Chapter 12:

"It's over, bitch." Bakugou said while walking up to her. Even with all the goddess' might, it did nothing to Bakugou. Normally, this is where anyone would simply give up hope and surrender. Artio is not anyone. She ignores the whims of the future, despite her failures. Her time living among humanity taught her that.

"That bastard's power is higher than Artio's!" Lugh was ready to jump down and help his student, but he was blocked by the infinite barrier. He watched helplessly as Bakugou continued using his explosions to prolong Artio's suffering.

"DIE! DIE! DIE!" Bakugou held Artio's body by the neck with his left hand while using his explosions on her with his right hand. Artio was doing her best to deal with the pain. She was tempted to give up. Bakugou stopped momentarily and held her ear close to his mouth. "Remember, I'm better than you. You're nothing more than dirt beneath my shoes. After this, I'll remind your fellow gods as well. I'm the one true god of this world."

"Remember, just like how Lugh trained you…" Artio thought to herself while closing her eyes to concentrate. She learned from him on how to suppress her true domain as a goddess. It was to protect her from other gods that would use her.

Artio was a life goddess. Unlike those who could breathe life or take it away with a mere thought, her control on the domain mutated. Her life when she was raised by humans changed her forever. Unlike most gods, she experienced human life. She knew of grief from simple failures. She knew of joy from simple successes. As far as Artio knew, she was just as much a human as she was a goddess. She lived life and found happiness from living a modest life. She learned of humanity's constant need to improve after every failure.

The strong continue forward and would sometimes bring the weak to become strong as well. She understood more than most gods what makes humanity so special. After such a thing, her domain of life shifted to one specific factor. She became the Goddess of Human Life. The life of constant failures and successes. The life of the infinite pursuit of becoming more than what they are.

Artio's eyes opened and flared a green colour. Her spirit strengthened as she retaliated by punching Bakugou. It had no effect. She punched him again and again and again while resisting his explosions. Bakugou was amused by her attempts. He laughed at her.

"What the hell are you even doing? You're nothing agains-'' Bakugou flinched when she hit him again. He let her go by mistake while the goddess kept punching. His Mary Sue aura flared, trying to keep up with Artio. Artio still had another ability up her sleeve. She simply needs an opening.

"DAMMIT!" Bakugou used another explosion, but Artio once again transformed into a bear and hit him with a devastating swipe. He would have been blown away if Artio hadn't transformed back and grabbed him by his shirt. She hit him in the face with a headbutt, breaking his nose. "FFFFFFFFFF."

With all his strength amplified with his aura, Bakugou threw Artio into the ground. It was useless as Artio improved again and kept her hold on him. She used him to stand up and knee him in the stomach, causing him to vomit.

"Here's what I have that you don't: The Taste of Failure." Artio's hand glowed green again and reached within Bakugou, trying to pull something out. Bakugou, feeling fear for the first time, fired off another explosion, distracting Artio and escaping her hold. His aura flared, the speed of his power rising faster than before. He laughed maniacally as he launched himself into the air. He spun around again and blasted himself at the goddess at beyond light speed.

"HERE'S ANOTHER TASTE OF FAILURE THEN! GIGA HOWITZER!" He hit her before she could even react, unleashing an explosion that engulfed the entire area.

"ARTIO!" Lugh was banging at the barrier. He was stopped by a frail hand. He looked to his left and saw the same old man who acted as Artio's foster father. The old man looked at him sternly and looked back at the arena. "I see…"

"WHAT A BIG EXPLOSION! WOULD ARTIO BE OKAY?!" Hermes said through his microphone. The crowd cheered again against their will. The Void could now see the aura engulfing the entire arena.

When the smoke finally cleared, Bakugou was shocked by what he was seeing. Artio was standing, albeit with no skin. It regenerated quickly along with her clothes. She would have died, but her domain still involves life.

"W-What the hell are you?!" Bakugou slowly backed away. Artio moved forward while smiling at her foster father, watching her from the audience.

"Well, I was born a goddess, but I was raised as a human. As an expert of humanity, I can say that you're the weakest." Artio casually told Mary Sue Bakugou. His fear was replaced by rage while his aura blazed again. His power was now beyond even Zeus, but Artio parried it anyway and grabbed him. Her grip was stronger than before. She reached into his spirit again and started pulling the aura out.

"Wh-what the hell are you doing? Let go! I SAID LET GO!" Bakugou fired another explosion, but Artio was unmoved. She kept pulling and pulling while ignoring the agonizing scream coming from Bakugou. Finally, the aura was taken out of Bakugou. She held it in her hands. Artio looked at it, seeing the power it could give her before throwing it to the ground and stomping it. The aura was finally destroyed.

The entire crowd, humans and gods alike, felt as if they were freed from something. It didn't matter since they immediately started cheering for Artio instead. Bakugou was on his knees looking around. He felt as if he lost something. "Why… Why aren't they cheering me?"

"The thing I pulled out of you. That aura was causing them to think positively of you against their will." Artio explained to Bakugou. He used explosion on her again, but it no longer had any effect. He launched himself in the air and hit her with a Howitzer Impact, but it did nothing again. Realizing what his fate will be, he backed away and tripped. He looked at his version of Deku in the audience, who had a look of catharsis, much like everybody else's. "This has been with ya your entire life. Ya didn't even notice it. It's what made everyone love ya! Trust me, you were never great to begin with. You never even trained for your entire life."

"G-Get away from me!" Bakugou was crawling backwards while Artio kept walking towards him with a neutral look on her face. He was now throwing rocks at her, but it didn't work either. He was finally on his knees. "D-Don't kill me!"

The crowd booed him while Artio rolled her eyes. She raised her fist, ready to finish him, but in a last act of defiance, he attacked her with one last explosion. "FUCK YOU!"

The crowd gasped, but Artio responded with an annoyed glare. Bakugou's smug face finally broke, and he was in tears, begging for his life. "Please, that was just a joke! I forfeit! I forf-"

He was cut off with Artio punching through his skull, killing him. He died as he lived, a bland person. Artio pulled away her hand and wiped the blood off her fist. Bakugou's body slowly faded away into dust. She raised her fist in victory as the gods cheered for another win.

"AND THE WINNER OF THE FOURTH MATCH OF THE ARCHIVED END!" Hermes yelled through the microphone.

"ARTIOOOOOOOOOO!"

Match 4
Artio vs Katsuki Bakugou
Winner: Artio
Match Time Length: 7 minutes
Deciding Move: A straight punch
Gods 3 - 1 Void

Back in the waiting room...

"I didn't expect that." The Void was pleasantly surprised that they didn't have to waste their time dealing with Bakugou after the match. Still, they were annoyed by the gods gaining another point. They were already ready to send in another fighter when they received a message from their insider.

"Zeus was feeling cocky. He's sending me to fight next. He doesn't know that I'll be fighting for your side."

"Looks like we might not need a fighter for match 5, people." The Void said while looking at their representatives. "One of you has to go- wait..."

The Void counted the number of fighters in the room. There was one missing. "Where the hell is Kurogiri?"

Huh. Looks like the insider is fighting early. I wonder who it- ah who cares. We all know who would betray the gods.