Looking down, Lakshmibai found a platform of stone form below her and spread, creating a floor that then rose upward and made earthen walls before finally closing back up at the top, essentially making a hollow mountain with the Rani of Jhansi trapped inside.

Lakshmibai tried all the same things she had when she attempted to break the cocoon earlier, and it ended up as ineffectual as before, the mountain just as unbudging.

Lakshmibai would've been sweating if her body composition at the time allowed it. The temperature inside the earthen cage was rising at blistering speeds. The air turned to flames that reached absolute hot, infinitely beyond, and beyond infinitely further than that. Even Jeanne's sword couldn't produce such flames. Every aspect of Lakshmibai's being was burned. She tried to push the inferno away with her Manipura chakra, to no effect. The blaze was unable to be controlled.

The burning hell would be her tomb if she didn't do something, but all her abilities were useless, anything she threw out getting incinerated, the purifying fires able to burn the conceptual, that which is beyond the conceptual, and even things on a level of existence beyond that.

Lakshmibai's power wasn't enough. Death's power wasn't enough.

It was a good thing they weren't a duo, but a trio.

"Para Brahman!"

The fire died, the mountain ruptured as if from a volcanic eruption, and Lakshmibai had changed.

From the woman's back came endless arms of all kinds. Arms of flesh, of elements, of concepts manifested. The limbs flowed, folded in on themselves, phased through each other, all together forming a sort of aureole behind Lakshmibai. The akasha that composed the Rani's head constantly shifted, forming the faces of a different individual every second, even those of animals and previous competitors in the tournament, but the third eye of the Ajna chakra always remained.

Both fighters possessed bizarre forms that left most of the audience struggling to even figure out how to comprehend them.

"The Ten Realms: Preta."

Ādi-Buddha's words were accompanied by a suction on Lakshmibai's existence, the Buddha attempting to absorb the Rani's being on all levels. As Ādi-Buddha felt power flow into him, he could also feel the full scope of Lakshmibai's entire essence, and found it to be far beyond what he could take in.

It was like trying to take in all of existence.

Stopping his attempted absorption, Ādi-Buddha revealed the truth.

"You are the avatar of Brahman. You are cheating."

Azathoth was right in front of Lakshmibai, looking her dead in the eyes. As soon as the murderous deity appeared, everyone went dead silent. Nobody even bothered thinking about what Ādi-Buddha had meant with his statement, they were just praying there wasn't another massacre.

"Explain."

At Azathoth's command, Lakshmibai responded with the same casualness that one would speak with when talking to a lifelong friend.

"Brahman decided that you're evil and all so they wanted to screw with your plans for them to fight in the last round for the gods. Brahman, you wanna speak for yourself."

"I gladly will." Brahman spoke from everywhere. Brahman was the embodiment of everything, of totality. All things were Brahman, so they could control all things, to a far greater degree than the Sahasrara chakra could allow, and when Brahman has an avatar, they and their partner can achieve even further levels of strength.

"Brahman, is what Lakshmibai said true?"

"Yes. I was actually planning to betray Yahweh before you even took direct control, but I especially don't want to fight for you. You're a being that is ready and willing to erase anything that mildly upsets you, erase everything even, and thus me."

"Why shouldn't I just kill you now, then? Why shouldn't I destroy everything right now. I am feeling pretty annoyed."

"Because if everything's gone, the tournament's over, and you'll really be bored." Sin had flown into the ring. "Plus, isn't this spicing up the tournament?"

"That is true."

"And, as for the case of fairness, this is basically like what happened in round six with Gilgamesh taking Tiān's power, which didn't get punished so why would Lakshmibai using Brahman's power be punished? Plus, unlike with Gilgamesh, this was consensual. All in all, this is just evening things out."

Azathoth was quiet, until she eyed Death in Lakshmibai's hands and her constant sleepy grin got a little wider. "Fine."

Gone was Azathoth, her decision made.

Sin exhaled and returned to her luxury box, Astaroth putting two and two together.

"This was your plan."

"Yeah."

"Brahman helping us isn't about winning this round, is it?"

"Whether we win or lose, Azathoth will force us to have a round thirteen, but with Brahman having already fought and refusing to fight for the gods, Azathoth will be forced to find a replacement, but there are no other gods who are anywhere near strong enough to compete in this tournament, that is, except for herself."

