The Book of Abbadon-Chapter 98: Visions of Vaktash

Thinking about the conversation between Aatu and Verzo, you can't help but be reminded about all of your shortcomings.

You were too weak to save your wife, Ariel, and with her you lost the hopes and dreams of your happily ever after...

You weren't strong enough to save your daughter, Rosie, even after the pain and terrible things you went through in order to become stronger so you could protect her...

You failed to save Veronica, Mimi's mother. Even though her passing worked out well in Havnahm, you can't help but feel responsible because it was you falling into her garden that led to her becoming cursed...

You couldn't save your brother, Tom. He was your closest sibling and the last person alive who knew the real you before you lost your memories. He was always there for you, even taking care of Rosie in your absence when you got sent away. Now he's dead, having laid his life down in order to save you and everybody else on Aria...

Amy's death immediately followed afterwards. You remember how she fell in love with Tom and grew aspirations to leave Voldoor behind and start a new life. Maybe she might've actually fulfilled her dreams had you been strong enough to save her...

You did manage to save Roary and the remaining people of Aria, but it was ultimately at the cost of your bond with them. Roary was kind enough to take care of Mimi in Voldoor and the King of Moriarch always had faith in you, letting you recover in his castle occasionally throughout your journey. Now they don't even remember who you are...

You also can't forget the Gods. Noeh, Sowzo, and Reylesh. They made their sacrifices because they believed it was better that you live instead of them...

And now Verzo claims that you're too weak to defeat Uphedis, and The One plans to take the power within you and use it to defeat him. Aatu's silence seemingly affirmed what Verzo was saying, and if that's really true, then it means the Gods anticipated that you'd fail to defeat The None by yourself from the very start.

If Aatu and the others truly intended on deceiving you, then Aatu wouldn't have allowed you to witness his discussion with Verzo. If anything, letting you witness their discussion was a mark of honesty and transparency, informing you of the actual state of affairs regarding what The One has planned at the end of your path.

Verzo never spoke about The One forcefully taking your power like Uphedis intends to, rather, the current situation is framed in a way in which The One is giving you a choice. A decision on whether or not your heart believes that giving up your power to The One is the right thing to do, given everything you've seen and experienced throughout your journey here in this universe. Still, despite this, you can't help but feel like there must be another way.

The One may have intended to use your power to win the eternal conflict from the beginning, but that doesn't mean that it's the only way for The None to be defeated. You may have failed time and time again, but you realize that all of these past failures have led up to this moment... a moment in which you can ultimately set the record straight and prove to The One and the others that a sacrifice on your behalf will not be necessary.

In this instant, you begin to feel a sense of clarity and determination that you've never felt before. You feel free, setting your mind onto what's to come with an unbridled determination that invigorates your entire being. Thinking to yourself about everything that's happened thus far, you make a vow for the sake of all of those who've fallen on your journey.

" No. I refuse. I refuse to simply throw in the towel because everybody thinks Uphedis is too strong to face alone. I refuse to let Mimi down too because she believes in me. She has dreams to get stronger and to help people when she gets older, and I want to be there for her to help her achieve it. I cannot... no... I will not fail this time. Everything that's happened so far has happened for a reason, and I believe that that reason is for me to prove once and for all that I can succeed against Uphedis. With the power of The Holy Omniverse Transcript combined with the power within me, I can fight him and prove that I can save existence once and for all. I owe it to myself. I owe it to Ariel and Rosie and Tom. I owe it to Veronica and Mimi and Sir Arthur. I owe it to all of those who've sacrificed their lives to put me right here, soon to be face to face with Uphedis in this final confrontation, and I will not let them down. "

The Holy Omniverse Transcript continues to heighten your perception as you float in space, and you remember that there's still Izael and Nahzgor's fight left for you to witness.

Honing your perception in on Izael and Nahzgor, you see that they've isolated Vaktash on a stormy oceanic planet. Vaktash is standing opposite to Izael and Nahzgor on a towering plateau with rocky cliffs around every side of it. Lightning cracks and tsunami-like waves crash into the cliff sides as the storm that they're standing in rages on, and Nahzgor speaks to Vaktash in an egotistical and aggressive tone.

