"Are you determining how to shame me again?" Artorian spoke up, the remaining trio rushing down a contorted assortment of halls and doorways. It was only a minute after they left Reitia and Nesat behind, but to the trio it could have felt like hours with the painful silence that was shared.

"…I'm not trying to shame you. I'm just confused, scared, and it feels like you're hiding more and more from us." Sakura responded, knowing the question was pointed to her. "We've left four of our friends behind without even looking back. I'm scared for Miharu and Karen, but even at the worst of moments you've been worried for everyone else. It feels like… like you're not the same person I knew a week ago."

'It's because I'm not.' A thought of regret was what went through the hybrid's head, unable to turn his own gaze over to the idol. She wasn't wrong in his approach, as an Abysswalker he realistically had a chance to break the rules of this curse, if the Lords of Lordran weren't as superstitious and he wasn't as mentally weak as he was… maybe he'd have carved his own passage right to where Miharu and Karen were.

But he wasn't, and he was already running on fumes of consciousness with each step he took.

"Please Artorian, I know there has to be more going on. I don't want to believe you'd actually throw lives away. But I can't imagine anything else, we both know Karen and Miharu wouldn't want this, so what's going on?"

"Sakura, it's not that he doesn't trust you-"

"But he doesn't!" Emilia's attempt to speak up for the hybrid was immediately shot down, the idol looking to the Slayer with a glare. However, any hostility was lost in her eyes, as the traces of tears were seen. "Otherwise he'd say it! Neither of you trust me, and it hurts to know that my friends are letting us be torn apart like this! So why, why can't you tell me!? What is going on!? Why can't you tell us anything!?"

Shame was shared between Artorian and Emilia as they sprinted, they couldn't bear to look the idol in the eyes as tears started to fill them. There was no way to reveal what was going on outside of telling the full truth, and so close to what is a clear end note, it felt cruel to reveal it at this point. But… it was just as cruel to hide it like this, forcing her into the unknown and unaware of just what was tearing her understanding of everything apart.

And eventually, there might be a point where the lie hurts more than the truth.

"Sakura… I'm dying." Artorian eventually spoke, Emilia looking surprised at the hybrid while Sakura's widened in horror. "It's not a condition you know about, or most people in the world for that matter. It was manageable, but things have gotten worse, a rapid deterioration that picked up a couple months ago. And I'm reaching that end point."

"You… you're dying?" Was all she could mutter, looking to the hybrid with growing fear. "How… how could you not tell us? We would have understood… even Claire and the others would have helped. Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because it's more than just some disease. It's what I am." Artorian stated. "I'm… I can't explain everything right now, but I also admit I might not be able to in the future. So please Sakura, please don't lose faith in me right now. I just want to be able to see Karen again. I want to make sure she and Miharu aren't punished for the crime of my birth."

That last sentence hammered home the guilt in Artorian as the group slowed to a stop, the final ever shifting barrier sloshing in front of them like an oily plague. But there was no urgency to enter as before, as the hybrid hung his head in shame as Sakura stared at him in concern and Emilia with pained sympathy. For as long as the hybrid remembered, his mere presence was often a curse to those around him.

Matsuda, Hamaki, Hayato, Karen, Emilia, even his own mother was burdened by his existence. And now everyone else was dragged into his mess.

He knew this, he knew ever since that damned day ten years ago that him simply being around others invited misfortune. He was an Abysswalker, a bad omen that dragged everyone down with him. And yet he still got close to so many people, knowing what would happen eventually.

He really was a monster.

"I know you hate me right now, and I'll accept that hatred. I just… I just need your help. One last time."

"You jerk." As Artorian turned to Sakura, he was caught off guard as she floated forward and held his face in her hands, placing their lips together in a surprise kiss. It was only for a brief moment, and when it was over the idol stared into his eyes directly as she remained certain.

"I didn't hate you, I was scared the Artorian I fell for was losing a battle against his fear… I didn't know he was formed through that battle before."

"Sakura…"

"That kiss isn't a goodbye, you owe me and everyone else an explanation when this is over." Sakura stated, looking to Emilia with determination burning in her eyes. "We're the last two, so whoever we see is our problem. I know we've never worked together in a fight, but I'll do everything I can to support you."

"R-Right." Emilia nodded, a bit flustered at the display before looking to the sloshing barrier.

"Did you want one?" Artorian asked, attempting to have some levity in the situation as Emilia's cheeks dusted red.

