Rhode thought of the previous events, his eyes narrowing with pleasure.
"Was his name Charnis? That guy who was still dreaming of expanding his Familia when I arrived."
"When I drew my sword, he was still shouting things like, 'This Familia is mine, don't even think about destroying my kingdom!'"
"But after I cut off his legs and broke his fingers one by one, he cried and claimed everything was God Soma's instruction, and he knew nothing."
"A dog-eat-dog drama, truly never gets old~"
The god looked up at Rhode, questioning him as if from inner grief, and finally couldn't help but speak.
"Why… why are you doing this?"
Rhode tilted his head, asking in return.
"Are you asking why I came for revenge on the very day your Familia members offered me as a monster?"
"Or are you asking why I heard the innocent Lily's prayer for salvation and came to rescue her from hell?"
"Or are you asking why I, as a member of a righteous Familia, came to eradicate the evil Dark Faction that disrupts all of Orario?"
"Which question are you asking, can the great and omniscient God please clarify?"
"….."
Rendered speechless by a series of sarcastic and sharp retorts, Soma remained silent for a while.
He sighed deeply, looking at the drowsy Lily in Rhode's arms with a complex expression, then slowly spoke in a hoarse voice.
"Are you blaming me for letting them be… But what's the point of talking to those children who easily drown in alcohol…?"
"The children who drown in alcohol, their voices… are utterly shallow."
Soma didn't dislike people; rather, he was disappointed in them.
Initially, he only wanted to use his homemade fine wine as a reward, at a price they could afford.
But the children instead became addicted to the wine, even engaging in ugly struggles, framing other members, and the entire Familia gradually became a mess.
From then on, Soma gave up on mortals, who were foolish to a pathetic degree.
Rhode scoffed.
"Then what is the meaning of your existence?"
Soma's eyes widened. Rhode made no attempt to hide his disdain and contempt for him, displaying an expression of disgust.
"If humans were completely flawless saints, what would be the difference between them and gods? What would we need you for?"
"Claiming to be omniscient and omnipotent, yet you don't even know the inherent flaws of a creature like humanity. You are the ignorant one, aren't you?"
"You claim to like the unknown in humans, yet you lack the patience to guide that unknown towards righteousness. How dare you say you like humans?!"
"Even Loki, a notorious evil god in Heaven, is a hundred times stronger than a wicked god like you now!"
Riveria, who had arrived outside the room, heard Rod's sharp words and slowly lowered her right hand, which had been about to knock, a wry smile on her face.
Though it was a compliment to Loki…
She probably wouldn't want to hear that kind of praise from you…
Rod looked down at Soma from above.
"Besides, there are some who can withstand the Divine Wine."
"You expect things on your own, and then you break down on your own. Why don't you dare to let the strong members of the Loki Familia and the Freya Familia taste your so-called Divine Wine, and see if they will succumb?"
Soma wanted to say something, but ultimately just closed his mouth, hanging his head in shame.
"Let me tell you the answer directly: trash only attracts flies."
Rod delivered his cold conclusion, having lost all patience for further conversation with him.
"Soma, you are simply not worthy of attracting sufficiently excellent talent."
"You are the one who ignored human flaws and lured out their malevolence. You are the one who allowed Familia members to bully each other. You are the one who caused Familia members to corrupt all of Orario. You are the root of all tragedy in this entire Familia!"
"Your Familia paid the price for your wickedness. If you truly ever loved your children, then at least take responsibility in your final moments."
In a human body, Rod delivered a blasphemous judgment against a god.
But at this moment, even Riveria, hiding by the door, felt nothing was amiss.
After saying this, Rod completely lost interest in talking to Soma and turned to walk towards the door.
"If you're willing, when you return to Heaven, give Goddess Hestia a message for me. Just tell her I'm waiting for her in the Lower World. Of course, it doesn't matter if you don't deliver it."
Soma wore a bitter smile.
How can there be someone like you? You clearly want to force me to die, yet you still take it for granted that I should help you…
But at this moment, Soma couldn't feel any negative emotions towards Rod. Instead, he was grateful to Rod for enlightening him.
Otherwise, if he continued to wallow, who knows how much more harm he would have inflicted on the children.
In fact, given the sins he caused, it wouldn't be wrong to label him an evil god and directly exterminate him.
But just as Rod had said earlier, the only right thing Soma had ever done was probably feeding and caring for Lili for a period when she was a toddler.
It was precisely for this reason that Rod left him with a final shred of decency and dignity.
As his right hand rested on the doorknob, Rod suddenly thought of an even more disgusting god, and he chuckled mockingly.
"Oh, and your entire life after descending was a failure… Even in the thing you're best at, you're not as good as your colleague, are you?"
"That guy's wine doesn't just make mortals succumb; it can give birth to distortions that even gods cannot bear."
Soma, who had already been holding his head in regret due to Rod's irrefutable accusations, heard the last sentence and it completely shattered the last vestiges of his inner resolve and pride.
He heard Rod's final, somewhat horrifying remark, and his eyes widened as he struggled to get up, trying to stop Rod.
"Wait, are you talking about…?"
Rod, however, ignored him and pushed the door open without looking back. Soma stood there stunned, his hand outstretched, eventually watching the two figures, one large and one small, stagger a little, then drop his shoulders with a bitter smile.
"Ah, ah… I really made a mistake… I'm sorry, Lili…"
He closed his eyes in pain. After a while, he opened them and turned to look at the dagger steeped in wine on the floor, took a deep breath, and slowly walked towards it.