'Sigh. Calm down. Nothing is final yet. Zuri lived over a hundred years ago. While it is true that that ans the ti left is even shorter, let's think about it for a second.'
The Successors for all their efforts, never really stood out. If all of them were Formless and had been powerful sons of bitches, that would not be the case. Despite seven of them appearing from each continent every 60 years, they couldn't change the situation.
If the only thing keeping the serpent locked is the lack of malice, they can't be expected to do much about it. It was like those people who kept guessing how long until the world ran out of gas. It was at best an estimate.
'So long as nothing changed, the estimate would eventually co true. But that's where I co in.'
Unlike the previous Successors, I was causing changes to the whole world. The impacts of the Vampire conspiracy failing should be a big deal. And once we cleanse Hannibal, that has to fucking buy us so ti, right?
And clearing Antarctica? That would be the biggest fuck you I could give this snake bastard. If he needed the world to drown in malice, then I would do everything to stop that. I would scrape together every Reaper and Reborn I can to reduce the malice!
I then felt a gentle press on my hands. It was Jo. She looked at , concerned. I looked around and noticed that the entire room was in a similar state. Bella, who was beside , caressed my face as she anxiously asked.
"Honey, how do you know about the World Serpents?"
It didn't take a genius to understand why the girls were all showing faces of concern. The discussion was about the legacy of Envy and its effects on the Successors. And I sohow knew the answer that even IRIS only found after decoding Zuri's notes.
"I…"
I was about to explain, but then I stopped. Zuri, for his closeness to Zinhle, never revealed everything. Every other Successor that ca before followed suit. They weren't stupid. And, despite their results, the Successors must have had reasons for staying quiet.
"I cannot say. More like I do not know what I know. For our safety, I want everyone to stay out of the world serpent topic. Zanele, I will fully work with IRIS and share what I learn from the legacies once I claim them. For now, please move on to the Sin of Sloth."
The Sirens all began asking questions through our Kindred link. But I didn't want to put them at risk by mistake until I was sure. Thus, I answered with only two words.
'Trust .'
At that simple request, the girls had varying responses. But they all nodded and complied. It was unfair of to ask this of them, but like devoted spouses, my girls said no more.
"Okay, apart from the paranoia that ca with the Sin of Envy, most of them began investigating that matter."
"Ho? So, it wasn't just Zuri?" I asked.
"No Successor. Each of your brothers investigated sothing different. But they all had connections to 'that' specific topic. I am unsure of its importance, but after eting the Sins of Envy, they all gravitated to that subject."
"I see. Then please continue."
"Now the next three sins are special. I already ntioned Lust and Gluttony, but Sloth is as well, for different reasons than the other two. As the Successor's power grows, paranoia grips all. They eventually et the Sin of Sloth. And she nds well with his paranoia."
"Huh? What the hell does that an?" Bella snapped.
"Put bluntly, the Sins of Sloth are cold and calculating. They are the only Siren that you can't consider under the curse of affection. In simpler words, they co to the Successor not out of attraction but out of interest."
"Interest?"
"Yes. The Sins of Sloth are by far the most intelligent in their groups. Saraswati was Luciano's Sin of Sloth. Like her, the others played along with the Successors to learn about their legacies. At least, that was how it looked to IRIS."
Bella then took my right hand and pressed it to the middle of her chest.
"Hmph! Then they're lying! I am head over heels for this man! They must just be hiding it."
Zanele nodded and didn't oppose Bella's viewpoint.
"That may be true. But the Sins of the Sloth can always win the Successors' affection, no matter why they ca together. This is when the Successors kill their closest friends out of paranoia. A feat amazing in itself."
Agreed. Maybe that is why the Sins of Sloth pretended to be cold. As that was the only way to get into the defenses of the high-strung Successors. At this realization, I squeezed Bella's hand, brought it to my lips, and kissed it.
'Mrs. Code. Do not worry; I never doubted you. Not for one second.'
Bella said nothing but continued to embrace my arm. Her cheeks flushed red as she tried to remain nonchalant.
"This is where the legacies take an interesting turn. After reclaiming the legacy of Sloth, the Successors all get better. Whatever trauma the legacy of Envy gave them only gets healed by the Sins of Sloth. However, as we ntioned earlier, there is another change."
"The Successors all begin to disband the armies they created," I declared.
Zanele nodded before proceeding, "That is correct. For so reason, despite the Successors' ntal recovery, they all chose to do the sa action. To disband their powerful armies. For this, I will let Nandi and Zinhle explain further."
We all then turned to Nandi. She got nervous at our silent gazes, audibly gulped, and began to speak in a hoarse voice.
"After sleeping with the Sin of Sloth, I saw Bashir fight and kill her the next morning. After he did, he embraced her body tightly and made her a grave. During this period, he also began to weep for the close friends he had killed. I guessed that he only understood his grave mistake.
"Bashir then sang and danced to the dead. As he took the ti to mourn. Truthfully, I think it was his guilt that caused him to disband the army. And it made sense at the ti as his sudden rise in power was sothing the rest of us couldn't keep up with."
Zinhle continued as her friend ended.
"Zuri was the sa. The next morning, his Sin of Sloth challenged him to a duel. He then killed her in a painless manner. He thanked the Sin and spent an entire morning just mourning her corpse. After he buried the Sin of Sloth, he ca to .
"In tears, he thanked for my help and that this was where we parted ways. When I said I would follow even just as his maid, he refused. Without warning, much like the other Successors, Zuri also disbanded our group. From then on, he would fight alone."
Zanele then took over after both the observers finished their accounts.
"From this point on, the Successors no longer tied themselves to a group, country, or race. They moved like free spirits. It took a lot of effort for IRIS to continue following them, but we were sohow able to, at least for both Bashir and Zuri.
"The stark contrast from the once charismatic leader to a loner was unbelievable. Yet, as those who followed their steps, we saw it happen. We could not understand the actions of the Successors by then. They would randomly go to places, hunt, then move again."
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