The bottom of the Abyss had no sky.

There were no stars.

Nor wind.

Nor any natural concept that could be associated with the world of the living.

Above them, thousands of kilometers of darkness rose like an infinite throat swallowing reality itself. The colossal walls of the Abyss pulsed slowly in shades of black and red, like petrified flesh breathing in cycles too ancient to be understood. Strange crystalline formations grew among the rocks, radiating a faint purple light that made shadows move in the wrong directions.

Down there, even time seemed weary.

Silent.

Sick.

Two horses advanced slowly across the cracked ground of the Abyss’s lowest level, their hooves crushing small bony plates scattered across the dark terrain. The creatures were not ordinary animals. Their bodies were composed partly of living matter and partly of black smoke, like physical manifestations of destructive concepts forcibly molded into bestial form.

Two of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse rode above them.

War maintained an upright posture on his colossal mount, completely enveloped in black armor marked by bright red cracks that pulsed like magma beneath ancient metal. His presence seemed to press down on the entire surrounding environment, making the ground vibrate slightly with each movement of the horse. On his back rested a monstrous sword, too wide for any ordinary creature to even lift.

Beside him, Conquest advanced calmly.

Much quieter.

Much more uncomfortable.

His white armor was partially stained with golden markings resembling ancient inscriptions, and a long black cloak slid behind the horse like liquid smoke. Unlike War’s overwhelming brutality, Conquest conveyed something worse.

Absolute control.

His golden eyes slowly observed the distant horizon of the Abyss as the two advanced through the silent depths.

In the distance, gigantic structures rose in the darkness like ruins of forgotten civilizations. Leaning black towers. Colossal currents vanished into the infinite darkness above. Broken gates large enough to swallow entire mountains.

Everything seemed dead.

And yet... alive.

War was the first to break the silence.

"The situation is getting worse."

His voice sounded like gigantic stones being dragged against each other.

Conquest nodded slowly.

"Naturally."

The horses continued advancing between shimmering cracks scattered across the floor of the Abyss. Small red vapors escaped from the fissures, carrying distant, almost imperceptible cries.

War gripped the reins of his mount tighter.

"The Sins are moving again."

Conquest glanced at a huge rock formation in the distance.

"They never really stop."

"But now they’re gathered."

This made the silence slightly heavier.

Because it mattered.

Very much.

The Seven Deadly Sins rarely cooperated with each other for long periods. Greed hated sharing territory. Envy constantly sabotaged alliances. Lust manipulated everything around it simply for the emotional pleasure of chaos. Gluttony destroyed any balance by indiscriminately consuming resources. Sloth... well...

Sloth usually did absolutely nothing.

That was precisely the problem.

If even Sloth was present...

Then something serious was happening.

Conquest slowly observed the enormous organic walls of the Abyss around them before speaking:

"You felt it too."

It wasn’t a question.

War nodded.

"His presence."

The ground seemed to vibrate a little more strongly at that moment.

Far away, far beyond the broken structures of the Abyss’s top floor...

Something was breathing.

Deep.

Ancient.

Hungry.

Conquest closed her eyes for a brief moment.

"Hunger." The name echoed slowly through the void.

Even among the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Famine was uncomfortable to mention directly. Not because he was necessarily more powerful than the others.

But because his existence was different.

More unstable.

More primordial.

Famine did not desire destruction.

He did not desire conquest.

He did not desire war.

Famine only consumed.

Without emotion.

Without pleasure.

Without purpose beyond the endless void within himself.

War watched the distant horizon as his hand slowly rested on the hilt of his gigantic sword.

"If Famine is moving alongside the Sins..." His voice grew even heavier. "...then the balance of the Abyss has already begun to collapse."

Conquest remained silent for a few seconds before replying:

"Or someone is forcing it."

His white horse stopped slowly.

The creature’s nostrils released golden smoke as it stared into the darkness ahead.

Then it happened.

They both felt it at the same time.

Five presences.

Immediately.

Greed appeared first.

Not physically.

But conceptually.

The air became heavy as molten gold. Tiny metallic glints began to spontaneously appear among the rocks of the Abyss, like jewels sprouting from the very dead matter of the place.

Soon after came Envy.

The environment seemed to distort for an instant. Shadows began to take on distorted forms. Reflections appeared where there were no reflective surfaces. Small illusions flickered at the edges of vision.

Lust came next.

The air itself became hot.

Heavy.

Almost suffocating.

Soft whispers began to echo among the distant structures of the Abyss, voices too beautiful to exist in that place.

Then Gluttony.

The ground trembled.

Not like an earthquake.

But like chewing.

The living walls of the Abyss trembled slowly as grotesque sounds of crushed flesh echoed in the depths.

And finally...

Sloth.

Absolute silence.

The entire Abyss seemed to slow down for an instant.

Even the purple light of the crystalline formations dimmed.

As if reality itself had grown weary.

War immediately narrowed his eyes.

"Five Sins."

Conquest calmly observed the darkness ahead.

"And Hunger."

Then they sensed the sixth presence.

Different from the others.

Very different.

There was no theatricality.

No conceptual distortions.

Just emptiness.

A void so deep that it made the remaining presences seem small around it.

