NOVPUBHeroic sacrifices were often a common trope in anime and manga. It was the purest expression of love and the noblest of causes. Of course, beyond the act, its result is just as important. The death of a person only matters if it achieves something.
This was why, despite the millions that die in wars, only a chosen few get remembered. A good example is the 300 Spartans of Thermopylae. There were others with them. And there were others that died; yet only they were remembered as legends.
Simply dying by itself held no meaning. It was only when your death had purpose that it had the power to make others move. And sadly, that was not the case for the Sons of Africa. That was clear to everyone present. Their noble acts were maligned and wasted.
All to a bunch of sons of bitches that feasted on their rotting corpses. And if that was not bad enough, the ones that died were born out of sacrifice as well. Africa's excuse for not aiding its humans was to breed stronger reapers.
Bella changed the slides. They now showed numbers that proved the continent's might. The same one we were about to throw into chaos.
"Africa has over 600 Specters. Though only about half of them can still be confirmed alive. The others have all gone into hiding. Of the 300 still active, 200 have fixed posts on Africa's floors. The other 50 are a mobile force for floor breaks."
Hearing the insane numbers Bella spoke about made me gulp in nervousness. This probably was the reason why no one could intimidate Africa into doing anything. They had 50 fucking Specters just for floor breaks. With 2 fucking hundred defending.
'No wonder, nothing Asia did ever mattered. Africa had the muscle to handle it. And that was even without their Revenant in the mix. But again, where the fuck is Hannibal?'
"The last batch is separated into groups of ten. Four of the groups protect the continent, with the final group protecting the royal harem. The heart of the continent is where the Immortal and his kindred reside: Ethiopia."
Ethiopia? Wasn't that where we already were? I looked up the country using {Connect}. Its capital, Addis Ababa, looked like a well-developed city not too far from an American city. Most people similar to me would connect Africa with starving kids and straw huts.
It was enlightening to see that some parts of Africa were already developed. Which made the idea that some parts of their land remained stuck in abject poverty all the more depressing.
"I will now share the main purpose of this operation. We will call it Operation Shattered Silence. Our goal is threefold. We aim to completely destroy the Onye Faction. We want to get Honey and the Awakened to meet His Majesty, the Immortal. Then, we will create a power vacuum for Amari.
"Of the current 77 princes, Hell's Eden will terminate 27 of them. We will force the 19 princes who belong to the conservative and reformist factions into a civil war. Amari will be left to win the 15 princes who are neutral. Five already stand with you. Ten are children."
A figure raised his hand among the princes. It was Olamide.
"Lady Bella, how do you intend to force the two factions?"
The one to explain was Jo. Excited, she ran up to Bella and jumped up and down.
"Oh! That's easy! Of the 19 princes, four of them are close to their half-siblings. We will simply butcher the people they love and leave evidence of it being done by the other faction! Simple! Leave it to us; I have a talent for this sort of thing!"
Jo puffed out her chest in pride and made a smug expression. Yet the things she spoke about were borderline cruel. This was the sort of stuff that villains did. Though, considering the end goal, debating morals at this point was moot.
After Robyn's demonstration, hardly anyone else raised a voice of complaint. The information shown earlier meant that this family was part of those Onye nurtured. Thus, while they may have done nothing wrong, that did not excuse them of their sins.
'Hmm, the sins of the father and son, huh?'
It was one of the moral debates that had plagued the world for centuries. If a vile, evil dictator had a kind, loving daughter, should we blame her for his crimes, ignoring her knowledge or involvement?
The benevolent thing to do would be to pardon her. But history was not so kind. Both in the East and West, annihilating bloodlines was the norm. By a single person's mistake, entire lineages died. The mistake didn't even have to be grave.
'Sigh, humans were truly evil bastards.'
I noticed how the entire room felt gloomy. It was understandable. Most of the things in life were never so easy to define in clear good and evil boxes. But it would often devolve into a moral dilemma of the needs of the many over the few.
In the silence, a clear and beautiful voice rang out.
"Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent. You all think it's cruel to kill these people, yet why do you remain silent on everything else? Onye's actions cause numerous families to suffer. What about the humans who die every day? Do none of them matter?"
Lilly's argument was sound. Even as ignorant as I was about most things, I had heard of that quote. Said by Adam Smith; this concept was the driving argument for the death penalty. Although the rationale has many flaws about culpability, duress, and tyranny.
"The only difference here is power. Onye and his lackeys had power over the martyred princes. And we have power over the half-siblings of these African princes. There is no room for morality or ethics here. Hell's Eden needs Africa back on its feet.
"If sacrificing the lives of these children is the way to do that, then expect no mercy from us. And in case you plan to use some misguided sense of naive moral superiority, don't. Just continue to stand by. Soon, all you love shall die to the swine who lord above you!" my princess roared in anger.
My American princess had a strong sense of duty. But she also understood that the world was not black and white. Even back then, she already shared that the life of Reapers boiled down to picking the lesser evil from a list of bad choices.
"It is very easy to stand on the moral high ground and blame the reapers and IRIS for being cruel to humans. But there is no easy answer. And only those who can kill a hundred to save a thousand get an opinion. Bystanders have no right to comment."
'Seeing the African princes' pointless sacrifice must have affected Lilly,' I concluded.
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Reapers of Africa, know that by choosing to do nothing, you are in fact making a choice. Amari-san, Shujin promises to give you and Zanele-san a chance. A single chance.
"A large power vacuum will appear after Hell's Eden acts. It will be up to you to capitalize on it. Once Shujin fulfills his objective, our forces will leave. What happens afterward will be up to you Africans to decide. For the sake of Africa, I implore you to act," Aki added.
The girls waited for Amari's group to respond. None of them did. Even Zanele and the other princes had downcast expressions. If anyone doubted or complained about what was to come, my girls statements silenced them.
'Logical ones, at least. Only white knights would be able to keep saying we should find a different way.'
Bella fixed her glasses and proceeded with her explanations. The slides being shown changed once again. They began listing the positions and habits of each prince. What they ate, where they went, even who they called, it was all there.
