Although Erebus's original intention was to sacrifice himself and numerous heroes and strong individuals, even at the cost of countless people suffering for a lifetime, to force those who crossed the trials to become heroes. This was to overcome the Black Dragon that this world would inevitably face in the future.
In terms of results, he did help humanity.
After all, if he didn't do that, the world would most likely be destroyed.
But even so, Rhode did not condone such actions.
The dead becoming the strength of the living sounds beautiful, but in reality, it's just forcibly creating a trolley problem and then making a choice.
The outcome of the Great Contention was the creation of a few heroes under the deliberate guidance of a God, but the process caused the tragedy of countless commoners.
Are heroes born in such a way truly heroes?
If the Black Dragon crisis can be overcome like this, what about next time?
Continue to sacrifice one group of people to benefit another small group?
Rhode had little interest in becoming a hero of the world.
He simply didn't want himself or those around him to be pawns for anyone.
"Let's go...."
Rhode pulled Lyu and Lily, turning to leave, completely uninterested in Erebus's scheme.
Erebus, who was kneeling in disarray not far away, saw this and his eyes widened in astonishment.
Huh?
Hey, hey, hey.
A righteous Familia would actually ignore evil?
However, just then.
The system's voice suddenly rang in Rhode's mind.
[System update complete....]
[You can consume Wish Points to randomly anchor a world. That world will refresh one Wish every week.]
[Detected an A-rank Wish has been issued in the current world.]
[Content: Retrieve Erebus's wallet and answer his questions.]
[Reward: One of Erebus's abilities, and corresponding Wish Points.]
"?!!!"
A faint bolt of lightning erupted from Rhode's eyes. He backhanded and drew the wooden sword from Lyu's waist, disappearing from his spot with a "boom."
The robber slammed to a halt, frozen in place.
The blade of the wooden sword was inches from his neck.
Intimidated by the indifference in Rhode's eyes, the robber's head broke out in cold sweat, his limbs went weak, and his teeth chattered uncontrollably. He didn't dare to move an inch, not even having the courage to breathe.
Rhode expressionlessly swung the wooden sword. The robber instinctively squinted, thinking he would meet his end, but instead, he only felt his hand lighten.
It turned out the wallet in his hand had been flicked away....
"Oh, oh, oh, so fast, thanks!"
Erebus, not far away, gleefully caught the wallet, while subtly observing Rhode with his eyes, seemingly wanting to see how Rhode would deal with the man.
The robber's legs gave out, and he collapsed weakly to the ground.
Rhode calmly looked down at him.
"Do you have anything to say in your defense?"
The robber was about to speak indignantly, but seeing Rhode's icy gaze, he instantly wilted, finally letting out a dejected, bitter laugh.
"...I have nothing to say. One must be punished for doing wrong."
Rhode was somewhat surprised internally.
Judging by his attire, this guy was not an adventurer, but merely a resident of Orario.
In the original plot, he would have ranted and raved, blaming Alise and her group for not expelling villains because he 'couldn't find a job' and 'Orario was unsafe everywhere,' even shamelessly claiming to be the victim.
Yet, in front of Rhode, he dared not utter such wild words.
Heh, he's quite pragmatic, knowing that if he dares to morally bind me, I certainly won't let him off lightly, huh...
This guy was originally supposed to be caught by A Di, who would pass by and enlighten him with her kind sense of justice, letting him go if he swore never to commit evil again.
Even after A Di's death, he reformed and stepped forward to shield Lyu from an attack.
So, he wasn't a complete villain.
However, even so, Rhode would still not adopt the same method as A Di.
"Law is law. It will not arbitrarily show favoritism due to anyone's personal feelings. How to punish you is not my duty; I will hand you over to Ganesha Familia later."
The robber slumped his shoulders weakly, offering no rebuttal.
"I'll obey, but if I don't steal money, I'll starve to death. I don't know what else to do...."
"Heh, do you know what your mistake was?"
"...I shouldn't have robbed other people's things."
"No, your mistake was doing it in front of me, and your head being full of mush."
"!!!"
"Vagrants, supporters, merchants, poets... there are countless relatively easier targets for you to choose from. Why did you have to rob a God in broad daylight on the main thoroughfare?"
The robber's eyes widened, seemingly unable to believe such words would come from Rhode's mouth, but then he suddenly came to a realization.
That's right!
Damn it, wouldn't it have been better for him to just find some Pallum to rob late at night?
Strange, why did he suddenly lose his mind and rob someone in broad daylight on the busiest main thoroughfare?
Lyu, who had come to her senses, ran to Rhode's side, trying to dissuade him, flustered.
"Rhode... isn't that a bit harsh?"
Rhode gestured with his eyes for her not to rush, then continued to speak to the robber, who was questioning his life.
"When you absolutely cannot survive without breaking the law, and your own life and your family's lives are at stake, of course, you can take emergency evasive action."
"Evil people who wantonly destroy prosper, while those who uphold order suffer from hunger and cold. Is such a thing righteous?"
"Those who casually harm others' lives are beasts, but those who don't even cherish their own family and themselves are worse than beasts!"
"Reflect on your weakness in prison. If you were stronger than me, none of today's suffering would exist. You could even be a righteous messenger like me, lecturing others and enjoying their adoration."
Rhode's sharp words plunged the somewhat noisy street into a deathly silence.
Is this guy really from Astrea Familia?
All the passersby looked over with such eyes, but when Rhode met their gaze, not a single person dared to meet his.
Bullying the weak and fearing the strong, how ridiculous.
Only those without morals will not be morally bound, and only then can they make absolutely correct choices.
Erebus's smile gradually stiffened. He frowned and couldn't help but question him.
"Young man... is this what you consider justice?!"
The turn of events was completely different from what he had imagined.
Shouldn't he be constantly questioning, analyzing, and stimulating the other party's inner self, forcing them to reveal their true nature with ridicule and sarcasm, and finally testing whether they were qualified to be a hero?
Instead... the other party was spouting such twisted logic in broad daylight, as if it were perfectly natural.
No, it was only twisted logic that humans verbally rejected, but in reality, secretly agreed with.
Even he couldn't refute it.
If this ideology of the other party spread throughout Orario, it would undoubtedly cause his plan to be stillborn from the very beginning!
Is it a coincidence or intentional?
The situation is about to spiral out of control.....