"Of course I do, but I'd rather save it for when this is all over. When we're finally home, Claire's scolded our ears off, and this whole nightmare can be put behind us." The white haired Slayer stated, unable to look back to Artorian. It was a valiant attempt, but neither she nor Artorian fully bought it. She knew how awful the Abyss was, and the chances were slim. She was hopeful, but all she could do was give Artorian the chance to save Karen and Miharu.

She had to put her feelings aside, so that he could have some chance at peace at knowing they're safe.

"Well maybe I wanted one… jerk." Artorian muttered half-jokingly, gripping his sword tight as he knew he was getting closer and closer to Karen.

This barrier felt the most resistive to his push, nearly needing to actually put force into it before he passed through and reoriented to look in a different direction. However his instincts reacted quicker than his eyes, barely registering a hail of red before raising his shield up, wincing as the projectiles punched through the metal and peppered across his body.

He didn't have time to process that the blood that came from his wounds was not only his, as he dashed several meters with energy enhanced movement to avoid a large cluster of the projectile, raising his shield and watching in surprise as his shield was cleaved in half. It was only with a last second adjustment of his head that a crimson claw missed his eye and instead cut into his chin, not deep but drawing a fair share of blood.

But with the recognition of a human form, Artorian slammed his fist into the man's side, a pained gasp being the confirmation as he knocked Damfin a meter back to give himself some space.

"Haha, you're just as much of a freak as Envy said." The Vessel laughed, unconsciously feeling out his armor to realize there was several fractures both in the plating, but even two of his ribs. Envy said that even as a kid that Artorian was a freak of nature, it was interesting to see that as an adult he was instead monstrous.

"Your boss has no idea how wrong he is." Artorian said, his eyes darting to the side to see the exit barrier. However Damfin was clearly unlike the last two checkpoint holders, wanting to get licks in on the Abysswalker. Or was ordered to.

"Eager to save your lady friends? Well you'll need to work for it." Damfin said with a chuckle, clapping his hands together before slowly separating, his blood seeping through his skin to reveal multiple millimeter spheres of the ichor.

'Fuck! Blood caster!' Artorian bellowed in his mind as he raised his free hand to summon a barrier, the spheres having shot out as streams. The liquid shot out and sliced into the concrete behind him, only now Artorian having the moment to register the terrain was altered to be a desolate city.

Knowing what came next, Artorian threw his sword right for the Vessel before lunging away, narrowly avoiding the returning streams as they sliced through the concrete like it was nothing. With the preemptive throw, Damfin was forced to dodge and lose concentration on the blood he had used. However he was quick to form a new blot of ichor and aim it at the advancing Slayer.

Without a word, he felt a numb pain as his arms were knocked upward and the blot shot harmlessly into the air. Emilia's kick stung but without her martial arts type Hundred active she couldn't even chip the armor. But Damfin knew better then to test his neck against the sword she swung, ducking under and forming blood across his hands to form crystalized claws, the same that tore through Artorian's shield.

Recognizing a dangerous attack, Emilia attempted to step back but was stopped when the Vessel planted his forward foot onto hers, stopping the retreat. It was by luck she transformed her Hundred instead into a staff and block his arm by his wrist, flinching as drops of blood nearly got into her eye. Energy then pulsed past them as Damfin was sent flying back, Sakura's wave having perfectly avoided Emilia by framing around her.

"That blood cuts through concrete and Hundreds like butter!" Artorian warned, reforming his shield and sword as he approached the exit barrier. "Use barriers to block it!"

"Hear you loud and clear!" The girls responded, Emilia taking the lead as Damfin cracked his neck to ready himself. With his crystalized blood, cleaving through her Hundred would be a breeze, forcing Emilia to have to fight him without letting their weapons touch. With her weapons reforming to a pair of sai, Damfin's attempt to slash her weapon apart cutting only air as Emilia delivered a blow to his chin with the pommel of her right sai.

The Vessel had to proactively alter his left claw's blood to semi liquid to race up and deflect the jagged edge of the second sai, before spinning it all around him as three more of Emilia's Arms Shroud attempted to impale him from behind. As he was about to smirk a rapid set of blows shut him up, as Emilia turned her sai into nunchucks.

Eight blows rattled his brain before he sent a stream of blood aimed for the Slayer's forehead. Leaning back thankfully prevented the dead-on target, but she felt both the blood of the attack and her own stain her face as a fresh cut split open vertically. The Vessel attempted to redirect the blood to hit her from behind, but a square of energy appeared just before impact and angled it towards him.

