The descent finally ended, not with a bone-shattering impact, but with a sickening squelch as they landed on a pile of rusted, discarded coins at the bottom of a lightless cell. The walls were made of solid obsidian, weeping a black, tar-like grease that smelled of ancient avarice.

A click of a polished heel echoed through the chamber, and a wall of golden bars suddenly shimmered into existence, separating them from the rest of the vault. Standing there was Mammon, the Prince of Greed himself. He was draped in gold silks that cost more than kingdoms, his fingers weighted down by rings carved from the bones of fallen kings.

He wasn't angry. He looked bored.

Mammon: Honestly, Leviathan...How many times must we do this. This is getting pretty petty and boring.

He sighed, adjusting a monocle made of a polished diamond. 

Mammon: This is the third time this month of the century. You really are a pathological liar. You convince yourself of your own greatness, stroll into my house, 'borrow' from the till, and then lose it all trying to prove you're better than the house. It's pathetic, even for a Sin. Lucifer always said you were a disappointment. I once tried to defend ya. But welp...he was right about you.

Leviathan scrambled to his feet, dusting off his ruined suit, his face flushed with a mixture of green envy and red shame. 

Leviathan: I was winning, Mammon! Your subordinates interfered with the flow of the-?!

Mammon: *Annoyed* You were losing to a mortal who works in a car wash, Levi.

Hellraiser stood up slowly, his eyes darting around the cell, looking for a weakness in the enchantments. He glanced at the mountain of jewelry on Mammon's hands and then back at the sputtering Sin of Envy. 

Hellraiser: I knew he was a thief but I didn't realize he was this much of a disaster. Tell me, Mammon, exactly how much debt does this 'Prince of Hell' owe you?

Mammon let out a short, cold laugh. He pulled a ledger out of thin air, the pages flipping so fast they sounded like a deck of cards. 

Mammon: If we're talking soul-equity, interest, and the physical assets he's 'misplaced' from my vaults? It's enough that no human...not even one as...persistent as you, Hellraiser—could pay it off in ten thousand lifetimes. He's a walking bankruptcy. So sorry Hellraiser. He's your bad luck card.

Hellraiser turned to Leviathan, who was currently trying to hide behind a pile of rusted copper. The human stared at him for a long, silent moment, his expression one of pure, unadulterated disbelief.

No wonder the other sins don't like Leviathan...

He's not some lovable idiot. He's an colossal idiot that just plain stupid and can't even understand the depth of his actions pissing everyone off around him.

Hellraiser: I'm in a pact with a retard. You're actually a moron. You didn't lead me here to find the King's Ring. You led me here because you're a retarded MF who thought you could gamble your way out of a debt that's literally impossible to pay."

"I have a system!" 

Leviathan squeaked from the corner.

Hellraiser: Your 'system' got us thrown into a bottomless pit! Alright, Mammon. He's a debt-ridden idiot, but I still need that Ring and a pact. What's the price for a human who actually knows the value of a dollar?

Mammon chuckled, the sound like coins rattling in a silk bag. He ignored Leviathan's whimpering and focused his cold, golden eyes on Hellraiser.

Mammon: As for you, little human, we will discuss your pact and the King's Ring later. I appreciate a man who recognizes a bad investment when he sees one. But  as for this one over' here. Every debt requires a payment, and every failure requires a... creative correction.

Leviathan paled, his green eyes darting toward the obsidian walls.

Leviathan: Mammon, wait! Not the lightning again! My essence hasn't even recovered from the last time you grounded me into the floorboards!"

Mammon: Oh, don't worry, Leviathan. I've grown bored of electrocuting you.

 The demon of Greed said, a slow, predatory smile spreading across his face. 

Mammon: That's too quick. Too impersonal. Today, I think I'll outsource your punishment to my children.

Hellraiser froze, his brow furrowing in genuine shock. 

Hellraiser: Children? You've got to be kidding me. You have kids?

Mammon's smile turned truly evil, his teeth gleaming like polished ivory. 

Mammon: Of course. Greed is a very... fertile sin, Hellraiser. And like any proud father, I believe in giving my little ones something to play with. They're so very hungry for attention. I raised them on my own.

Before Hellraiser could ask what kind of "children" a Sin of Greed would spawn, Mammon snapped his fingers. The back wall of the cell didn't just open; it dissolved into a jagged, dark tunnel. From the depths of that hole came a sound that made Hellraiser's skin crawl—a frantic, high-pitched screeching and the clattering of hundreds of talons against stone.

