Last time, I had a very short discussion about morality with the leader of the … Righteous Holy Sect; I still think Shadow Devil Sect is a more appropriate name for them. Anyway, the results of that short discussion weren’t very fruitful. The people of this lower dimension believe power is everything. Anything to achieve power is acceptable, but that’s not the case. Even if one becomes strong, is there a point to it if the dimension they live in is destroyed because of their actions? “Principal Pentorn, what are your thoughts on your actions? Do you believe it’s evil to slaughter people for your own needs?”
The demon was sitting across from me, face to face; however, it still felt like I was talking to a corpse puppet instead. “No.”
As expected of the true mastermind of the Righteous Holy Sect, she has no conscience. “Have you considered the family members of the people you’ve killed? They’ll be devastated by the loss of their loved ones. Do your needs triumph their feelings? What makes you more important than them?”
“Devastated by the loss of their loved ones?” The demon snorted. “Have you seen what families are like here? Royal progenies slaughter each other for the throne. It’s fine for so-called loved ones to kill each other, but not fine for me, a stranger, to kill them instead? Is that your issue?”
“Not everyone you’ve slaughtered has been part of the twisted royal families of this lower dimension.” This demon is trying to deflect my argument, but I won’t let her do that. “Take the ones you’ve labeled as invaders for example. They’re the chosens of their sects. They had masters and mentors, people who’ve looked out for them and care deeply for them. When you imagine the pain they must be feeling upon discovering their beloved disciples’ soul lanterns dying out, do you not feel any guilt?”
“If I didn’t kill their disciples, those elders would’ve come down here and killed me instead.” The demon leaned back and yawned before stretching out her arm to grasp a teacup. “Since when was self-defense ever classified as evil?”
I seem to have boxed myself into a corner. What the demon is saying technically makes sense, but it still feels as if she’s twisting my arguments. “This isn’t about those people specifically. I’m sure you’ve killed many people who’ve posed no threat to you. Before the seven great sects came through that door, you’ve already had an abundance of sky-realm-ranked weapons. Those must’ve come from the blood and flesh of innocents.”
The demon stretched her back by puffing out her chest and slowly fixed her posture. She took a long sip from her cup and exhaled before smiling at me. “Yes, there were quite a few people who posed no threat to me that I’ve turned into weapons. They had family members too. As you’ve said, they suffered so much upon hearing about the death of their loved one who stood in my way. I couldn’t bear to see them so upset, so I put an end to their suffering as well. United in life, united in death, isn’t a concept like that touching?”
…The demon isn’t even trying to hide it anymore! She’s the epitome of evil! “You—”
“Hear me out,” the demon said and put down her teacup. “When you think about it, isn’t the destruction of one’s body and soul the ultimate form of peace? The poor struggle to survive. They throw away their pride, beg for scraps, and wallow in their own filth to live on. I know what you’re thinking. Even as such, they still have a chance to turn their lives around. Destruction of one’s soul isn’t the answer. However, what happens when they turn their lives around? They’re no longer poor. They have their pride. They can put food on their table inside of their reasonable shelters. So what?
“Now that they aren’t poor, do they no longer have problems? Have they achieved peace? You don’t even have to ask anyone, just go out on the streets and observe. They have to grovel before the strong and noble. One false step, and they risk losing their lives. If a servant, who isn’t poor, spills wine on a monarch, what do you think happens to his head? It separates from his body. Do you think the servant enjoys living such a life? He isn’t poor. He might even have a family, but is he no longer suffering? He wants more, and because he can’t achieve what he wants, he suffers. Sometimes a fairytale-like incidence occurs, a princess falls for a random low-class citizen. Instead of inspiring hope in other low-class citizens, it inspires jealously. Why? Why couldn’t it happen to them instead?
“Even if this servant miraculously becomes the king, he still has to bow before cultivators. He might pour all his wealth into his son, turn him into a successful cultivator. Then his son will have to bow before the saints. The saints bow before the earth-realm experts. The earth-realm experts bow before the sky-realm experts. The sky-realm experts bow before the quasi-immortals. The quasi-immortals bow before the immortals. And what of the immortals? They sacrifice their lives to fight demons and beasts in the immortal realm. Tell me, is it worth it? Perhaps one out of ten trillion people will manage to struggle through the path I’ve narrated. The rest will fail, suffering all along the way. Yes, some may skip steps, luckily becoming a cultivator, but that doesn’t change the odds of becoming an immortal.
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“Struggling and suffering is a natural part of existence. When bad things happen to people like, for example, someone like me turns their loved one into a weapon, they suffer. Even if I never existed, never turned their loved one into a weapon, their loved one would’ve died anyway, and the suffering would’ve occurred either way. The only true way to escape the struggle and suffering is for a complete destruction of body and soul. You say I’m evil because I kill people, but I say I’m a savior because I relieve them of their suffering.”
For a second, my heart was nearly swayed. The heart devil that the humanoid beast planted inside of me is more troublesome than I thought. “You may take away their suffering, but you also take away any happiness. Life isn’t all suffering. There are joys in life too.”
