Chapter 3 - The First Sin (Continued)

The valley was not just a reflection of Hell; it was Hell in its purest and most horrific essence. The melted fat, a viscous mass forming the ground, bubbled with an almost orgiastic violence, splattering boiling liquid that burned the skin as if the very air thirsted for pain. The smell was unbearable: burning flesh, rot, and a metallic odor that permeated everything—each breath an effort, each movement a provocation.

The trees were not trees but living bones twisting in agony. Each of them held human bodies intertwined, their limbs stretched to the point of breaking, their decaying eyes lifeless yet silently screaming, as if condemned to eternal suffering. Their moans were not just sounds; they were the cries of unrelieved pain, the sound of lives that never ended. I saw some people cracking open the skulls of others to feed on their brains, believing that by devouring another's intellect, they would gain their intelligence. The air was dense, heavy like an invisible prison, making every step a battle against the weight of the place.

Giant insects, their carapaces dark as coal, crawled across the trees, gnawing on the flesh of those who had become part of them. With every move, blood and entrails gushed out, and human body parts spilled from their wounds. Hundreds of legs, tentacle-like, writhed, resisting the endless hunger of the worms. There was no mercy, no rest.

And I stood in the midst of it all, breathing the decay, feeling the ground devour every piece of me that still yearned to escape. But I was not afraid. Not here. Not now.

As I walked, I crossed a shallow lake filled with human debris and the stench of rot. My feet were caked in the blood that flowed there, as if the remains were pulling me into the lake.

As I moved forward, a monstrous figure came into view in the distance, like a mirage of flesh and despair. Gluttony was an entity, not a being. Its body was a mountain of bloated flesh, covered with hundreds of mouths chewing frantically—some without food, others vomiting blood, organs, corrosive human viscera, expelling heads and limbs as if the being disliked their taste. Everything spilled onto the ground in a repulsive pool. Each mouth emitted a constant sound, a low murmur of insatiability, but nothing seemed enough to appease its hunger.

Its eyes—if they could be called eyes—were deep, empty holes that absorbed anything daring to come near. Every glance it cast felt like a cold dagger in my mind, tearing pieces from me before I even noticed.

"You came to me," Gluttony's voice dragged through the valley, reverberating from the mouths on its body. Each word felt like a burden, forced out of a choking throat. "Don't you know everything here belongs to me?"

I smiled, letting the irony flow. "Belonging is a flexible concept. Maybe I'm just here to test your collection."

It laughed, but the sound it made was not one of pleasure. It was a scream of power, a sound that made the ground quake, as if Hell itself were listening and waiting. "You think you can bargain with me, mortal? I don't bargain. I consume."

"Consume everything but the emptiness you carry within," I said, advancing with slow steps.

The environment responded to those words, as if in tune with Gluttony, as if everything there lived to amplify its hunger. The trees groaned louder, the ground bubbled more intensely, and the air grew unbearably heavy. But I didn't back down. Not now. Every step I took only reinforced my conviction: it was not invincible. It was the very essence of weakness.

"You think you understand what I am?" Gluttony roared, rising from its throne, shattering the ground beneath its weight. Its monstrous form loomed over me, even larger—a mass of putrid, repulsive flesh that seemed to expand with every movement. "I am infinite hunger. The appetite that never ceases. The desire that consumes even the universe itself."

With a grotesque motion, it gestured beyond the valley. For the first time, I saw the true extent of its domain: an endless labyrinth, without end or boundaries, where sin was alive, feeding on everything and everyone. Walls of teeth rose like gates of torment, opening and closing with an insane rhythm, as if chewing the air. All who dared to pass through to escape this torment were dissected by Gluttony's teeth for eternity. Floating islands held scenes of indescribable suffering: souls trapped in eternal banquets, consuming themselves until they exploded, only to begin again without rest. Fountains spewed blood, wine, and a dark, viscous substance, creating a lake of agony where muffled screams mingled with the sounds of pain.

"This is my domain," said Gluttony, its voice laden with grotesque pride, as if that Hell were its divine creation. "And you... are just another meal."

The monster advanced, each step a thunderclap heralding collapse. The ground shook, and the trees bent as if the earth itself had been corrupted by its hunger. But I didn't retreat. I knew what I was doing. This wasn't a physical battle. It wasn't about strength. It was about the mind, about dismantling the symbol of its existence.

"If you're so powerful, why am I here, defying you?" I asked, my tone mocking.

There was a moment of pause, a hesitation. It wasn't doubt but rather confusion. Gluttony couldn't comprehend my challenge. It thought I was just another soul to be consumed, but I wasn't here to be another dish.

"You didn't come to challenge," it said, with a laugh full of scorn. "You came to beg."

"Beg?" I laughed, and my laughter echoed through the valley, defiant. "You mistake me for your victims. I don't beg. I bargain. And more importantly, I win."

Its eyes flared with rage. "Then prove it, mortal. Show me how you think you can defeat eternal hunger."

As it roared, the world around us seemed to distort even more, as if Hell itself resonated with its anger. The trees bent further, the ground twisted, and lava flames rose like serpents. It was bringing everything into play. And that was exactly what I wanted.

I knew that to defeat it, I couldn't just destroy it physically. I had to strip it of the very meaning of its existence, make it consume itself. There was no room for naïve heroism. Not in Hell.

I took a deep breath, and with a smile, I prepared to destroy eternal hunger.