Tomas did not hesitate even for a second before burning his life force. He understood the power of the Cultivator and knew he was weaker, but he was ready to sacrifice everything for the power to help her.
The face of the Archangel filled the duke's mind and heart as he launched himself like a shooting star against Heinz. His eyes burned with the will to die for the one he loved.
The duke fired two beams of sword light that fused before they reached Heinz. The power in that attack was immense and should be able to severely hurt a Peak Rank 4 life form but the Cultivator's body increased his power immensely as a metallic red color covered his skin.
Heinz released a red arc of sword energy that destroyed Tomas' attack and blasted the Angelic Paragon back to the ground.
The difference in power shocked Tomas. Normally when your body is destroyed, you would need decades to be at your peak battle power again, but Heinz was even more powerful than when he lost against the Archangel.
He did not have time to think about how that happened since Heinz continued with his attack immediately. Tomas saw how the Cultivator took a single step and appeared right in front of him.
He was barely able to dodge the sword that almost cut his neck. The duke was forced to focus completely on his defensive and it was only thanks to his artifact armor he was able to survive.
The worst thing for Tomas was not the threat of death but the fact he could felt the explosions that filled the sky above him, and that the power in that golden sun was much greater than the one the Archangel had.
He was not able to get rid of Heinz but luckily he was not alone. Two Angels of Supremacy clashed against the Cultivator who was charging a sword strike. The duo burned their life force without control and it was clear they did not expect to live after this battle.
"My duke, go and help her!"
"We will distract him!"
Tomas did not hesitate and immediately rushed to where the battle between Zatiel and the Archangel was happening.
"Die trash!" Fury appeared on Heinz's eyes when he saw the duo hinder his path. He sent an Angel of Supremacy to fly away with a punch and then he focused all of his power into his sword and severed the body of the other in two.
The Cultivator was about to go after Tomas when the Angel of Supremacy he had just split apart gathered the last bit of power he had and exploded.
Despite the immense amount of energy in that explosion, it was not enough to stop Heinz but then the other Angel of Supremacy flashed to the Cultivator side and proceeded to self-destruct as well.
Tomas did not look back but understood very well what had just happened and pain filled his heart.
'I can't let their sacrifice be in vain!' The Angelic Paragon proceeded to burn his life force with even more strength as he approached the battle between an immense golden sun and eight magnificent wings.
He was just moments away from the Archangel and was ready to fuse with his Law Avatar and sent a strike with every ounce of power he had.
Unfortunately, this was not a tale where the hero would appear right in the exact moment when the heroin needed him the most. By the time Tomas was close enough to see the Archangel, the fight had ended.
Zatiel had one hand on her neck and the other in her waist. He raised her above his shoulders and then pulled until her body was ripped apart and her blood bathed the Neo-Demon's body.
Her True Soul was incinerated by the golden sun and the last thing Tomas saw was her face, the face of the one he loved, twisted by pain.
"This is not possible... this can't happen, she can't... she can't..." He could not believe what had occurred right in front of his eyes.
The Archangel, the symbol of glory and power of the Heavenly race and the one he swore to follow forever had died in front of his eyes.
What happened next was simple. The Magi not only obtained complete control over the continent but also of the entire world.
The members of the Heavenly race were hunted down. Everything valuable about them was harvested before being killed
Oliver suffered the fate that Zatiel swore and Tomas' agony was not any less.
The leader of the Magi invader force gathered everyone Tomas knew and cared about in the castle of the duke. Zatiel nailed the body of the Angelic Paragon to the throne and removed his eyelids so he would see what happened next.
Everyone in the room was tortured in the most horrible way before being impaled but they did not die. Zatiel left an ember of golden fire in their hearts that allowed them to live in complete agony.
As a final gift, the severed head of the Archangel was left in Tomas' lap. Zatiel had used a minor necromancy spell in it, which made it act like a mindless zombie.
The psychological torture was so powerful that for the first one hundred years, Tomas' mind was in a state of complete shock and could not process what happened in front of him.
But that eventually ended and he had to face the agony of his loved ones and the putrefactive head of the Archangel on his lap. From the bottom of his soul, Tomas delivered a cry of unimaginable pain.
"ARRGH. KILL ME, KILL ME, KILL ME, KILL ME!!!"
Tomas did not want to be saved, or revenge. The only thing he desired was to die and finally be free of the pain. Unfortunately, no one answered his call.
The years passed and after millennia of agony that could not be described, Tomas felt how his soul was about to disperse because his life span reached his end.
The rest had already died due to this and even the ember of golden fire could not prevent that.
'Finally, I will die' Tomas shed tears of blood when he thought he would finally rest.
Unfortunately, he underestimated the cruelty of his jailer. A golden hand entered his head and touched his True Soul.
That hand carried an immense amount of energy and the power of the Law of Life, that eradicated any sign of erosion.
When Tomas realized that his life span had been practically reset, absolute despair filled his heart.
"No,no,no,no,no. NOOOOOOOO!"
Regardless of his desire, the duke's life would not end. As his eternal agony continued for what felt like eons, the words of the Sage appeared on Tomas' mind again and again.
.....
"Why did I not listen to him, why did I not take his offer. I don't want to feel pain anymore, I just want to forget" Tomas muttered those words while tears fell through his cheeks.
You could see how boiling asphalte entered into the Angelic Paragon's head, through his nose, ears, and eyes. It modified his entire body and also his True Soul.
The same happened with Oliver. He wept and expressed his immense remorse while the Sage grabbed his head and filled him with his asphalt.
The millions of years of torture that Tomas experienced were just a dream that started less than thirty seconds ago.
They never freed themselves from the Sage's grasp and his power was so immense that the duo never doubted what they experienced was anything other than reality.
If Zatiel were to see this, he would truly be impressed. The Sage tricked two of the most powerful people in this world to open a portal for him, and then with an incarnation made of a piece of his consciousness and energy, he subdued the duo and was able to do whatever he wanted to their True Souls.
The grey humanoid had lost a lot of power but there was a smile on his face.
"Use the Deep Dark Dream will force me to sleep for some time, but it doesn't matter, with these two now fulfilling my biddings and the other arrangements I did, my plans for this world are finished. As long I can kill that anomaly, the payback will be immense."
