This page contains unmarked spoilers. You Have Been Warned!
The sacrifices take their toll...
The stakes of Humanity and the Heavens's battle is both epic and heart-wrenching.
- The very stakes of the tournament. Every time a competitor loses a match, they don't just die; they're erased from existence. It's worse for Humanity's side, as their Volunds (The Valkyries) are erased along with them, causing Brunhilde and Goll no shortage of grief.
- The aftermath of the first fight ends in a pretty depressing note for mankind. While Lu Bu gets some happiness even in death, his army (+ Red Hare) decides to confront Thor to follow their lord to death, knowing very well they stand no chance against the god, as they consider that living in a world without Lu Bu is worthless. Red Hare and Chen Gong are seen shedding tears for their fallen general and charge against the God of Thunder along with the rest of the army, knowing they are going to die. They all end unsurprisingly crushed with ease, fulfilling their wish to follow their general to death.
- But what hits harder is the reveal a few panels later that, in the afterlife, if your soul gets destroyed, you die for real and go to Niflhel, where your body is reduced to dust in the vacuum of space forever, with no chance to return, ever, all while the manga shows to bodies of Lu Bu, Randgriz, Red Hare, Chen Gong and the rest of Lu Bu's army disintegrating into nothing. Upon learning that her beloved sister Randgriz is gone forever, Goll cannot help but to cry in grief, while Brunhilde gets extremely angry at the defeat suffered by their side. It's a reminder of the great amount of stakes that Ragnarok carries, and the risks both Valkyries and humans face in the tournament.
- The last part of the Adam Vs Zeus chapter as a whole is especially this, especially considering Adam's children's love for their father is so great that it brings the entirety of humanity together regardless of their differences, religion and creed, pleading for him to stop fighting before he kills himself and to throw in the towel. Even Zeus, who showed himself to be a rather pompous dude who saw humanity as nothing more than playthings at best and insects to be squashed at worst, grows to sincerely respect Adam due to his durability and sheer will to fight on despite dying.
- The moment that pretty much cements Adam's status as the First and Ultimate Papa Wolf as Zeus is pummeling him. Adam's first and last thoughts are of his children, but not just his biological children, but humanity as a whole.
Adam: "Somewhere out there... a baby is crying... it's alright, don't cry. Your dad's here to protect you. I'll make sure to beat anyone that tries to-" - Two Words: "Found You.". The story presents a Hope Spot; Adam musters the strength for a Heroic Second Wind and engages in one last Pummel Duel against Zeus. Just as he brings Zeus down to his knees and it seems like he's about to win, Adam has already Died Standing Up.
- The small image of Adam trying to cheer up a bawling baby Abel whilst a laughing Eve and toddler!Cain watch is equal parts this and Heartwarming Moments.
- The Valkyrie Reginleif also dies along with Adam, and offers him a sad smile before vanishing. Understandably, Goll is left shattered, once again losing a beloved sister.
- Even for the most staunch critics of Heracles, his showing in the finale of the fourth match brought many to tears. Despite everything Jack threw at him, and despite coming face to face with what the story considers the physical embodiment of humanity's capacity for cruelty (and falling for a trap that allowed Jack to kill him), Heracles embraces Jack and sticks to his guns on his affection for humanity. Jack is so moved by Heracles' unconditional love that even he sheds tears at the god's death, having experienced the emotional warmth he always lacked in life.
- This makes Jack getting pelted by stones from the grieving gods all the worst. Having received actual unconditional love for the first and only time in his existence, he's thrust back into the reality that to everyone else, he's a hated monster, with even the Humans rather unhappy at his triumph. The only one on Heracles' side who doesn't throw a rock is the God's best friend, who remembers when Heracles' old self Alcides asked an Ares' army to never seek unjust vengeance on mankind again. It's an effective way of explaining the profound unfairness of how Jack is treated in the outcome; even though he was fighting on behalf for others, even if it was as a conscript, because of his serial killer status he's not even respected for it.