" Foul unbeing... on this night, I will make you pay in blood for your transgressions. "

Vaktash remains silent as the wild rain continues to beat on the armor of Izael and Nahzgor, and you see Izael hold out his arm to the side, materializing a holy sword out of blue light in his hand as he speaks.

" You stand here before the God of Might and the God of Domination... may you perish from this realm eternally. "

In an instant, Izael blitzes Vaktash with his blade, completely disappearing and reappearing behind Vaktash as he swings his blade downwards onto his shoulder pauldron. Vaktash immediately reacts, spinning around and holding his hand upwards to catch Izael's sword, but Nahzgor immediately throws and wraps Vaktash's hand with his golden chain and pulls Vaktash's hand towards him which allows Izael to land the strike on Vaktash's body. The blade barely penetrates Vaktash's armor as Izael stands on his back and he looks at Nahzgor irritated before yanking his chain wrapped arm to pull Nahzgor into him. As Nahzgor tumbles and rolls towards Vaktash, Izael spreads his angelic wings and pushes Vaktash into the ground while simultaneously launching himself into the sky, which causes Vaktash to fall down into a kneeling position and allows Nahzgor to recover. Once Nahzgor is standing next to Vaktash, he lands several punches that are so powerful that they clear the storm on the entire hemisphere of the planet they're standing on, and Izael materializes a holy bow and arrows out of blue light as he flies above them. An array of several cosmic cracks can be heard as Izael releases his holy arrows into Vaktash's back as he fist fights Nahzgor, but the arrows barely pierce his armor enough to stick out of his back. Vaktash is clearly stronger and more skilled than Nahzgor as he silently outperforms him in their fist fight, then he delivers a front kick to Nahzgor's chest which sends him flying outside the planet's atmosphere. There's not a moment to breathe for Izael as Vaktash immediately turns around and disappears before reappearing behind Izael in the air. Vaktash then clobbers Izael downwards with his hands held together which sends him straight through the oceanic planet like a speeding bullet before Nahzgor returns with another planet hooked onto his golden chain, swinging and colliding the planets together with Vaktash in the middle. Giant pieces of molten rock and water fly outwards in every direction throughout space as Vaktash effortlessly tanks this attack and launches himself towards Nahzgor, but Izael intercepts Vaktash, reappearing in front of him before swiftly delivering a nasty slash to Vaktash's face with his sword which staggers him and causes him to miss Nahzgor completely.

Still carrying momentum, Vaktash floats away before Izael rebounds and flies directly towards him. Nahzgor launches himself towards Vaktash as well by hooking the space debris with his chains and pulling himself, and you can see a nasty scar across Vaktash's face where Izael's sword had cut him. Vaktash instantly recognizes the incoming threat, catching Izael's sword with the spikes on his shoulder pauldron and breaking the sword as he spins around to headbutt Nahzgor. The impact between the foreheads of Nahzgor and Vaktash is so powerful that it causes the fabric of space to ripple violently and throw every celestial object off their trajectory within the galaxy that they're currently in, and Nahzgor is stunned for a brief moment. Izael then materializes twin daggers as he mounts Vaktash's back and attempts to plunge them into Vaktash's eyes, but Vaktash jerks his head backwards and stabs Izael in the chest with his horns, penetrating Izael's armor.

" Pity. "

Vaktash says before attempting to impale Izael with another spike on his armor, but Nahzgor regains his composure and stops the attack as he shouts.

" NO!! "

Nahzgor's physical form then explodes as golden chains shoot outwards in every direction. Vaktash and Izael get separated as the chains reach out into space faster than the speed of light before they latch onto every planet around them in the galaxy that they're currently in. Izael's wounded from being stabbed in the chest but he fights on, materializing a blue spear that he throws at Vaktash with an incalculable speed and it explodes upon impact against Vaktash with the blinding intensity of a hypernova. Nahzgor then immediately pulls in all of the planets that are attached to his countless chains and collides them all onto a single point where Vaktash is floating which causes a large black hole to form out of the explosion. The black hole then begins to consume all of the space debris and Vaktash along with it, but before Vaktash can be consumed, he speaks in his demonic voice.

" EXPLODE. "

The black hole immediately blows up, shooting its mass outwards in every direction with an unfathomable amount of force. Nahzgor and Izael take the brunt of the explosion since they're close by, and Izael materializes two bubble shields around himself and his brother to protect them. Izael's shields deflect the cosmic debris and preserve their physical forms, but Vaktash is relentless, appearing next to Nahzgor and shattering the shield with his fist. Vaktash then grabs Nahzgor by his leg and throws him towards the supermassive black hole in the center of their current galaxy and Izael tries to catch his brother.