"So Azathoth will be forced to fight in the final round."

"Yup."

"But, why wouldn't we just try and jump Azathoth with as many people as possible, including whoever you have ready to fight her in the final round if we're gonna try to kill her?"

"The final fighter we have is the only person who has a chance against her, and we need to make it part of the tournament because Azathoth, if we try to jump her, will just wipe everything away immediately. If she fights one person as part of the tournament, Azathoth will try and hold back to have fun, which will give our fighter time to get strong enough to win."

"Get strong enough?"

"She's the type that grows stronger over time during a fight, and she has the potential to surpass Azathoth with enough time."

"Okay, okay, it's clicking for me now. One last thing, Azathoth agreed, but only after she looked at Death weirdly. What's up with that?"

"It's part of the gamble. This whole tactic to force Azathoth to fight was a risk and we needed as many factors as possible to get her to go for it. Similar to Yahweh, Azathoth enjoys misery, and knowing that my brother is still at risk of dying and making me more miserable was enough to satiate her."

"She wouldn't have gone with the plan if she thought we weren't risking anything?"

"Potentially. That's why I'm risking my own brother's life." Sin spat her words out with disgust towards herself.

Lakshmibai was twirling Death like he was a baton and she was leading a marching band.

"Well, that worked out. Fucking Hell yeah! You're not upset are you? We are cheating, I'm so sorry!"

Ādi-Buddha was as emotionless as ever. "I don't mind. I will still defeat you, and bring humanity closer to the salvation of nothingness."

"You really think not existing is better than dealing with suffering?"

"Yes."

"But, there are other things in life besides pain. We have nice things, sad things, confusing things. Life is a lot, but I think that's fine. It's what makes life fun."

"That is just how you cope with your suffering. As long as humans feel emotion, they will suffer."

"And feel happy. You need both, they balance each other out, give each other meaning."

"The mercy of nothing is far more valuable."

"But, it's not like anybody could appreciate it since, y'know, they'll be nothing! Something is better than literally nothing at all."

"As I said, you are merely coping, you are addicted to feeling as an alcoholic is to intoxicants."

"I'd rather be an addict than nothing! Not that I am an addict. Emotions aren't bad, they're what allow us to give things meaning. Without emotion, we have no joy, and if nobody's happy, what's even the point of anything?"

"There is no meaning. This reality is merely suffering, an iron maiden, all the concepts composing its spikes that stab into all beings, until eventually they become porous, no longer fighting back against the suffering and instead fetishizing it as something of value."

"Well fuck you, too." Brahman said.

"The Ten Realms: Beast."

Breaching through reality' fabric, a hound came through a hole in spacetime, a monstrosity the size of a mountain range, with avian wings, venom dripping from its gums, flames formed a mane around its neck, claws with poison barbs decorating their surfaces.

The beast pouncing at Lakshmibai, the Rani responded in a way that would normally be considered less than reasonable.

"It's so cute! Come here doggy!"

The fangs of the beast snapped at the air as the hound's bite missed its mark, Lakshmibai teleporting below and petting the creature's stomach with her endless hands.

The hound fell, but not from pain nor death, but from pleasure. The dog rolled onto its back, wagging its tail and kicking its leg as Lakshmibai kept rubbing the creature's tummy like any other canine. The oversized pup panted happily while its tongue lolled out the side of its mouth.

"Who's a good doggo? Who? Who? You are!" Lakshmibai baby talked to the hound as if hadn't just tried to kill her. The creature was pacified, Ādi-Buddha's attempts to take back control of the creature fruitless.

The audience couldn't help but be captivated by the dissonant cuteness of a giant beast of a canine and an esoteric simulacrum of a woman made of elements playing like a normal person and their pet would.

"This is an adorable display, everybody. It also feels kinda out of place."

Gautama was laughing. "I think this is the perfect time for this. Levity is a precious thing."

"The Ten Realms: Human."

The hound's body released sounds of cracking as bones shifted and skin refitted. The growls of an animal turned to the groans of a person. The winged being stood up, now a giant humanoid. The animalistic look in the creature's eye, one that signaled how it had enjoyed the simple satisfaction of being petted, was gone, replaced with a glare that was cold and calculating, the look of a human ready to commit an assasination.