V4 C21 - (4)
“What meaning does happiness have?” The demon finished her tea and leaned back, not bothering to pour herself anymore. “It’s fleeting. It can be taken away at any moment, and once happiness is removed, suffering is amplified. The benefits happiness bring don’t outweigh the struggles and suffering.”
What does she mean what meaning does happiness have? “It seems to me like you’re saying everyone would be better off if they were dead.”
The demon crossed her arms. Her face still betrayed no signs of any emotion. “Do you think that’s not true?”
What happened to her that she has such a bleak point of view? “If that’s true, why are you still alive? If you subscribed to that ideology, you would’ve let those chosens go, accepting your fate once the elders came down to retrieve them. Yet you haven’t, so clearly you don’t believe what you’re saying.”
“Someone has to do the dirty work,” the demon said. “For people to be saved, there has to be a savior. That’s me. I’m willing to endure suffering for the sake of relieving people from their pain, aren’t I noble? Come, praise me.”
…This demon isn’t debating in good faith. She’s taking jabs at me, trying to anger me. It’s hard to think clearly when blinded by anger and other emotions. This demon wants to dominate my view so badly that she’s playing underhanded tricks. However, I won’t be goaded by her. I’m an immortal. My heart is firm and steady. “If you have noble aspirations such as those, it’s possible other people have similar aspirations. Wouldn’t it be wrong to kill those who don’t wish to suffer? I’m sure amongst the many people you’ve harvested souls from and killed, there were many who didn’t wish to be saved. A real savior would stop someone’s suffering without killing them. You’re just twisting your evil deeds through the use of semantics.”
The demon stared at me, and I matched her gaze. I’m not going to lose in a debate against a demon. People often said demons couldn’t be reasoned with. We have to kill them or they’ll kill us. However, this demon is intelligent. She might be stubborn, but I don’t believe I can’t convert her to the side of righteousness. It’d be a loss for humanity if I’m not able to bring her over to our side. Her applications of formations and tool-creation knowledge is extremely valuable. The demon narrowed her eyes at me. “Your ideas of good and evil, they seem to be centered around humans, no?”
“What do you mean?”
“If an intelligent tiger kills a human child to feed its family, it’s labeled as an evil creature that must be killed. Once it tastes the flesh, it’ll consider humans as prey, and people won’t allow it to live. However, if a farmer kills a deer to feed his family, why is he considered a hard worker who is a benefit to the world? I imagine the deer isn’t very happy.”
This….
“If a human slaughters millions of demons, the humans will regard him as a hero, but demons will label him as evil.” The demon’s eyes seemed to glow with a strange light. “You asked me if I regarded my actions as evil, and I said no. I don’t believe in good and evil. To me, good and evil is a concept created by a group of individuals to enforce their ideas onto another population. The innocent don’t want to be slaughtered by the strong, so they say slaughtering the innocent is evil, hoping to convince a few of the strong to stand by their side. As a nonhuman, why should I follow human concepts of morality?”
I don’t think I’ve thought as deeply into the concepts of good and evil compared to the demon, but what she’s saying can’t be true. To deny the whole concept of right and wrong? “What Bloodmoon did to my family, you don’t think that was an act of evil?”
The demon blinked before uncrossing her arms. A gust of wind enveloped the teapot and lifted it into the air. Another gust of wind circled around the teacup, sending it into her waiting hand. She poured herself a cup of tea and sipped it before smacking her lips once. “Let’s say there’s a fox.”
A fox? Where is she going with this?
“And let’s say you own a chicken coop. One night, you’re fast asleep. The fox sneaks into your chicken coop, eats all the chickens, and leaves. Would you think the fox is evil, or would you think the fox is just doing what it was born to do?”
Unbelievable. “Are you really comparing Bloodmoon to a fox and my family to a coop of chickens?”
“Yes. Humans are born with an insatiable greed and lust for power.” The demon took another sip of tea. “Anyone who had the same methods of increasing their strength as Bloodmoon would do the same thing in his position. It’s in their nature.”
“I wouldn’t.”
“You don’t know that.” The demon placed her teacup down on her chair’s armrest. “If you were born in Bloodmoon’s position, who knows what you would’ve become? You’ve already killed Kuang Feng, but you haven’t taken revenge on me for placing you into such a position. Why is that? Is it because Kuang Feng was evil? No, it’s because the guilt in your heart was squashed by your greed.”
“That’s—”
“I’m sure you’ll try to justify it by saying you needed the ten thousand contribution points. If you eventually got strong enough, you could avenge him or make it up to him somehow. However, justify it as you may, you took Kuang Feng’s life and received renumeration for it. You didn’t even try to turn it down. How are you going to deny your greed and lust for power?”
…I heard the humanoid beast called the demon a mind reader, but I never took her seriously. Could it be true? The demon hasn’t read my memories since the last time. How could she know what I’m thinking?