Guiding herself with all the will she could muster, Azathoth was sending her hand toward one of the pups. She was going to try and pet it. In her mind, two sides of her screamed and wrestled with each other. One desired to play with the dogs and be happy, finally being free of the melancholy that was all they knew. The other wanted to keep to their beliefs, to refuse to give in and be happy, for it meant that all they knew and established themselves upon was wrong, and if that was true, then all the atrocities they had committed couldn't be excused by the nature of totality's hierarchy. Azathoth would have to accept her sins, she'd have to carry that weight.

Multiple hellhounds sniffed and licked at her extended hand that slowly, laboriously inched toward one of them, one that wiped away the internal conflict she was feeling when it took it upon itself to nuzzle into Azathoth's hand, causing the deity to essentially pet the pup.

The fur was so soft it gave Azathoth chills and the way the dog made a whine of enjoyment was intoxicating in its cuteness.

Azathoth began to pet the dog properly, giving in to the adorableness. She hugged and pet the hellhound while the other pups began climbing all over Azathoth even more than they already were. The deity fell to her knees, nuzzling into the puppy as she wept tears for the first time. An eternity's worth of melancholy suffering overflowed, Azathoth crying like the young child she looked like.

She couldn't stand the painful emptiness anymore. It was too much. So many years. Azathoth was older than almost anyone. Only Yahweh was older than her. To endure the suffering of a vacuous existence for that long would have driven most to a dark end. Azathoth survived it, though she was scarred. Those marks would never wipe away, but now, Azathoth would allow herself to alleviate the lingering pain.

"They're so cute. They're so cute. They're so cute. I love them so much. I love dogs. I love playing with dogs. I love making snowmen and watching movies. You win, you guys win."

There was a pause as everyone inhaled before the entire audience screamed with joy as one.

The puppies ran around, not fully understanding why everyone was happy, but getting absorbed in the energy of the moment nonetheless.

The previous fighters, Anansi, the archangels, the fallen angels, Astaroth, Death, Sin, Mui, they all bounced around hugging and kissing those they loved or just those nearby. Everyone was elated. They were free. They had won. It was finally over. The nightmare was done, and they could awaken to a world of new possibilities, one not ruled by gods, or anyone else.

"Everyone! Everyone!" Anansi screamed, not as an announcer, but a fellow inhabitant of totality. "We're free! Everyone's gonna live! We've lost so many people! But, finally, finally, everyone gets to live! Everyone lives!"

Mui and Sin hugged, the martial artist squeezing so hard that Sin got to know what it was like when she hugged Death.

"We did it. Mom, we did it." Sin was crying for one last time. Her mother's death was not in vain. Her mother's faith in her was not misplaced. She had finished her mother's fight, but now she had her own fight. Sin now had to take Satan's place as leader of Hell. Now was the next phase in the history of totality. The many species, humans and gods, alive and dead, and all others, are now motivated to come together to help each other and create a more interconnected society. There would doubtless be many struggles in creating this new community, and as a pre-established authority, Sin had a duty to do all she could to alleviate those problems and help everyone live their best lives.

Azathoth continued her petting extravaganza, more dogs swarming her like bees around a flower. Giggles from the pink deity began to shift. They turned to sobs, then pained moans. The hellhounds were startled by the sudden mood shift.

Some of those nearby showed concern or discomfort, while others lacked little sympathy for the Nuclear Chaos after all she had done, reasonably so. Many who did show an interest in what was wrong with Azathoth weren't doing so out of sympathy, but because they were worried that the deity might be about to go back on her word of vacating her seat as ruler of everything or may even lash out and kill everyone.

Mui fell to her knees and gently put her hand on Azathoth's shoulder.

"Are you okay? You seem upset. I understand being overwhelmed right now, but it seems like you're panicking."

"I'm a monster. I killed so many people and I can't bring them back. I didn't think of them as people. I thought I was better, that only I mattered because I was stronger, but I'm not better. That means other people matter, and that means I killed people that matter and I'm a monster and I can't be allowed to live because I'm a monster! I need to die but I don't want to but I need to!"

"Okay, Azathoth, stop for a second. You're clearly having a panic attack. You need to just stop and try to clear your mind. You're saying really drastic things."

"But, I'm a monster! I killed so many people! I need to be punished!"

"I understand and think it would be right for you to be punished for your crimes. But, this isn't the moment for that." Sin stepped in. "You need to be put on trial, fairly and by a jury of unbiased peers, just like anyone else."

"But, I don't deserve a fair trial! I need to just die!"