Lakshmibai was sad to see the metamorphosed giant. The new humanoid was without passion. It was just a living weapon.

The oversized humanoid threw a punch that Lakshmibai didn't bother dodging. The fist hit the human but it didn't even make her budge, her body staying perfectly stationary in the air. A barrage of punches followed that Lakshmibai took without issue, acting like a living, impregnable sandbag.

"You just had to take the fun away." Lakshmibai didn't even move as the giant was torn to pieces as the Rani ripped up his very existence using her will and the power of Brahman.

"The Ten Realms: Asura."

Red phantasmal energy formed six giant, muscular arms around Ādi-Buddha. The ethereal limbs reached out and grabbed Lakshmibai, squeezing the human from all sides. The limbs were fueled by Lakshmibai's emotions. Ādi-Buddha knew that the human would be upset by the giant's earlier metamorphosis, so he used it to increase the potency of Lakshmibai's emotions to add more power to his asura arms.

It was an ability that was the perfect counter to Lakshmibai's very nature.

The human felt pressure on her that, even as her unlimited hands tried to push back, continued to increase. Lakshmibai tried to use Brahman's power, but the limbs were powered by Lakshmibai's emotions, the same ones that fueled herself and Brahman. The limbs would grow to be as strong as Lakshmibai was at the given moment plus the addition of Ādi-Buddha's own power.

Death was fired rapidly, but the instant death bullets were useless because the arms weren't living things.

Sin was clutching her own arms so hard her fingers sunk through her flesh, making herself bleed. She was getting flashbacks to the last round. The image of Satan dying overlapped with images of her brother. It looked like her worst fears were about to come true.

In a private room, Death and Sin were alone, little time left before the twelfth match was going to begin.

Sin had her hands behind her back, unable to look directly at Death.

"So, death, uh, y'know you're up next, right? I mean, you obviously know, but, do you know why?"

Death nodded his head, understanding that he was essentially just fighting to create a risk to try and satiate Azathoth, and that he was otherwise jeopardizing his own demise for nothing.

"Okay, I figured. You're smart. I…I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm making you do this. There's still a chance that Azathoth will go along with everything if you don't fight, but we need every factor we can get to be in our favor. I'm selfish. I'm putting your life in danger instead of my own, but it's because I need to fight in the last round. I'm stronger than you and I have the abilities necessary to give us a fighting chance in the finals. That's no excuse though. It's so fucked up. What kind of sister does this kind of thing? A bad one, obviously. It doesn't even need to be said. I'm using my own brother as a bargaining chip. There's no excuse. I should've figured out another way. Mom would have. You would have. Why did mom put me in charge? How could she think I could do this? I'm just…worthless. I'm a worthless, selfish monster who'd use her own brother as a tool."

"You're wrong." A gentle voice spoke. One full of understanding and unyielding love.

"Death?"

"You aren't a bad person. You aren't worthless. You're the smartest person I know, and you're just doing what needs to be done. A truly reprehensible person would have refused to have me fight and lower the chances of your plan succeeding, thus putting humanity in greater danger. You are being pragmatic, but that doesn't mean you're being cruel, or selfish. You're just doing what's right."

"B-But, how do you know? I haven't done anything yet to prove I'm doing the-the right thing!"

"I trust you."

"But what if you're wrong to trust me! What if you're wrong!"

"Trust me. Trust that I know where to put my own trust."

"But, why do you trust me? I don't understand that! What'd I do to prove myself to you?"

"You are kind, thoughtful, passionate. You're a good person, one who is the daughter of Satan, one of the smartest people to ever live. You have a genius mind, and you have the moral fiber to know how to use it. Mom's weakness was that she could never let go of her hatred for Yahweh, to the point that she sacrificed her own life to take Yahweh down when she might've been able to find a way to resolve things peacefully with her. You, even in your darkest moments, think first of what you don't want to lose, of what you love. That's why you tried to break into the ring and save mom, not because you hated Yahweh, but because you love mom. Sin, you are love."

Sin clutched her chest. She was crying. She knew she was. Outright bawling. She felt the genuine feeling in each of her brother's words, and she felt both joy at how loved she was, how trusted she was, but pain at her feelings of guilt. She felt unworthy, shameful. She didn't want to enjoy Death's kind words, it seemed wrong to do so, but she couldn't help herself. It was a feeling she could take solace in as a momentary reprieve from the whirlwind that was her life since her mother's passing and her taking up the torch. The weight on her shoulders was that of all of totality, but Death's words made those shoulders a little broader.

