William could never have imagined in a million years the being that would rise from the ashes.

A massive, fleshy mass, covered with crimson bubbles and ridges. Several eyes and mouths sprouted as it grew larger, the mouths ringed with deathly sharp teeth, the eyes bloodshot and bulbous. It oozed from the lava where the Guide had fallen, stretching up to the very ceiling of the Underworld, forming a massive wall in front of them.

Fitting, considering the label that appeared when William stared at it. 'Wall of Flesh – 11200/11200'.

"What the cactus..." Sid gasped, looking lost for words. A reaction William had never seen on him.

He glanced at Robyn, who looked similarly stunned, then at Meg, whose head was turned backwards.

The fireball that hit Andrew, William couldn't help thinking. Meg was trying to see where it had come from. Its trajectory suggested it had come from somewhere in the ceiling, from one of the many ash pillars behind them.

But there was nothing. No-one that could have unleashed the flame of death.

We've got a bigger problem to deal with though.

A VERY big problem.

The Wall of Flesh.

A being that appeared to be the culmination of the essence of the Crimson.

Dozens of red tendrils stretched forward from the Wall, each with a biting mouth on the end of them. They reached forward, their mouths grasping for something to feed on.

At that moment they were all reaching for Hayley, who still stood in shocked silence.

"Hayley!" William shouted, rushing forward. Three of the grabbing mouths – named The Hungry according to their labels – were about to chomp down into her, had he not swept his Night's Edge and knocked them all away.

"We've got to bring this thing down!" he shouted. He twirled his Sunfury, the flaming spiky ball on a chain spinning fast, and slung it out for some more damage to The Hungry, the Sunfury's blaze setting them on fire.

"Everyone drink the potions I gave you!" Meg shouted.

William quickly reached into his inventory to do what he said, starting with the Inferno Potion she had found for him in a Shadow Chest earlier. A bright ring of fire burst out around him, lashing at The Hungry that were reaching for him.

"Woah, that is so cool, dude!" Sid exclaimed. "I want one!"

Several of the other Hungry reached over William's head to try to bite into the others, but they were all ready. Robyn was the first to spring into action, the call to battle overwriting whatever emotions were keeping her subdued. Her Hellwing Bow hummed as it launched a swarm of magical flaming bats at The Hungry, pushing them backwards. Sid's Imps shot fireballs into the fray while Meg cast fiery bolts using her Flamelash. Even the Witch Doctor and Golfer were getting in on the action, Zop'a firing darts from his blowgun, and the Golfer doing what he did best.

"The Wall's coming towards us!" Meg cried.

William glanced at it and with a sickening feeling realised she was right. He grabbed the Zoologist by the arm and pulled her backwards, slicing at more Hungry that tried to bite at them. Before too long the Wall had oozed onto the ledge, engulfing the spot where she had been standing. And it didn't stop there.

"Harry! Zop'a! Keep Hayley safe!" William shouted, thrusting the panicked Zoologist at them.

He heard a new, unfamiliar sound, and spun around to see bright purple lasers were being shot out of the Wall's many eyes. The lasers that impacted with the ground sent up clouds of ash, and one hit Sid's side.

"Agh!" he cried, falling to the ground.

"Sid!" Meg shouted, and ran forward to haphazardly pull him to his feet.

"Fall back!" William cried.

The Wall's expanding presence pushed them back into the houses where they had found the Shadow Chests, then over a lake of lava that Sid had built a platform bridge across for the citizens. William was grateful for the space to stand on, but in such a narrow space the Wall's lasers were able to overwhelm them, pushing them further back. Some of The Hungry burst apart in their attacks, but each one they cut away was replaced by two more, like a perverted form of hydra.

"Robyn, Meg, focus on hitting the Wall itself!" Sid shouted. "William, you and I will focus on keeping the Hungry away."

William nodded. He sandstorm-jumped up, bringing his sword through five different Hungry at once. He could see Robyn's flaming bats piercing through the Hungry's defences and into the Wall's flesh, while Meg manoeuvred her fireballs around the Hungry and into whatever exposed eye she could hit.

As powerful as their small army was, the Wall was practically an army itself. Its mouths burped small red worms that burrowed their way towards them and quickly turned the walkable ground into a minefield, while the eye-lasers only continued to up and up in frequency. Not only that, but the Wall itself felt like it was growing and flowing exponentially faster. Sid manoeuvred everyone across the Underworld's treacherous terrain, anything to get away from the Wall, but even his directions weren't keeping pace. The Wall would overcome them eventually.

"We're getting close! 2000 health left!" Sid called.

"I don't know how much longer I can keep this up!" William shouted.

"I've been constantly out of mana for a while!" Meg shouted. "I'm barely able to get off any shots!"

William made to run away so he could get a more distant view from the close-quarters battle he'd been waging against the Hungry, but the tentacly veins around him seemed to be keeping pace with his Lightning Boots. Glancing back, he realised in horror that the Wall itself was oozing at the same rate as his running speed.

And he was beginning to tire.

"William!" he heard Robyn cry as the Wall caught him like a fly on a car windshield.

But William was prepared. He drove his Night's Edge into one of the Wall's eyes. Some of the Hungry bent around to try to pick him to pieces, but he swung his Sunfury in semicircles in front of him to keep them away.

He saw fiery bats streaming into some of the other eyes – Robyn was dialling up her attacks. Meg had switched to her Bee Gun, unleashing a swarm of bees to rival Robyn's bats, together tearing apart The Hungry that remained and into the Wall.

And that was when William fell.

The Wall behind him collapsed, breaking apart into fleshy chunks, but the momentum sent him flying forward, and he ended up face-planting on the obsidian-brick roof of an underworld house below.

He could hear no more guttural roars. No more Hungry chomps, no more laser blasts. Just a voice, ethereally whispering in his ear. "The ancient spirits of light and dark have been released."

He heard footsteps approaching.

"Hey there, champ."

He held up his head to see Sid standing over him.

"Thought we were going to lose you there. But we did it." He exhaled, the battle now over.

"Is Andrew there?" Hayley cried. "Is he alive?"

Sid looked out at the bloody remains of the Wall of Flesh. "I don't see him. I'll go check. There's probably at least some loot or something."

William got to his feet. He saw Meg on her knees on the ground near him, looking similarly relieved that this battle was over.

"I miss the giant flying things," she muttered.

Sid returned from the haze, now wearing a green cap on his head for some reason.

"It dropped some quite good stuff. This hat," he pointed up at it, "A new whip for me, named the Firecracker. A Warrior Emblem that's just dying to be given to William. And a Demon Heart for each of you, which increases your accessory slot count by one."

William looked down at his hands as Sid handed him the two items, and in that moment it hit him.

The Wall of Flesh, the final boss of the world, had been defeated. At the cost of the Guide, but it was gone.

Was this the end? Was this their happily ever after? Peace and prosperity for all in the villages?

William began to laugh, realising this huge weight had now been lifted off his shoulders. Off of all of their shoulders.

They were all safe.

Then his laughs faded.

We might be safe, but... we're still trapped.

There's a real world for us out there, where we all came from.

But we still have no way of getting out there.

His gaze landed on Robyn, who was standing with her back to him, facing away from the Wall of Flesh's remains, her head down. He watched as she reached up to her helmet and gently slid it off, unveiling her long, brown ponytail.

He stepped forward. If there was ever a time to talk to her about their feelings for each other, it was now.

"Robyn?"

Her head shifted.

"Are you okay?"

She turned around.

Her eyes were glowing red.

"The world's guardian has been defeated," she said in a dark voice. "Now nothing stands in their way."