Malrion — First Person
The climb out of Silent Maw felt endless.A cracked hallway of stone wound upward like the throat of some ancient beast, pulling me step by step toward the first true domain of sin.
Not Pride — not yet.That was the highest ring.
Where sinners lived.Where Overlords ruled.Where Lucifer once walked.
No, I was climbing to the lowest of the seven sins.
Sloth.Belphegor's domain.The Seventh Ring.
The first real world above the Maw.
The Echo Ring in my chest pulsed softly, tasting faint traces of emotion drifting downward from above—weak, diluted…but still there.
Apathy.Laziness.Emptiness.Stagnant desire to do nothing at all.
Even that was more emotion than Silent Maw had offered.
The air thickened the closer I climbed.A warm, suffocating lethargy settled over my limbs, as if the very atmosphere begged me to sit, rest, sleep, forget the climb entirely.
A faint pink hue leaked from the cracks in the stone ceiling.
We were close.
"The Sloth Ring…" I murmured.
"Indeed," Alastor said, his voice sharper than usual—cutting through the fog that tried to settle on my mind."Do stay awake. This ring has a way of convincing you that movement is optional."
"Why does it feel like the air is seducing my bones?"
"Because Belphegor built it that way," he replied dryly."Sloth is not simple laziness. It is the desire to stop existing without the courage to die."
A chill ran through me despite the warmth.
I tightened my fists.
"I'm not stopping here."
"Good. Because I have… limitations."
That made me pause.
"Limitations?"
His tone cooled.
"The higher we go, the more attention we risk. These rings"— his voice sharpened— "belong to Goetia. Their eyes are everywhere."
"And you're not welcome?"
"Let us say…"He chuckled softly."…I am not one of their favorite creatures."
"Can they sense you?"
"Eventually. And if they do, I would prefer not to be here."
I swallowed.
"So Sloth is still safe?"
"Safe enough. But do not linger."
The tunnel widened, glowing brighter—soft pink light turning into a haze.
I stepped onto the threshold.
And the world opened.
The Seventh Sin Ring — Sloth
A massive, endless plain spread before me, lit in shades of pink and muted rose.The sky swirled in slow, lazy clouds.Ruined buildings sagged as if too tired to stand.Creatures lay half-asleep in the dust, waking only to stare blankly before collapsing again.
And demons—real demons—wandered aimlessly, their movements sluggish, unmotivated, eyes half-lidded.
Everything felt like a dream that refused to wake up.
A world weighed down by an invisible blanket.
Sloth.
Belphegor's masterpiece.
The Echo Ring inside me trembled lightly—not in fear, but curiosity.
Emotion was everywhere…muted, diluted, sleepy—but present.
Alastor's voice brushed my ear:
"Welcome to the seventh sin, Malrion.This is the first true rung of Hell's ladder."
"And what now?"
"Now you learn how to walk in a place designed to make you lie down and rot."
I inhaled deeply, forcing my legs forward.
Up the ladder.One ring at a time.
The journey had truly begun.