It was like a party.
Almost everyone in the stadium was celebrating in every way they knew how. Some danced and sang, some drank, some kissed and hugged their loved ones.
"Yahweh is dead! Holy shit, Yahweh's dead!"
"Fuck yeah!" Gabriel stood up and started doing a little jig.
The other archangels were showing a mix of reactions. Some like Michael, Uriel, and Camael were struggling to process what just happened, trying to make sure it wasn't a hallucination, while others like Sandalphon were celebrating like Gabriel.
Now that Yahweh was dead, the hierarchy she sustained was no longer valid. Totality was a blank canvas to be repainted by whoever decided to sit in Yahweh's throne next. It was a chance to right the wrongs of the past born from distrust and spite. It could lead to a new, better era in totality for all.
It could.
But, it also could lead to more of the same cruelty.
It was time for Sin to complete her next task. Her mother had left her with a heavy burden, but her mother knew she had broad enough shoulders.
Backhand slapping the barrier to shatter it again, Sin with Astaroth following behind entered the arena, flying over to Lilith and lifting her out of the pit in the ground, and giving her to Astaroth to get the human emergency medical attention.
As Lilith drifted into unconsciousness, her battle won, bathing in the love of nearly all beings, she felt content.
Astaroth flew away with Lilith and Sin readied herself to address everyone. All eyes were on her, wondering why she hadn't left the battlefield yet.
Sin grabbed the edge of her hood, taking a deep breath before pulling it down. Her hair was short and dark like her mother's but more messy. Her eyes were like a snake's, pupils that were slits that seemed so sharp you could cut yourself on them. Her gaze was determined, intense, but not intimidating.
"Hello, everyone! I'm Sin, Satan's daughter! My mother just sacrificed her life to kill Yahweh! She did it to save humanity! But, she also did it to settle a grudge! Yahweh and my mother have been at war for longer than I've been alive, for longer than the humanity or the universe humanity inhabits has existed! Now, their feud is dead! That feud, that was the true cause of this tournament, is dead! I ask you all, does this tournament need to continue? Humanity has won six times, one more than the gods, and even if the gods were to win the next two matches, I feel humanity has more than proved themselves! Do we need to waste more lives for this pointless conflict? Do we need to let more innocents die? What is to be gained by humanity's erasure? The answer is nothing! There will only be the loss of potential, an amazing potential, as you've all seen! Yahweh is dead! My mother is dead! We have a clean slate, a new opportunity! We no longer need to preserve the hierarchy of power anymore! We can work together, gods, humans, all races, to create a unified totality where we can all be happy and we can achieve new heights that would make the battles in this tournament seem meager! There's no need to hoard power and make others suffer! Yahweh isn't here to stop us from making a better reality! Let's end this tournament now, and work to create a better future! It can't hurt to at least try! It's better than letting things stagnate! Is everyone really satisfied with the way things are? Do you not want something better? Don't be complacent, don't be quiet! Humans are good! Gods are good! We're all good! Now, let's make a society that's good! I stand here, not as an appeal to be the leader of this new reality, but as just another citizen of it! Our new world should have no single leader, it should be one where everyone has a voice that is heard! Now, let me hear your voices! Tell me now, do you want to create this new reality?"
Words of affirmation were spoken loudly and proudly by nearly every person in existence, even those that had previously been on Yahweh's side couldn't help but be pulled in by the infectious enthusiasm and positivity the moment radiated.
"Let this be the start of a new era! A golden age of golden ages!"
"The tournament isn't over." Appearing behind Sin, a little girl with a pink puffball for hair interrupted.
Many were confused, even most of the gods didn't know the pink girl, but those that did were not happy to see her.
One man, H.P. Lovecraft, was deeply affected, wildly trying to run out of the arena.
The writer could only repeat one word.
"Azathoth!"
The audience became an orchestra of murmuring that was replaced with screams when a third of the audience, a random assortment of gods, humans, and other forms of entities, liquified, their bodies slowly melting in a way most agonizing.
"Everybody shut up, or I'll kill you all." The sleepily smiling Azathoth spoke with a phlegmatic cadence that still managed to instill a fear in all that made everyone shut their mouths and not release a peep.
