It could be said to be an ingenious plan. By the journey's end, the Successors will have seen the worst humanity could do. But they will also uncover its extraordinary beauty and brilliance. While they might have started naïve, the legacies would have granted them immense wisdom.
White knights were disparaged because they were far too ignorant. But the same can be said about anarchists who knew nothing but darkness. If a man grew up knowing nothing but hate, then of course he would wish for the end of the world.
But if he knew love? Then it became incredibly difficult. Ending the world eliminated the trash, that was true. But it also destroys the chance of kind-hearted people being born. Many anime and manga struggle with this same existential point.
Man was said to be like God not for his form or his intellect. It was because he had the power of choice. Within every human resided not only the potential to be the vilest demon but also the noblest hero.
The legacy of the Sins could be said to be the journey of men to learn the nature of humans in its entirety. In this final state, they lost their naivety. They saw the world for what it was and what it could become.
The Sins of Gluttony did not gorge themselves on food but on the malice of the world. They were a representation of the absolute worst of humanity. They could be treated as the world's way of talking to the Successor.
All of a sudden, the conversation that Abel and Hiro were having made sense.
[Give it up. You are not my match. Why didn't you follow lust or gluttony? That would make this so much easier to do. As a fellow Successor, you should know the burden we have been given.]
[Blegh! Haha, I was half tempted to join them. But you know as well as I do that I can't. It was why we were chosen. I refuse to trample over the wills of the many for selfish reasons. Until we fulfill them, the world itself hangs in the balance.]
Zanele said it before. The Successors were treated as heroes. And they bore the fate of the world. Now I finally had an understanding of the mettle needed to go on. Since we were up against the serpent, I knew why the Sins of Gluttony were necessary.
'Do you wish to save the world even when such evil fills it?'
If you consider the evil that the human race does on a daily basis, I can understand. In the US, it is normal for people to wish for asteroids to come and destroy the Earth. While it is done in jest, if you hear enough depressing stuff, many would actually want it.
Funnily enough, it was a common trope in anime and manga. A once noble hero would be trampled and betrayed. Upon finding his strength, he would then seek vengeance and kill everyone who wronged him. Revenge stories were just as, if not more, popular than Isekais. Sёarch* The NovelZone.fun website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
Put in that context, the Sins of Gluttony serve as a final check of sorts. They were the culmination of the legacy given to the Successors. They serve as a trial for the Successor. Only meant to test one thing.
'If they still believed Reapers and mankind were still worth fighting for.'
In the night that I fought with Aki, without {Replace} she would have really died. Maybe it was because of my {Fates} and {Insight}, but I feel like I now understand why. The Sins of Gluttony needed to die to show a Successor's mettle.
'It was how we proved that we were prepared for the hardship that is to come,' I murmured inwardly.
While the other Sins challenged the Successor to duels, we probably had the option to kill or spare them. It's just that if they spared the Sins, they just offed themselves anyway. The Sins of Gluttony must be the only ones that had to be killed if one wished to follow the path of righteousness.
If I did go through those doors. Would the Sirens all have died one after another just like the ones before us? The thought terrified me.
But after hearing about all the Sins, I now knew the purpose of the legacies. And why the Successors had to go through them.
"Aki?"
At my soft call, Aki froze in my arms. Chuckling, I gently grabbed her by the chin and gave her luscious lips a light kiss.
"Aki," I called again.
"Anata?" my Kamisan asked anxiously.
"Do you love me?"
In silence, she nodded her head frantically.
"Then that is all that matters. Whatever you might have schemed ended the day we dueled. I have nothing but love and affection for you. Are you the same?"
"Yes!"
Wordlessly, I kissed her lips once more. This time, long, passionate, and deep. When we parted, I spread my arms out to call on my Sins. My Sirens.
"My Kindred, come to me," I commanded.
Like devoted lovers, the girls didn't ask any questions nor say any words. They just came closer. I kissed the rest of them in the same way as Aki as I put the fears in my mind to rest.
My girls were all here. And they were all alive. We had averted the sacrifice necessary to deliver my legacy.
Olamide, Zanele, Nandi, and Zinhle said nothing but only waited. Not that I really cared what they did. After the girls and I reaffirmed each other's presence, I turned to Zanele and commanded.
"Tell me what happened to the Successors who claimed the legacy of Gluttony."
She nodded and took a deep breath before continuing.
"Like the other Sins, the Successors change again after receiving the legacy from the Sin of Gluttony. Whatever indecision they might have had disappears, and they begin to act. Only..."
Zanele looked to Nandi and Zinhle before she continued. Both women nodded as if expressing their permission to her.
"This is where the Successors begin to act differently. As said before, the Sins of Gluttony try to convince the Successors to destroy the world. There are those who refuse, but there are also those who agree. Those who do begin a crusade to destroy humanity."
While I predicted the outcome, it was certainly unsettling. As if that weren't enough, how could the Reapers stop a vengeful Successor bent on destroying the world?
"For the Successors that refuse, IRIS calls them Paragons. Those that accept the Sins request are called Renegades. The Sin of Gluttony's end is based on their Successor's choice. Paragons slay them. While they commit suicide if they create a Renegade."
Paragon and Renegade. The model of virtue and one who abandons an ideal. How apt. Funny how the same terms were used by a game I liked called Mass Effect. Paragons were those who saved the world through diplomacy. Renegades were those who did so through tyranny.
"Once the Successor makes his choice, he will join the bouts. It will be a battle of ideals between the Successors who successfully completed the legacies. There is commonly a Successor born from every continent. However, not all of them complete the legacies."
I see. The only thing that can defeat a Successor is another Successor. The bouts would then be between those who fight to save the world and those who fight to end it. Taking a cue from the game I liked, I began to understand.
'No, that was wrong. The Renegades must not mean to end humanity but rather save it in order to rule over it. This must be why the Sins and Successor system lets them join the bouts despite their questionable morals.'
At that point, Zanele stopped talking and looked at the women beside her. Only then did they speak.
"Bashir changed and became a Renegade."
"Zuri remained a Paragon."
I see. So even among those they followed, the Successors made different choices. The next parts of the tale would be how the Successors ended. And why they were able to achieve nothing. My body tensed up as I prepared myself to hear the conclusion to this story.