" COME ON!! "
Tom shouts as the thousands of colossal rocky swords begin to spin rapidly around him and fly towards Valanyah and Verzo, crashing into the crater and causing multiple earthquakes that split the ground into several deep chasms that open in every direction. Valanyah jumps from rock to rock midair at an incredible speed to close the gap between her and Tom as he continuously attacks her, forming even more swords out of the rocks that are shattering beneath him as she approaches. Verzo destroys any incoming sword with the red beams that he's shooting from his hands as he follows you through the whirlwind of spinning swords until you finally reach Tom, getting behind him. Right before Verzo and Valanyah can reach him, Tom telekinetically pulls together all of the rock from the thousands of swords and compresses them all into the size of a coin, which then turns into a black hole in the palm of his hand.
With a menacingly serious expression, Tom closes his fist around it and swings it faster than the speed of light directly at Verzo's face, punching Verzo with the incredible mass of the black hole and crushing it with his hand in the moment of impact, which causes the black hole to disperse into pure energy and explode the instant that it makes contact. Tom's fist makes a cosmic cracking sound that echoes several thousands of times across the entirety of Aria's atmosphere and launches Verzo like a bullet back into the ground, causing another explosion upon impact that dwarfs the one that you made earlier. The shockwave from the impact caves deep down into Aria's mantle and the entirety of Aria shakes so violently that you feel like the whole planet is going to break apart into pieces. However, you notice that Tom is also using his telekinetic power to contain the explosion and keep the rest of the planet in pristine condition, keeping the damage from his strike solely inside the crater beneath you. Valanyah barely clocks Tom's strike in enough time to go translucent and evade the explosion that Verzo's body makes when it hits the surface, and she talks to Tom in a playful voice before pouncing directly towards him following the explosion.
" Haha!! How amusing! You're still holding back!! "
Verzo's body slowly starts putting itself back together and Valanyah becomes tangible again as she reaches both of you, materializing the dagger that she once used to kill Sowzo and swinging a flurry of slashes at Tom with a smile.
" Come on, lapdog! The lives here on this planet are inconsequential compared to the likes of us! Stop holding back your power in an effort to save these puny beings! Let us destroy this universe in a fight for the ages!! "
You immediately try to assist Tom by attacking Valanyah, but Verzo's body is already fully regenerated and he zips up into the air to intercept you, shooting his beams to block your path towards Tom and buying Valanyah time to breathe before catching up to you. Tom continues to dodge and evade Valanyah's slashes while you exchange blows with Verzo until a monsterous voice growls from the volcanic mantle of the planetary crater below.
" FALL. "
In an instant, you and Tom lose your ability to fly and fall out of the sky, crashing into the molten ground. Valanyah and Verzo dive downwards, following you into the scorching abyss and continuing to throw blows at you while you both stand back up to recover. You divert your gaze to where the voice came from and see the third giant armored Valghuli Exemplar from Somniohm approaching slowly through the lava with a monstrous smile.
You and Tom immediately go on the defensive as you both evade the Valghuli's strikes, dodging backwards before the third Valghuli Exemplar speaks again in its deep demonic voice.
" STUMBLE. "
You and Tom immediately lose your balance, falling back down onto the burning rock before Valanyah jumps on Tom, pinning him underneath her again and Verzo shoots a glowing red beam down next to your head, putting a hole into the scorching ground beside you and pointing his glowing red hand directly at your face. You roll to the side and launch yourself up at Verzo, spinning in the air and kicking yourself off of his chest to fly towards Tom, but the third armored Valghuli Exemplar appears out of thin air in front of you and stops you by catching you mid-air, grabbing your face with its giant hand before slamming you back into the ground. The burning lava inside the crater instantly cools into dried rock from the force of your body hitting the ground and Valanyah continues to beat down on Tom's guard while he's under her until the bloody muscle on his arms is torn into pieces. Verzo, smirking through the shredded flesh where his mouth is supposed to be, speaks in a pompous tone.
" That's enough, Valanyah. "
Verzo says as you try to desperately try to escape the Valghul's grasp, pinned to the ground by your head. Tom pants heavily as Valanyah lets up on her beating and responds to Verzo, giggling sadistically.