Sin turned to face the cutesy horror. She knew this would happen, it was all a part of Satan's plan, or rather an inevitability that needed to be prepared for. Yahweh was dealt with, now the true ruler of all things was left, the last wall to be broken down. Then, their work would be done, and humanity, the gods, everyone would be saved.
"I'm Azathoth, and I say the tournament is continuing. I get bored easily, and this tournament is kinda interesting, especially that last round. It can't stop now. If you refuse to participate, you die, and to make sure everyone fights their hardest, not only will humanity die if they lose, the gods will die if they lose."
The happiness everyone was just feeling felt so distant.
Humanity was returned to their struggle for survival, and now the gods were being forced into that same situation.
Just when everyone unified for a common cause, the need to survive split everyone apart again.
Azathoth turned to Sin. "Since your mom's dead, you'll handle picking the human fighter, I'll choose the god."
The pink monster was gone before Sin could even respond.
This was what Sin expected and was part of the plan, but it was still annoying.
Now that Azathoth was out of sight, everyone's voices were reborn, their happy cheers reincarnated into cries and moans of sorrow and frustration. It was just such a disappointment. There was nearly a resolution that almost everyone could be satisfied with, but such a future was turned into a dream. Now, all anyone could do in preparation for the next round was mourn the third of their number that were killed as an example. Even Anansi couldn't think of any commentary to make, anything that could lighten the mood, for he was too preoccupied with the steaming puddle next to him named Apollo.
Sin flew over to the luxury box, Astaroth looking more miffed than anything.
"Satan knew this was gonna happen, didn't she?"
"Yeah."
"You have a plan?"
"Yeah."
"Can't tell me?"
"Yeah, just in case."
"Good. Anyway, let's go pick the next fighter."
"No need. I've already picked, and I already know who Azathoth's gonna go with."
"That also because of the plan?"
"It's part of the plan, but it's also simple logic who she'd pick."
"Enlighten me."
"That's actually a fitting way of phrasing it because Azathoth's gonna pick Ādi-Buddha. He's stronger than Brahman and Azathoth wants Revelations to go for the full thirteen rounds, so putting their best fighter in for this round increases the chances of victory which would make us go to the thirteenth round. That said, even if we win round twelve, she'll still force us to have thirteenth round."
"Then why would Azathoth bother putting any thought into who was gonna fight this round?"
"They probably don't want to waste the minimal energy it would take to tell us that we're going on despite the fact the tournament should end according to the rules, so they'll try to pick the choice with the best chance of winning. Azathoth is absurdly lazy, which is why they rarely ever appear and nearly nobody knows who they are despite being so powerful."
"I get it, makes sense. So, who're we going with?"
"Follow me and you'll see."
Sin led Astaroth and Death through the arena's halls to her choice of fighter for the match, knocking on the door of one of the waiting rooms.
"Come in."
A smog poured out when the door opened the slightest crack. Sin and co entered the hotbox, finding a room that was split between a cushy area of cushions, lounges, and beautiful carpeting, the other side a training area for all forms of conceivable combat.
Dressed in a fine Indian dress, a woman was reclining on her side, smoking a hookah. Her skin was a beautifully dark shade and her muscles created an enrapturing contrast to her feminine attire and long black hair.
"Lakshmibai, were you watching before?"
"Yup. Satan's plan is going all green." Lakshmibai spoke with a drawl as a result of her intoxication. "Now I'm up."
"I'm guessing my mom also told you about your 'special partner.'"
"Yuparooni. Satan filled me in on all the details."
"Good, we don't have to waste time. I'll tell you and Astaroth where they are so you can go get them."
"Wait, what're you gonna do?"
"Death is your artificial holy relic, but I need to talk to him about something first. It's, uh, a private sort of a family thing."
"I get it, no prob." Lakshmibai got to her feet.
"So," Astaroth says. "who's this special partner? I feel real out of the loop here and it doesn't feel great."
"Sorry, I'm used to Yahweh who can know everything we're doing if we're not careful. Azathoth isn't omniscient so we should be good from now on. It's-"
"Hello everyone, how is it going? Are we, are we happy?" Anansi's commentary was forced. He knew everyone was unhappy, and that included himself. His co-commentator was dead and the tournament was now a mandatory event with humanity and the gods as hostages. It no longer felt like humanity fighting to prove their worth. It just felt like a tragedy where either mankind or godkind would be annihilated.
There was nothing but silence as a response to Anansi's question.