There wasn't any panic, but Damfin readjusted the blood to flow around his head before sending it to Emilia's chest. Once again it was deflected away from the Slayer, forcing the Vessel on the backfoot as Emilia attempted to press the advantage. Sakura was making it that his range wouldn't be effective, and with Emilia's limitless arsenal she'd have an answer for each possible engagement of his own options.

A glance at Emilia's leg was the solution he would need, now forming a plan at the cost of taking a direct blow to his chest from a mace Emilia formed. Knocked back several meters, Damfin clapped his hands together and targeted the aggressive Slayer. Concentrating on the hold he had on the blood, Damfin could compress it before releasing it with enough force to cleave through even the strongest of diamond. Even Savage armor could be cleaved by his blood if fired in the millimeter streams he specialized in.

However firing it would only get the idol to deflect it again, and so when he fired he swung it in a diagonal arc, Sakura's next barrier splashing the blood for a temporary spray of blindness. Instead of condensing the blood, he fired a bloated four-centimeter hose of ichor.

There was a moment of surprise at the amount of blood he fired, before Emilia recoiled in pain as a shower of blood fired upward from the splash, most targeting her face while some pierced into her legs. Sakura was able to protect her from the lethal attacks, but her moment of surprise cost Emilia as one of the blood shots pierced into her mechanical brace.

'Crap, he already figured it out.' Emilia winced as she stepped back when Damfin formed a large sphere of blood between his hands, a few drops separating to orbit around the larger orb of vile ichor.

"That was… a lot more blood than a person can have." Sakura said, the shock of the nearly stream of blood nerving her as she formed forward barriers to give them a bit of breathing room.

"Yeah… and he saw my brace and is targeting it now." Emilia added, focusing her energy a bit to her broken limb to back up the brace. It wasn't any critical damage, but she'd have to be careful and not let it take another hit. If she lost it, she'd be unable to move fast enough to avoid more attacks. And Sakura could only support her so much before both of them are exhausted and killed.

"What do we do now?" Sakura asked, watching as Damfin raised the sphere up to hold it over a lone finger, goading them with the projectile.

"I… I think we need to force him into a tight corner." Emilia said, uncertain as plan making wasn't her specialty. "He had to of chose this terrain for a reason, he has control over mid-range and his claws make close quarters dangerous. But between those two, he's more limited the closer we get."

"And the amount of blood he has?"

"He must be able to replace it immediately, probably like how Matthew conjures lightning." Emilia was certain she knew the reason, thanks to the Lord society's limited interactions with humanity magic wasn't considered impossible. But with Matthew as a direct example those in Little Garden were all too familiar with the concept.

As a blood caster, Damfin realistically could only use as much blood as he had. In which case he'd have already keeled over after his last couple attacks. He likely possessed enough talent to convert his magic into blood; meaning he either had incredible multitasking and concentration, or possessed enough magic to brute force the conversion process.

"Coming up with a new plan of attack, I'm honored to inspire such a fearful reaction." Damfin spoke up, the two Slayers looking to the Vessel to see the half-cocked smirk. "For people that fight monsters like Savage, you're quite nervous to face a lone man."

"As if you have the right to call yourself human, monster." Emilia spat back, getting a nonchalant shrug in return.

"Guilty, but who'd care to be a human with abilities like this?" Damfin asked, the smaller blots of blood dispersing to form rotating rings around him, a revolting parody of mist.

"You're revolting, after all the people you killed and you think using your blood is some gift to have?" Sakura spoke in disgust.

"Why should I care? I didn't know a single one of those people." The Vessel said casually. "You seem to think we're a gaggle of political parties that we have some idealistic focus. But tell me this, what noble individuals would let this happen to them?"

"Sure, we had blind ideologues like Cronu, but those are people lying to themselves thinking something like the Abyss is a tool that can "fix" the world." Damfin's casual statement caught Emilia off guard, the uncaring reference to the Abyss and the knowledge of what it is was foreign. Every warning her father gave, and the hopeless continuation Artorian went through each day… the Abyss was practically a window into Hell itself.

And Damfin treated it like a damn afterthought!

"Oh, that seemed to have gotten a rile out of you." Damfin chuckled with a smirk.

