He never thought she would actually pull it off.
He smiled with pride as the magical realm cleaved itself apart, arcane thunder rolling violently overhead.
She made the right choice. That's what he'd told her, anyway. He still thought it was probably more true than not. But it was less clear cut than he had cared to admit.
He actually didn't know what the consequences would be to the wider world. He might have known once, but with the power of magic collapsing, his vision of the cosmos and the future had begun to grow dim. No matter. That was no longer his concern. Really, it was never his concern to begin with. He had one job, and his position had just been eliminated.
He had planned it for so long. So many centuries of delicate maneuvering. So many pawns manipulated. So many turns and twists in the tale since the first queen was crowned. All for one purpose.
He would've liked to say that it was altruism. That he was trying to do the right thing, that he had acted to bring the world back into balance. That he cared about the fate of the universe and worked toward an end greater than himself. That underneath it all, he truly cared for those who called him friend. Maybe that's what they would say about him. Maybe history would look kindly upon him, remembering him as a self sacrificing hero who came through in the end. It wasn't true. The truth was, he was tired. Just... tired. And he had long known there was only one way he could finally rest.
A mortal might have called it suicide. He preferred to think of it as a well earned retirement.
The storm raged as far as he could see as the world burned around him. He could run, dive into one of the few remaining portals, but it wouldn't make a difference. Without the power of magic to sustain him, his physical form would fade away soon enough. Better to make it quick. Better, as he had told his unlikely savior, to go down with the ship.
More than once, mortals had asked him what happens after death. He had no idea why they thought he would know. He was immortal. He'd never given death a second thought. He'd been dead before, of course, but that was different. There were laws older and more powerful than petty forces like physics or even magic. Even he didn't know all of them. But everything he knew about the true nature of universe told him that although he had escaped the grave once, he wouldn't do so again. There was no going back this time. He was about to pass beyond the veil.
But what then? Celestial paradise? Why not, he could use a vacation. Eternal torment? Given some of his behavior over the millennia, and everything that had led him to this point, he couldn't rule it out. Rebirth into a new existence? That didn't seem so bad, as long as he got to do something else the next time around. Or perhaps simply oblivion? Well, even more than a vacation, he thought he could use a nap. For the first time that he could remember... he was hoping to be surprised.
The realm was beginning its final collapse. The boundary was now so small that he could see it creeping toward him. As he witnessed the approaching edge of the universe, such as it was, he thought he might feel a tinge fear. But that couldn't be right. He quickly reminded himself that he had no feelings. He'd been forced to do that a lot lately.
He could sense the last portal close. The last escape to anywhere else. He didn't know where it had once led. It didn't matter now. He knew he would be joining his children soon, wherever they were. As the walls of the magical realm closed in around him, he knew there was no place left to go. Or rather, only one place left to go.
"... onward."