"Okay, so the guest commentator this time is Gautama Buddha."
"Hello, everyone." A calming voice said. Gautama had curly hair tied into a bun atop his head and elongated earlobes.
"Buddha, how're you taking this whole…situation? What're your thoughts?"
"It makes me sad. That said, I feel hope that this tournament can end with everyone that remains surviving."
"How?"
"I can't give you an answer. It is not logic that inspires my optimism, it is a feeling, that's all."
"I guess it's better than just being depressed."
"We must be at peace, though that doesn't mean we shouldn't feel. It is emotion that gives us strength. I wish more people understood that."
"For this round the godly fighter wanted nothing, and the human fighter requested this."
The battlefield turned into a fort, a massive fort that took up the entire landscape. Layers of large walls occasionally broken up by towers rose up, elaborate halls forming within the structure. The layers of the building got higher and higher as they got closer to the battlefields center. Grass and trees grew that added splashes of green that stood out against the brown of the stone fortress.
"The human champion requested a replication of Jhansi Fort, but on a far larger scale."
"It reminds me of the palace I grew up in."
In the luxury box, Sin and Astaroth were waiting for the fighters to emerge.
"This plan is risky."
"I know."
"It's banking on Azathoth reacting how you think she will."
"I know."
"She might just get annoyed and kill everyone."
"I know."
"Is this worth the risk?"
"If we don't go through with it, Azathoth will continue to rule directly unlike before where she was a passive observer of what Yahweh did. Azathoth will eventually decide that reality is annoying to directly interact with and will erase it all."
"So we might as well do what we can now."
"You got it. A totality with Azathoth in charge won't be a great time anyway."
"She'd probably make everyone constantly be at war to entertain her, since she thinks conflict is interesting for some fucked up reason."
"It's probably like how we can find entertainment from things like action movies. From her perspective, we're just fiction, less than fiction. That's how powerful she is compared to us."
"Why has she been so passive by the way? Why did she let Yahweh go ham for so long?"
"She's lazy, really, really lazy."
"That's it?"
"Yeah."
"That seems weirdly simple for the most powerful being in existence."
"One of her titles is 'The Blind Idiot God.' She's powerful, but she ain't bright. Being strong has nothing to do with competency."
"Ain't that the motherfucking truth."
"… "
"Worried about Death?"
"I feel like I'm having Deja vu, that it's just going to be my mom on repeat, that I'm gonna lose one of the only people I have left. He's the only family I have now."
"It's not gonna happen again."
"You don't know that."
"What will worrying do?"
"I can't help it."
"The plan's in motion, Satan did everything she could to prepare, and you've done everything you can to follow through. Have faith, in your mother, in Death, and in yourself."
"I'll try, because I've got no other choice."
"Okay." Anansi spoke again. "It's time for the first godly fighter to come out."
The gate on the godly side opened and out came a man made of solid gold, looking like Gautama but as a statue, his hair a series of spheres. He was forty one meters tall, and yet his steps were as light as a feather's fall.
"To be a Buddha means to have achieved enlightenment, to have reached Nirvana and ascend to the land named Shambhala. To be a Buddha is to break out of the cycle of suffering, to escape the trap named desire and acquire inner peace. It allows humans to become deities, one of the highest kinds of deities."
The living daibutsu leapt lightly off the ground, his body gliding through the air before landing on a space on a high level of the fort where there was enough room from him to stand without treading on anything but grass.
"Everyone could become a Buddha, the potential is in all beings, and that potential is alive, personified. There is a being who embodies the very concept of being a Buddha, of being enlightened."
Holy light was cast from the giant's body, a gentle shine that continued in perpetuity.
"They are the primordial Buddha, the first Buddha, Ādi-Buddha."
There initially were no cheers, but then, a god yelled.
"Buddha, fucking win! We can't die! The gods have gotta live!"
Others followed suit.
"Yeah, we gotta live. We're better than those humans, we deserve to live!"
"I wanna live! If we gotta kill 'em, then kill 'em!"
The humans were hurt, angry. They had fought so hard to prove their worth, and they felt just as much of a desire to live.
"Fuck you! We deserve to live, too. Hell, we deserve it more!"
"Yeah, you guys have been oppressing us for years! You've been controlling us and shit and you think you're better? Fuck you!"
