We tune in on our end where you are running through Shinjuku Chuo Park on a rainy night where no stars can be seen. Much of what happens is a repeat of what happened in the beginning of Chapter 9 with you attempting to get back to the dorm before curfew and Solomon talking about how much of a help he is in your life. There are some divergence points however, what with the PTSD flashbacks also getting stitched with flashes of AI Solomon during the event. Then the rest of the night plays out the part where you go save Breke from being attacked by machine troopers.
Scene then shifts to Azathoth's weird dream realm safe room where he comments on the game continuing on as he watches what's happening through a TV. But he has enough watching for now as he decides to switch over to playing a game again, at which point someone knocks on the door of the meta safe room. Nodens lets himself in, saying he was looking all over for Azathoth and asks what the room is supposed to be. Nodens then dramatically sighs as he plops himself next to Azathoth, and Azathoth is mildly interested in his presence before answering that this is all Azathoth's dream. That in turn means Nodens is part of his dream fantasy, and Azathoth is willing to answer some of his questions if he asks.
Nodens cackles as he decides to accept Azathoth's offer and joins him in the fighting game he's playing. Nodens hassles Azathoth for playing a mob, and Azathoth in turn taunts Nodens for playing a high tier character. Nodens starts dominating the round, and Azathoth plays along for a bit before destroying Nodens' character in one hit.
Nodens throws his controller down as he gets pissy for having lost, commenting that he knew he'd be losing and couldn't really alter the outcome of his big battle. Azathoth points out that it was their (as in plural) battle to Nodens, which he took a look at. Nodens laughs as he says Azathoth has a horrible personality, then asks if that's why Cthulhu was set up to be the game's trophy. Azathoth however denies it after some cackling of his own, saying he as the All Powerful Know Nothing wouldn't know about it. Cthulhu getting exiled to the depths of the sea was something the damn fool did on his own.
Nodens is shocked by this statement, and Azathoth adds that he'll see the end of his dream himself because that's his hobby. He's already reached his own end, which is something everyone from his world should be aware of. Nodens is silently mad for a moment, then accepts it and asks if that meant he was wasting his time and effort to begin with. They themselves couldn't change the world on their own, and yet they threw themselves stupidly and desperately into a dream nobody else asked for.
Azathoth laughs madly for a while before telling Nodens that he doesn't know. He is the almighty and the totally ignorant and that title means something dammit. He knows nothing of Nodens' dream and nothing of Cthulhu's dream...but he'll still watch them to their end. He'll watch all the possibilities of worlds that have ended, or in other words all the bad endings. Nodens says he doesn't get it since their world already ended, but Azathoth clarifies that he means the bad endings for All Worlds.
Tokyo is in a time loop and the game is set up to decide which single world is the winner. But what happens if the ending where One World Wins...never happened? What if you define that as a bad ending having happened? Then after that bad ending, something completely different from it begins. If Old Ones were to win the wish of its exile Cthulhu can't be granted. Neither would Nodens's wish for that matter. Really, if any world wins, it'd be impossible to grant everyone's wishes. The end result is that no one's wish wins out and continues into an unknown future.
Nodens laughs as he calls everything above a pipe dream, incredulous at the idea that every world has failed. Azathoth says that everyone is stupidly repeating the loops over and over, but it's not a definite thing for no world to win. Put another way, no world has ever truly given up, and that is because every world has won against Old Ones. Nodens is unable to understand this since he doesn't have the intelligence to parse through it. But within him is the two Nodens who can since they have the wisdom for it. All worlds decide things based on a hierarchy, an incontrovertible rule that puts some things above others. Every other world always wins against Old Ones, which is an expression of this hierarchy and the only definite event to happen for the world when everything else is in flux. But now even this event is no longer set in stone, and all order to the game is lost.
Nodens looks back to the door he came in from as his eyes lights up in understanding. NG Nodens had lost against you, but he lost to you as Old Ones' representative. And NG Nodens also won against the other worlds as Old Ones' representative. Azathoth and Nodens start laughing like crazy together for a while, and eventually Nodens calls Azathoth an idiot and asks if such a thing is even possible. Azathoth fires back that it should be the best ending for Nodens, though he doesn't know or care himself. Nodens says it's the stupidest thing ever and admits that he's totally lost this. And, the both of them say it's also a win for Old Ones.
Nodens talks about how the game has been shown to have no definite parts to it, so what comes next is neither a true ending or a bad ending; it's on the path for something completely different. He starts to leave which prompts Azathoth to ask where he's going. Nodens says the room is the residence of what remains of Azathoth, so he can't stay there forever. He knows about the memory fragments of his time spent in the great space war. The great reversal of time has swept them away as pieces cut off from the original body, so if Nodens were to appear in Tokyo after this, he'd be a version of him without these memories. Nodens wonders aloud about whether he should retire like Azathoth did too, then sees the ones who have crossed over the horizon.
Tsathoggua starts sighing about how tired he is and says he wants some first class honey candy. Cthugha complains about how his role in the story turned out and says being treated as a disposable pawn by his friends hurt. He is happy with how cool his last actions were at the end though. Nyarlathotep jibbers nonsense suggesting he isn't too happy with how things went, but since Azathoth has been enjoying it all he leaves it be. The ex-rulers are moving on ahead from this frozen world for parts unknown, and Nodens decides that they want to see where that goes when Azathoth pokes him really hard.
Nodens is shocked at getting poked like so and asks Azathoth what his deal is. Azathoth tells him that since he's made a connection, he can be called over to Tokyo. When that might happen, nobody knows as a mutual bond can surpass anything and pull two things together. Azathoth tells him to go enjoy himself since that's probably what he wants. Not that he'd know or anything. Nodens rubs his forehead before twisting his face into a grin, then cackles as he tells Azathoth watch him make a mess of things before leaving. Cthugha follows behind looking excited while Tsathoggua feels more like it's all effort he can't be bothered to make. Nyarlathotep gives Azathoth a bow filled with reluctant sadness before leaving too, and soon the room goes back to being quiet.
Azathoth picks up his controller again as he thinks about what will be happening in the near future. There'll be a chance for him to reward you later on too. Azathoth wonders what it is he should give you, though he figures he could just tell you the same thing he told Nodens. He's already collected all the bad endings in this world, which is fine and all, but he's a little bored now. A thought then occurs to him as he reaches into empty space, then pulls a shocked Solomon out with a flash of light. Azathoth invites Solomon to play with him until he gets called again. He's half of you, so it should be fine to do this for a bit. Solomon thinks for a moment, then agrees. In the center of the universe where the ultimate mysteries are, it is said that the transcendent one sits there. He is the blind almighty yet incompetent one, forever dragging along in his sense of tedium. They say a tiny follower serves him to help relieve that boredom, but there is no one who can say whether this is true for sure. The End.
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