Chapter 3: Hell

Disclaimer: Trigger warning for blood and violence

Day 1:

Lily looked at the horizon, hell was colder than she imagined, and the sun was a bluish-white in the sky. Unlike the white snowy floor, the sky was a red similar to the red of her own eyes, her hands were freezing, yet her grip on the sword remained strong.

She remembered the mission the god had given her, "to kill all demons in this hell world" She was already there, the portal had closed, and she supposed that the god had chosen her for a reason, so she theorized that she could kill all the demons, that she was a chosen one similar to the ones in the novels she had read when she was younger.

A heroine sent by god to save the world. What a noble and foolish idea she had, if only that idea could have turned into the reality that would unfold.

She began walking, one step, two steps, nine steps, twenty steps and so on, she could feel how the snow reached all the way to her ankles with every step, the painful cold kept getting more and more bearable as she lost the feeling of her feet. She kept walking until she finally found a mountain and a person right in front of it, or at least that was what she thought it was.

As she got closer she could see the figure was bigger than her, more hairy than any person on earth and with horns similar to those of an old goat. Lucky for her, the creature did not notice her.

Lily hid behind a big rock nearby, perhaps it was instinct or perhaps not, but Lily knew that whatever that creature was it would not be friendly to outsiders, so she decided to observe.

She had watched survival reality shows on the tv, so she knew a bit about hunting "the trick is to wait for the animal to show a weakness". At least that is what she hoped for.

The large demon walked around while carrying what seemed to be a large rock, and next to him there seemed to be a cave carved into the mountain, just the right size for him to enter, he brought the rock inside the cave. "Shit, I can't see him anymore," she thought to herself, the unknown was far more terrifying to her than the demon itself, for him to have disappeared into that dark cave meant she couldn't observe what he would do, she planned to simply run as soon as she saw a chance before the monster noticed.

However, she was now afraid, what if the monster went into that cave because it knew it was being observed, and so, the second she moved she would die? What if she walked and turned around only for that monster to notice her steps and kill her, she had a sword with her, sure, but she never held one before, she didn't even know how to swing one properly.

Her legs, much like the environment she was in, were frozen, the fear was too big and the risk was too dangerous, she decided to remain hidden behind that large rock for as long as she could.

She closed her eyes for a few seconds, she was still tired and had not eaten because of the god's interruption while at her house. When she opened them she saw the demon, looking at her, her theory of it being aware of her was correct.

She could see its features properly, however, his face looked like that of a monkey with the teeth of a shark.

In fear and instinct, at the demon's acknowledgement, she immediately held her sword the way she saw in movies and positioned herself as such.

One foot behind, one in front, the sword pointing upwards and positioned in the middle of her body, the adrenaline in her was increasing, her fight or flight activated, the monster looked at her, she swears it was smiling, mocking her weak self, she had no idea whether the sword would even harm that creature, but her hands and legs did not betray her, she remained steady, her sky like eyes looked at the demon's, piercing through the possible language barrier, and demonstrating that she is not prey.

The demon looked at her, but it did not move, both remained at a standstill for 5 minutes although for Lily it felt like hours, until, finally, the monster backed off and entered his cave. Suddenly her legs gave in, she felt that fear and fell to her knees, she survived and scared away the monster. It felt good, between deep felted breaths she smiled without noticing. "I will survive," she thought to herself.

After recovering a bit, her breath still shaking, she noticed the red sky turning a dark blue, she deduced it was nighttime, and this led her to find somewhere to sleep in, however, after looking around there seemed to be nothing, other than that demon's cave to hide in, that meant she would have to fight it, which was also no different to killing herself. After careful consideration and taking in the fact that the temperature was dropping in the already cold hell, she would die regardless if she didn't find a place to stay, this made her get closer to that cave as quietly as she could until she could peek inside the cave.

As she inclined her head to look inside, she found the hairy white demon from before sleeping, eyes closed and lying down while snoring loudly. The stench of the cave was the most demonic part for sure as Lily felt like vomiting. However, it was the only place she could find before freezing to death.

As soon as she approached she was able to see the creature better, its large stature that perhaps was twice or two and a half hers of height, its giant gorilla-like hands just as white as its fur yet not as long, and its face was still that of a monkey with shark teeth and large horns, but now Lily could better see its eyes, they were angry, hateful eyes, barely contained by its blue eyelids.

That was not the only thing she noticed while entering the cave, she also saw the rock the demon was carrying before, it seemed to be positioned on top of a dug hole, which distracted her enough for the creature to wake up, becoming aware of her presence.

-Gra- it was the first thing she heard as she looked at the horned creature that had its eyes wide awake, it was attempting to stand up, yet its legs were numb, Lily knew that if the creature were to stand she would be dead. She quickly looked at the creature's legs and immediately went to stab them "If it can't stand it won't hunt me".

She grabbed her sword and began to stab the creature's legs over and over while hearing the monster's screams in the background, as her first time using a sword unfolded, the warm red blood that jumped out of the stab wound fell now and then into Lily's face burning her a little.

However, as soon as she calmed down she noticed the creature had passed out from the pain, perhaps stabbing it in the legs was a smart decision, she got closer again to its face, and she decided to execute the demon to end the suffering she produced on the poor thing and to also be able to stay in that cave for the night.

She approached the creature's face, and she felt a mix of emotions as she did, fear of it waking up, discomfort at the disgusting smell, the feeling of her face burning a bit because of the creature's hot blood, and finally, she felt the metal of the sword in her hand, already covered in the same red substance, she looked at the creature's neck and positioned her sword to cut it.

She lifted the sword ready to impulse it down, to try making it one clean-cut, painless, humane, her hands trembled by the weight of the action she was about to commit, her sword still dripping some blood from its tip to the hilt, staining her hands. She remembered for what the god told her "Kill all the demons".

She swings down her sword with all her might yet fails to cut it properly, only reaching a fourth of the way, making the creature that was passed out wake up again only to scream and jerk around to escape. All Lily can do is finish what she started as she swings the sword up and down over and over on the creature's neck the demon not making it any easier of a task. Less an execution and more similar to chopping wood, one swing after the other until the demon stopped moving.

It was messy, her clothing was bloodied, her sword was bloodied, and even the creature's white fur was now a reddish colour. The walls and floor of the cave were stained as well, even the once rotten smell was mildly covered by the metallic and nauseating smell of blood.

Lily collapses on top of her victim and falls asleep, still not dropping her sword. The warmth of the freshly made dead monster was ever so confortable, Lily almost felt like she was back in her house, warming up next to the campfire as her father walked in to check if she was asleep.

Yet the harsh reality was far from that, the heat she felt was of the blood of the demon, and the confort originated from its fur. Her face flushed, her body trying to keep her temperature warm in the frozen night.