The Burden of Corruption
Ozyth's consciousness was vast, ancient, and utterly consumed by regret—not for his victims, but for his own damnation. He was not born of the pit, but a Fallen Angel. His descent was not part of a glorious rebellion, but a profound, selfish sin committed in the celestial sphere—an irreversible act that had ruptured Heaven's order and dragged a host of other angels down with him. The shame of his corrupted light was his eternal punishment.
Once in the abyss, his form was quickly consumed and reshaped. All Sigils were bound by a shared, torturous reality: the Storage of Sins, the cumulative malice of humanity, didn't just fuel Hell; it was a spiritual poison that actively damaged and corrupted their eternal forms. To exist near it was agony.
Ozyth (Internal Memory): The light is polluted. The grace is gone. The human filth poisons us.
He found temporary purpose when he was sought out by one of the absolute rulers of the abyss: the 3rd Sigil—an entity of immense, cold intellect.
The 3rd Sigil (Memory Echo, voice like grinding ice): Your original light, Ozyth, makes you a suitable vessel. The old Eighth fell. You will take his place. You will become the Sentinel of the Halo. You will manage the flow.
Ozyth realized the terrible truth: The Judgment System wasn't a punishment for humans; it was a mechanism the Sigils used to manage their own pain and corruption. By forcing the system to maintain cycles of conflict and reset, they kept the Storage of Sins at a manageable level, slowing the rate at which their own essence was destroyed by the collective malice of humanity.
He became the 8th Sigil—a necessary tyrant. His cruelty was genuine—a brutal, scornful disdain for the human insects whose sins were slowly eating away at his eternal life. His job was to maintain the terror, to manage the reservoir, and to ensure his own corrupted survival.
Ozyth realized Kairo's swift, clean action was a direct, impossible threat to the necessary control the Sigils maintained over the corrosive Sin Storage. Ozyth's final whisper, "Why you, Kairo?"
EXT. WESTERN RIDGE – HELL (Present)
The cold, cruel logic of the abyss slammed into Cassian's consciousness. Ozyth was a tyrant, a monster of pride and self-preservation, forced into his role by his own sin and the poisoning influence of humanity.
A thunderous crack ripped through the ground, forcing Cassian back to the present. The domain was collapsing.
Kairo Veyra moved quickly, sheathing his katana and kneeling beside her. His smile was serene, the perfect posture of the champion.
Kairo: The Sigil is destroyed, Cassian. A moment more, and the dimension would have consumed you. You fought with fury, 6th Herald—a victory that will inspire the others.
He gently, professionally, scooped up her broken body, moving with silent, terrifying ease. Cassian, paralyzed, could only stare at her unexpected savior.
Kairo Veyra, the Rank #1, rescued the defeated 6th Herald of Crimson from the collapsing dimension.
To be continued...