Due to the colossal size of Hell, which was like a desert of rocks and ashes, the lolis split into three pairs.
Cwenburg mounted Edas. Æthelflæd galloped on Ǣg-berend. And Leofwynn flew on Godwyna.
Thus, they set out simultaneously after three of the five Ancestral Demons.
The Falls of Sandor were like waterfalls of stone and dark earth, stretching for kilometers in a low, purplish light.
They had existed even before the Ancestral Demon Wifritheg made that place his nest, waiting to return to the Physical Plane. That was billions of years ago.
Aura accumulated differently in Hell, in infinitely smaller numbers; a thousand years there did not equal a thousand years in the Physical Dimension.
Even so, the Ancestral Demons, creatures that refused to return to the River of Life, remained in Hell. It was unknown exactly where they had died, but the Unicorns believed they were not from the planet where they themselves were born, having come from Hells in Parallel Dimensions.
But the fact is, they waited in Hell for a crack, a light, and then returned to the Physical Plane, causing destruction and fear.
The Unicorns had oracles that predicted disasters, and these beings had been prophesied for a long time.
Weltskathi was killed by the union of Unicorns, Stallioncorns, and Firemares.
Ûlfsjâla, killed by Leofwynn and Cwenburg.
And at the center of the rocky cataract gorge, Wifritheg awaited Edas and Cwenburg.
Wifritheg's body was a little over three and a half meters tall.
Skin of obsidian, cracked with red veins of concentrated, physical, flammable Aura.
Four asymmetrical horns, like petrified trees.
Torn and rotten wings, as if they were relics from thousands of battles.
Eyes without pupils, only a scarlet glow.
A long black mane around the neck and flowing down the back like a horse's mane, long enough to touch the ground.
Claws that resembled blades.
A bone crown fused to the very skull.
Edas stopped before approaching, atop one of the vast waterfalls, and Cwenburg flew over, saying to him:
— Let's follow our plan!
Edas trusted his wife and watched the Unicorn Girl fly swiftly toward Wifritheg.
In appearance, Wifritheg resembled an obsidian lizard. He assessed the loli flying toward him and charged at her.
Wifritheg kicked up dust as he ran, covering several meters with each leap.
His obsidian lizard tail raised even more dust as it struck the ground.
Until they met. Wifritheg delivered a sequence of clawed punches and kicks, using his tail to complete the combo.
Cwenburg, with her staff, conjured water to deflect each blow.
In the reflections of the conjurations, the two stared at each other, water and distorted images. The torrents bathed the ground and rose against the dust, settling the earth around them until everything became mud, and Cwenburg gained the advantage of flight.
It was unusual, but some beings, even among the powerful, could not master the magic of flying.
They locked eyes, and Wifritheg leaped intensely, punching and striking, but he didn't use his tail to attack, he grabbed Cwenburg's left leg and hurled her into the mud.
Cwenburg's body spun many times, and she saw the sky below and the earth above, rotating as she neared the ground, until she conjured more water and fell into a spreading lake, rising up against Wifritheg, who ran in the opposite direction, fleeing a tsunami.
— Wait!
— What is it, lizard? — Cwenburg flew up to Wifritheg, and the enemy replied:
— Who are you, and why are you attacking me?
Not quite understanding, Cwenburg blushed, she really had attacked someone without even trying to talk first!
— I'm sorry, Mr. Lizard! I thought you were a terrible villain!
— But of course not, I was just here, existing, and you came throwing spells and kicking me!
— Sorry, sorry! I just wanted to escape Hell.
— And what do I care? — retorted the Lizard, even more irritated. — How were you going to escape from here? Anyway, everyone wants to leave this place.
Cwenburg explained the whole situation, with the two of them sitting on rocks, with the waters below crashing against the stones.
The Unicorn spoke of the Demon King, the lolis, the generic magical item she was carrying, and how to return to the Physical Dimension.
— And what do you want to do when you go back, Mr. Lizard?
— I'm going to devastate humanity and create a world of blood and corpses. I'll spread the flesh of living beings across the ground and trample them, and I'll have my revenge.