Emilia's teeth grinded together as her eyes widened in growing anger, her energy pulsing around her in a fluctuating aura. Her fists tightened as the weapons in her hand evaporated into energy before reforming into the feathers of Arms Shroud. Her golden iris pierced directly into Damfin's orange gaze, the growing smug gracing his lips only increasing the fury boiling in Emilia's soul.

For the past days it's been an endless push and pull of Artorian's descent, every second tearing away at his own mind as the Abyss' influence preyed on his fear and exhaustion. The curse was breaking him down piece by piece, he held it in far better than could be expected, but the wear on him was obvious to her. She knew exactly what was happening, what to look for, what was ripping across his soul. For a terrorist, a man who doesn't feel any weight into the lives of people his group killed, to treat the entity killing the man she loved pissed her off.

More than the people that tried to stop this. More than Judal infuriating orders to prevent Artorian from saving Karen. More than Matthew's attempt to kill Artorian like a pest in need of exterminating. More than Artorian's rapidly approaching death.

"You have no idea on what you're talking about, you worthless bastard." Emilia said, her voice sounding calm despite the anger in her eyes.

"Then why stand behind your little barrier?" Damfin taunted, the blood ringed around him separating into tendrils disconnected from him, aimed at the duo with the clear intent to pierce through their flesh. "Come show me what I'm missing, Slayer."

"Emilia, don't take the bait. We need more time to come up with a plan, if you just run in without a plan we'll-"

"I know, but I'll be honest that I don't care." The white haired girl admitted, looking back to Sakura with understanding. "Claire and the others will likely be here in an hour or two, I'm sure with Variant Mode you'll be able to hold out long enough if I lose."

"Emilia, don't!"

"I'm sorry Sakura, but I can only take so much of these guys' bullshit before it pisses me off!"

"Emilia!"

Without looking back, Emilia charged past Sakura's barriers and formed a sword in each hand, deflecting away an immediate stream of blood aimed at her. It was stupid, she knew that well enough that he was either goading her or simply said exactly what was needed to piss her off. But she couldn't take it anymore, this chain of events had done too much for her to simply sit back and think clearly anymore.

She wanted to hit something, and the Vessel was the perfect target to let her anger out on!

Damfin returned her anger with excitement, sending the remaining streams of blood at her before throwing the sphere he formed. It easily sped past the tendrils of ichor, launching like a rocket before Emilia simply dodged, deflecting each stream as her blades were coated with energy. The Vessel was impressed, even as angry as she looked, Emilia had some strategy in mind.

With energy coating her swords, the blood projectiles evaporated to a useless amount, meaning they couldn't attack her from behind like his past attacks. All except the sphere, to which as Emilia reached him it was about to strike her. But as expected, Sakura's barrier formed around it as a seal, the splatter forming like a tortured canvas of bubbling red paint, evaporating as Sakura condensed the field around the liquid.

Having to defend himself, Damfin reformed his blood claws and swiped up at Emilia's swords. Although the energy did cause some burns, the razor edges of his fingers still tore through the metal like melted butter. It was barely a scratch across his armor plating that he got in return. At least that was before Emilia's foot cracked into the defensive plating and sent him crashing through a dilapidated wall.

He had little time to recover as he rolled out of the debris and avoided Emilia's gauntlet from fracturing his skull. He swung at the Slayer as she pressured him in melee, his larger stature and talons traditionally giving him the advantage in such engagements. But Emilia's speed was more than enough to compensate, narrowly dodging between his slashes. Even though Martial Art Hundreds weren't her forte, Emilia was incredibly nimble and a natural, bashing his chest with a punch that once again sent him crashing through a wall.

This time however, the Vessel summoned a pool of blood two meters wide, using it to slice through the concrete without any resistance. Emilia avoided the sudden ranged slash, but was forced to crash through the wall of her own accord as the building collapsed from the loss of support. Damfin's blood had cleaved through every piece of stone at a hundred centimeters in height, a temporary daze on Sakura at seeing the effortless destruction on display.

As Emilia escaped the would be tomb of rubble, she jumped back in pain as five streams cut across her, one nearly grazing her brace had she not jumped back in time. Damfin held both hands out as blood formed in his palm, before a torrent of blood drops shot at her. A hail of ichor that would have peppered and pierced her had Sakura not created a barrier quick enough to protect both of them.