- Considering Jack's real identity in his spinoff, he never got to show his true self to Heracles, as deceiving him was for the greater mission of saving humanity. That Heracles would even show compassion for the real Ripper (who Jack killed) if they ever met must weigh heavy on Jack. In fact, had Jack gone out as his true self, as a government assassin, he may have been better received by the audience, but too great is his self-perception that he's a monster and that he can only be happy as such that he'll only label himself after his most notorious victim.
- Brunhilde crying miserably after Heracles died makes more sense when Jack The Ripper's true identity is revealed: He is an unknown legendary assassin for the British Mi6, therefore Brunhilde directly ordered an assassination and denied a honorable fight against Heracles despite their bond, all for the sake of mankind.
- Zerofuku’s backstory. Poor kid can't catch a break:
- Zerofuku’s well meaning but pointless attempts to make humans happy. He thought by taking away their misfortune, the humans he loved would be happy and gladly took their misfortunes into his own body. Rather than making them happy, Zerofuku finds the humans have fallen into deep depravity and despite their good fortune, are actually more miserable than they were before. None of the humans he helped showed him any gratitude, not even the grown up boy who wouldn’t have lived past childhood if not for him. His rage and despair grows as he lays on the ground, realizing his sacrifice was for naught.
- In Zerofuku's frustrated rage and despair, he could not recognize the one living being he did help that was grateful to him—the bird he helped back up into its nest, now a mature pigeon. It affectionately swoops down to greet him, but Zero doesn't even notice, letting his rage consume him and his aura chase off the bird.
- In a moment as sad as it is heartwarming, when Buddha leaves the arena victorious after his fight against Hajun, the same bird (now in the afterlife) flies down to the Volund Buddha formed with Zerofuku, cheeping in grief while crying his death, showing that, despite being scared off by Zerofuku when he fell into darkness, the bird never stopped loving him.
- Buddha comes along with his followers and despite their poverty, they’re actually smiling and content. Zerofuku finds himself jealous of a human, a massive humiliation for a god such as himself. And to make it worse, when Zerofuku finally has his chance to get revenge on the Buddha for embarrassing him... the Buddha doesn’t even remember him.
- Zerofuku’s Heel–Face Door-Slam. Just when it seems like the god is redeemed and lets go of his hatred of Buddha, he is forcibly transformed into Hajun to continue the fight. Zerofuku’s cries imply the god knew what was happening to him and begged for it to stop as he no longer wanted to fight.
- Zerofuku giving one last smile to Buddha and waving goodbye to him along with the other lucky gods as they fade away is particularly emotional.
- Hades's death is surprisingly depressing. Despite being a god, he was portrayed as a honourable and respectful fighter that never underestimated his opponent and recognized Qin Shi Huang as a true king through their fight. Furthermore, he never fought for arrogance or hatred towards the humans, but to avenge the death of his beloved brother at their hands (and not for honour, but because he genuinely loved him). What hits the harder however is that, unlike other sympathetic Ragnarök contestants such as Lu Bu, Heracles or Raiden, Hades dies with regrets, lamenting that he was unable to fulfil the vow he made to himself of avenging Poseidon, dying with a somber expression as he apologizes to his brothers for failing them as the elder sibling. The faces of grief of Adamas and especially Zeus (who at news of Poseidon's death was more concerned with the humiliation his pantheon suffered than caring for the death of his brother) when Hades's existence is erased only makes this more painful.
- Beelzebub's backstory, He was always alone due to every god being afraid of him due to a rumor that he was cursed by Satan that whoever gets involved with Beelzebub will be killed by Satan. When he finally found three angels who were not afraid of him and became his friends, and for the first time ever he laughed and enjoyed the companionship with them until one day when he woke up to find himself in a pool of his friend's blood. Determined to find and kill Satan to avenge his newfound friends' death, he researched tirelessly to find Satan's whereabouts. During his research, he was visited by Lilith, a childhood friend of Lucifer, one of Beelzebub friends to help him find Satan, during their time together and finding out more about his friend Lucifer, he made a promise to Lilith that he would protect her, the moment he declared that he lost consciousness and he when he woke up he finds his arm pierced through Lilith's body. There he found out that not only was Satan responsible for his friends death, he was Satan. This revelation is what kick-started his death-seeking goal to create a being powerful enough to kill him.
