The sky was still.
After months of screaming winds, boiling rain, and thunder that never slept, the silence felt louder than any battle.
They camped at the edge of a cliff. Below them, the charred valleys of Hell glowed faintly in the dark. Above, the final Spire loomed—a pillar of obsidian and silver light, stretching toward a crack in the sky. Through it, a sliver of another realm could be seen: Earth.
The next world.
But first—this.
Lilith sat quietly by the fire. The flames reflected in her eyes, casting shadows of the woman she had become. Her hands, once soft and shaking, now bore scars and ember marks. The hilt of her sword rested against her shoulder.
Sarah floated above the fire, lying in air like it was water. She stared at the stars.
Ethan sat with his back to a rock, tuning the twin-bladed spear he'd forged with fire and lightning.
No one spoke for a while.
And then—Sarah broke the silence.
"Remember when you first summoned black fire, Lilith?"
Lilith gave a dry smile. "I nearly burned off my eyebrows."
Ethan chuckled. "And a third of a demon fortress."
They laughed—genuinely, for once. Not the laugh of survivors, but of friends.
Sarah drifted lower, her voice quieter. "We've changed."
Ethan looked at his hands, watching fire dance between his fingers. "We had to."
Lilith said nothing at first. Then she whispered:
"Do you think we'll be able to change back?"
That quieted them.
After a long pause, Ethan spoke. "I don't think we're meant to go back."
Sarah nodded slowly. "But we can move forward."
Lilith glanced up at the Spire.
"The Spire of Judgment... it's not just a final test."
"It's where Heaven watches."
She turned to them, her green eyes fierce and full of fire.
"And I want them to see everything they cast down."
They didn't speak after that.
They just sat—shoulder to shoulder, eyes toward the sky—resting one last time beneath the stars of Hell.
Because after tomorrow, there would be no turning back.
They were going to Earth next.
And then, to Heaven.
And when they got there... the throne would tremble.