Emilia's Hundred then shifted to a hammer as she charged forward, the idol readjusting her barrier to protect Emilia's flank, the predicted rebound stopped dead in the air. Damfin then ducked as Emilia swung for his head, an instinctive chuckle of relief as he felt his chest plate crack and the wall behind him crumble from the simple graze of her Hundred.

His eyes widened in panic when the Armament glowed bright blue and swung back at him, the hammer replaced with a scythe. He caught it between his talons, grunting in exertion as wind gusted upon the sudden stop. The scythe was different from the rest of Emilia's previous weapons, enduring his claws despite his attempt to crush the blade in his palms. The strain he put up then turned to confidence, Emilia shifting to the left as a torrent of blood shot past her, ripping part of her variable suit off her side before she transformed her Armament again.

Realizing his weight had shifted, Damfin had no time to readjust as a ball war club struck directly against his chest, armor shattering and protective gel gushing out along with his natural blood. Before his back crashed into the floor, he fired blood out to cushion his fall, commanding it to slid him back before he twisted around to get to his feet.

In a last-minute discovery, Damfin now used his blood to glide his feet across the ground, having better speed as he raced around a half-destroyed building. When he was visible at the other side, Emilia swung her war club wide and bashed away a thin arc of blood, an energy pulse pulverizing the ichor into mist before it got close.

"This is starting to get interesting Slayers! Show me some more!" Damfin announced with satisfaction, sliding around the terrain with a trail of crimson following him. Clapping his hands together, he took aim at Emilia before the girl took to the air in a burst of energy.

'She can fly!?' Was the only thought in Damfin's mind before he aimed his clapped hands up and fire a stream of concentrated blood at the white Slayer. The blood separated into two deflected streams as Sakura blocked it with an angular barrier, allowing Emilia to fly forward and slam at the ground Damfin once was without interruption.

Although the Vessel avoided the war club's devastating blow, he was unable to recover in time as as Emilia turned the weapon into two razor disks and threw them. The first cut across his chest as he angled away from it, but the second ricocheted off a half-crumbled pillar and hit his chest dead on. As blood leaked from the wound, he looked to see that the ichor crystalized naturally in defense of his body, sparing him from being cleaved in two by the energy coated blade.

Instinct took over him as he pulled the disk out as it started to spin, throwing it back at Emilia who caught it without difficulty and swinging it at him in a wide arc. Sliding away with blood was easy, as distance was clearly his advantage in this fight. Or it would, if Sakura hadn't been deflecting and blocking every ranged attack he sent at Emilia.

It seems that in order to win, a risk would have to be taken.

It was all so fast as the two charged one another. With crimson claws of ichor, Damfin's lethality was without question as he slashed through Emilia's war club mid swing. But as the weapon dissolved Emilia had already formed a sickle in each hand. The hyper focused energy was similar to her scythe, making it the most effective blade and gave an opening for a lethality equal to the Vessel.

Her right sickle cut three of Damfin's fingers off without resistance, matching his previous cutting power and decreasing his melee effectiveness. His right hand in turn swung for her brace, the Slayer's left sickle blocking and digging into his palm. And that was her mistake.

Emilia saw the smirk on Damfin's face as she felt razor blades impale into her exposed side. In a moment the Vessel reconstructed enough of his veins and arteries to coat them in his blood and create ultra-thin knives. But as Emilia felt the blistering pain, an unnatural warmth overpowered the coldness she should have felt.

In a last reaction to gain distance, Emilia pulled on her left sickle and tore apart his hand, blood spewing out as the upper portion flopped down along the tip of his thumb. And in the same movement as she pulled free from his claw, swung her right sickle and cut up his torso and stabbed the blade into his neck, gushing his vital ichor as she pulled part of his throat out as she retreated away.

"Emilia!" Sakura was quick to defense as her barriers deflected a torrent of blood that nearly tore into the wounded Slayer.

Looking at her side, Emilia saw that only two of Damfin's razors pulled out, three still in her side. As she reached for the talons, horror dawned on both her and Sakura's face as the Vessel laughed out blotches of blood, his throat slopping off as his ichor hardened and sloshed up, begging to reform the lost esophagus and hands.

"Checkmate, Slayer." Damfin said with a bloody grin, his right middle finger and thumb healing in time as he prepared to snap his fingers, the razors in Emilia's sides the killing blow he needed to put her down. A secondary activation would have the razors skewer the Slayer in a retinue of expanding injections, tearing her organs and blood vessels apart like a symphony of unseen horror.

