Rise of the Arockalypse (Second Lordi Saga - Story 3)

Chapter 10 - The Watcher

_"Fuck, it's worse than a furnace here."

A furnace, Hella had not found other words to describe the place in which she and Mathias had just arrived, brought by the infernal portal. Side by side, they looked around, standing in a sort of large cavern of reddish brown rock. There was a nauseous heat and a foul smell of sulfur. Mathias felt it too, but seemed less affected by the infernal heat, surely because of the demon Lamia which lived in him and which, in a way, immunized him.

_ "Let's get out of here." he suggested. "Let's find those shitty priests and settle this once and for all."

_"I couldn't have said it better." Hella replied with a smile.

Knowing they were in enemy territory, the couple remained on their guard and took their weapons as they walked, ready to eradicate any demon that would have the audacity to try to attack them. They walked for long seconds, to finally reach the exit of the cave and go out in a huge outdoor and open space. But the vision that presented itself to them left them speechless.

They were now on top of a large rocky plateau, connected to another by a large metal bridge. Molten lakes of lava lay below, in which burned, by the millions and for eternity, what looked like souls, their screams of pain echoing, doomed forever to remain trapped in this infernal fire to suffer without ever being able to die again. Surrounding these lakes of fire were mountains, consisting entirely of bloody flesh, rotting organs and bones, sometimes rising up to several hundred meters. Demons, looking like frightful and red bats, came and went constantly to deposit new bones or new pieces of flesh on these mountains, as if to sculpt them permanently.

_"Oh shit... so this is hell..." sighed Mathias with disgust.

_"It's even more horrible than I imagined... If Mr. Lordi saw that..." Hella added, just as disgusted as her boyfriend.

The couple decided not to linger too long and took the risk of crossing the metal bridge that passed over one of the rivers of steaming lava. Fortunately, the demonic humanoid bats were too busy carrying out their duties and did not notice them. After the bridge, Mathias and Hella continued to walk side by side, weapons drawn and constantly on guard, now moving over hot, rocky ground, surrounded by huge rocky hooked spikes sticking out of the ground, but also numerous macabre sculptures made of bones and flesh.

_ "Even Mr. Lordi never came to this kingdom..." Hella said suspiciously. "Demons have always been monsters' worst enemies. Mr. Lordi would sometimes tell me ancient tales of the very first trans-dimensional war...despite the centuries, he still remembers perfectly, I can see it in his eyes. .. all those deaths he must have seen..."

_"It's the weight that falls on any monarch..." breathed Mathias. "Having to live with his past, no matter how bloody and violent, so he can make sure that never happens again."

Hella shared this opinion with her lover. But suddenly, as they were walking, Mathias and Hella were suddenly surrounded by about ten demons, all of them emerging like ghosts from behind the huge rock teeth protruding from the ground. The demons, clad in coarse armors and holding blades, their dirty, scaly red skins, crooked ears, and sly yellow eyes, showed their sharp teeth and let out shrill growls. Back to back, Mathias and Hella held them at bay with their weapons, ready to fight and support each other to get out of this ambush.

_"I knew I had smelled an abnormal odor around here." growled one of the demons.

_ "A monster and a human? Together? But...wait... they are not the ones from the last trans-dimensional war..." said another, watching them.

He was talking about Emily and Mr. Lordi, that was for sure. The memory lingered. One of the demons tried to approach with deceit, but Hella noticed him and fired a salvo from her improved sawed-off shotgun right in front of the creature's foot, which jumped back in fear.