Chapter 15 - Sodom and Gomorrah

The ground of flesh and sludge of sloth was beginning to gradually transform into something even more grotesque. The walls of hell around us shimmered, pulsing like a living organism. Streams of black blood trickled through the cracks in the rocks, emitting a sour, metallic scent that made everyone's stomach churn. But me? Nothing. I think I had become amorality incarnate. My hunger gnawed at my insides, but inside, everything felt numb, dead.

Naka walked beside me, her face as impassive as a mask, but her eyes betrayed a cold, calculating glimmer. Every now and then, she let her gaze wander over the bodies strewn across the path. Some were still alive, moaning and writhing, while others were merely dry husks, abandoned like garbage. Remnants of souls that had failed to move on. A failure that, with every step, seemed like a more likely fate for us.

She suddenly stopped, her eyes fixed on a body that hadn't yet lost its freshness. The corpse's skin was almost pink, as if death had just claimed it. It was a disturbing contrast against the gray, bloody backdrop.

"This one looks promising," she said, kneeling next to the body, like a butcher inspecting merchandise. Her fingers pressed into the flesh of the arm with morbid curiosity. "You want a piece, or are you going to keep pretending you can still choose?"

I hesitated for a moment. Not because of morality—that had been abandoned long ago—but because the sight still caused me an irrational discomfort. However, when the scent of flesh invaded my nostrils, something primal inside me took control. I knelt beside her without saying a word, pulling out the makeshift knife we had made from a twisted piece of metal.

The cut was clean, though the metal was dull and rusted. The blood gushed in thick, hot streams, dripping through my fingers. The sight should've been nauseating, but in that moment, it almost seemed... normal. I brought the piece of flesh to my mouth and bit down, trying to ignore the fibrous texture and the metallic taste filling my mouth.

"I didn't expect to get used to this so quickly," I muttered between bites. It wasn't true. I still wasn't used to it. I was just resigned.

Naka laughed, but there was no warmth in her laugh. It was cold, almost musical, like a morbid melody. "Here, either you adapt or you die. No space for questioning anything. Just eat, librarian. We need strength for what's coming next."

I looked at her face as I chewed. She seemed so at ease, as if she were dining in a fancy restaurant.

"You seem to enjoy this," I said, my voice coming out more accusatory than I intended.

"Enjoy?" She raised an eyebrow as she cut a piece from the corpse's chest.

Naka stopped, staring at me with an expression that was both scornful and sad. "Enjoy?" she repeated, raising an eyebrow as she cut another piece, the blood slowly spilling onto the floor. "Don't be naive. This isn't about taste, pleasure, or choice. It's about the fine line that separates life from death. You want to live? Then eat. You want to keep your humanity? Then fight against it. But know this, in the end, only one of those two will win. And I've already chosen my side."

I sighed and took another bite. Maybe she was right. Maybe she was as wrong as everything around us. But in the end, the result was the same: either we adapted, or we died.

As we fed, the other sins watched from a distance, their expressions ranging from disgust to curiosity. Wrath was the first to speak, her tone dripping with contempt.

"You two seem savage." She crossed her arms, though her eyes never left the flesh we were holding. "I wouldn't touch that, not even if I were dead."

"Dead you already are, in a way," Naka retorted, wiping blood from her mouth with the back of her hand. "So it doesn't make much of a difference, does it?"

Greed approached, always with his sack of trinkets firmly pressed against his chest. He looked at the corpse with calculated interest, as if evaluating an investment.

"Is the meat fresh?" he asked, his voice full of hesitation.

"Fresh enough to keep you standing," I replied, losing patience with his doubts.

"I'm out," Gluttony muttered, stepping back with an expression of disgust. "It's not to my taste."

"Of course it isn't," Naka mocked, rolling her eyes. "Because what you want is never available, right?"

"Enough of this," Wrath interrupted, pointing ahead with a sudden movement. "We need to keep going. The next circle won't wait for us."

We cleaned our knives and moved on, leaving the corpse behind as another reminder of our degradation. The ground beneath our feet began to shift again, becoming more solid, but the stench continued to worsen.

The walls pulsed more intensely now, as if some monstrous heart was buried somewhere, feeding that place with its grotesque energy. The air was heavier, saturated with heat and humidity. Every step felt like it was pulling us downward, as if hell itself was trying to swallow us alive.

"This is getting worse," I commented, feeling the sweat running down my face.

"Welcome to hell," Naka replied with an ironic smile.

I ignored her and kept walking.

The trail before us began to narrow, tightening like a monster's throat. Steep rocks jutted out to the sides, and bony hands emerged from the walls, like claws trying to grab us with every step. The environment pulsed around us, alive and hostile, a silent warning that this was only the beginning of the horror.