But in his moment of triumph, he was left confused as his snap never came, and he looked to his right hand in confusion as it spurted out blood, noticing the exposed bone was snapped from a sudden force. And then he felt his skull nearly shatter as a shield slammed into his head edge first, his body instinctually diverting his power to his back to form armor and save him from the lance that almost tore into him.

Wet snaps were heard as he tumbled away violently, his ichor sliding and guiding him away from a wall and sneaking him into a ruined building. But as cover was achieved, five beams of green energy blasted apart the foundation and brought the building down on top of Damfin, burying him in rubble.

In the second the Vessel was knocked away, Emilia ripped the talons out of her side and threw them away, before matching Sakura's look of surprise as they saw Liddy's back. She, Claire and Erica were all in defensive positions between the fighting Slayers and the Vessel, staying on guard despite the sneak attack's effectiveness.

"Prez?" Emilia said, rising to stand before flinching in pain and dropping back down to a knee.

"Rest for now Crossfode, this is no longer your fight." Claire said, glaring at the debris of the building waiting for movement.

"You came…"

"Of course we did, someone had to drag you back for discipline." Liddy responded, turning to the two with a sympathetic glance. Sakura was panting, her constant cover for Emilia exhausting her due to Damfin's powerful magic. Meanwhile the bleeding at Emilia's side was bad, not life threatening given her resilience, but she needed treatment right away. "You leave the rest of this to us."

"Here, let me stop the bleeding." Seeing the Vessel wasn't active yet, Erica stepped back and pulled a canister out of her backpack. Biofoam was standard issue, and as a support Slayer Erica always had a minimum of three canisters in her kit. Emilia whined in pain as Erica inserted the tip of the canister and released the foam agent into each of her wounds, one last gasp escaping her as she nearly fell back if Erica and Sakura hadn't caught her.

"Are you okay Emilia?" It was a dumb question, but it was the only one Sakura could think to ask. Her concern was plastered across her face, as Emilia's face was scrunched in pain, Erica's hold on one of her arms being the reason she didn't reach for the wound and interrupt the biofoam aiding in her blood clotting.

"I'll live… as bad as it looks." Emilia said back, trying to give a reassuring smile and failing. "Liddy, Prez, be careful. He's tougher than he seems."

"To push you like that, I can assume as much." Claire responded. The commander of Little Garden was well aware of Emilia's capabilities, and while her record at face value appeared less than desired, it came from fighting opponents that could even give her trouble. Emilia was at a level similar to her and Matthew, which meant her opponent was nothing short of a monster in human flesh.

"BWAHH!" Every Slayer's attention turned to the ruined building as Damfin stumbled out like a drunkard. His feet shuffled and nearly tripped himself before blood spread and caught him, a resounding laugh coming from him as he looked up to the new trio of Slayers. "You lucky bitches, that was rather harsh of you. I barely got my regeneration down and you go and drop a building on me!"

In conjunction with his statement, the three Slayers saw that Damfin's hands had partially returned. It was a rough sight, the flesh red and pouring blood as it twitched in agonizing recovery. A crimson shine lined across each finger, like a brace providing movement he otherwise couldn't achieve. With his blood manipulation, Damfin could synthetically recreate muscle and tissue, however lacked a means to reform bones as of yet. So he used his blood to harden into an exoskeleton and connected it to his nerves, making a decent replacement for his missing bones.

However there was more injuries across his body; a chunk of flesh had been torn off to expose his shin, three ribs were protruding through his chest, and his nose and ripped off and left on a stone he pushed off to free himself. He looked like a walking corpse, still spurting blood from his countless injuries while he chuckled as a survival mechanism.

"What the hell is he?" Erica muttered out in horror, recognizing the man should be dead. If he was human that is, Artorian as a Lord hybrid has survived most of his skeleton fracturing and rapid blood loss on a similar level, but that was simply that Lords were hard to kill.

This was unnatural.

"He's a blood caster, he uses magic to manipulate and replace missing blood." Emilia answered, leaving out the detail of him being a Vessel to keep Claire and Erica from learning too much.

"Humans can use magic that advanced?"

"Karen could perform miracles similar to Lords, it never was a question of possibility."

"So I take it this is a perverted reflection of Lord incantations?" Claire asked, shifting a leg back as she focused her gaze on Damfin's skin. There was a lot of blood, but she also saw that a strange pattern of markings were present on his chest and face. It wasn't blood, a shade darker as if tainted. And yet it absorbed the blood like a sponge, treating it like a reservoir building up.