Sin ran at Death, hugging him and squeezing with all her might, to the point that she would've split a normal person in half. Thankfully, Death's amorphous form was able to handle Sin's embrace.

A skeletal hand caressed the back of Sin's head as she let out her newest wave of pent up emotion.

"Death, I don't want to lose you. You're the only family I have left."

"I'll come back, I promise."

Laksmibai began pouring a majority of her and Brahman's power into Death, the human's, deity's, and fallen angel's powers combined and focused into the barrel of the musket. That wouldn't be enough power to overcome the hands if the power were dispersed like normal, but condensed as it was into a single, focused shot, it produced a power that was more than sufficient.

A thin black beam shot from Death, piercing straight through three of the six hands and pushing them back and off the champion of humanity, who flew away from the grasp of the remaining hands.

The six arms extended in length and chased after Lakshmibai, who dodged around the arms while focusing as much as power as she could on warping reality to rip apart Ādi-Buddha.

The man made of rainbow light and the lotus he stood upon were erased, but the chromatic man returned immediately, Ādi-Buddha possessing regenerative powers so great that even erasure on all levels of reality couldn't keep them down.

"The Ten Realms: Deva."

The six red arms turned to an endless number of them, each in a different color. Each stretched out to grasp Lakshmibai, far too many to dodge, so the Rani of Jhansi's own arms extended to fight back against the army of limbs, but as the fists clashed, Ādi-Buddha's always won out due to still possessing the emotion and power absorbing ability of the Asura arms.

The high speed march of the hands continued and were about to crush Lakshmibai from all sides.

Lakshmibai fired another focused beam from Death, but it was a continuous emission this time. The Rani swung her musket like a sword, the beam acting like a blade of absurd length. Using swordsmanship of a level nearing Amaterasu and Jeanne, the human diced the horde of arms into absolutely nothing.

The arms had Ādi-Buddha's regenerative ability, but the instant death touch of the holy relic's shots meant that said healing ability was useless.

Lakshmibai swung again as fast as she could, the black beam blade was about to cut into Ādi-Buddha's neck, but the Buddha blinked away, no body to be found anywhere.

Her third eye still able to be fooled, Lakshmibai looked in every direction and sensed through all the akasha in reality for Ādi-Buddha, but the deity was gone. The Rani had a safe bet as to why that was.

"Ādi-Buddha's gone! They didn't seem to get hit by that last slash, so I'm guessing they're still alive and they're planning something!"

"They're prepping for their last form, Dharmakāya."

"The first form was their mortal one, the second was their divine. What is the final form?"

"The final form is that of truth, and of the metaphorical, the inconceivable. It is of the same nature as Yahweh's Ein Sof, and is of similar power."

"Oh…Lakshmibai's fucked."

A splotch of blue appeared in the air, shaping into what looked like Ādi-Buddha's first form but the size of a normal human, sitting on the air itself in a meditative pose. Their body was not of gold but of normal flesh, his clothing of normal cloth. The most striking thing about Ādi-Buddha now was the sky blue color of his skin.

"If this new form is supposed to be like Ein Sof, why does Ādi-Buddha have an actual body?"

"It's the same kind of form in that its power is founded on a lack of definition, but Ādi-Buddha isn't powerful enough to survive without some kind of vessel to act as a core to his being."

"Okay, so maybe Lakshmibai isn't fucked. Her death shots should still be able to take Ādi-Buddha out if they hit."

"That isn't wrong, but it's far easier said than done."

Without a single tell, Ādi-Buddha released a wave of definitionless force right for Lakshmibai.

The Rani of Jhansi couldn't survive the attack if it hit, she knew this. Her focused Death shot that had helped her turn the tide before would be useless against the undefined power.

In Ādi-Buddha's current form, he was beyond the bounds of totality, transcendent of it, transcendent of 'everything,' so Brahman's power was also worthless against the primordial Buddha.

There was only one tool left in Lakshmibai and Brahman's belt.

Lakshmibai, at the last moment she had to act, said the word that was all she had left.