He unlocked the Well of the Abyss--smoke poured out of the Well, billows and billows of smoke, sun and air in blackout from smoke pouring out of the Well.
They were given their orders: "Don't hurt the grass, don't hurt anything green, don't hurt a single tree--only men and women, and then only those who lack the seal of God on their foreheads."
When this happens, people are going to prefer death to torture, look for ways to kill themselves. But they won't find a way--death will have gone into hiding.
The Four Angels were untied and let loose, Four Angels all prepared for the exact year, month, day, and even hour when they were to kill a third of the human race.
The remaining men and women who weren't killed by these weapons went on their merry way--didn't change their way of life, didn't quit worshiping demons, didn't quit centering their lives around lumps of gold and silver and brass, hunks of stone and wood that couldn't see or hear or move.