BE EVIL, DO GOOD

The pleasant smell woke Joseph Malus up. Slowly, his eyelids opened like blooming flowers at the start of spring. He looked at the ceiling. He did not recognize it. Where am I, he wondered.

Since he won't find the answer staring at the ceiling, slowly his old bony body got up from the bed. As soon as he stood up, a wave of coldness swept him up. He could feel the icy stabbing to his core.

He looked around for his clothes, any clothes, but there wasn't any. Reluctantly, he took the thick fluffy blanket, and wrapped it around him. Feeling a bit more comfortable, he walked to the door, pushed it open, and exited the bedroom.

"Oh hey, good evening Joseph. Or, should we say, good evening, your highness?" The lady in red greeted him with a mischievous smile on her lips.

"You are such a tease Pecca." The lady in white, sitting beside the red lady in front of the fire, laughed. "Besides, he's not the king anymore. He's already dead."

Oh right, he chuckled. I'm supposed to be dead.

Apparently, Joseph's chuckling made the two ladies a bit..anxious. "You…you okay there?" The white lady asked.

"Huh? Oh, hehe, I dunno. I'm…fine I guess. A bit disoriented, confused. And…maybeee…I don't feel…dead. You know?"

Hearing that response, both of the ladies burst out laughing. Joseph felt slightly annoyed. Like he was being made fun of. But, yeah, he agreed. For someone who'd just being told that he's dead, his reaction is a bit tame. A bit nonchalant.

The lady in red wiped tears in her eyes. "What did I say, Bonum. He's different from the rest of them right?"

"Hahaha, he sure is Pecca. For the infamous Dark King of Denua, he was too cute." Both of them continued laughing.

Joseph had to wait a while before he could say something to them. "Urm, I'm sorry. I hope this won't be considered rude or anything but…who are you?"

The ladies smiled as they looked at each other. The lady in white came and dragged Joseph to sit between them on the couch in front of the fire.

"I am an angel called Bonum." The lady in white cheerfully exclaimed.

"And I," the lady in red edged closer to whisper, "am a devil called Peccatum."

Joseph understood now. "So…where will I be going? Heaven? Or hell?" He remembered who he was. So he added. "I'll probably be going with Peccatum, right?"

"What?" Bonum produced a hurtful expression. "You don't want to come with me?"

"Well, as you said earlier, I am the Dark King of Denua. The main perpetrator of the vast crime network across the continent."

"Heh, you can fool the humans, but you can't fool us." Peccatum said. "I know evil. And you, your majesty, are not evil."

"Yeah. You do bad things, of course. But not evil. You're…a good guy who was forced to do bad things to protect his people."

"Hmm, that's very kind of you." A sad smile appeared on Joseph's face. "But I'm not a good person. I'm just a bad person, who sometimes does good things."

Bonum looked annoyed. "I don't get you Joseph. Why do you say that?"

"Urmmm…say what exactly?"

"That you're a bad person. Yet you always do good things. You took care of your people. Even the prostitutes at the brothels worked there on their own choice. You defended them with your life. Quite literally. You've given your all for your country. So why would you say you're a bad person? Right, Pecca?"

"Yeah, that is weird. Most people I delivered to hell, they always tried to convince me what a good person they are. And now here you are, a good person claiming he was bad. What's up with that?"

Joseph smiled as his gaze went deeper into the roaring fire. "I…I learned early on, that in the real world, it's hard for good people to do good things. Once the world knew that you're the good guy, they would stomp on your head."

"Ah, I see." Bonum and Pecca looked at each other and nodded.

"So I will be a bad person. I can be the evil in the world, as long as I use it to do good things. And other bad people will be too scared to even cross me and my people. On account of the bad person that is me."

"O…kayyyy. I get that." Bonum was adamant. "But still, doesn't mean that you're the bad guy. You had to do it, to do good things."

"Oh no, I never wanted to fool myself. I did not do those things because I had too. The end doesn't justify the means."

"Every person I kill, however bad they are, I kill because I want to. The money and goods I stole from rich assholes oppressing the people, I didn't do it for them. I do it for me."

"As for the prostitutes, well…I just manipulated them. Just because I upgraded their standard of living, doesn't mean I did not use them for sex. In the end, I'm just the same rich assholes taking advantage of the poor. Only that the people I used, I take better care than other rich assholes."

The two looked at each other smiling. "What did I say, Bonum. He's perfect, isn't he?"

"Yes Pecca, he will do nicely."

Joseph was a bit annoyed. To talk about him like he's not there, and being all cryptic like that, it was super irritating. "I'm sorry, are you talking about me? Perfect for what?"

"Hehe, we are gonna reincarnate you, Joseph. Into the future!"

Chapter 2

"The future, huh?"

Peccatum and Bonum looked at each other again, perplexed. "You don't like the future?" Bonum asked.

"Oh it's not that. I just...I ruined many lives in my time. I was glad there's someone there who stood up to bring my tyranny down. I'd hate to go and ruined her hard work."

Peccatum chuckled. "Oh you don't have to worry about that. The future is much worse."

"Wh-what?"

