Mountains of gold stretched as far as Zeke could see, and between them flowed rivers of molten silver. Gems and jewels peppered each mountain, and a moon like a faceted diamond hung high in the sky. In the distance, Zeke saw a lone figure trekking through one of the valleys, his back hunched beneath a comically large pack. A trail of gold coins trickled behind him, and Zeke could easily imagine the tinkling of metal on metal that accompanied the figure’s every step.

  Zeke had never been a particularly materialistic person, but even he was tempted by the amassed wealth. That temptation was significantly tempered when he saw something erupt from one of the mountains of gold and clamp down on the lone traveler. The worm was hundreds of feet long and at least fifty feet wide, with a gaping, four-pronged mouth that completely enveloped the figure and his burden, all in one bite.

  It retreated into the mountain after only a second, and the gold collapsed into the tunnel it left behind, sealing the hole entirely.

  Still, Zeke had a hard time focusing on the dangers ahead, especially when he saw an emerald the size of his head. Before he could resist the temptation, he took a few steps and bent down to retrieve it.

  He had nowhere to put it. Nor did he really have a plan for how to use such a gem. However, he knew it was extremely valuable, and he was overwhelmed with the desire to hoard it. In the back of his mind, he made excuses centering on it being a magical gem that his people might find useful, but in reality, his retrieval was driven by nothing more than a desire to possess it.

  Or to keep others from having it, perhaps.

  Whatever the case, he wanted it. And there was no one there to stop him from having taking it.

  Except, that wasn’t precisely the case, as he discovered the moment he touched it. The ground beneath him trembled, and the emerald blinked. It turned toward him, and for only a moment, he found himself rooted in place. Even as something emerged from the ground, Zeke couldn’t move a single muscle.

  But then a pulse of divine energy banished his paralysis, and it was just in time for him to make sense of what he saw.

  It was a dragon, at least in shape. But the thing was made entirely of jewels and precious metals. A shower of loose coins fell to the ground as it spread its wings, and when it opened its gaping maw, Zeke couldn’t help but notice that its massive fangs were made entirely of diamonds.

  “You dare disturb me, mortal?” it rumbled.

  Zeke knew better than to offer an answer. Instead, he snatched his hammer from his spatial storage and threw himself at the dragon. From afar, it likely appeared a comical sight. He was no larger than most other men, and the dragon was at least the size of a jumbo jet. Yet, Zeke had fought plenty of large creatures in the past, and when his hammer fell, it did so with the power of divine energy and his immense attributes backing it up.

  To him, the results were predictable.

  The monster tried to react, but he’d taken it by complete surprise. His hammer smashed against its snout, throwing free a million gold coins and precious gems. It let out a gurgling roar as the lower part of its jaw completely fell apart. Zeke had no interest in prolonging the fight, so the second he hit the ground in a roll, he launched himself forward with the intention of dismantling the golden beast.

  And that was precisely what he did.

  Every hammer blow sent the sound of tinkling coins echoing across the landscape. More importantly, he dug gaping craters in the creature’s body with each attack until, at last, he’d completely destroyed the thing.

  Or so he thought.

  He stood there, his breath deep and slow after the thing was defeated. Then, all the coins and gems that had made up the dragon’s body began to vibrate. Then, they started to move of their own volition. It started with an inch of movement, but soon enough, it had become a tornado of pure wealth that, after only a few more seconds, reformed the dragon.

  “You cannot destroy me, mortal. I am the spirit of this –”

  Zeke didn’t believe that line for a second, and what’s more, he was in no mood to confront such a monster with words alone. So, he defaulted to his normal strategy of hitting it until it either shut up or died.

  Usually, that worked well enough, and this dragon – despite its ability to reform after being entirely destroyed – was no exception. Everything had limits. Even him, though they were further away than with most people. Regardless, the dragon’s limits came after about the tenth time Zeke scattered its coins across the terrain.

  He wasn’t certain if the thing had simply given up or if he’d killed it, but after that, it left him alone, so he felt comfortable marking it as a victory.

  Which let him study his environment a little further.

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  As seemed to be a pattern in each circle of Hell, there were no directions. No helpful quests to point him toward a means for traversing it. So, left to his own devices, he simply started walking.

  At first, he kept to the valleys, but after a few days, that seemed entirely ineffective. So, he climbed the tallest mountain he could find, and standing upon the pile of gold, he got a good view of the landscape.

  And he was disheartened to see that it was just more of the same all the way to the horizon. Upon seeing that, Zeke resolved to simply keep going. Weeks passed until, at last, he saw something different.

  It was another traveler.

  This one was much the same as the first Zeke had seen, though his pack was even larger, stretching at least thirty feet into the air and bulging with what Zeke expected was considerable wealth. What the man planned to do with it, he didn’t know, but Zeke was less concerned about that than with getting some sort of directions.

  With that in mind, he headed forward until, at last, his path overtook the man’s.

