The words lingered, heavy in their neutrality.
[The Successor simply did not embody those paths.]
Kaiden's brow creased.
[The Successor's heart was not fully in them.]
[He did not believe in rushing at the cost of thought.]
[He did not believe in endless consumption at the cost of self.]
A pause followed, longer than usual.
[The Heavenly Demon theorized that these trials respond to alignment.]
That earned a quiet huff from Kaiden. "Alignment," he echoed. "So if I'd truly believed in becoming a walking vacuum cleaner being the right path forward…"
[Then Gluttony would have accepted the Successor as such. Granted the Bottomless One fell, defeated by the Successor's choice. One must prove the correctness of their answer.]
The certainty wavered there.
[At least… that is the hypothesis.]
Kaiden's eyes narrowed a fraction. "You're not sure."
Another pause.
[Correct.]
[Even the Heavenly Demon could only make educated guesses.]
[These constructs predate his ascent.]