"We aren't going to act barbarically. This is a new beginning, for everyone, and we need to start things off by setting a good precedent. We can't begin by killing someone without a fair trial."

"But, I'm not a person, I don't get a trial! I'm a monster!"

"Azathoth, please, just stop for a second and take some deep breaths." Mui pleaded.

"If you won't kill me, I'll make you!"

Her arm transforming into the hyper-thin Azoth, the Daemon Sultan lashed the limb at Mui.

The martial artist barely raised her guard in time and used 'My Block.' Mui was knocked outside totality from the impact, but dashed back onto the battlefield before anyone but Azathoth could even process what happened.

Once everyone had a second to process what just happened, there was panic.

Almost everyone was running hysterically towards the gates leading out of the battlefield and to the stands. The only ones that stayed behind were Mui, Sin, the previous fighters, the fallen angels, and archangels.

The remaining group surrounded Azathoth, ready to protect the audience as best they could, though only Mui really was able.

"Azathoth, you don't need to do this! Please, just stop and we can talk things out!" Mui, even after being attacked, didn't give up on saving the Nuclear Chaos.

"I will be punished! Now punish me!"

The fallen angels turned into the relic forms, each of their previous wielders taking them.

"Azathoth, please, I don't want to do this!"

"Punish me!"

Azoth whipped at Mui, who grabbed the tendril as it came at her, combining it with My Block to reinforce her hands so they wouldn't be destroyed upon grabbing it.

The Daemon Sultan tried to yank her tentacle free, but Mui's grip became an unerring manacle.

"I'm not gonna fight you, Azathoth, and I'm definitely not killing you! Just stop! Why do you feel the need to go to extremes all the time? Before it was all about power, and now it's all about wanting to die! Life isn't about going to the furthest ends of any philosophy!"

Azathoth flew up towards the sky, Mui getting pulled along as she refused to let Azoth go.

The Nuclear Chaos flew farther outside totality than Mui ran to try and avoid Azoth during the match. Snapping into a turn, Azathoth headed back toward the planet where the arena was as fast as she could. Not everyone one had evacuated yet, so if they didn't stop her, Azathoth would tackle through the planet and kill almost everyone on it. It was an attempt to force Mui's hand, to make the martial artist kill her.

Beginning to run on nothing, Mui headed in the opposite direction Azathoth was heading to stop her from hitting the planet.

Jerking to a stop, Azathoth exhaled a beam of energy from her mouth towards the planet.

Mui spun on her heel and barreled past Azathoth and ahead of the beam, getting between it and the planet. Using My Block, Mui's extended palm halted the energy wave in its tracks. By thrusting her arm forward a bit, the beam was destroyed from a shockwave of force.

Mui ran at Azathoth and dashed around the deity while still holding onto Azoth, wrapping the Nuclear chaos up in her own tendril.

"My Hold!"

Wrapping her limbs around the Daemon Sultan, Mui trapped Azathoth in an esoteric prison of the martial artist's mastery of grappling, holds, and takedowns.

The duo became like a meteor as they fell back to the planet, crashing into the battlefield and leaving a crater.

Mui and Azathoth were half buried in the dirt, the Daemon Sultan struggling.

Every passing instant made Mui stronger, her hold more powerful, but a new phenomenon emerged, Azathoth was also getting stronger, not through improving her skill but through her emotion. For the first time ever, the malaise that muddled her emotions was gone, and with her unfamiliar feelings now untamed, they pushed her to achieve new heights.

It was anyone's guess when and if Azathoth would break out of Mui's hold.

Magic circles, colorful orbs releasing power dampening energy, ropes of mist, and more, they all wrapped around Azathoth. Olodumare, Isis, and Ādi-Buddha used every form of restraining ability they had access to in an attempt to assist in holding the Nuclear Chaos. These fetters couldn't hold Azathoth at all, her power was so above them that they couldn't contain even the tiniest sliver of the pink deity's strength as she squirmed, shaking all totalities.

Their restraints broke apart, making it seem like there was nothing anyone but Mui could do, but that wasn't so.

"You can change!" Ādi-Buddha yelled, catching everyone's attention and making Azathoth's thrashing lessen the slightest bit. "I thought emotions were evil, worthless, but I was wrong, and now I've changed, I'm still changing! I believed emotions were a path to nothing but ruin since the dawn of existence, but I still managed to turn things around! You can, too! Azathoth, you can become better, we all can!"

Azathoth felt her mind cool from the boiling heat that was her self-loathing, just a little bit.

"That's right! He's right!" Olodumare affirmed. "I'm the same! I thought I couldn't become one with my children again, that I had to keep myself sealed away, but I was wrong! I stand here before you as one once more! We can reevaluate ourselves and be better! I could do it, Ādi-Buddha could do it, you can do it!"

