Darkness Authority - Memories of the Previous Gods - True Gods - Demonic Influence

「 Regarding your status as the new God of Darkness and the Divine Soul living inside your body... There were changes that occured while you were here in this world 」

"Oh yeah, the system automatically integrated the Divine Soul to my own body because it deemed necessary. Turns out having two souls in one body is destructive and the Pureblood helped by diminishing and stabilizing the Divine Soul using Soulblood"

「 Yes, but in actuality, you have three souls in total 」

"Huh? How's that possible? Wouldn't my body be obliterated into oblivion if a body has two souls, not to menion three?"

「 That's right. But you are a special exception and your were extremely lucky! When you liberated the Pureblood from Alucard and took it for yourself and replaced it as your temporary heart, a second soul has already been taken into your body, and that is the Soulblood... In turn, when the Divine Soul was integrated in yourself, the Soulblood stabilized it. This means that if there are other souls that are being integrated into your body, the Soulblood will be able to stabilize it and you will be able to harbor as much souls as you can 」

"That's awesome, but scary at the same time... Am I going to have to absorb any soul that I obtain?"

「 We don't know the answer to that... You do have the Heroic Spirit, which is also the evolved Soul of Polem that became Heroic due to her status and heroic achievements in Saykrandae... You could absorb that or it's up to you entirely 」

"..."

Philip considered on absorbing the Heroic Spirit, but the Heroic Spirit is a physical item that he could touch and the actual spirit might be contained inside the orb. Unlike the Divine Soul, which was stored in his consciousness because he destroyed Tenebris and his actual soul in the World of Imagination

Usually, the rule of a soul in an existence is that the personality and essence of the being is found directly in the soul and it stays in the soul, but it is a different case for divine beings

As for the Concept Gods, they only have one soul because they were once mortals. When they mastered their concepts and increased their concept masteries, they will receive a special kind of stigma or a pseudo-soul called a Gnosis. Beings like Fotià, Ken, and other gods have the Fire Gnosis, Sword Gnosis, and others

Although, if the Concept Gods had a breakthrough to the wall that divides them from God Mastery and Law Mastery, their Gnosis will be lost and passed on to the next Concept God

But, it is a different case for beings that has the Concept Mastery. This is the same for Philip as he's the Sword Concept

On the other hand, World Gods are a different case because their life, essence, power, and soul all depend on the planet or world that they govern and protect, as well as their people. As long as their world are intact or at least one of their people is alive, they will maintain and sustain their being

That is why Sai is still a god and she's becoming more powerful just by being around Philip's influence

However, the Gods of Concepts are different since they are above the Concept Gods. The Gods of Concepts has two souls in total, the first soul belongs to their own existence and essence while the second soul belongs to the very concept of the Divine Soul that is shared across the Gods of Concepts throughout history

So, the reason why Philip wasn't affected by Tenebris' personality and essence is because he eradicated the entirety of Tenebris' existence, including his original soul. The Divine Soul of Darkness was what's left and it survived his complete eradication inside the World of Imagination

"So, what are the benefits of me becoming the next God of Darkness?"

「 First and foremost, you will have complete authority over Darkness as you have obtained the ability of [Darkness Authority] 」

"Huh?"

Philip was genuinely surprised. He did expect to have total control over darkness

'That should be the work of a Darkness Concept!'

「 You don't just have control over darkness nor you can mnaipulate it, you can command itself, authorize it with no limitations or restrictions. That was why you, with the assimilated system, was able to cancel all of Amare's magic and summoning with the ancient ones' powers since the origin of their powers in this universe is within the darkness 」

"I see... Then, I could get out of this place since this is basically darkness?"

「 No? Have you forgotten already? Nothing exists here, even nothing itself. The best you can do is create darkness, that's about it 」

"Oh yeah, right..."

「 Other than the Darkness Authority ability... You have gained a status in the divine realm! They were alerted that the next God of Darkness was born and that they had to cancel the hunt for the divine soul since they can't do anything about it. They will be awaiting for your arrival and you will be handling that yourself 」

"Talk about troublesome..."

「 Yep! It will be very troublesome since all gods and concept gods will be there for your arrival 」

"What else is there?"