"Ādi-Buddha, you're gonna get fucking murdered! We're gonna kick your ass all over the place! Yahweh couldn't beat us, how could you, huh? Huh? You can't! Never could! Never will!"
Humanity and the gods were desperate to live and drenched in a waterfall of fear and anxiety that left both sides angry. They directed said anger at each other while desperately hoping that they'd live beyond the tournament's finale. All they could do is lash out, while the true culprit of their suffering was beyond their reach, beyond their power.
It wasn't long before fists were flying, the gods and humans brawling with each other in the stands. Because of the general imbalance of power, the gods were dominating, few humans managing to hold their own. Even humans and gods that weren't lashing out got dragged into the fighting.
"Jeez, looks like everyone's going a little nuts." Anansi was pulled out of his malaise by the sudden riot in the stands. "The archangels might need to step in."
"That won't be necessary." Gautama said.
The light coming off of Ādi-Buddha intensified, spreading throughout totality and everyone stopped. Everyone was calm, their anxieties and anger being replaced with a simple feeling of peace, ease, acceptance. Humans and gods alike stopped their fighting and apologized to each other, civility restored.
"That worked out."
"Such is the power of Ādi-Buddha. He embodies inner peace and can spread it to others."
"Amazing, with him around, we never have to worry about people freaking out. If he did that all the time, it'd be perfect."
"If his light was constantly radiating, we'd be at peace, but we'd also feel nothing at all."
"Nevermind, then."
"Honestly, Ādi-Buddha would prefer taking away everyone's emotions permanently with his powers, but he doesn't because, well, I was going to say Yahweh would get mad, but now it'd be Azathoth. Either way, Ādi-Buddha is the most extreme form of Buddhist philosophy, and I don't agree with him on many things."
"That's really interesting."
"Ādi-Buddha is less an entity, and more an idea with a will."
"They sound really powerful. The human fighter is gonna be in for a tough one. Speaking of the human fighter, let's introduce them."
The gates on the human side opened. A blur flew out of the opening, leaping from wall to wall before stopping on a layer of the fort that put them at eye level with the living daibutsu.
"They are the Rani of Jhansi. She rebelled against the British Empire like an Indian Jeanne d'Arc. She fought with her men, unafraid, for she was trained in a variety of combat forms, from swordsmanship to marksmanship."
The blur was revealed to be a muscular woman in a dress, her artificial holy relic in her hands, taking the form of a rifled musket.
"She fought to the very end. Her will is like diamond, her legacy immortal. She is wise, she is strong, she is here to save humanity."
The woman took a deep breath with closed eyes.
"She is Lakshmibai."
Wailing.
Lakshmibai was crying in a way that was reminiscent of Isis.
"It's so terrible! We were so close to a happy ending, and now both humanity and the gods are at risk of all dying! Why!" Immediately, the tears stopped and Lakshmibai's teeth were bared. "Fuck! This' all such bullshit! I'm gonna make Azathoth fucking pay!" Lakshmibai stood up straight, suddenly giving a determined, thoughtful look. "But, I can't now. Right now, I need to fight, here and now, to protect humanity." A childish smile formed. "In the end, things will work out, I know it! Both humanity and the gods are gonna live! We just have to believe!"
"She's different when she's sober." Astaroth tried not to laugh at her. "Is she bipolar?" She didn't want to laugh at a person with a mental health condition.
"No. She's like that because she, I don't wanna say she chooses to be like that, it's more of a philosophy thing."
Either way, most everyone watching wasn't sure how to react, excluding a certain group.
"Mom, you're the best! Kick that Buddha's butt!"
"I married you because I don't accept anything less than the best! You got this!"
Lakshmibai's son Damodar Rao and her husband Maharaja Gangadhar Rao Newalkar, as well as the citizenry of Jhansi from when Lakshmibai ruled were all in high spirits, cheering as if they didn't have a single worry in the world.
"Don't worry you guys, I got this!" Lakshmibai thrust her fist into the air, before her eyes leaked tears again. "I'm so happy you all support me!"
"Okay everybody, get ready because the fight is about to get rolling."
Lakshmibai shifted in mood again, becoming stoic, but not actually raising her gun.
Ādi-Buddha stayed as he was, in a neutral stance.
"Round twelve of Revelations, Ādi-Buddha vs Lakshmibai, will now begin."
Gabriel blew his horn for the twelfth time.