Hunger was near.

Very near.

War’s horse growled low immediately.

Even Conquest’s mount began to show unease.

Which was extremely unusual.

War slowly drew the colossal sword from its back.

The black metal emitted a deep, monstrous sound as it emerged from its sheath.

"We have to resolve this quickly."

Conquest calmly raised one hand.

"I agree."

Then the two advanced.

The horses galloped through the depths of the Abyss at absurd speed, crushing the black ground as apocalyptic energy exploded around them. The gigantic structures trembled as the Horsemen passed, and red cracks began to spread across the dead ground.

But then...

Something seemed wrong. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Conquest noticed first.

The environment.

Too silent.

No movement.

No resistance.

No attack.

The Sins were close...

But they didn’t appear.

War sensed it too.

"Too late." The next instant, the ground beneath them exploded.

Gigantic black chains surged from the depths of the Abyss like living serpents, violently advancing toward the two horsemen. The metallic structures were covered in ancient inscriptions pulsing in dark red.

Conquest immediately attempted to erect a barrier.

But another presence crushed its energy before the manifestation even finished.

Envy.

The chains themselves instantly copied and distorted his defensive energy.

"What—"

BOOOOM.

The chains violently enveloped the white horse, dragging Conquest against a colossal rock formation. The impact made the entire top floor of the Abyss tremble.

On the other side, War destroyed dozens of chains with a single monstrous sword stroke.

But Gluttony appeared.

But Gluttony appeared.

The Sin didn’t appear walking.

Nor descending from the shadows.

He simply... was there.

A colossal mass of deformed flesh emerged from the darkness beside the Abyss as if space itself had vomited its existence out of reality. Its body was gigantic, misshapen, and pulsating, composed of mouths overlapping one another in endless layers of teeth continuously crushing flesh. Enormous, incomplete arms dragged across the ground while hungry eyes appeared and disappeared among living muscles.

And all those mouths were grinning.

War barely had time to react before the creature lunged forward.

The impact was monstrous.

Gluttony struck the black horse sideways like a living avalanche of flesh and teeth. The ground exploded under the absurd weight of the collision as War was violently hurled through three gigantic pillars of the Abyss.

BOOOOOM.

Black stones crashed down in all directions.

The horse roared furiously as it tried to free itself from the grotesque jaws that bit into its living armor.

War immediately rose from the rubble.

The colossal sword swung once.

A gigantic wave of red energy swept across the Abyss horizontally, cutting through dozens of Gluttony’s mouths simultaneously.

But then...

The mouths began to chew on the very energy of the blow.

Conquest noticed this instantly.

"He’s consuming mana directly."

His voice came out cold despite the black chains still trying to crush him against the Abyss wall.

Envy surged above him.

The Sin’s appearance constantly shifted.

For a moment he looked like an elegant man.

The next, a faceless creature.

Then an imperfect copy of Conquest himself.

The entity’s silver eyes gleamed with venomous pleasure as it watched the imprisoned Knight.

"You’ve always been the most irritating." His voice shifted slightly with each word, as if several people were speaking simultaneously. "So organized. So perfect."

Conquest calmly replied:

"You remain emotionally pathetic."

Envy’s smile instantly became crooked.

The chains tightened.

CRAAAAACK.

Part of Conquest’s white armor cracked under absurd pressure.

In the distance, War advanced again.

The floor of the Abyss exploded behind him as the Knight traversed the distance like a black meteor. His colossal sword descended directly upon Gluttony in a blow capable of splitting mountains.

This time, however...

Sloth moved.

And that was immediately unsettling.

Because no one saw where he came from.

A hooded figure appeared simply sitting on a rock in the middle of the path of the blow. His body seemed partially dissolved in gray smoke, while tired eyes watched War with utter disinterest.

Then he slowly raised a single hand.

The blow slowed.

Not blocked.

Not interrupted.

Slowed down.

As if the very concept of movement had been exhausted.

The gigantic sword lost speed absurdly quickly until it stopped completely in mid-air a few centimeters from the hooded figure.

The silence became uncomfortable.

Sloth sighed.

"Too noisy."

Then Gluttony attacked again.

Monstrous jaws closed violently on War’s left arm.

KRAAAASH.

The black armor sank under absurd pressure as dozens of gigantic teeth tried to crush the entire limb.

War roared.

The sound pierced the Abyss like a pure explosion.

Red energy detonated around his body, exploding parts of Gluttony’s mouths into grotesque pieces of flesh.

But then...

Greed appeared.

And immediately everything got worse.

The ground began to glow gold.

Mountains of ancient coins spontaneously appeared around the battlefield. Gigantic jewels grew from cracks in the Abyss like crystalline tumors, while streams of liquid gold flowed down the walls.

At the center of that absurd brilliance, an elegant figure walked slowly.

Greed looked like an ancient king molded from living gold. His skin constantly reflected metallic light, while dozens of rings, broken crowns, and impossible jewels slowly orbited around his body.

His golden eyes rested on War.

Then on Conquest.

And his smile widened.

"We finally did it."

Conquest immediately narrowed his eyes.

"Did what?"

Greed dramatically opened his arms.

"To capture you."