" How's your arm? "
Tom asks you as he looks at where the Valghul's strike landed when you blocked it.
" I'm fine. I just didn't expect that kick to come flying at me faster than the speed of sound. It still hurts a little, but I don't think anything is broken. "
You give Tom a smile before you look in the direction that the Valghul was launched, only to see that it's gone.
" Where'd it go? "
You ask Tom in a puzzled demeanor.
" It's still here… "
Tom says ominously as he stands up and scans the environment with caution. You take this opportunity of peace and quiet to ask Tom a question.
" You've separated a Valghul from its host before, right? How'd you do it? "
Tom looks at you surprised for a moment, giving you a brief remark.
" The Valghul told you in the cafe… "
Did Tom just read your mind?
Tom nods his head before he continues speaking.
" There are two known ways to separate a Valghul from its host. Right now, Sir Arthur is trapped inside of his own body because the Valghul is using him to anchor itself to a physical form. Just as I've told you before, Valghuli are actually unbeings that traverse the Omniverse through the thoughts of mortals. Without a host to possess, they can't interact with the physical domain at all. The first and more difficult method of liberating a host from a Valghul involves invigorating the host's soul that's trapped within their own body. "
" And the second method? "
You ask him. He quickly replies as he continues to cautiously scan the environment.
" Brute force. We have to destroy the host's body to the point that it's unusable for the Valghul. This can also be just as difficult, because again as I once told you, the Valghul turns its host into an unbeing as well and unbeings don't abide by the regular laws of existence. "
" How difficult are we talking? "
Tom looks at you with a grim stare as he responds.
" I had to collide 2 supermassive black holes to get the Valghul out of the last guy. "
You freeze in fear and awe as you think about what Tom just told you. Holy shit. Entire galaxies revolve around those, right?
Tom reads your mind again.
" Yes. Using The Holy Omniverse Transcript could also potentially be a third and much easier method, but it's never been done before and I don't want to risk altering Sir Arthur's existence by tampering with his Light. "
Tom then holds his arm out towards The Holy Omniverse Transcript laying on the ground and pulls it into his hand telekinetically. The book unlocks once it's in his grasp, but he doesn't open it. Instead, he takes a moment to silently think with the book in his hand before looking at you with a glimmer in his eye. You can tell that Tom has an idea, and he shares it with you as he walks over to you.
" We may not be able to use the book on the Valghul, but we can still use it on everything else. It's best that you're the one to use it so you don't get hurt again. "
Before you can contest it, Tom hands you the book and continues talking.
" When you open it, the book is going to link you directly to The One. Just think about whatever you want to happen and it will happen. You'll be able to control the Omniverse as he would, but there's a catch. The Holy Omniverse Transcript has been sanctified by The One, so when you use it, you must only use it in ways that The One would approve of. "
" What happens if I don't? "
You ask as you look down at the book in your hands with a nervous curiosity. Tom grabs your shoulder and pierces your soul with a grievous stare.
" Then it will be your end. Why else do you think the Valghul has lost interest in stealing the book after having a blatant opportunity to take it from us in the cafe? "
You think back to when time was frozen in the cafe and you realize that Tom is right. Maybe that's why The None is after your power as a Black Trap. It must be a necessity to combine your power with his in order to break the book and use it against The One.
" OPEN IT!! "
Tom shouts before suddenly disappearing as the environment all around you explodes in a flash of blinding fire. You immediately open the book as all of the trees and vegetation instantly evaporate for miles around you. Pages start turning quickly on their own and your eyes go black as you feel the power of the book radiate within you. You're in a trance and you're left completely unfazed as you stand there sinking downwards and feeling the dirt blow away under your feet. The explosion lasts mere seconds, but as the book protects you and projects images into your mind, you feel as if you exist outside of time and these few seconds last as long as you wish them to. You feel just as you did when you first saw The One while the book shows you images of those who you have been on your mind.