「 The Divine Soul of Darkness that you integrated with also belongs to the previous Gods of Darkness. Knowing that, you'll be able to see the past memories of all previous Gods of Darkness 」

"Really? Let me see..."

Philip closed his eyes and seaech deeply within the recesses of his brain. He eventually found the part where memories would be stored and saw the memories of the previous Gods of Darkness

There was Tenebris with his obssession with Tenshi, Skotádi with his contributions to the creation of the divine realm, Yami with his successful domination over light, Hēi'àn with his separation from the origin of light and dark, Knmt with his consolidation with the Goddess of Light Wbh, and finally, the first God of Darkness, DarkO, who created Darkness itself and made it known to every living being and existence in the universe

He bore witness to the achievements of all the previous Gods of Darkness, including the important parts of their lives, the divine war, and the early periods of the universe

"Hm?"

Philip exclaimed in interest, confusion, and uncertainty. From DarkO's memory, he was in front of several figures. Their presence was very domineering that Philip can also feel it. He felt a sense that he should be afraid of these beings and that they should be respected

It was then that DarkO and the figures spoke to each other

[I understand... To balance this universe, I have to use this power of darkness to give destruction and entropy, along with LightE's power of light?]

{Yes, we are glad you understand}

There was another figure that arrived and it was a being completely covered with white light as her long hair waved behind her. Her light illuminated the domineering figure in front of the first God of Darkness and first Goddess of Light

Philip saw three of the figures. The first figure upfront was a being that is completely covered in white clothing, from shirts, pants, shorts, socks, gloves, accessories, footwear, headwear, and many more. No kind of clothing from human knowledge is absent within his body. The only differentiating trait on him is his red eyes. His eyes was like a blood stained on a white surface, but it looked beautiful

The second figure doesn't have a physical body and Philip couldn't make anything out of it, except for the obvious yellow eyes that are peering through the mass. Finally, the third figure is a woman with long fluttering pink hair wearing an ultimately and intricately designed pink dress with pink heart attachments throughout her outfit. She has large chests and that was what Philip focused on initially

[I will execute your orders immediately, O True Gods...]

{Very well, we hope you won't disappo--}

The white outfit being abruptly stopped speaking

{What's the matter?}

The pink heart being asked as the white outfit being leaned over as his red eyes screeched and glimmered sinisterly. Philip's focus shifted into his eyes and his peripheral vision started to blur and become static as the red eyes glared down on to his very existence

{Who. Are. You?}

The white outfit being asked in a scary tone. At that moment, everything went black and Philip couldn't see nor feel anything

「 Philip, wake up! 」

Emily shouted in his head

"Hm?!"

Philip grunted and opened his eyes. Everything was still black

'Ah, I'm back'

「 Hello? What did you see? 」

"The True Gods apparently..."

「 Did they see you? 」

"Yes, only one"

「 I see... Then... You have unlocked a special condition requirement! You have learned the existence of True Gods! You are now qualified to learn more about them 」

"..."

「 The True Gods are the epitome of existence within the universe! They govern a specific aspect and hold ultimate power. They are leagues above the Gods of Concepts but still lower than an actual concept. There are currently 1,618 True Gods in total. They demonstrate the Divine Proportion of the universe and beyond 」

"Beyond?"

「 Haaah... I guess at this point, you need to know the truth. Have you heard of the multiverse theory that the humans created? 」

"Of course"

「 It's real... That's the only thing that I can tell you as of now 」

"I see... I understand, I think?"

「 Yeah... So, the 1,618 True Gods demonstrates the Divine Proportion of the multiverse 」

"...the beauty and ultimate power they have"

「 That's right. They are beings and existences that you should be avoiding as of now 」

"Okay, noted"

「 Next on the list is the Demonic Influence that invaded your body 」

"Huh? What?!"

「 When was the last time that you remember encountering a demon? 」

"I think when I was a kid, I had these hallucinations of the shadow entity and... Oh yeah, the sleep paralysis demon a few months ago"

「 That's it. There was a shadow entity that watched you when you were a kid and that was Terra, who took interest in you as per Yozu's request to investigate you 」

"Wait, they investigated me?"