" FREEZE. "

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Izael immediately stops, which causes Nahzgor to fly right past him and into the black hole before Vaktash appears next to Izael, grabbing him by the back of the head and kneeing Izael in the face so hard that the impact can be heard in the neighboring galaxies. You see that Izael's face is mutilated from that strike and he's stunned as Vaktash throws him in the same direction as Nahzgor. Once Izael and Nahzgor's physical forms both get consumed by the supermassive black hole, Vaktash appears right next to it.

" CONVERGE. "

In an instant, every surrounding galaxy in the universe comes crashing inwards towards the supermassive black hole where Izael and Nahzgor have gone and you're in awe staring at the cataclysmic event before you. Quadrillions of stars and solar systems all collide and shatter as they merge together in a chaotic scene of cosmic destruction, and Vaktash grins as he floats in the center of it all, ensuring that Nahzgor and Izael are defeated. The destruction rages on as everything comes together, and right when Vaktash turns around thinking that he's won, a celestial blue and gold explosion erupts behind him.

Vaktash then turns around and you can see Izael's celestial form emerge from the destruction along with Nahzgor's celestial form right beside him. They both appear to be more powerful glowing silhouettes of what you saw the moment they were born, and they're growing so large that they make Vaktash look like an ant in comparison. You then see Nahzgor's form begin to morph into a monsterous cosmic dragon the size of several galaxies and Izael's form mold into a divine angel that's a similar size, both of them looking down at Vaktash who's floating before them with an unentertained expression.

Nahzgor then flies upwards in his draconic form, spiraling through space before Izael holds his celestial arm outwards towards Vaktash. In an instant, Vaktash is impaled in every direction with millions of holy blue beams of light that slice and tear open the fabric of space as they go through him; then Nahzgor comes down onto Vaktash with his draconic maw open and unleashes a golden cosmic fire that entirely consumes him and all of the space debris from his earlier attack. Vaktash crosses his arms in front of his face as he weathers these attacks and you can see that his armor and scaly skin are severely damaged, but after these attacks are over, he emerges from them and speaks.

" DISSIPATE. "

Izael and Nahzgor's celestial forms immediately shatter, returning them both to normal sized humanoid shapes that are fully healed before Vaktash blitzes them with a flurry of strikes. Izael speaks to his brother as him and Nahzgor both engage Vaktash in hand to hand combat from both sides.

" Are you kidding me?! Go for his mouth, Nahzgor! As long as he can speak, we're not gonna beat him! "

Nahzgor then waits for a perfect opening before slinging his chain around Vaktash's head and into his mouth from behind to prevent him from speaking. Vaktash immediately bites the chain, removing it from existence before turning around and punishing Nahzgor with faster strikes that don't give him another opening. Izael then jumps on Vaktash's back, grabbing his horns and pulling his head backwards to give Nahzgor a moment to breathe before Nahzgor throws strikes with all of his strength at Vaktash's jaw, and each strike is so powerful that they distort the fabric of space and make the tears from Izael's earlier attack worse. Vaktash tries to speak but is unable to each time that he gets punched in the mouth.

" SUIC- IDE- SUICI- "

" Don't let him get that word off!! "

Izael shouts as he continues to pull Vaktash's horns back and evade Vaktash's arms that are desperately reaching up and trying to pull him down from Vaktash's shoulders. Nahzgor continues to throw strike after strike which slowly begins to destroy Vaktash's jaw, then Izael notices the fabric of space begin to come undone from Nahzgor's continuous assault.

" Space is about to cave in on itself if you keep striking him, Nahzgor!! We can't keep doing this!! "

Nahzgor looks at Vaktash dead in the eyes as he responds to Izael, pulling back and landing one last uppercut on Vaktash with everything he's got.

