So Envy lost? I don't feel his dark soul anymore. Of course he would lose—he was weak. But Ryan is not going to win against me. I am Greed. The best of all the Sins."
A second, lighter voice, smooth as honey, chimed in. "Along with me, Lust. That 'nice girl' with the pink hair and pink eyes... a look that is not of this world."
"Lust," Greed rumbled. "You may handle Ryan first. Have your fun."
"Do as you wish," Lust purred. "But if you fail, I will cover your body in gold forever."
A shimmering golden staircase descended from the ceiling. Ryan looked at his own body—the cuts and injuries from his battle with Envy were completely healed. He didn't understand how, but he suspected it was the final, accepting gift of the Sin he had embraced.
He ascended.
The second floor of the tower was a monument to avarice. Every surface—walls, floor, furnishings—was wrought from solid, gleaming gold. It was the room of a king whose only god was wealth.
"This is just the kind of room I would want for myself," Ryan muttered. "A room of gold. Greed must be here."
A voice, soft and trembling, called from a gilded archway. "Ryan? Ryan, is that you?"
A girl stepped from the shadows. She wore simple villager's clothes, her hair a cascade of yellow, her eyes a familiar, gentle blue.
"Rokea?" Ryan breathed, his heart lurching.
"Ryan! It's you!" she cried, rushing forward. "I was so afraid!" She threw her arms around him in a desperate hug.
Ryan's instincts screamed. He pushed her back, holding her at arm's length. "You are an illusion. Rokea is dead. Who are you?"
"Ryan, why are you acting like this?" she pleaded, tears welling in her eyes. "I'm Rokea, your neighbor's daughter. We played together, remember?" She tried to close the distance again, her expression one of perfect, heartbroken confusion.
How is this possible? Is she real? Or just another trick of this place?
His hesitation was all she needed. She embraced him again, burying her face in his shoulder. "You love me, and I love you. I am with you now, don't worry."
Her right hand, hidden behind his back, underwent a grotesque transformation. Fingers melted and reformed into a sharp, golden dagger. With all her might, she drove it toward his spine.
But the very gold of the tower reacted. As if defending its rightful property, liquid metal surged from the floor and walls, encasing Ryan in an instant suit of golden armor just as the blade struck. The metallic clang echoed in the chamber, and the force of the blow threw the girl back.
Ryan roared, "Soul Bomb!"
The crimson explosion shattered the golden armor, freeing him in a shower of molten metal splinters.
A deep, resonant voice chuckled from the very air. "Whoa, Ryan. Impressive."
"So, you are finally here," Ryan snarled, searching for the source. "You are Greed. And all this gold is yours."
"Not just the gold, Ryan," the voice boomed. "This girl, this tower, everything in it... including your body and your soul. They are all mine."
"Let Rokea go!" Ryan demanded. "This is between you and me!"
"Ah, but she is the prize," Greed mused. "So, let's make a deal. I will let her go... if you kill yourself."
A knife of solid gold materialized in Ryan's hand, cold and heavy.
"Now," Greed commanded. "Plunge it into your heart, and she walks free. Try anything else..." The golden bonds holding the girl tightened, making her cry out in pain. "...and I will crush her into a pretty, gilded statue."
"Save me, Ryan!" the girl who looked like Rokea sobbed.
Ryan looked at the knife, then at her terrified face. His mind raced. A deal with Greed? No. There's always a trap.
He raised the blade to his chest, his hand steady. Then he stopped.
Memories clicked into place. Envy said, 'She can become whatever she wants.' He thought of Rokea, of his own secret heart. I never told Rokea I loved her. No one knew. The only ones who could know... are the parts of my own soul.
He lowered the knife, a cold, knowing smile on his lips.
"Lust," he said, his voice ringing with certainty. "It's enough now. The show is over. You can drop the act. Show me how you really look."
The girl blinked. "Ryan, what are you talking about? I am Rokea!"
"No," Ryan said, his smile turning into a smirk. "You are not." He glanced at the empty air. "And Greed... you just ruined your own plan."
The illusion shattered. The girl's form melted like wax, transforming into a sleek, sinuous snake that slithered free from the gold bonds. It coiled on the floor, then rose, shifting shape once more.
"Ryan, I am your mother!" it cried, taking on his mother's loving visage.
"I am your one true love!"It became a beautiful, ethereal woman with pink hair and eyes like gemstones.
"I am your fear!"The form bulged and twisted, becoming a horrific chimera—a monster with the snarling face of a lion, the scaled, coiling body of a giant snake, and the crushing, clawed hands of a crocodile.
Its voice, now a guttural, multi-layered roar, shook the golden room. "I AM ALL OF THEM! AND I AM THE ONE WHO WILL DEVOUR YOUR SOUL AND BECOME YOU, RYAN!"Lust's monstrous form quivered with fury, the lion's face snarling. "I am still her! Remember, Lust is the one who will take Ryan's soul! So you can stand aside and let me do my work!"
She turned her crocodile claws toward the disembodied voice of Greed. "You destroyed my plan! If you had not interfered, Ryan would be dead already, and I would be wearing his skin! Your greed makes you blind, and you have destroyed everything!"
Greed's voice rumbled from the very walls, cold and calculating. "If I kill Ryan, I take his body. That leaves nothing for you. But if you kill him, you claim it. A classic dilemma."
"Then let's make a deal," Lust hissed, the snake-body coiling tighter. "Whoever lands the killing blow on Ryan gets his body. Agreed?"
"Agreed," Greed resonated. "But if you try to betray me, I will turn this entire tower into your gilded tomb. Do not think you can outwit me."
Lust's lion-mouth split into a grotesque smile. "Then let's begin."
The room erupted. Every ounce of gold—from the walls, the floor, the discarded furnishings—liquefied and surged toward Ryan. It formed into a thousand sharp, glinting swords that shot toward him from every direction.
At the same moment, the lion head of Lust's chimera form opened its maw wide. A torrent of searing, magical fire roared out, intertwining with the golden blades in a deadly helix of molten metal and flame.
Ryan stood in the center of the storm, facing a unified assault from two Deadly Sins for the first time. The air screamed with the sound of flying gold and roaring fire, and the very light in the room flashed between the cool gleam of metal and the hellish glow of the inferno.