"Yeah. I mean, people lived fine I guess. But I think the bad guys of that area used your strategies. Keeping the people satisfied, placated. Only, they don't have your good intentions. They manipulate the people for wealth and power. The people are being oppressed without their own knowledge."

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Joseph sudden laughter shocked Peccatum and Bonum. "Wow, so I am responsible for the demise of generations after me as well huh? How 'great' of a person am I? You know Pecca, I think I deserved hell."

Pecca gently run her hand over Joseph's hair. "Hey, you're not that bad your majesty. You are not responsible for other people's actions. You used it for good. They used it for bad purposes. Good actions means that you are good people. Even if you did bad things too."

"Heh, and if I am resurrected? What then? Maybe I'll rebuilt my crime empire again. Maybe I'll be the Dark King of the Future, and ruined it even more."

Bonum chuckled. 'We're...kind of hoping you would."

"What? You want me to do bad things?"

"Well, to be more specific, we want you to do what you did in your time, in the future. At our time."

"What? Why? Things are bad enough as it is. You want to mix in chaos in there as well?"

Bonum suddenly stood up. "And what's wrong with chaos? Chaos is just an event in nature. Earthquake may be bad, but it created islands. Snow is bad, but it's beautiful. Chaos is just the happenings that happen naturally. You just chose to look at the bad things you did, not the good that came from it."

"Heh, so I'm chaos huh?" Joseph chuckled. "Not a bad name that? Maybe my parents could name me that?"

Peccatum's smile got excited. "Oh, we could arrange that. So, would you do it?"

"Well, I can't say no after Bonum gave that beautiful speech." Bonum slowly sat down, and just looked at the fire. Her cheek was flushed red. "I still don't get why though. I mean, can't you just take the people at your time?Why come for me?"

"It's kind of a long story, you know." Peccatum said.

"Oh yeah, and I am super busy. I have to go to weddings after this, the Meeting of the Kings, I got to go and slay some dragons too. I don't have...OWWW!"

Bonum and Peccatum both smacked Joseph on the head. He just gave them that boyish grin as he rubbed his head.

"Fine, we'll tell you."

Chapter 3

A long, long time ago, Kronus divided itself into two separate entities. Namely Deus and Lucifer. Good and evil. God, and the devil. Two sides of the same coin.

Lucifer possessed Kronus's strength. Even now, eons after the first creation, nothing existing across the history of existence could be on par with Lucifer when it came to her strength. Sadly, she also possessed Kronus's pride. Being the strongest, we could see why she was prideful.

On the other side, there's Deus. The smart one. Deus inherited Kronus's high intellect. Everything born or happened in the world, would be as per the grand design of Deus.

Everything was perfect. Everything was by design. And the entire system ran smooth, undisturbed like a waterfall. Deus would plan, and Lucifer would execute. Together, they created Heaven and Hell.

Let me be clear. Humans have got it wrong about heaven and hell. Heaven is a home, hell is a workplace. A smithing facility. Sinful humans go to hell to work their sins off. That's just it.

Anyway, trouble started when they decided on their next great big thing to build. The universe. Your universe. And to do that they need extra help. And so they build one.

Lucifer created the demon race. They don't need to look pretty, they just need to be functional and extra tough. Demons are made from one of the hottest fires in Hell, hence the maroon skin. They have horns to break down minerals into workable chunks and strong goat legs to help carry the load.

Deus created the angel race. Now, if the demon race was the contractor, the angel race was basically a bunch of architects and interior designers. But for the entire world. Deus took time creating the angels to perfect precision, because everything has to be perfect.

The angels, craving perfection, were devoid of emotions. The demons, strong blaze of fire inside, were full of them.

Before long, the two races started butting heads. Between complete freedom and addiction to order. Thus, humans were created.

I'm sorry to tell you this Joseph, but humans were created by Deus and Lucifer just to settle a bet. Which side was correct. The angels or the demons? That's it.

Anyway, moving on, so humans were the last to be created. After the big explosion, the stars and the planets(you'll learn about all of this in the future), the flora and fauna, then humans.

That's why humans were unique. The existence of humans is a culmination of bits and pieces of other creations. With the mind of an angel, and the heart of a demon. Humans could go either way.

So the race kicks off. At first, it was the angels' turn. The humans were made slaves to nature. They are told to protect it, to nurture it, to ensure the beautiful greenery is preserved, even if at the cost of their own lives. The discipline and the tight reins built great civilizations protecting and protected by nature. This, was the time of servitude.

Then, it was the demons' turn. And with that, kicks in the journey towards the Industrial Revolution. The factories, the steam engines, the war and pillaging, the desire to expand one's own empire. Earth began to change shape. Bending to the will of humankind. It was a time of highs and lows, evidence of human greatness.

Which comes to the now. Or at least, the now that we're about to send you to, Joseph. The end is upon us. The Great War, between the angels and demons will be fought by the humans. You, all of you, would be the swords and arrows that they will used against each other.

Go forth Joseph. Go to the future, save mankind. Recreate your underground empire. Be evil, and do good. Because everybody kept saying the right thing. And nobody actually did the right thing.