He turned back to the seven Sages, who simply stood there gazing at him with pious reverence.
It made him uncomfortable.
It was bad enough when regular people did it. But it was still more tolerable since the gap in power between him and the average person was astronomical, to say the least. He found it more understandable and simply shrugged it away.
However, when vaunted Martial Sages, the very peak of Martial Art for all practical reasons, prostrated before him, he felt deeply uncomfortable because he didn't believe that he was worthy of such reverence of them, of all people. Regardless, he put his emotions in the back pocket and recognized the rit of this strategy. It was unlikely that any material offer could move the religious nuts who sought to dedicate all their power to finding the Antithesis.
"Then, I just need to give them the Antithesis…" he realized.
Or at least pretend to give them the Antithesis.
Regardless, with that strategy in mind, his attention returned to the seven Sages who stood before him. "Tell ," he began. "What would it take to prove that I'm that Antithesis to the remaining nine Sages of the Virodhabhasa Theocracy?"
He didn't care about other religious fellows who weren't Sages.
He just needed to get the other Sages to grow as reverent to him as the seven of them before him were.
The seven Sages exchanged glances.
"The largest reason that people are not inclined to accept the Divinity within you is because they believe that another is the Antithesis."
"Oh…?" Rui's eyes lit up with interest. "And just who might that be?"
"There are many Antithesis seeds. However, the three most popular Antithesis are the Master Realm, and they are the Mindbreaker, the Worldfolder, and…"
They stirred.
"…the Anti-Life."
"Hmmmmm…" Rui fell into thought into the matter. "So…"
His gaze shifted back to them while a dangerous light entered his eyes.
"If I kill all three of them, that will stop, correct?"
The seven Sages regarded him with a hint of approval.
"Yes, Your Divinity."
Rui fell into thought as he pondered the matter.
"This is my version of the trolley problem, I suppose."
The Virodhabhasa Theocracy needed to partake in the Solution of Harmony that his father had created. Without it, it would cause a chain reaction of other nations also ceasing participation, starting with the Nest of Terra.
And if the Solution of Harmony was not implented, then half of humanity would perish in the battles between the high-grade and peak Sages and the quasi-Transcendent beasts and monsters.
On the other hand, were the lives of three Martial Masters.
If they didn't die, Rui wouldn't be able to unify the Virodhabhasa Theocracy and order them to go to the Beast Domain as a part of the Solution of Harmony. If he did let them live, then it's unlikely that any thod will get them to yield and partake in the solution.
"Alright, just, uh, point to where they are and…" A hint of bloodlust entered his eyes. "…I will make it as painless as possible."
He was not a saint.
He had long, long moved past the stage of considering killing wrong. That wasn't to say he found it to be desirable or pleasurable, certainly not. But he had long accepted that collateral damage was part of being a Martial Artist.
More importantly, all Martial Artists knew that the risk of death at the hands of another Martial Artist was high. Past the Apprentice Realm, a natural death was unheard of.
An overwhelming majority of Martial Artist deaths were homicide.
So, if anybody still chose to pursue Martial Art, that ant that they understood that there was a good chance they would die at the hands of another and that they would be fighting against other Martial Artists who were trying to kill them. Thus, he interpreted it as an implicit consent to all the hazards that ca with being a Martial Artist.
Including being killed by Rui to protect the world. "Understood, Your Divinity. We shall guide you to the three of them right away. However, for now, would you like to indulge in the parade that we have prepared for you?"
"…" his head tilted. "What?"
Suddenly, the gates flew wide open in its entirety as the boisterous roar and applause of a crowd erupted from within the nation.
"LORD VIRODHABHASA!"
"It's the Antithesis!"
"Welco back, Champion!"
"Welco back, Dawnbringer!"
The crowd swelled with energy and excitent even though they could barely see him from such a great distance. The citizens of the Virodhabhasa Theocracy were even more fanatic about him than the citizens of other nations!
The reason was that not only did they already revere him as the Antithesis after his ability to magically spread the gift of breakthroughs with his divine power had beco public knowledge, but the Beggar Sect's propaganda overlapped on top of their existing beliefs.
Together, they caused blind devotion, which was unprecedented even amid Rui's experiences of journeying throughout human civilization.
"You guys arranged a freaking event?!" Rui pald his face. "How am I supposed to discreetly kill the other three Master-level seeds when my arrival has sparked such an enormous upheaval? Ugh… I will need to co up with a new plan."
"Forgive us for our foolishness, Your Divinity. We will punish ourselves with harming the goal of our deity with death upon ourselves!"
"Stop!" Rui gasped as he barely managed to halt their suicidal death blow. "No self-punishnt, got it?"
"Understood, Lord Virodhabhasa."
"Also, call Rui."
"…"
"Ah, forget it." Rui heaved a sigh.
"Uh… Rui?" Amare's uncomfortable voice reached him. "I don't quite understand what is happening…"
The air grew a little tense as she gazed at him with confusion.
He felt a tad guilty.
Even though he was under no obligation to share such private matters with other people, her discomfort made him feel unhappy.
"Ah…" he scratched his head. "Well, I should have told you before. It's a bit of a long story. Why don't I explain it while we head inside the nation? We've been standing outside the port of entry for a while. But, basically, here's how it goes…"
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