— But, come on, Mr. Lizard, then you become my enemy again and we'll have to fight.
— But why? You're not even there.
— That's not the point. Get ready, let's fight!
Edas, who had been watching everything from afar, saw his wife stop talking to the obsidian enemy and go back to exchanging blows and spells.
Edas, who had been watching everything from afar, saw his wife stop talking to the obsidian enemy and go back to exchanging blows and spells.
— You just apologized to him five minutes ago! — shouted Edas.
— I know! But then he said he wanted to cover the world in corpses!
— That's usually a bad sign!
The battle resumed.
Columns of water collided against rivers of crimson Aura.
Wifritheg roared.
Cwenburg shouted.
Edas charged.
Several kilometers away, Æthelflæd and Leofwynn were also engaged in their own battles against the remaining Ancestral Demons.
For the first time in billions of years, Hell shook.
Mountains cracked.
Valleys collapsed.
Ancient rivers of ashes changed direction.
The five Ancestral Demons felt it simultaneously.
Something deeper than Hell had awakened.
At first it was only a sound.
A distant sound.
A slow sound.
A heartbeat.
THUMP.
THUMP.
THUMP.
The battles stopped.
Even the demons looked toward the darkness beneath the world.
Another heartbeat echoed.
This time entire continents of stone split apart.
— What is that? — asked Cwenburg.
Wifritheg's expression changed.
For the first time, he looked afraid.
— Impossible...
— What?
— It wasn't supposed to wake up.
The floor of Hell exploded.
Not cracked.
Exploded.
A hole larger than nations opened beneath the underworld.
From it emerged a head.
Then another.
Then another.
Then hundreds.
Then thousands.
An endless mass of jaws, eyes, horns, wings, tentacles, claws, and shapes that had no names.
Its body was larger than Hell itself.
The creature continued emerging.
And emerging.
And emerging.
As if reality could not contain all of it.
The sky tore apart.
The red clouds vanished.
Entire mountain ranges were swallowed simply because the monster moved.
The Ancestral Demons fled.
Not fought.
Not resisted.
Fled.
Screaming.
One of the countless mouths opened.
And consumed Wifritheg.
Instantly.
No battle.
No resistance.
Gone.
— RUN! — screamed Edas.
The lolis mounted their companions.
Leofwynn arrived from the horizon.
Æthelflæd appeared moments later.
All six rushed toward the portal they had fought so hard to obtain.
Behind them, Hell died.
Entire regions disappeared into the endless mouths.
The oceans of lava vanished.
The deserts vanished.
The mountains vanished.
The Ancestral Demons vanished.
Everything vanished.
The monster kept growing.
And then it noticed something.
The Physical Plane.
The crack connecting dimensions.
A million eyes focused upon it.
The creature smiled.
Reality broke.
The portal exploded open.
The monster entered.
On the surface world, humans looked to the sky.
Kings.
Queens.
Heroes.
Farmers.
Merchants.
Children.
Everyone saw the same thing.
The heavens opening.
And something impossible descending.
The first continent disappeared in a single bite.
The second shattered when one claw touched it.
The oceans boiled.
The moon broke apart.
Stars vanished.
Civilizations ended in moments.
The Demon King looked up from his throne.
— Oh.
That was all he managed to say before being erased from existence.
The lolis watched the destruction unfold.
— This is bad, isn't it? — asked Cwenburg.
— Slightly — replied Leofwynn.
The creature continued.
Worlds vanished.
Dimensions collapsed.
Time itself began unraveling.
Eventually there was no Hell.
No Earth.
No Heaven.
No Demon Realm.
No Unicorn Kingdom.
No stars.
No darkness.
No light.
Only the monster remained.
It floated alone in the endless void.
Silent.
Motionless.
Then one of its countless eyes blinked.
And a small message appeared in reality.
"THE END."
A pause followed.
Then another message appeared beneath it.
"EVERYONE DIED."
After another pause:
"INCLUDING THE AUTHOR."
And finally:
"ESPECIALLY THE READER."
The monster nodded with approval.
Then it ate the ending too.