บท 21: Circle of Sloth-2
"Sure, but I know you'll still stay the same" I said with a smile, Mary puffed her cheeks and then held my hand for the rest of the duration. The circle of sloth was chill and very quiet.
It was honestly boring, now that I think about it, a few months have already passed since we came here, at first it felt like only an hour did, but I am definitely sure. The time here moves fast but it must be slow for this circle though.
Mary remained quiet, her eyes scanning the desolate landscape. Her transformation into a devil had progressed slowly, but I could sense the changes in her. Her power had grown, though she still felt like the same Mary just with a sharper edge, a deeper sense of control over her darker nature.
Despite the changes, her presence was still oddly comforting. She might be evolving into something dangerous, but as long as we were in this together, I felt like I could handle whatever Hell threw at us.
"Doesn't it bother you?" I asked, breaking the silence. "This place… it's so stagnant. Nothing moves. Nothing fights back unless we make it. It's like everything's waiting for something."
Mary glanced up at me, her pale red eyes thoughtful. "It's the nature of Sloth," she said, her voice soft. "It's a realm of inaction, where nothing changes because nothing wants to. The souls here have given up. They're content to wallow in their laziness, too lost to care about time or their fate."
"Sounds miserable," I muttered. "At least in the other circles, there's some fight left. Here, it's like the place is dead."
"It's not dead," she corrected. "It's asleep. Waiting for something,or someone,to wake it up."
That thought sent a chill down my spine. I hadn't really considered the possibility that the circle of Sloth was more than just a boring stretch of Hell. Maybe the silence and stillness weren't just a product of the sin, but a prelude to something worse. Something lurking beneath the surface, waiting for the right moment to stir.
"Do you think this place could wake up?" I asked.
Mary shrugged, her hand tightening around mine. "Maybe. But if it does, we'll deal with it. Besides," she added with a small smile, "I think we're the ones who are meant to wake it."
Her words hung in the air between us as we continued walking. The idea that we might be the catalysts for whatever lay dormant in the circle of Sloth didn't sit well with me. It wasn't just the demons we had to worry about it was Hell itself.
As we ventured further into the stillness, I started to notice subtle changes in the environment. The ground seemed more cracked, the air heavier, and the shadows deeper. It was as if the circle was finally beginning to react to our presence, slowly shaking off its lethargy. The oppressive weight that had once seemed tolerable was growing, pressing down on me with increasing intensity.
"Do you feel that?" I asked, stopping in my tracks. From the ground a large snake dwarfing both our sizes appeared in the distance. It had no skin but made entirely out of flesh and on its body were multiple sleeping eyes. It wasn't the manifestation of sloth, but it has the same feeling of threat as that general of sloth.
Mary's eyes sharpened, the subtle changes in her demonic nature becoming more apparent as her pale red irises glowed faintly. She studied the serpent with calm detachment, but I could see the faint flicker of tension in her stance. Even she could sense the threat.
"I think it's one of the three generals of Sloth" She said, i could see a feint black light that was slowly materializing on her head, it felt like a crown and felt as if I was the influence of such thing.
No to say she was becoming a devil though to coming to hell is foolish, it started happening the moment she started getting closer to me, Maybe devil isn't the right word to describe her Archetype. maybe she was corrupted by the eldritch energy. So shouldn't she be called a Vassal or a Harbinger.
But then what does that make me, a missing piece?, the soul of an outer god cut a bit and then reborn into a human world for no goddamn reason then got killed off and brought to this world to observe that said soul?…if I do think about it Nyrlathothep would definitely do that, I forgot most outer gods are extreme masochist.
So am I him or just his son cause i am confused, Back to the current situation. The snake woke up, but i realized this doesn't feel…terrifying anymore, it feels exhilarating and almost fun. Or I am going insane again.
I felt Mary tug my shirt and i looked down at her.
"What do we do, fight or run" She asked blinking as if wanting me to say run, I grinned.
I patted her head. "What if we don't run this time. Why don't we fight instead, it's just an overgrown lazy snake" i said, Mary put both her hands on top of mine where I was patting her head. Mary's expression softened for a moment, the faintest trace of a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. Her crimson eyes, however, betrayed a flicker of concern, even if she tried to mask it with a casual nod. Her hands tightened around mine for just a second, then let go, as if resigning herself to the idea.
"Alright," she whispered, "but don't say I didn't warn you."
The massive serpent continued to observe us with its many half-lidded eyes, exuding an aura of lethargy that filled the air like a thick fog. The landscape itself seemed to move slower as if in tune with the creature's slothful existence. Yet, beneath that slow, almost indifferent exterior, I could feel the coiled power ready to strike at the slightest provocation.
As if reading my thoughts, Mary stepped closer to me, her aura growing darker, denser. The black crown above her head pulsed softly, flickering like a heartbeat in time with her growing power. I could sense her transformation accelerating—whatever eldritch force was within her was awakening, responding to the challenge.
"You sure about this?" she asked again, her voice steady but laced with uncertainty.
I glanced at her, feeling a strange surge of confidence. Maybe it was madness, or maybe it was something else, something deeper inside me. Nyarlathotep's influence? My own corrupted soul? I didn't know, and at this point, I didn't care. The thought of running felt wrong like it wasn't even an option anymore.
I nodded. "Yeah. I'm sure."
The serpent stirred, its enormous body shifting, as if sensing our intent. Its fleshy form uncoiled slowly, impossibly large, and its eyes,those eerie, sleepy eyes began to focus, one by one, on us. A low, rumbling hiss escaped from its maw, though it still moved lazily, like it didn't see us as a real threat.
"You ruined my sssslumber little beastsssss, I am too tired to fight sssssso uhm…can you return from where you came " it was definitely tired but had an arrogant edge in its voice.
I raised an eyebrow. "Hmm, nope"
"You really want to do this the hard way" Maybe it's because I was currently feeling nothing or is the fact I don't want Mary running all her life or maybe our lives, it doesn't really matter what happens at the moment.
"It depends, where is sloth?" I asked while staring into its many eyes.
They closed for a moment. "In order to meet sloth, you would have to kill the three fragments of himself that it split apart because of sheer laziness"
Three fragments of Sloth? It explained the stagnant nature of this realm,the lethargy wasn't just a product of its sin, but a reflection of a fractured, lazy entity too disinterested to keep itself whole. That is very lazy.
"So I am guessing the three generals are that said fragments?" I asked with an intrigued expression.
"Yes I am one of the three fragmentssss of Belphegor, Lorocore the third general of Sssssloth" Wow, even split apart it's lazy, also Lorocore sounds like…an actual creative name, that is Suprising.
I looked at the fleshy snake fragment. "that's a creative name, i thought you were too lazy for one"
"Hmph, i may be a fragment of ssssloth but i should of coursssse put some effort on making a name, now let's fight little beasts" All the eyes on the snake opened up, on the pore of its exposed flesh small warm like entities burrowed into the ground.
*Screeecchh*
The ground shaked as a black hand came through it followed by a demonic body, it was pure black and had no facial features, suddenly more of them appeared from the ground like a tiny colony of army ants ready to find food for their queen. In this case we are good and Lorocore is the queen.
"…are we actually not running away this time" Mary asked with an exasperated smile. I patted her head once more. "Running is for the weak, but being stupid is for the prideful"
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