" Awww! We were having so much fun! Weren't we, you little lapdog? "
She says as she looks down at Tom, leaning forward and squeezing Tom's face with her hand so hard that it rips the skin on his cheeks.
" Vaktash, bring the Lamenter here. "
The giant armored Valghul growls before grabbing your body with its other hand and picking you up, carrying you and setting you down on your knees in front of Verzo who's standing in front of where Valanyah has Tom pinned. Verzo leans forward, getting in your face as he speaks to you.
" You could've given us a much harder fight, but I can see that protecting this universe and its beings was holding the lapdog back… unfortunately for you, Lamenter, I feel like you still haven't realized your full potential. "
You stare silently at Verzo with disgust as he stands back up straight and continues to talk to you in a grandiose fashion.
" You believed that you could stop us by shutting down the use of portals in this universe, but what you failed to realize is that we could still access this mortal realm through a more natural approach… to be born into it, much like mortals are, by method of ritual. You ignorant beings never seem to understand that there is no stopping Our Lord. Since the advent of creation itself, every mortal and immortal being who has ever opposed Our Lord has eventually become None. "
Verzo then looks back at Tom with a look of satisfaction as he growls in a convicted tone.
" That also means you too, lapdog, are no exception. "
" We have no control over the use of portals here in this universe… If we did, I would've already taken this fight far away from here. "
Tom says to Verzo coldly, still trying to catch his breath.
" Even still, whoever's responsible only managed to buy you a measly few days; and since you didn't try to use the book, I can only assume that it wasn't even an option for you… am I correct? "
You try to obscure the truth from him with your thoughts, remaining silent, but Valanyah giggles after peering into your mind and seeing that Verzo was spot on.
" Hahaha! If they couldn't use the book, then they really stood no chance in trying to fight us! "
You continue to silently stare at Verzo without blinking as he eagerly speaks to Valanyah.
" Bring me the lapdog. "
Valanyah smiles as she puts her sharp claws around Tom's throat, choking him while she dismounts him. Valanyah then drags Tom across the ground by his neck and puts him on his knees in front of Verzo. Verzo speaks to you as he puts his glowing red hand in front of Tom's face.
" Listen to me and listen well, Lamenter. You may have eluded us once before, but we now have possession of your physical form and there is no God that can alter this realm to save you… You are coming with us to The Null where Our Lord may occupy your vessel and bring about an end to the eternal conflict, but there is one thing that must be done first. The Null may only be accessed through use of a portal, so this is my ultimatum to the Gods watching from their prospective realms… Here in a moment, we are going to attempt traversal to The Null. If for any reason we are unable to, then the Lamenter will watch the lapdog die right before his eyes. Do you recall what happened the last time you watched your loved ones die, Lamenter? "
Your heart sinks in your chest as you remember the memories that Noeh showed you of Ariel and Rosie.
Verzo plans on murdering Tom in the hopes that I'll lose control just like I did before. After I lost Ariel and Rosie, the memories from my past life had to be erased in order for me to regain my sanity. Tom is the last person left from back then… everyone else is gone…
I can't lose him like I've lost the others.
" I guess this is it, Donny… "
Tom says telepathically as he looks over at you with a heartbroken stare while he's being choked by Valanyah.
" If they get you, then we lose, and The Holy Omniverse ceases to exist. "
" No! "
You respond telepathically with a panicked tone and tears in your eyes.
" There has to be another way! What if I die?! What if you kill me or erase me from existence so they can't get my power!? "
" If you die, then both sides will continue to struggle for eternity and everything we've done would've been for nothing… Even if erasing you from existence was a viable option, there's no Light inside of you for me to take. "
Tears then begin running down Tom's face as he continues speaking to you telepathically.
" You're strong, Donny. I know that you can do this without me… I'm just glad that I got to see you one last time before the end. "
" Stop!! Stop talking like that!! "
You plead to him telepathically as you continue to cry and he responds, softly reassuring you.
" You were always the special one. Winning this fight is something that only you can do and you've gotta see it through to the end. "
" So you've chosen death… "
Verzo says as his hand begins to glow brighter, savoring the moment and smirking through the shredded flesh on his face. Tom's gaze then turns serious as he speaks to you in a heartfelt tone.
" Abbadon… finish this… for Ariel and Rosie. "
Tom then closes his eyes…
and accepts his fate.