" Don't worry, brother! This fight is over! "

As Nahzgor's uppercut lands, Vaktash's jaw comes clean off and you can see his tongue hanging freely from underneath his head as his face bleeds out into space. Nahzgor goes to grab Vaktash's jaw and use his teeth as a weapon, but Vaktash lets out a roar in frustration that stuns Izael and Nahzgor, causing them both to reel in pain from the sheer vocal force. Vaktash then turns around, grabbing Izael by his arm and going berserk, ripping one of his wings off and butchering him with several elbow strikes, stabbing him all over with a spike that protrudes from his armor. Nahzgor then recovers and regains his focus before seeing Izael get mangled and torn to shreds by Vaktash. In an effort to protect his brother, Nahzgor puts Vaktash in a headlock and begins choking him out. However, since Vaktash doesn't have a jaw anymore, he brings his sharp teeth on the top of his mouth down onto Nahzgor's arm which stabs into his golden gauntlet before erasing it from existence.

Vaktash lets go of Izael and grabs Nahzgor's arm before leaning forward and throwing Nahzgor over his shoulder, where he then begins beating and bludgeoning Nahzgor's face. Izael's eyes are bloody and swollen, barely able to see his brother's physical form getting destroyed by Vaktash, and due to his injuries, he begins losing hope that he and his brother will be able to emerge victorious against Vaktash. That is, until he looks upwards and sees Vaktash's jaw still floating in space around them.

Vaktash remains enraged, tearing into Nahzgor's chest armor with his claws and ripping one of Nahzgor's arms and legs completely off in a frenzy. Izael then floats over to Vaktash's jaw with his one wing remaining and grabs it before looking at it in his hand.

" This is the only way... "

Izael says before mustering all of his strength to get a second wind, staring at his brother who's about to die. Izael then brings himself down onto Vaktash with the severed jaw, stabbing the Valghul's teeth into the back of Vaktash's neck which causes the beast to scream in pain before stopping completely. Vaktash remains still as Izael rips the sharp teeth out of his neck and Vaktash's physical form immediately fades into nothingness. Izael sighs in relief before embracing Nahzgor's mutilated body. He looks down at him with a soft smile as he barely musters his words.

" We- we did it... Nahz- gor. We... won... "

Nahzgor looks up at his brother with happy eyes as he responds.

" Of course we did... "

As you watch them float together in space, you can't help but feel like it's a reflection of when they were laying together on the moon after Aatu had sacrificed himself. To watch them go from fighting one another in the beginning to fighting together in the end is poetic, in a sense, and it makes you happy seeing them emerge victorious in this fight.

Suddenly, Nahzgor gasps in pain and begins to groan as his eyes roll to the back of his head. Izael panics, not understanding what's happening and Nahzgor is barely able to get out a name as he speaks to his brother.

" AAAGH- VAKTASH!! "

" What is it?! What's wrong, brother!? "

Izael asks as he pulls the golden hair out of Nahzgor's face while Nahzgor struggles. As you watch what's happening to Nahzgor, you notice that his mannerisms are similar to Tom's back when you had your confrontation with Uphedis in Voldoor, then what's happening before you clicks in your head...

Vaktash is trying to possess Nahzgor in order to make him his new host.

Nahzgor grabs Izael's arm and pleads to him in a desperate tone as he continues to writhe in agony.

" BROTHER!! KILL- ME- "

Izael immediately understands what's going on as well and you begin to see tears pool in his eyes before running down his face. He looks down at Nahzgor with grief as he watches him struggle, and it becomes clear what he must do in order to prevent Vaktash from coming back.

" AAAGHH!! "

Nahzgor yelps in Izael's arms. Nahzgor's skin slowly begins to turn pale and his golden hair fades into a deep black color before Izael materializes a blue dagger in his hand, fighting his emotions in order to bring himself to do what must be done.

" Nahzgor... I'm so sorry... "

Izael says before he finally plunges the dagger through one of the gashes on Nahzgor's chestplate and into his heart. As soon as the dagger enters Nahzgor's ribcage, he stops struggling and lets out an exhale. Izael cries as he holds the handle of the dagger in Nahzgor's chest and Nahzgor looks up at his brother, putting his hand softly on Izael's face as he makes one final remark.

" It was an honor fighting beside you, brother... one last time. "

Nahzgor's eyes then immediately go dead and he lets his hand down onto his chest, softly placing it on Izael's wrist. Izael looks up into the vastness of space above him and lets out an exasperation of anguish before bawling his eyes out. Nahzgor's body disappears, and you've witnessed yet another sacrifice on your behalf.