Mammon: Meet the brood.

Out of the darkness swarmed a dozen black monstrous, demonic entities. They were bird-like, but grotesquely so—their feathers and their beaks were serrated like steak knives. Their eyes were glowing yellow orbs filled with a mindless, twitching hunger. They hopped and fluttered with unnatural, jerky movements, their screeching sounding like flesh being torn apart.

They almost look like crows except a more demonic version of them. 

Mammon: They're scavengers by nature.

The Sin of Greed explained proudly as the bird-demons began to circle the cowering Leviathan. 

Mammon: They love shiny things. And right now, Levi, you're the shiniest thing in the room.

"No! Get them away!" 

The sin of Envy screamed as the first monster lunged, snapping its metal beak inches from his face. 

Leviathan: Hellraiser, help me!

Hellraiser just stood there, watching as the bird-monsters began to swarm the "Great Serpent." 

Hellraiser: Nah Fam. You're on your own, Sea Snake. Maybe they'll peck some sense into you.

Mammon: Damn. Word. How does it feel to be betrayed by your master, Levi~! Sucks don't it!

Leviathan scrambled backward as the rusted feathers of the bird-monsters grazed his skin. 

Leviathan: Wait! Mammon, wait!

He pathetically shrieked, his voice cracking with desperation. 

Leviathan: Please! We—we used to be friends! Think of the old days, back before the Fall! We were allies! We were brothers-in-arms!

At the word "friends," Mammon raised a hand. The screeching brood halted instantly, their jagged beaks clicking in unison as they hovered in a terrifying, expectant silence.

Mammon lowered his head, his golden eyes narrowing until they were mere slits of burning light. The air in the vault grew heavy, the pressure so intense that the rusted coins on the floor began to flatten.

"Friends?"

 Mammon repeated the word as if it were a piece of rotten meat. He stepped closer to the bars, his face inches from Leviathan's trembling form. 

Leviathan: Y- yeah? Friends! We're friends so just let me go! You can have the human if you like! Take him instead!

Hellraiser:.....(BITCH.)

Mammon: You have the audacity to use that word in my house?!!

Mammon wasn't smiling anymore. 

Hellraiser is stunned. Leviathan screamed in fear. This is the first time he seen Mammon not smile. He looked fucking angry.

Mammon let out a low, guttural  bird-like snarl that vibrated in Hellraiser's chest. 

Mammon: You mean the 'friend' who betrayed my trust the moment the first vault was locked? The one who crashed my cars on purpose into my casinos?! The 'friend' who spent the last three millennia skimming the soul-tax from my borders? You mean the pathetic, envious worm who didn't just steal my gold, but tried to steal my very sanity by gaslighting my treasurers and sabotaging my trade routes just to watch me struggle?!!!

Mammon's black claws gripped the golden bars, his rings glowing with a faint, threatening heat. 

Mammon: Every time I extended a hand to you, Leviathan, you reached for the rings on my fingers. You didn't want my friendship—you wanted my status and power! You wanted to see the King of Greed reduced to a beggar so you could finally feel like more than a second-rate serpent!

Hellraiser shook his head, looking at the cowering Sin with his own judgement in his eyes.

Hellraiser: And here I thought he was just a gambling addict. He's a backstabbing leech, too.

Mammon turned his gaze back to the bird-monsters, his expression hardening into a mask of cold cruelty. 

Mammon: Friendship is a transaction, Leviathan and your account has been in the red since the beginning of time. You don't get mercy; you get the beak.

He flicked his wrist toward the brood. 

Mammon: Eat his pride first, my darling children. Leave enough of him for the interest to accrue.

Leviathan: No! NO! STOP! AUGH! AHHHHHHH!!!

The monsters let out a unified, ear-splitting shriek and dived. Leviathan's screams filled the vault as the metal-feathered creatures began to tear into his essence, their serrated beaks finding every soft spot in his fading human guise.

John shuddered watching the blood splattered everywhere with the gore hitting the ground. 

Mammon turned to Hellraiser, adjusting his sleeves as if he hadn't just ordered a massacre as his frown disappeared back into a smile. 

Mammon: He'll be fine...maybe in a few hours. Now then, human. While they're occupied... let's talk about that Ring and the pact, then why I should even consider letting you walk out of here alive.