Wrath slowly continued while sizing up Vale.
"As you may have noticed, I said 'a' master, not 'the' master. That is because you are not the first master of Lust, and you may not be the last. It is not you who is viewed as vile, but your dungeon. Because you and your dungeon are one and the same, that hatred extends to you. Ah, am I getting off track?"
Wrath chuckled to himself, then gestured toward the sleeping Sloth.
"If what our resident oracle said is correct, then when a master of vice dies, a new one will be chosen for a vice dungeon until the seventh one. This means the Dungeon of Lust would cease to exist if its seventh inheritor died. You are the fifth inheritor."
Vale narrowed his eyes, studying the minor movements Wrath made as he spoke. Wrath had an odd tick where he tapped his finger on the table often.
But if what Wrath said was true, then that explained all the fifth references. Not all of them, though. The Fifth Vice Dungeon likely referred to the Lust dungeon in relation to the others. His title as the fifth incarnation now made sense.
But it didn't seem he got to keep any of the progress the previous Lusts had made.
'Speaking of them... if they did exist, what happened to them? How did they die? What were their dungeons like? What became of their fallen dungeons?'
"You may be wondering why we called you here, or what purpose we have. It's simple. Survival. All of the Vice Dungeons and their masters are needed for this world's survival, whether the natives like it or not. That also means whether you or I like it."
'Natives…'
Vale hadn't entirely thought about it.
'But am I about to meet aliens?!'
Vale was intrigued.
Also scared.
But waldo intrigued.
Wrath leaned back in his throne, tilted his helm to the side, and rested it on his metal knuckle.
"While I'm not one to play nice, and this situation pisses me off, I'm not an idiot who throws himself into a perilous situation out of vainglorious pride."
Wrath continued tapping the table with his outstretched hand.
"As for the situation, a truly vile existence is slowly consuming Pandora. This plague spreads to whatever life it touches and corrupts it. Those infected are called many names: Corrupted, Voidborn, Plagued, Scourge, Infected, Demons, Devils, Calamity, Grimm. Call them what you want. They keep spawning, killing all life wherever they appear, and rendering areas uninhabitable."
'Uh, did he have to say every name for something evil in the book? I got the gist after the first one…'
Wrath obviously wasn't the best teacher.
'What exactly does it mean to "corrupt" life?'
Sadly, he couldn't ask any questions.
Vale leaned forward, trying his best to hide his slightly mocking expression.
Wrath adjusted his position and switched his arms, placing the one that had been against his helm on the table and bringing the other to his helm.
"While we masters may not need resources like food, the beings of our dungeons do. The Corrupted are strong and constantly invade dungeons, wreaking havoc. If we are starved of surface resources while facing a constant stream of enemies, our dungeons will be overrun, no matter how much stronger we are."
'Uh, huh… So, Wrath. What the fuck exactly does it mean to "corrupt" life! I think that's a major part in all this!'
Vale wasn't entirely following yet, but a semblance of sense was forming. He'd worked out that corruption was most likely similar to a disease that made food wither.
He had also learned something vital, unrelated to the corruption.
'The workers, and probably even Toy and Salome, need to eat and perform other necessary life functions.'
At least Vale assumed they did. But they didn't exactly seem normal.
'Water is going to be an issue...'
Apparently, they could scavenge from the surface. Yet Vale was unsure what lie around his dungeon or how he would reach the surface, if he even could.
As for the corruption…
'It's most likely that black substance clinging to those beasts.'
Vale hadn't had much time to study those abominations, so he had assumed it was a hereditary trait.
'But it was the corruption… whatever that truly is.'
"There is a silver lining. We and all associated with our dungeons are immune to this corruption. You need not worry about that, but you still cannot treat this threat lightly. We will fall if all land becomes corrupted."
Wrath lifted his head and rested both hands on the arms of his chair.
"Your strength, or rather your potential strength, is needed in the fight against this corruption. That is not the only reason we must work together."
Wrath's glowing red eyes stared directly into Vale's.
"While this world faces the calamity of corruption, it also faces the dungeon crisis. We are that crisis."