"I'm going to make you my Messenger!"
"What..."
Ariii was taken aback. She knew what Philip meant and what it means to be his Messenger. She was just surprised from his sudden decision
"Execute Finalization of Soul Contract"
Philip spoke while still holding Ariii's head from her face
『 Initializing the finalization of Ariii Akumasha's Soul Contract 』
"Wait wait, hold on... Where did this come from?!"
Ariii was now confused after seeing that Philip is serious. She also sensed that the system is executing something in Philip's mind and that the ⟨⟨ World of Imagination ⟩⟩ was slightly changing
『 Optimal environment has been detected! 』
『 Executing optimum procedures... 』
*BWOOOOOMMM*
A loud sound echoed across the white world, signifying the slow down of time itself. [Bullet Time] didn't activate or anything. It's just that time actually slowed down
As the effect of the slowed down time, the paleness of the white world became slightly darker, almost grayish white to dirty white. But from Philip's eyes, long strings and arcs of white particles, matter, energy, whatever it is, were shooting across and around the ⟨⟨ World of Imagination ⟩⟩
Philip realized that these arcs are the same thing as the ones he saw from Ariii's photo made by the [Photo Snap System]
Philip was mesmerized and wanted to learn more about it, but that's not the important part for now
「 Procedure 1: Establish emotional connection 」
At this point, Philip let go of Ariii's face
"Puaaah! I could've licked or bitten your palm... But I know that that's not a good idea"
"Good thing you know"
"Hmph! So... What is this? Emotional connection??"
Ariii is the 999th Demon Lord, Demon God Asura Srath's 500th daughter, a pure blooded demon, and a Desecration Maiden. She would be the last person to have an emotional connection to anything or anyone
That's should've been the case considering her status and race
But in reality, she's capable of connecting to someone in an emotional level. Example is her love(?) and care for her father, the Demon God, her loyalty and care for the Lost Demons and her army in the Terra Spirit World, and her clinging to hope and expectations after meeting Philip
"It's the emotional connection between us both..."
"So, all I have to do is understand you?"
"No... We have to connect our hearts and understand our hardships, emotions, and being on a level that will make us closer together"
"Huh? That sounds hard"
"What?"
Philip was confused, although he has anticipated this. Ariii is a demon, although she's not completely evil, positive aspects tend to repel from her as she can't engage in those sort of positivity
『 Inconsistency has been detected! 』
『 Attempting reconsideration and recollection... 』
「 ... 」
Granted
『 Successful! 』
『 Procedure of finalization of Ariii Akumasha's Soul Contract has been changed to overcome inconsistencies in future Soul Contract of different beings and existences 』
'...?'
『 Tenshi Hikaru's Soul Contract has been named to Contract of Eternal Love and Undying Happiness 』
"...!"
Philip was concerned, not from the changes of Soul Contracts, but from the name of Tenshi's Soul Contract
[Eternal]
Although Philip doesn't know why, but seeing a concept or aspect, even a word, that has no limit is sending alarms to him
There was a reason he became serious and countered on the same level as to when Lulu unleashed the Curse of Eternal Permafrost on him
「 ... 」
『 The attempt to finalize Ariii Akumasha's Soul Contract has been recognized 』
『 Ariii Akumasha's Soul Contract will be named to Contract of Righteous Evil and Necessary Bad 』
"..."
Philip was speechless. The name of the contract gave him the clue to complete the finalization of the Soul Contract
『 Proceed with Procedure 1... 』
「 Procedure 1: Define Good and Evil 」
"..."
Philip's face crumpled. He has no time to dwell into philosophy and have a debate in case Ariii has a different opinion
"Ha! That's easy!"
Ariii shouted
Nonetheless, Philip has no choice but to go through with it since this for everyone's own good and bis ultimate goal
"Good is the will of people to do actions that satisfy their souls and egos in a macro scale and in an interpersonal level involving other people. Meanwhile, evil is the action that leads to destruction and disatisfaction of people that is not going their way... That's why there are the seven deadly sins..."
"You're wrong..."
Philip refuted Ariii's opinion
"What?!"
Ariii didn't take his opinion lightly
"Although some of your words are true... They're just ultimately wrong"
"How so?!"
"There are some people that do good among people, but what if their good is twisted that it sacrifices the people around them? The sacrifice of many to save the world... Is that good or evil?"
