During Dexter’s descent, his journey did not end at the fiery lake. He was carried deeper, into the subterranean chambers of Hell where the darkness thickened, and the cries of the condemned grew louder. It was here that he witnessed sights that echo both the words of Scripture and Dante Alighieri’s vision in The Inferno.

Dexter recalls:

“My first memory of the subterranean level of Hell was of a band of very noble-looking men. They appeared as though they were Medieval nobility, warriors from another age. They had arrayed themselves in their best armor and equipment, making plans to escape. I remember how determined they were, convinced that if they just marched in formation, they could break free. But no matter how noble they looked, no earthly strategy could deliver them.”

Their determination was short-lived. A demon of massive size appeared, a towering monstrosity.

“This devil ran into them full force,” Dexter said, “and it was as if they were nothing. He knocked them backwards, then slapped them around like rag dolls. All their plans, all their pride, shattered in an instant.”

This futility echoes Dante’s Inferno, where souls condemned to Hell march, strive, and cry out — yet achieve nothing. In Canto V, the doomed lovers Paolo and Francesca are caught in an endless whirlwind of passion and destruction:
“Love led us to one death; in the depths of Hell, Caina waits for him who took our lives.”
So too these lords, once rulers and generals, now led only a cursed army. They quarreled constantly, each one claiming that his leadership could deliver them from torment, yet their army marched in endless circles — a grotesque parody of their worldly ambitions.

Their eyes burned with hatred — not only toward the demons who mocked them, but toward one another. Pride had chained them as tightly as the pit itself. They were strong men once, but in Hell they were nothing. “For all who take up the sword shall perish by the sword” (Matthew 26:52).

As Dexter watched, their path forward was barred by a monstrous guardian. The creature was no ordinary beast but the Minotaur of legend, the very same described in Inferno Canto XII:
“The infamy of Crete, conceived within the counterfeit cow… turned upon himself like one whom fury bites inside.”
This half-man, half-bull towered over them, its eyes gleaming with unrestrained rage. It embodied the violence and savagery of Hell itself.

The lords, in their arrogance, believed their swords and shields would grant them victory. They advanced as if their earthly weapons still carried power. But in Hell, steel is no match for sin. The Minotaur ripped through their ranks, devouring souls with no mercy. What had once been an army became scattered prey. Their prideful march turned into a rout of endless torment.

Dante describes the fate of the violent in the seventh circle: those who waged bloodshed are submerged in boiling blood, watched by beasts that ensure no one escapes. Dexter’s vision mirrored this punishment. These lords, who had once commanded with violence, now suffered violence without end. Their own hubris had become their chains, their own cruelty their executioner.

In the pit, Dexter realized a horrifying truth: Hell is not merely a place of external torment — it is the perfect reflection of the darkness within.

• The generals who lived by the sword are forever slain by it.
• The rulers who sought power now lead armies into futility.
• The proud who exalted themselves are thrown down like dust.

Dante himself reminds us: “The nearer a thing comes to its perfection, the more keen will be its pleasure or its pain.”Here in Hell, perfection is perverted. The lords sought glory; they reaped only agony. They sought leadership; they reaped endless defeat.

Dexter’s testimony resounds with Scripture: “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). In Hell, pride is no longer hidden — it is the very fire that consumes the soul.

This part of Dexter’s journey stands as a stark warning: Hell is real, and the torments described in The Inferno are not poetic fancy. They are glimpses into an eternal reality where sin receives its wages (Romans 6:23).

The descent continues. There are more horrors to unveil — more beasts, more snares, more souls who are trapped in the reflection of their own sins.

⚠️ To be continued in Part 3.

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Hell is real. Eternity is forever. And your soul is worth more than the whole world.