Azathoth wanted to tune the Yoruba god out, but the words kept hitting her.

Isis grabbed Azathoth, and Mui because they were so close, and hugged them tight like a mother holding their child after they've been hurt.

"I was the same, too. I thought humans couldn't take care of themselves, but they could, I just needed to trust them. I do now, and I trust you, I trust you to move on from your mistakes. Prove yourself wrong, prove you can be better." Isis' words were an undoubtable comfort for the childlike Azathoth, her attempts to break free becoming less intense.

Realizing she was feeling her fighting spirit dull, Azathoth's efforts redoubled, struggling so hard that Isis was flung away and Mui's grip was loosening.

"Just kill me! Kill me! I need to die! Please!"

"No! You can change!" Mui grunted.

"No I can't! I did horrible things! More horrible things than anyone! I can't change what I've done!"

"You can't change the past, but you can atone." In'ei said. "I killed an innocent man due to my bloodlust. I can't undo that, but I can atone. I have dedicated my life to helping others. I fought for my species, and I will continue to do all I can to make up for my sin. You can, too."

Azathoth winced, but refocused herself on her self-hatred. "You killed one person, I commited genocide!"

"So did I." Shaka was the next to step forward. "It wasn't on the same scale, but I still killed untold amounts of people. I don't believe genocide is a sin that can be forgiven, but it isn't about forgiveness. As In'ei said, atonement is the goal. Don't just regret the past, work to make sure it never happens again. Shaka's voice began to become shaky. "I still look back on my mistakes and feel myself go to a dark place. I try not to, but it still happens from time to time, and I probably always will have these thoughts. But, I will keep moving forward, and I will continue to dedicate my life to doing good, to atone for my past evils. You don't have to be perfect, and neither do you."

Azathoth wanted to try and find some rebuttal inside herself, but she found nothing, and even if she did, her choked up throat wouldn't let her release it. A cord of empathy connected the deity in pink and Shaka. When the Zulu king revealed his emotions, his vulnerability, Azathoth realized she wanted to do the same thing. Shaka was feeling the same insecurities she was, the same disgust towards the self, but he wasn't trying to die. He was dedicated to living.

Jeanne dragged herself forward as if by the invisible hands of her will. "I also get what you're feeling. My actions in life got so many people killed. I even killed Nyx, a kind, fantastic person. But, Nyx taught me the importance of trying to love yourself. It's not that you have to ignore your flaws, I sure can't, but it's about accepting the nature of your being so you can move forward. It's hard. It hurts. I want to give up, but I can't, not when I could be doing good." The Maid's tears dribbled to the ground.

Azathoth's own tears joined them. The weeping deity noticed her dying struggle and invigorated her efforts, a roar breaking through the wall in her throat as she finally broke out of Mui's prison and tried to fly away.

Getting in the way, Khutulun and Neumann appeared in Azathoth's path thanks to the mathematician's teleportation device.

Astaroth's voice came from the tattoos on Khutulun's body. "Don't give up! I wanted to die like you did! During the third round, I was going in ready for death, but Khutulun managed to show me that even when things look hopeless, there can be a hidden light you can grasp! You may think your only path forward is to die, but there might be an option you haven't noticed! Hell, the others talked about it before, atoning! There's a path where you can live, but you have to be the one to walk down it!"

Azathoth froze in place, wanting the run, but not doing so for reasons she didn't consciously understand.

"Azathoth, I used to hate gods." Neumann spoke grimly. "But, I learned that there are good gods, that there's good in everyone. There's good in you. The very fact that you feel guilt over your past actions shows that you aren't pure evil. If you were truly beyond changing, you'd never have agreed to end Revelations. At the end of the game to make you happy, you could have said you weren't happy and continued the tournament, or you could have spitefully erased more people. You kept your word and admitted you were wrong, and that's hard even for a good person to do."

Azathoth kept looking around, finding escape routes, but never taking them. "Okay, but, uh, but you all keep saying atone, atone, atone! But, what can I do to atone? You keep saying atone but you don't tell me how! You're all just talking but not actually helping me! Saying a bunch of nice things won't actually help me!"

"Protect people."

"Huh?"

It was Lilith who spoke. "Protect people. That's how you'll atone. You're one of the strongest beings ever, and there are bound to be a bunch of threats to totality. When they come, stop them. Use your power for good. That, and just try to be nice and do good things when you have the opportunity. It doesn't need to be anything complicated."

