The Abyssal Pact decided the great question of the war was a waste of time. They do not pretend to be free, or just, or alive — they want, and they take, and they consider this the only honest way to live. Their power grows by adding to itself: much of the Pact was once human, and remembers it, and no longer cares.
Their champions punish hesitation: the Warlock pays in power for power, the Axeman drinks deep from every kill, and the Hexblade binds you to its own fate.