Greed, who had been trailing behind, stopped and pointed with his chin to something ahead, his fingers gripping his precious sack as if afraid hell would steal his treasure.

"Look ahead," he said, his voice low and cautious.

We all stopped. The path was blocked by a vision that was nightmare incarnate: a grotesque mass of intertwined bodies. They fused into each other, creating something that seemed both alive and dead. Thin, pale arms emerged from the mass like tentacles, grabbing anything that dared to approach. Deformed faces emerged from the flesh, moaning, crying, screaming. Some tried to crawl out of that hell of flesh, but were pulled back by skeletal hands, trapped in an endless cycle of agony.

"This... this can't be real," muttered Gluttony, though her eyes glowed with something more than fear. She licked her lips, almost salivating. "They're still alive..."

"Don't even think about it," I interrupted, cutting off the thought before she could finish it. "We need to pass, don't get involved."

Wrath, as impatient as always, punched one of the rocks beside her, making a dull sound echo through the corridor.

"And how the hell are we supposed to get past this?" she yelled, pointing at the monstrosity. "Are we just going to wait for them to move on their own?"

Naka stepped forward, the makeshift knife already in her hand. She watched the mass like a predator assessing its prey, her eyes narrow and calculating.

"If they won't move, we can make them," she said, almost casually.

"Are you serious?" Greed asked, disbelief in his voice. "This is going to delay us!"

"Oh, for the love of..." Gluttony rolled her eyes. "Does anyone want to do something, or are we just going to stand here until we become part of this too?"

Before a decision could be made, the mass moved. The intertwined bodies began to rise, creating something that looked like a living wall. Arms and legs stretched out, forming moving barriers. Faces turned to stare at us, their mouths distorted, emitting moans and screams that sent chills even through the most numb of nerves.

"Fight or run!" I shouted, gripping my knife tightly.

With no other choice, we attacked.

The fight was absolute chaos. Every time we cut off an arm or a leg, another took its place. Black blood poured from every wound, covering our clothes and making the ground even more slippery. The smell of rotten flesh and coagulated blood was suffocating.

"This is useless!" Wrath yelled, smashing a skull with her iron bar, only to be grabbed by another hand right after.

"Keep cutting!" I retorted, advancing against the thing.

In the middle of the turmoil, one of the creatures grabbed my arm. Its bony fingers pierced my flesh, and I felt sharp pain, but something inside me remained cold, almost indifferent. I spun the knife with force and shoved it into the creature's empty eye, twisting it until it released me.

"Do you think you can defeat us like this?" Naka yelled, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She fought with almost elegant precision, her knife slicing through flesh and bone like a macabre dance.

"It'll never end!" Wrath screamed, now fighting two creatures at once.

"Better die trying than become part of this," I replied, gasping for air, my knife sliding across the neck of one of the human forms blocking the way.

Finally, after what felt like hours, we managed to clear a path through the barrier. Breathing heavily, covered in blood and flesh, we crossed to the other side. No one celebrated. No one said a word. The silence was heavy, broken only by our uneven breathing.

Further ahead, we found a well. The liquid bubbling inside was not water. It was blood, thick and warm.

"I can't believe this," Gluttony murmured, her eyes fixed on the well. "Even this looks like a feast now."

Naka didn't hesitate. She knelt beside the well, dipping her hands into the liquid and drinking as if it were fresh water.

"You're sick," Greed said, stepping back.

"Sick?" Naka wiped her mouth with her arm, her eyes gleaming with a mix of sarcasm and defiance. "Sick is anyone who thinks they can keep going here without this."

My throat was dry, each breath feeling like a cut. I didn't like the idea, but my thirst spoke louder. I knelt next to Naka, filling my hands with the warm blood and bringing it to my mouth. The taste was metallic and bitter, but it brought immediate relief.

"This is what we've become now, huh?" I asked her, more to myself than expecting an answer. "Animals, monsters... whatever."

Naka shrugged. "We're alive. That's what matters."

We moved on again, and finally, the circle of Lust appeared before us. The environment was even more disturbing. Men and women deformed by their desires walked in groups, their skin shining as if coated in oil. Each movement was lewd, but grotesque, as if they were a parody of sensuality.

In the center of the circle, two enormous figures stared at us. Men of colossal stature, their black metal spears gleaming in the sinister light emanating from the ground. Their eyes burned with a fury that seemed to have crossed ages.

"Welcome to the circle of Lust, mortals," one of them said, his voice reverberating like thunder. "You won't pass. This is the domain of Sodom and Gomorrah, and we guard its gates."

Wrath stepped forward, her iron bar in hand, her eyes gleaming with the promise of violence. "If you think you can stop me, try."

Naka smiled slyly, spinning her knife between her fingers. "Looks like the fun's about to start again."