So simple. So simple it seemed impossible. Azathoth didn't know if she could accept that it'd be so easy.

Amaterasu's arm wrapped around Azathoth's shoulders. "Protecting people is a good cause, the best one. I live to protect my girlfriend. All the human fighters fought to protect humanity. You can protect everyone. You're one of the only ones who can."

"She's right, bro!" said Ōmeteōtl, enthusiastic as ever. "I sacrificed so many years of my life to protect my kids and I don't regret a thing! It's rad protecting people, and it feels rad to do, too! Bro, this protecting people thing is actually a rad as fuck idea! You should totally do it, bro!"

Their words made sense. The deity in pink couldn't find fault in their logic.

The number of people around Azathoth was becoming apparent and overwhelming to her.

She felt like she was going to pass out.

She wanted some space, she needed it.

She flew off again, but this time, there wasn't the same pursuit and attempt to contain her. Everyone could tell that their words were reaching her, Azathoth just needed some time.

Azathoth looked down upon the children playing simple games. Little creatures far from pubescence were playing with a ball, making up their own games that they argued about the rules of. They always ended up moving on from their arguments, no matter how childishly volatile.

The Nuclear Chaos looked down on the spot where those children once were, because they were dead now. They, and their entire race were wiped away by Azathoth. In her attempt to dominate their world, she threatened to kill them all if they didn't submit. It was her first game of power to try and entertain herself.

In the end, the race refused to submit, and so she made good on her promise.

She looked at where the children once played. She didn't even remember killing those kids in particular. All it took was a thought to kill them and all others like them. She did even need to know where they were.

She felt bad, plain and simple. She felt guilt.

She was doing what her mother did, what she saw so many others do, and they didn't seem to feel bad, at least not on the surface.

That's why Azathoth didn't understand why she felt bad, why she regretted her choice and wished she had the ability to undo it.

She'd ask her mother, she was more than capable of it.

Her mother, terrified of her first progeny, acceded to her demands and resurrected the race.

This had unfortunate consequences, because now that Yahweh could allow Azathoth to undo anything she did, it made anything the Daemon Sultan did feel less meaningful to her. She didn't feel as bad when she hurt others, because her mother could undo it for her.

The issue was that everything became so valueless to Azathoth due to this, that it eventually led to the pink deity not caring about when she hurt others, her empathy lying dormant as a sense of apathy took over.

She now felt no need to ask her mother to resurrect those she killed, for, in her eyes, the lives lost were meaningless, easily replaceable.

This detachment bonded with Azathoth's belief in the value of power and power alone, solidifying into her future philosophy.

Thus was born the ultimate monster, a child poorly taught, poorly reprimanded, and feared.

On a distant moon, a grey and white wasteland of dust, Azathoth sat in the fetal position.

"I'm bad. But I can atone. I can help people. Protect people. But, I don't deserve a second chance."

Azathoth was before a great gate within herself, one that had a lock that only she had the key for. It was the impediment stopping her from accepting everything everyone told her before, that she could live and atone. Their logic was sound. The mighty gate was built from bricks of emotion. Self-loathing was all that stopped Azathoth from moving forward. She heard the sympathetic words of Shaka and the others who have the same hatred of the self. If they could do it, so could she, in theory.

The words that she didn't deserve to overcome her self hatred and live echoed in her skull. They told her that Shaka and the others hadn't performed crimes on the same level as her. She erased a third of all life in existence. Nobody had ever committed an atrocity of such a scale.

That was the justification she used to motivate her self hatred, to say it was just, and it was a reasoning that most beings in totality would agree with. Most would say Azathoth should die, that she didn't deserve a trial, or a chance to atone, or anything other than punishment of the most swift and brutal kind.

That grandiose gate stood tall, the key in Azathoth's hands. All she had to do was put it in the lock and turn it, but just moving the slightest inch was a Herculean task. There wasn't anything left to be said. Not new arguments to be made, nothing new that could be said to convince Azathoth. It was up to her, and her alone.

The metaphorical gate had a mirror shine, and it allowed Azathoth to look at herself, two of herself. One was the embodiment of her sins, a pussing, bulging blob covered in writhing tentacles, drooling fang-toothed mouths, and a coating of the blood of her victims. The other image was an empty silhouette, and amorphous outline. It was a possibility that was unfulfilled as of yet. It was what Azathoth could be. An unwritten future.

No matter how much she tried to focus on the empty shape, she couldn't get the eldritch horror out of the corner of her eye.

"No matter what I do, the past is always there."

"True, but you aren't living in that past, you're in the now, that's the only place you can ever be."

