"You know, for someone called the Swordsaint, this is rather disappointing."
A mocking voice echoed through a dead battlefield. Bodies lay scattered across the ground, the earth scorched by dark flames, the air thick with ash and the smell of burnt iron. High above, a vast being hung in the sky like a second dark sun — Avernus the Destroyer, the fifty-fourth Demon Lord. He looked down at the barren ground below with the idle curiosity of someone who had already won.
"Hahaha. Is there really no end to this."
Far beneath him, a man in tattered armor held a broken sword, slowly looking up. The man could barely stand. His legs trembled beneath him, though his grip on the broken blade never loosened.
"As the Swordsaint, I will never waver or yield."
Kael's voice rang out in defiance.
"Well. You will die braver than most."
A giant orb of dark flames formed, covering the sky. The heat alone pressed down like a physical weight, and the few trees still standing at the field's edge caught fire without being touched.
"Goodbye, so-called humanity's last hope."
Kael could only watch as the flames descended.
The End.
Author's Remark: Thank you all for staying with the story. It really has been an amazing journey.
Maybe if he stared harder the writing would be different.
Who ends a story like this? It had to be a joke, right?
In a small apartment in Metro City, a teenage voice echoed through his room in frustration. Sitting in front of his laptop, he scrolled through the comments.
WordLord: I must be dreaming, right? It says The End.
CantBeatGoku:This is exactly what happens when a depressed Gen Z writes a web novel. Trash ending.
TheHonouredOne: Kael had three affinities. Three. And he died without being able to even scratch the Demon Lord. Bad writing at its peak.
Ethan stared at the screen and understood everyone's frustration. The Epic Tale of Aethoria a classic fantasy web novel. The book had hit hard across all platforms. Even though a certain platform held all ownership rights… you didn't hear that from him. Still, it became number one.
It had dropped hit after hit for five consecutive years.
Ethan stood up and walked to the tiny refrigerator wedged beside his desk and sat back down. He took a sip.
It really does say The End.
His eyes drifted back to the screen.
He wasn't the type to blow up over things. He kept it in. But the frustration was there, sitting quiet and heavy in his chest. Anyone would feel it. Imagine following your favourite show for five years only to get a two-star ending in the final episode.
I should leave a comment.
He cracked his knuckles and started typing.
Roadman: @Author — Not going to lie, you wrote a terrible, terrible ending. And look, the fans were willing to let the plot holes slide because your writing was genuinely good. We forgave a lot. But come on. Even I could have written a better conclusion and I am not a writer. If it were up to me, Kael would have spent less time dismantling noble houses and more time uniting those territories as a support base. You had the pieces. You just didn't use them.
He pressed enter and left it there.
Within minutes the comment was being shared and liked. Readers felt the same way that much was clear.
I guess it's time to find something else to read. He leaned back. Will there ever be another story like this though.
Just then a notification appeared. He clicked it.
His eyes went wide.
The author had replied.
Author: Since you think you can write a better ending, why not do it. You dumb f*ck.
Ethan stared at the screen.
Okay. That man might have been his favourite author once, but this was just rude.
He wasn't about to let it go.
**Roadman:** You dropped a garbage ending, just take the L. Seriously, this is embarrassing. And if you really want me to write a better one, I'll do it.
He pressed send.
What a loser. Ethan shook his head. His finals were coming up. He couldn't let this nonsense take up any more of his evening.
He closed the laptop and stood up.
His hand met the wall.
His vision blurred without warning a sudden wave that made the room tilt. He steadied himself. Was it the soda?
A screen appeared in front of him, suspended in the air like it had always been there. Words inscribed themselves slowly across it.
[ Name: Ethan Crow ]
[ Objective: Write a new ending ]
Ethan waved his hand through the screen. His fingers passed through nothing. The words remained.
He slapped himself across the face.
I'm hallucinating.
He took a breath, then another. His heart was moving faster than he wanted it to.
A voice echoed through his mind.
*Let's see you write a good ending. Dumb f*ck.*
What?
That was the last thing he heard before everything went dark.