「 Oh... You don't know about that? 」

"No? Why though? I'm just curious"

「 Ah, it's because they detected that you were the one who's the suffering the most in the world, more than patients in the hospital, homeless people, people who are in poverty or debt, people who are alone in their lives, and people who are being tortured to this day. They wanted to help you 」

"Welp... I feel bad now... I don't think I'm suffering more than them"

「 Are you sure? Is that a fact? 」

"Uhm..."

Philip pondered twice

"Maybe?"

「 See? You don't even know yourself... But I agree with Yozu 」

"Is that why I was taken to the Mystical Academy after my graduation?"

「 Yes. Yozu knew that you only have the ability of Pain Denial at that moment 」

"Well, I don't agree with both of you... But let's leave it at that"

That was a lie

Philip knows that he was suffering the most, but he didn't want to be privileged just because of that reason. He would prefer the most to deal with it alone, but having someone to carry the burden with also seemed nice

「 That's fine... So, when Terra was observing you, a Shadow Demon was also watching from the deep shadows. When Terra left and completed his own assignment, the Shadow Demon replaced Terra and tormented your innocent self 」

"..."

「 Because of that, you became prone to such demonic elements. Do you remember that after seeing the actual figure of the shadow, you aren't able to see or feel anything supernatural for several years? 」

"Yes"

「 For some reason, that shadow figure placed a stigma on you that only high ranking demonic entities are able to influence you in some way 」

"And that sleep paralysis demon is one of them?"

「 Yes. When you went through the haunted house in that amusement park a few months ago, you felt something fearful in that dark corner right? 」

"Yes, I remember actually..."

「 That entity followed you due to the stigma placed on you. When you went to sleep, the demon showed its presence to you but you destroyed it by applying Sword Concept to your vision. Pretty smart if I do say so myself 」

"Mhm..."

「 But the demon wasn't completely destroyed. It returned after you came back saving Saykrandae. It invaded your body and injected its demonic essence in you. Because of that, you had those strange dreams, right? 」

"..."

Philip paused to remember his dreams at that time until he eventually remembered everything after Emily brought back that forgotten dream

"Those dreams... Were foreshadowing the future!"

「 Yes, your battle against Zxhst has already happened, but what else are about to happen? Even if the Absolute Golden Timeline is shifted, the future was set from the past and it still might follow it. Your existence is actually very intriguing, even for me! 」

"I see... So, is that sleep paralysis demon going to torment me for a while until I do something about it?"

「 Actually, it has been obliterated 」

"How?"

「 Justine unconsciously obliterated the demon's whole existence in the universe. This was the start of Justine's change, and you didn't know about it 」

"You don't have to tell me that last part"

「 You have to learn eventually 」

"I know... I took her power for granted. I should've care for her even more and now, I was too late. I don't know where she went nor what she said that last part. Do you know where she went?"

「 Even if I'm forbidden to say it, I actually don't know. It looked like the system is out of her range? Or it's that she's manipulating the Infinity Vector and Omni-Energy that nothing can detect her 」

"I see... so about the demonic influence..."

「 Because of this, you now have the stigma of Demonic Influence. You can now activate your Half-Demon Transformation」

"Why's it only half demon?"

「 You're an existence unknown to everything, even to me. Perhaps your being is counteracting each other? You're a human, a Fate Controller, and a time traveller. Now, you're an actual god, a demon, and something else more that you haven't figured out yet 」

"Hm..."

Philip wasn't afraid that no one knows what he actually is, he is quite excited. The feeling of being everything existing in the universe is quite promising to him. It was like obtaining all achievements, race, or ranks in a game

"Alright, I'm satisfied with this... Are there more?"

「 About two or three... 」

"Send it"

「 The Mobiüs Trinity, Mathilda's Mana Orb, the creation of the being that you haven't learned off yet... But now, you are eligible to learn of his existence... Mobiüs Mobius, the Time Felon, the creator of the Peacemakers and the Peacekeepers, a being that is hated by most divine beings and higher beings, the one who has transcended time and abandoned by space, and the being who has spoke to you in your dreams 」