Limitless The Strongest Revenant

'Hmm. Such wisdom. It is true, the ones who stand victorious at a battle's end are the ones who decide what is passed on. Even those who are just and true. Then is Beloved's assumption correct? That IRIS is not our ally? Then are Trinity not our enemies? This is all too confusing.'

'Well fuck. This is starting to feel terrifying. Lilly's bias to IRIS is understandable; she has been dead the longest. Honey's words aside. There have been a lot of questionable shit IRIS does on a regular basis. No one contests their words, but it's still shady as fuck.'

Bella was right. For one, making the world a worse place all to breed better reapers sounds right. But in reality, it wasn't. It spread malice. IRIS had access to all the Revenants of all seven battlefronts. Why didn't they try to unite them to combat the undead?

Rather than unite, the world all but divided even further. There was currently no continent that did not have a ton of depressing crap in its countries. They might as well be malice factories at this point.

'Ara, then let me play devil's advocate. Let's say that is the case, and IRIS is evil. Why would they purposely vilify the Renegades? I can only think of one reason: Anata, the choice Abel and Hiro discussed at the end of the recording. What if IRIS already knows what it is?'

'I see. That is true. As Husband is an artificial Successor, he would be best groomed to take the path IRIS desires. Assuming there are only two choices, and one of them harms IRIS, it would explain their actions. IRIS wants to ensure Husband stays a Paragon.'

At Jas's words, the many, many Isekai stories I have read came to me.

In those tales, the heroes were brainwashed by the country that summoned them to fight their enemies. There was more than one story that showed the heroes of rival kingdoms had to kill each other out of duty. They had to fight because they didn't know any better.

'We still do not know enough at this point, my kindred. Please keep an open mind; only do not trust even your squads. At the moment, only the eight of us know everything. Please be careful and keep your eyes peeled. I do not want surprises.'

'Yes, my lord!' x7

When our discussion ended, I asked Exa for a summary before I took back my body.

[Zanele just mentioned what happened to Bashir and Zuri. According to her, the main problem with the legacies of the Sins was progress. Meaning there was no guarantee that each Successor would finish his journey at the same time. This led to harsh outcomes.]

'Such as?'

[The Successors started to hunt each other before the bouts even began. Kidnapping, raping or killing the Sins to deny the Successor his legacy. Ambushing them while they recover during the periods of Envy, Sloth, or Lust.]

Well, that got dark real quick. As much as I wanted to say that it was impossible, I couldn't. With a person like Pixie, Van, or Jas, it was possible to identify the Sins before meeting the Successor. All you needed was the right {Fate}.

'What happens when the Sins die before they sleep with the Successor?'

[According to Zanele, the legacy is passed. Should a Sin fail to deliver her legacy, it is given to another woman for another attempt. Zanele mentioned that it was a common tactic in the bouts. Especially during the period of Envy when the Successor is at their weakest.]

'I see, anything else?'

[I, too, have noticed, as you did, that Zanele prefers Paragons like Zuri. She highlighted repeatedly that the Renegades like Bashir were hunted like dogs. And that not one of them managed to be the last one in the end.]

[She also noted that the fights remained secret for one reason. The Paragons ensured they would fight in areas where no lives could be lost. Renegades somehow also agreed to it and always followed them without fail.]

'Any mention of what the final choice is?'

[None.]

'Got it. Thanks, Exa. [I have control].'

Saying the exit keyword for [Dual Pilot] I regained control of my body. Zanele was using Nandi's tears to punctuate a story about Bashir's death.

"Zanele," I interjected.

"Yes?"

Cut off mid-sentence, Zanele looked at me in confusion.

"The choice that Abel and Hiro spoke about in the recording. What is it?"

"I apologize, Successor, but I have no idea. The powers the Successors wielded were quite significant. It was hard not to get caught as collateral when two of them fought. But of those we saw end, the final Successor would always go to a place we could not follow."

"What? How can you not follow them? Where did they even go? The Bermuda Triangle or something?"

Zanele paused for a moment before looking at Liv.

"They went to the North, Successor. The one who won the bouts always headed to Antarctica. And as the undead that surrounded that place were too many, we had no choice but to break away."

"…"

The girls and I all looked at Liv. As someone who lives in the North, she should know the situation. But rather than a nod of agreement, Liv had a face full of surprise.

'Beloved. I swear to you on my honor as your woman. I have never seen or heard of Successors even coming to my home. If they all did go there, at least one of the Northerners would have reported them.'

'I believe you, Liv. As powerful as the Successors are, they would have affected the situation in some way,' I replied.

"What happened next, Nelle?"

"We don't know for sure, Lady Rhiannon. We believe that they must have died as the cycle of Successors rising from the Formless has yet to cease. IRIS has even tried to help the Paragons by acting as their agents. Of course, Trinity did the same for the Renegades."

'And there it is.'

Even among the Successors' bouts, IRIS and Trinity supported the opposite ones. That would mean even Trinity would try to breed their own Successors. But they would condition them to all be Renegades and try to hinder Paragons.

Well, fuck. These Successor bouts, like all of humanity's wars, were a proxy war for those behind the scenes. Just like the Allies and the Axis powers did in WWII. It made me wonder what choice the Successors have to make.

"Each cycle follows the same pattern. There have been times when the Reapers who are aware of the Successors try to aid the one they prefer. This inclination sometimes even included Revenants," Zanele continued.

"Surely the Revenants were the deciding factor? If the Renegades wished to destroy the world, why did they have to go to the North first? Why not just start the destruction from their home continent?"

Bella's question was loaded. It showed that Zanele's words contradicted the Successors' actions. If the Renegades wanted to end the world, they wouldn't need to fight the Paragons. There was no reason to go to such a remote place as Antarctica. It couldn't be to avoid casualties.

'Unless there was something there, something in the North that could destroy the world. The Renegades would go to the North to activate it. And the Paragons would go there to destroy it. Like the classic doomsday weapon used in superhero stories…'

'{The Heart of the North}!' Liv's cry caught me off guard.

I could only grimace at my woman's reaction. I felt one emotion from her link.

Terror. Whatever this heart was, shit was about to get real.