"That--"
"There are also people that do evil, but it would be for the sake of a mass of people, for their happiness and freedom... A hunter stealing from the rich to give to the poor... Is that good or evil?"
"..."
"Some might say it's evil, but most recognize it as good. Why?"
"..."
"It's because it all comes down to the result of the action. Doing evil to do good? Doing good to do evil"
"..."
"The real definition of good and evil is that it doesn't matter! It depends on the morals and beliefs of the observer. It will depend on how the observer will act on it. A good action can be determined as evil and an evil action can be determined as good"
"Then are you saying that what the devils has been doing is good?!"
"That's why I said it depends... It can be... It's all within possibility... It depends on the observer's beliefs... Do I believe the devils are actually good? No, because that's what I believe"
"Then--"
"That's why I believe that you are good"
"Ack-"
Philip poked Ariii's forehead and pointed at her
"The concept of good and concept of evil were created to separate both concepts. They're not the same after all"
"..."
Ariii was quiet. She received enlightenment from Philip, although she couldn't help but feel like she doesn't understand at all
What's important is that her essence received his words and that will help in the long run
If she is actually evil, then her actions could be good
'Righteous Evil...'
"Then... How about you? Are you good or evil?"
"......."
「 ... 」
Philip became dead silent as he pulled his finger away. His expression became extremely serious to the point that it became very creepy as his eyes dilated. Even Ariii was creeped out
"Philip?"
"..."
Philip didn't respond and kept quiet for several minutes. Ariii didn't pester him to answer and waited for him to be ready
"I... I-I..."
Philip finally spoke, but he was holding himself back
"...?"
Ariii crossed her arms and tilted her head, waiting for Philip to fullt answer
"I-I... Am... Evil..."
Philip finally answered and his expression deeped and worsened
"Evil??? As I see it, you're good though??"
"...?"
"Why did you do those things to the people in the mansion? You saved almost everyone. You made them happy. You saved them from their inevitable fates"
"I only did that because I need them... Almost like tools... To achieve my ultimate goal..."
"Hmmmmm..."
"By my definition... Yeah... I am actually evil"
"..."
Ariii cannot refute Philip's words because there are truth within it
Although she is a demon and she won't care so much, but she is actually thinking of something to say to not let Philip fall deeper in the abyss. She wants to carefully choose her words
"I won't deny that... I'll accept that I'm evil... Acceptance is key!"
Philip broke into a solemn smile. She gazed back at Ariii and gave her a smile
"...!"
Ariii was taken aback. He was not smiling happily. He was smiling with full of pain. His eyes were devoid of light and his face was pale
"Alright, let's move on..."
"Uhm..."
"...?"
Ariii tried to speak
"Uhm... Even if you're evil... Even if you accept that you're evil... Just know that there is still good in you! Okay?!"
Ariii struck a pose a pointed at Philip with vigor
"Haha, yes I know..."
『 You have defined good and evil with Ariii Akumasha! 』
『 Definition of Good and Evil is being consolidated to the Soul Contract... 』
'...'
Philip smiled inwardly. At least the Righteous Evil will be imprinted on Ariii
『 Procedure 1 of the Finalization of Soul Contract complete! 』
『 Proceed to Procedure 2... 』
「 Procedure 2: Achieve an equivalence of evil 」
"...?"
"...?"
Both Philip and Ariii was confused. They know that evilness can't be equated, so they won't be able to achieve equality in both of their evilness
"Well whatever, let's just try anyways..."
"How are we going to do it?"
"Here..."
Phili extended his hand towards Ariii and Ariii unhesitatingly grabbed it
"What now?"
Ariii asked
"Close your eyes and magnify the intent of your evil..."
"Okay..."
Both Philip and Ariii closed their eyes
Ariii's evil shouldn't be too much since she was never tainted by the manipulation of the devils. But the fact that her being is attached to the demon race, her evil is still significant, but not too much compared to the rest of her siblings
But this is a Soul Contract, it doesn't only account for Ariii's evil
The system included the evil that her brothers and sisters accumulated from corruption and taint
The tank rose significantly. From the 72 Great Demon Lords to the 666th Demon Lord
There's no one more evil than Ariii, even though those evil comes from her siblings
Perhaps it's residue from when she fought every single one of her siblings with Over Power
Philip won't be able to match her evil
*Doom*
Not until the tank shot up and the system weighed his evil
His ultimate goal could already be considered as an ultimate evil. There's no good in his ultimate goal, only to himself and none to anyone
Complete erasure and deletion. It's like he actually never recognized anyone at all
If the system deemed this as almost an ultimate evil, why would the system still stick by his side?
