she looked at him as her face was being filled with realization
「 ... 」
"What? Of course put the five curses on me! If you don't, I'll die because of the contract! You'll want to kill me now?"
Philip was confused
"No, it's just that..."
"Just what?"
"Curses can either be bad or a blessing in disguise... Knowing that, you already habe 29 curses harboring your body... I didn't leave any curses behind when I cursed you earlier... But this is surprising..."
"Wait what? But I don't feel it at all?"
"You may actually have, you just don't realize it... Here, let's compromise... I'll only give you one curse"
"One? But wouldn't that break the contract?"
"You didn't specify when the curses will be place, did you?"
"Oh... You have a point... What curse are you going to put on me? Also, can I know all the curses that I have??"
"I will be putting the Curse of Mark on you... It's also better if you don't learn what curses you have..."
"Alright then..."
Philip accepted the curse that Katara will put on him. Though, he became insecure of all the curses that were initially put on him
'Did Katara place these curses on me in the past?'
「 No, only Katara can put curses in every being in the universe with a snap, well she couldn't snap anymore. But you're an exception as you contracted those curses throughout your several lifetime 」
'Is that so...'
「 Don't feel down or insecure... Some of them are blessings like Katara said, but some of them are worse 」
'Can the system show me the curses?'
「 ... 」
'Emily?'
「 Yes, it can... But I think you should look at it later and finish meeting Katara first 」
'Alright...'
Philip began to feel down as he didn't know some things about himself, especially since the topic in question are about curses
"Alright, Curse of Mark..."
Katara lifted her left stump and she brought it back down
"...has been placed on you"
"It's that simple?"
"Yes, with this thing on me, it's pretty easy"
"What's the Curse of Mark for?"
"It's just a curse that marks you. It's a neutral curse that doesn't have any effects. You seem to be quite affected that you have that many curse, so I place a curse that doesn't harm you"
"Hm, alright, I appreciate that"
"By the way, Philip..."
"Yes?"
"You have an interesting ability that involves curses, right?"
"How do you know?"
"Curse Invocation is it? It gives of that same feeling whenever I invoke a curse on a being... I'll give an advice, don't and never use that ability... You'll ask why? It's because you're not an entity of curses and you'll pull all sorts of badness somewhere unknown..."
"..."
Philip was silent. He already knew that using the forbidden ⟨⟨ Curse Invocation ⟩⟩ ability will bring him danger, but the fact that he has the ability means something else entirely if that was the case
"Alright then! I won't put any curse on Camille and I will follow the contract the best that I can"
Katara placed her right hand and left wrist on her waist
"If everything has been concluded... I will return back to the present now"
"Okay! Can I have one last favor?"
"What is that? Tell me..."
"Can you choke me one last time--"
*Smack*
Sumpaka smacked Katara down on the ground again. Philip remained stunlocked after seeing such a respected divine being to be like that
"Whatever, I'll leave now! Also, these cracks on the ground... Study it for yourself, I can't just explain it to you when you won't experience it yourself. If you study and you cultivate, that's where you'll unlock more power! Till then! Goodbye!"
"Wait! Choke me first!"
*Smash*
The last scene that Philip saw was Sumpaka completely smashing Katara into the ground. His vision entered the kaleidoscopic hyperspace as he goes back to the present
「 Null of Magnificence: Twin Blades Concept: Origin Severer 」
"..."
「 You didn't have to sever the origin trace 」
"I should... In case a third party was watching us"
「 Very careful... 」
"I have to... Now that we're approaching the deeper end
「 ... 」
"This talk about curses is draining me... I have to finish changing Camille's fate back home and move on to the next thing, which is going to be harder..."
「 Alright 」
~~~
Philip closed his eyes and he returned back to present, in front of Camille
"Hm?"
Camille exclaimed after feeling the slight change in the atmosphere
"Did something change?"
"..."
Philip pulled his hand off of her forehead and stared into her red eyes
"It has been done"
Philip raised his left hand in a snapping gesture. He was about to snap his fingers when he suddenly felt a disturbance to his right
"Found you!"
Philip was startled once again as a little girl's voice whispered at his ear. He jumped to the right and faced the little girl while he had an annoyed and angry look on his face
"Oh? Deja Vu?"
The little girl exclaimed after seeing the similar situation several years ago
"What are you doing here?!!"
Philip reached towards the little girl and began choking her with little force as he lifted her in the air and shook her forwards and backwards. He wasn't putting any force on his hand but only to his arm
"Keock heock ock-- I've longed for this feeling keock--"
The little girl was Katara and she began to act like she was choking. Philip's eyebrow twitched after knowing that Katara was putting an act
"You masochist goddess!!!"
Philip violently shook Katara's body and a vein popped on his forehead
"My my..."
Camille covered her mouth with amusement as she watched the scene in front of her