Re:Cord of Ragnarok

"Well folks!" Crowley announced, pouring himself a bottle of champagne. "Round Three of Ragnarok is over and, in a delightful occasion for underground betting rings everywhere, the winner is TSUKUYOMI!"

"Farewell, Empress Wu Zetian! The greatest of us all...now and forever...I will never forget how you lived and fought today! I will never forget your spirit! I will never forget you! I SWEAR IT!" Li Zhen cried, inconsolable. His next few sobs were incoherent, even amidst the respectful silence of the rest of the Li Clan, unable to even gather the strength to stand in reverence as the emperors nearby did.

"A truly splendid battle..." Qin Shi Huang mused with a bittersweet smile. "Only a valiant soul like hers could have sat upon the throne of an Empress. Rest well, Wu Zetian! Hao!"

Gaozong, strangely, remained silent and calm. He wiped away his few tears and looked upon the ravaged battlefield, where the brightest soul he'd ever seen had shone, burned out, and peacefully faded. It was as if those embers still burned within that frozen ground, even if they were now at peace. The Emperor closed his eyes and smiled.

"Goodbye, Zetian...I'm glad...you were able to reach that which you always desired. Thank you for fighting here...for baring your burning soul to us and those gods one last time."

The cheers of the god's audience, meanwhile, had mostly died down now that Tsukuyomi had left the arena, outside a few jeers towards the defeated human side. Humanity's second victory had been but a single blow away, and yet, the distance between heaven and earth was still just too far to bridge. After Yaya's fall, it was a victory sorely needed to invigorate the heavens once more.

"That boy is certainly interesting." Ereshkigal muttered to herself in her room. "I'll have to wait for him to recover, but he may have the power that I'm looking for. Though getting past Lucifer would be annoying to say the least."

"You'd better heal up soon, brother!" Michael laughed, a fiery grin still on his face. "I want to see that blade in action myself!"

"Please give him ample time to recover...that form could have very well killed him." sighed Metatron, unable to hold back his smile as well. Haniel nodded, still in awe towards the light she had just witnessed.

In the Shinto gods' room, Amaterasu's smile was unchanging as she turned towards Izanagi, who was trembling with rage and unnoticed fear. Take-Mikazuchi gave a slightly amused smile under her mask, still impressed by the fight, as the chief goddess spoke.

"Oh my, father, you look unwell. Isn't it a good thing that he claimed a hard-fought victory for us? As expected from the child of Lucifer, hehe!"

"Y-yes...I suppose...he truly showed the might and grace of the highest heavens." Izanagi muttered, glancing towards the angels' room, where Izanami was happily, proudly chatting with her son's angelic siblings. The visible lightness and joy she laughed with, as if she'd been freed from him having ever been in her life, made the old god clench his fists and silently seethe.

"That filthy, wretched woman...such arrogance! She could never be a proper wife or a mother! None of what that boy did was her...none of it! It can't possibly be, damnit...!"

Amaterasu's smile widened a bit as her eyes looked to the same place, the sun goddess clasped her hands together. "Mhm! What a blessed child indeed..."

Meanwhile, sheltered from the cheers and sobs of the arena, Lucifer continued to hold Tsukuyomi's sleeping body in his arms. All of heaven and humanity, those he had sworn to protect and destroy, lay behind him, but right now, all he could perceive was his son. Perhaps once he woke up, he could start doing more. But what could he do? Train with him more? Get him another gift? Promote him? It seemed that this was the only thing he'd ever grown rusty at. After surviving that hell, the luxury of expressing emotions was something he could rarely afford. No, rather, it was an undeserved selfishness, his right to feel happy perished together with those he failed to protect. But if it was for his family, then...