I'm sorry. You can't know the answer to that for now. It's still too early
The system only considered his ultimate goal as evil. The time when he eradicated the Floralites in the Terra Spirit World was not recognized because that was the Righteous Evil that had to be done
It even didn't recognize his indifference for his mother, nor his despair, nor his bottomless anger, nor any of his imaginated evil because all of them has a righteous reason, a reasonable effect, a very recognizable result
So, which would be a greater evil? Ariii's evil that had her siblings recognized or Philip's ultimate evil?
『 Philip has a greater evil than Ariii Akumasha 』
"..."
"..."
Philip bit his lower lip and Ariii curled her eyebrows from extreme confusion
「 However, when there's negative, there's always a positive and both will cancel out each other 」
"..."
"..."
Philip and Ariii were stationary and waiting in anticipation
「 Amount of evil has been measured... 」
「 Ariii Akumasha has considerable amount of evil with a recognizable amount of good... 」
「 Meanwhile, Philip has an astronomical amount of evil, almost immeasurable... But the magnitude of his good, amount not taken to account, has lessened his ultimate evil... It lessened to a degree of acceptable amount after amount of good was counted... 」
『 Quantifying evil number... 』
『 Evil Quotient has been created! 』
「 You are now able to identify a being's Evil Quotient, a measure of evilness from an existence 」
『 Ariii Akumasha: 999 』
『 Philip Ibasco: 323,049 』
"..."
"..."
『 Proceed with Procedure 2... 』
「 Please achieve equivalence of evil... 」
"How in the world..."
Philip couldn't help but exclaimed in utter surprise
"..."
Ariii couldn't even make a reaction. She was utterly flabbergasted, confused, and shocked
Ariii is definitely a demon and Philip is a human first before he became the God of Darkness
'So why is his evil greater than mine??? Considering the evil that the devils has placed on us??? I'm a demon! He's only human! What does this entail???'
Ariii's mind is in a disarray. She began to slightly tremble and Philip can feel this from them holding hands together. He can also see her through his closed eyelids
'Well... The procedure says to achieve equivalence in evil... I guess, Ariii has to shoulder half of my burden and I should half of her burden to achieve equivalence?'
That was the basic math, if Philip were to take Procedure 2 seriously and literally
Half of Philip's evil added to Ariii's evil and half of Ariii's evil added to Philip's evil would achieve equivalence
'But is that really what the system wants to us to do??'
「 ... 」
'No... It is not...'
「 ... 」
'The system didn't specify equivalence... Therefore, it's either me or her'
Philip opened his eyes and it glowed in golden light. He could see everything in the ⟨⟨ World of Imagination ⟩⟩, including Ariii that has still have her eyes closed
He blinked once and everything changed in his vision
「 Eye Vision. Blood Eyes Of Truth. Eye of Sai 」
The pale white world became even more pale, almost to the color of beige or cream. The white lines and arcs became more apparent
Ariii's appearance also change in his eyes. Her entire being looks like a cloud of dark ominous smoke. This could be symbolizing Ariii's evilness or race in his eyes
'Huh...'
Philip couldn't help but exclaim in his mind in slight confusion and curiosity
It was because his eyes began to strain. It is the same feeling as to when he tried to measure the Mobius Trinities or Mobius Octingenity with ⟨⟨ Supreme Sense of Calculation ⟩⟩
'Anyways... Here goes nothing...'
「 Bullet Time activated!!! 」
The world became even more slower as Philip jerked Ariii forward and pulled her from her left arm
He then assumed a form and struck his right hand from his side towards Ariii's chest. His hand glowed in a sinister white and maroon light
'Plunder'
Philip used his newfound signature ability that was locked before when he obtained the Omega System
「 !!! 」
『 !!! 』
『 Save Point 5 has been used! 』
『 Name Save Point 5... 』
'...?'
The [Ultimate Skill: Save and Load] has been used without Philip consciously using it
'First Plunder'
『 Save Point 5 has been renamed to First Plunder 』
'Who's to say that Plunder only works on beings that has been defeated or given permission?! Only one way to find out!!'
「 !!!!! 」
'Plunder that evil!'
『 An unexpected exception has occured!!! 』
『 Assessing degree of exception... 』
『 A Negative Exception has occured!!! 』
'What?'