You see Mimi sitting on the King's lap on his throne, looking bewildered as she looks at pictures of her father. You see Sir Gerard rallying his troops and putting out orders to gather Moriarch's army. You see the people of Moriarch praying to the Dark Gods out of good faith in the hopes that Moriarch prevails in the coming storm. You see Veronica smiling gently as she plants the first seeds of her new rose garden in Havnahm. You see Izael crying on his knees as he mourns the death of Noeh, watching Athanohm crumble due to the absence of the god that created it. Then unexpectedly, you see…
Ariel? In Voldoor? Your heart aches and your emotions snap you out of the book's trance as you question everything you thought you knew. Ariel is alive? How? Were the memories that Noeh showed you even real?
Your perception of time resumes its normalcy and the dust clears. You see the Valghul standing right next to you, completely naked with its rotten flesh burning from the fire of the blast. You see its fist pointing down towards the ground, leaning over where Tom was just standing and you see nothing but an empty crater around you as far as the eye can see. You look down to see dust patterns on the ground as if everything was blown away from the center of the crater, which is right under the Valghul's fist; and you realize what just happened right before Tom reappears behind the Valghul and throws a spinning kick, landing his shin down right on the Valghul's spine. You hear Tom's leg pulverize the Valghul's spine upon impact and the shockwave from the kick causes the Valghul's ribcage to explode out of its chest. The Valghul's blood makes a mess all over the ground, spilling out of the gaping gorey hole in its chest where you can see its few remaining mangled and broken ribs.
Immediately after the kick, the planet that you're standing on rumbles and shakes violently to the point where you can barely stand, so you begin to levitate with the book in your hands. You look down to see that Tom's kick has split the planet completely in half and an entire midsection of the planet has shot out into space on the other side. Before you can register what happened after seeing something of this grand scale in front of you, the Valghul snaps its own neck 180 degrees and grows a third leg from its torso, using it to kick Tom in the chest and send him flying out into space. The Valghul then grabs both halves of the planet and entwines it's fingers through each half as if they were roots and effortlessly swings them both outward, smashing them together behind it, crushing Tom between the halves and causing an explosion of rock and debris to fly outwards into space in all directions. It's clear to you that the Valghul is done playing games as it transforms into a beastly amalgamation of limbs, eyes, and tentacles and uses the space debris to launch itself closer to Tom. You then see Tom fly down and make contact with the Valghul, blocking its strikes and throwing his own at the speed of sound as they tussle around the field of broken rock. Each strike is like an explosion and it's all happening so fast that the sound of each strike blends together in a steady constant humming sound. You feel like if you weren't using The Holy Omniverse Transcript, you wouldn't even be able to track their movements and see how fast they're fighting one another. As you watch them tussle and fight, the book shows you every possible outcome of this encounter and every possible way for you to end it. You see an infinite number of outcomes and you have an infinite number of choices that will cause each of those individual outcomes to happen.
You think to yourself about which of those infinite solutions to choose in order to neutralize the Valghul, then you make your decision all in a fraction of a second.
" Tom. Watch out. "
You say, reaching out to him telepathically in an effort to get him away from the Valghul. Tom instantly understands and siphons all of the Light from the shattered planet, causing it to disappear into his glowing green hands before he kicks the Valghul out into empty space. With the Valghul just floating in empty space, it senses that it's in danger; so in an effort to escape, it summons its black bolt of lightning to escape. The lightning comes cracking down onto the Valghul, but before the lightning can reach it, you use the book to manifest a transparent box that deflects the lightning bolt away from the Valghul, trapping it inside. This transparent box that you create with your thoughts is made out of a cosmic element that is indestructible. This new element is completely your creation, so it has never existed until this moment. You decide to name it Rosium, after your daughter, and no Omniversal being will be able to destroy it. Since you and Tom weren't created by The One, that makes the two of you the only beings capable of manipulating this element.