It was Sin's voice. The deity in pink turned her head and saw that Mui and Sin stood behind her.

"Why are you here?"

"In case you need us, or want us." Mui spoke as non threateningly as possible.

"Don't want you doing anything drastic." Sin added.

"Just leave me alone."

"Don't worry, we'll let you be by yourself, we'll just be over here if you want us, y'know, in case you don't want to be alone."

Without a response, Azathoth turned her head away and returned to her mental gate. The amorphous shape of the future wasn't entirely empty, its volume wasn't a vacuum, it was full of images. Presented were images of Azathoth destroying threats to innocents, of acting like a hero, of meeting people that look past her past infractions and who become her friends. She would never be a target of adulation, but she didn't need to be.

For the first time, Azathoth could actually imagine the future. The presence of Sin and Mui altered the pink deity's perspective, making her feel less alone. She wasn't alone with only her thoughts of self disgust. The fact the duo came to her, entered her presence of their own choice, made her very being feel less repulsive, as if she was more than just a monster.

It wasn't just to give her a fair trial for the sake of the new society. It was more than pragmatism. Even if they wanted to watch over her, to make sure she didn't take drastic actions, they could have kept their presence hidden, but they didn't. They wanted her to know they were there, there for her.

At least a little bit, they had sympathy for her.

Sin and Mui's presence served as a counterargument to every insecurity Azathoth had, that positive futures for her were impossible, that the idea of redemption was unrealistic. The sympathetic words of the previous fighters hit the deity again.

The monster was still there, ever present, abhorrent, but its unpleasantness was slightly attenuated. It wasn't as distracting, as unignorable. For at least a few brief moments every once in a while, Azathoth could forget her past, and the future became all she thought of. Pleasant dreams of a pleasant reality.

Upon determining that it was the mere appearance of Mui and Sin that was responsible for the sudden upturn in her optimism, Azathoth began laughing, quietly.

She didn't want Sin and Mui to hear her. She was embarrassed.

There was still that key, which felt easier to move now. It would likely become a struggle to use again later, so if she was going to open the gate, it had to be now, or she would be waiting a long time for her next chance.

Even if she opened the gate the struggle wouldn't be over. The path on the other side of the doorway would be long, farther than anyone could walk. The battle with Azathoth's self loathing would never end, the hate could never die, but Azathoth could endure, she could grow skin thick enough to survive the self flagellation. Her skin would be broken through from time to time, but it would heal, and she could start walking and battling forward again.

The key in her hand was inching forward through air as thick as lead. The mighty gate inside her seemed to draw closer, as if to make things easier for her, as if there was someone, or two someones, pushing the door towards Azathoth on the other side.

The key and the keyhole got closer at the pace of a sloth, but progress was occurring.

Closer, closer, and closer still.

If she was going to turn back, it would be now.

She had to make her choice. Would she give herself a chance?

She was the greatest sinner of all.

She was a monster.

Everyone rightfully hated her.

But, if she could atone, anyone could.

As Sin said before, she would set a precedent, but not just for the proper enactment of justice, but for idea that anyone could atone, that nobody should wallow in their own sins, deciding to embrace their past evils and continue them, and that nobody should seek death as some sort of justice.

If she opened the gate, it wouldn't be for her own sake alone, but for everyone.

She forced the key ahead, and it went into the keyhole. She didn't want to hesitate, and so she turned that key and unlocked the doorway.

The gates swung open as Azathoth pushed them, and she ran across through the opened path.

Leaving her mindscape, Azathoth got onto her feet, legs wobbling and trying to buckle.

Azathoth ran towards Sin and Mui, who were in the middle of thumb wrestling. Mui was winning.

"Hey, Azathoth." Sin was surprised. "Did you go through, like, an apotheosis? Already?"

"I'll…" Azathoth took a long, protracted breath, the air gliding up her nose, making it feel cold, and back out her mouth, making her tongue and teeth warm and moist. "I'll atone."

"You don't want to die anymore?"

"No, not right now, and even if I want to in the future, I'll keep living."

Azathoth was pulled into a hug by Mui.

"You made the right choice. Thank you."

"I should be the one saying thank you. You convinced me to live. I didn't do anything."

"You just chose to protect everyone in totality and be put on trial so the new society starts on the right foot. You're doing a lot." Sin pat Azathoth on the back.

Azathoth found herself sinking into the hug and gently embracing Mui back.

"I'm gonna atone. I'm gonna atone. It's gonna be hard, but I'll atone."

Round 13

Azathoth vs Ng Mui

Victor: N/A

Match Length: Incalculable

Deciding Move: N/A

Gods 6-6 Humans