The God of Death's Throne

The last thing I saw before the portal closed was Darius sneering at me. One arm circled Elara’s waist. His other hand drove between my shoulders and sent me through the black opening. “Your body is the only useful thing you have left, Seraphina. Offer it to the Abyss.” He drew Elara against him. “Do one decent thing before you die.” The portal snapped shut. I fell alone. I hit the obsidian hard enough to jar my teeth. I stayed on my hands for a moment and waited for the ache in my ribs to ease. Cold bit through my palms. The cavern was pitch-dark, but I could hear other people nearby. Their short, panicked breaths gave the room a shape before my eyes adjusted. The livestream was still running. Millions of people had settled in to watch me die. Glowing comments scrolled through the air. [LOL, a succubus in the Abyss? She’ll last ten seconds.] [Darius finally got rid of the trash. Good for him. Elara is a much better fit for a future queen.] [Place your bets! I say she gets torn apart by the first shadow beast.] [What a humiliating way to go. Serves her right for trying to hold onto the Crown Prince.] A mechanical voice cut across the chatter. [Welcome to the SSS-level dungeon: “The Abyss of Desire.”] [Offer your deepest fear and most hidden sin to the God of Death.] A figure rose ahead of us, tall enough to disappear into the cavern roof. Darkness moved where flesh should have been, folding in and out around the suggestion of shoulders. A clawed hand held a scythe whose blade reached farther than a man was tall. Every player leaned away from it at once. The blade made no sound, yet the floor whitened with frost beneath its edge. The God of Death stood before us. “No, no, this is a mistake!” a man beside me shrieked. “I’m not a sinner! I have nothing to offer!” A shadow caught his ankle and yanked. His nails scraped uselessly over the stone before the dark swallowed him and his scream. [Death count: 1] [Current survivors: 4] [Keep up the good work, players!] The other players backed together. One man pushed out from the group. Old scars crossed his jaw, and his hands shook despite the hard look he gave the altar. “I offer my sin. Ambition.” He lifted his chin. “I have always craved power. That is my greatest failing.” He puffed out his chest. A confession fit for a royal banquet, polished clean of anything shameful. The God of Death remained still. Darkness climbed the man’s boots and reached his knees. His mouth opened. Shadow flooded down his throat. Bones cracked inside the black coil. When it released him, a wet heap struck the floor. [Death count: 2] [Current survivors: 3] [An unacceptable offering. Insincerity will be punished.] The last two players dropped to their knees. Between sobs, they confessed stolen coins, ugly thoughts, every small cruelty they could remember. I stayed on my feet. Darius had made sure I knew the price of fear. At council, I waited outside while he listed my defects. His courtiers laughed, and I smiled with them. Whenever he called humiliation protection, I thanked him. My birth as a succubus had already supplied the kingdom with all the sin it needed. Priests had named it before I could speak. I had no fresh confession for this place. So I started walking. “What is she doing?” one of the weeping players gasped. I kept my eyes on the towering shadow. Cold rolled from him and stung my face long before I reached the scythe. Darius had sent me in wearing a heavy formal robe. He kept me in respectable clothes, all high collars and thick cloth, to hide every reminder of what I was. The robe pulled at my shoulders and smelled of the cedar chests in his palace. I hooked my fingers under the collar, tore the clasp loose, and dropped the robe at the god’s feet. The clasp bounced once across the stone. Several comments on the livestream vanished before their writers could finish typing. The black dress underneath fit close to my body. For once, I had no reason to cover it. I looked into the void where his face should be. “I have no fear left for you to eat. My fiancé took it.” I spread my hands. “I won’t hide my sins either. This is what I am.” I stepped within reach of the blade and set my palm against his chest. Shadow turned solid under my hand, smooth and colder than the floor. I slid my fingers up to his throat. “I can offer desire. Shameless, honest desire. Tell me, God of Death. Are you hungry?” He didn’t answer. The scythe lifted. Its edge touched my throat, sharp enough that swallowing hurt. I held still and smiled up at him. He could have ended me with a turn of his wrist. His hand locked around the shaft instead. The Abyss shrieked with the sound of grinding metal. [ERROR.] [ERROR.] [FEAR NOT DETECTED. SIN NOT DETECTED.] [PROTOCOL FAILURE. PROTOCOL FAILURE.]