  The reaction was as immediate as it was violent.

  The man threw himself at Zeke with wild abandon, clawing and scratching as he screamed, “Mine! You can’t have it!”

  His attacks weren’t terribly effective, and what few broke Zeke’s skin were easily healed by [Hand of Divinity]. But the ferocity of the assault was both disheartening and more than a little disturbing. Thankfully, Zeke had no issues subduing the man, and soon enough, he had the fellow’s thin wrists locked in a vice-like grip.

  Of course, the man still tried to escape, squirming and kicking until Zeke said, “If you don’t stop, I’m going to rip your arms off. Your choice. I don’t want your stuff. I just want to know what’s going on.”

  “You have no treasure,” the man breathed. At first, Zeke had thought he was incredibly old, but on further inspection, that was just an illusion created by what seemed to be a hard-lived life. The man’s skin was leathery, and his hair and unkempt beard were streaked with white. However, Zeke suspected that he was no older than middle aged. “You only want my wealth. You can’t have it!”

  “Where are you going?” Zeke asked, but the man was testing his patience. He truly did consider following through with his threat, but he restrained himself. Instead, he focused on cycling divine energy, which had become something of a reflex for him. Even when he was unconscious – a rare thing – he had the powerful current running through him. It still did plenty of damage along the way, but it had lessened considerably. [Hand of Divinity] mended what destruction it left in its wake, and easily enough.

  The other effect was that it kept his head clear of whatever madness had obviously infected the man pinned beneath him.

  “There is only one destination. The Vault beckons.”

  After that, Zeke’s interrogation became even more frustrating. The longer he held the man captive, the more irate he became – at least until Zeke once again asserted his authority. It felt as if he were questioning an easily distractable child, save that said child would gladly claw his eyes out and run away if given half a chance.

  Whatever the case, the whole process was frustrating, but Zeke gained some vital information. The man cared about his wealth more than anything in the world, and he would do anything to keep from losing it. So, all Zeke had to do was threaten to take it, and he fell into line, answering whatever questions were thrown his way.

  That’s how Zeke learned that, though the man cared about his wealth for its own sake, the real benefit was that if he accumulated enough – piling it into the Vault – he would be allowed to escape the Circle of Greed.

  The problem with that was that the closer one came to said Vault, the more people – and monsters – would attempt to try to take it away. Few people were strong enough to survive the journey, especially when they had so much wealth weighing them down.

  For Zeke’s part, he suspected it was a Sisyphean task. Would whatever wealth the denizens of the Circle of Greed managed to gather ever be enough? Maybe. But Zeke strongly believed that it would never be sufficient. Instead, the task was meant to embody the circle’s sin.

  People were forced to covet their neighbor’s possessions, and to the point where they likely forgot the primary goal. Zeke had already experienced such shifts in mindset in the other circles, and he expected that the Circle of Greed would be no different. One taste, and it would begin a slow descent into madness.

  Eventually, Zeke decided to let the man go. Not out of any sense of altruism, but rather, because he wanted a guide. As it turned out, that was a bit of a misfire, because after only a few hundred yards – during which the man sprinted as fast as he could – he was attacked by a glittering beetle made of solid silver. He did not survive.

  However, the whole thing did give Zeke a direction, and he soon began his journey in earnest. For days, he traveled without incident. Certainly, he saw plenty of other hoarders, as he began to think of them, and each one had a larger pack than the last. He even saw a few battles in progress, and more than a couple of monster attacks.

  For his part, he remained entirely ignored – probably because he hadn’t taken anything. He suspected that if he had, he would have likely found himself subjected to just as many attacks as the others.

  Days became weeks, but by that point, Zeke was no stranger to long treks without an apparent end. He knew how to endure, and he used that trait to his advantage as those weeks stretched into months.

  Still, he continued on, and slowly, the population grew denser. Everyone was going in the same direction, and each individual looked at the others with suspicion, greed, and hate. But fights were more infrequent, largely because those who’d made it this far were clearly powerful enough to give anyone pause.

  Zeke bothered no one else, and in turn, he was left to his own devices.

  The wealth surrounding him was tempting, especially if he found himself subjected to the same conditions as everyone else. If that was the case, he was wasting a lot of time that he could have used hoarding wealth. Yet, he remained strong and unburdened, bypassing many of those travelers with heavier burdens.

  And then, he saw it.

  The Vault.

  It was not just a single building, as he’d expected, either. Instead, it was an entire city of gold that twinkled in the diamondlight. For a long time, he stood atop a mountain, just staring at it in wonder. And even his resolve shook at the sight. The person who controlled that city was wealthy beyond measure. With that, he could do anything. He could be anything. Godhood was only a matter of resources, and that glittering city was enough to push him over the edge.

  Divine energy pulsed through him, banishing those alien – and largely irrational – thoughts.

  So, it was with a clear head that he began the final leg of his trek, wondering what he’d find within the city.