"It's over,"
Hades exhaled, the breath leaving his divine lungs like a dying star releasing its final light.
The void trembled quietly, the aftershock of creation's most forbidden act rippling outward in silence.
The Outer One's infinite body, once vast enough to drown galaxies, now dissipated like smoke swallowed by the abyss.
Its presence, its soundless madness, its existence, all seemed to fade, leaving only the dim glow of Hades' purple flame flickering weakly against the broken walls of reality.
Just then, as Hades allowed himself a moment of weary triumph, the unthinkable occurred.
From the depths of dissolution, where even meaning itself had perished, the remnants of the Outer One stirred.
Its countless eyes reopened across the fading void, gleaming with something beyond insanity, beyond even comprehension.
Then, from the stillness of its own undoing, it smiled.
Hades' eyes widened, realization dawning too late.
The Outer One was not resisting its end.