"It's a different source from what Lords do… but that's all I can figure." Emilia stated, lying again.

"How effective is it?" Liddy asked.

"He's been able to shoot small streams that can pierce through Hundreds without concentrated energy. Disks that cut through concrete and spheres with impact that could crack barriers." Sakura explained. "There's also some crystal he can make with his blood, that cut through most of Emilia's weapons and even Artorian's shield. Barriers are the only effective protection… but that was getting difficult."

"Difficult?"

"Even if you block his attacks, he can still control it and redirect it behind you." Emilia responded. "And watch out… he's hiding something else." She couldn't explain it, but when Damfin stabbed her with his talons, the heat was unnatural. It left a pit in her stomach, as if knowing in her gut it would have finished her if she didn't retreat.

Damfin was holding a card back, and she had no idea what it was.

"We'll keep our guard up." Claire said, stepping forward as her gun pods floated close by, Liddy and Erica covering her as Damfin's chuckling continued. "Your abilities don't match with the ones Artorian reported when you attacked us, so I can assume you weren't directly involved. I'll give you this one chance to surrender."

"Kikiki, you really think it's that easy?" Damfin giggled, his dopamine keeping him sane as he cracked his neck, blood beginning to trail around him in the activation of his magic. "I may not be doing too well, but I have a trick up my sleeve. And if I'm dying today I promise I'm taking you with me~"

"Very well, I gave you the opportunity." Claire said, and for the first time real malice was behind her words, Emilia and Sakura both flinching instinctively as her aura exploded to life.

Once the fight had picked back up, it was a whole other level of intensity from the single combat Damfin had endured before. Unlike with Emilia, who he had greater range against Claire's cannons firing in delayed order made evasion far more difficult. Multiple beams of energy had the Vessel retreat past the fallen debris, forming a sphere of blood in his hand as he took aim once he was back in the open.

Before he fired though Liddy was already in front of him, her lance just missing him as he slid away in a crimson river. Firing the sphere he formed, it separated into multiple streams that evaporated from Claire's beams before it could reach the targeted Slayer. Damfin the redirected the blood his was gliding on to shoot up behind him, deflecting Erica's Everlasting before the claw could grab him. That pause however resulted in him taking a direct shot from Claire, crashing across the battlefield before twisting his body up.

Sending his hands in an arc, both Liddy and Erica's advance was halted as a razor thin wave of blood nearly cut into them. Had Sakura's barrier not sent the blood up, the two would have lost their torsos immediately.

"He evolves quick the more you push him!" Sakura warned, energy forming around her hand as she let out a winded breath. Although she had goo energy reserves, the long range use of defensive barriers wasn't something you could supply for long. It was thanks to the Variant Virus she was still able to use energy to an effective capacity, and she was thankful for it despite the physical exhaustion.

"Then we end this quick." Claire said with certainty, the thrusters on her hips glowing to life as she cleared the distance between her and Damfin in a blink, Sakura barely having the time to open a gap in her barrier for her. Damfin attempted to counter with a torrent of blood in a diagonal swipe, but watched as the blonde ducked past him before his arm finished the movement and delivered a harsh blow to his side.

Before Damfin could retaliate, his head snapped back as Liddy bashed her shield into his face. Claire and Liddy both then delivered matching kicks to his chest and sent him rolling back, a joined blast of all six of her gun pods, blasting him through an entire building into a cloud of red dust.

Claire looked to her hand in the second of reprieve, seeing small specks of red glisten in comparison to the normal shade of her gloves. In the moment before her blows landed, Damfin formed armor of his crystalline blood to protect him. It seemed that while as a weapon it outclassed even Hundreds, its defensive properties were severely lacking.

Which meant if Liddy could land her lance into him, it'd be the end of it right then and there.

A shared glance between the Selections Slayers was all that was needed to conclude, all having the same thought in mind. As they moved in, Claire and Erica took to the air with their thrusters, speeding ahead of Liddy to confront Damfin before he finished recovering.

As they crossed the building, both raised their hands to form barriers as streams of blood shot through concrete in front and below them. They then jumped away from each other as Damfin thrashed with his talons, his eyes wide from adrenaline as he coughed out blood. But even then, those became projectiles as the two Slayers were forced to make delicate evasion in the building. There was little cover, and the stone pillars were easily torn up by the tracking streams and droplets lost from his laughter.

"Incredible, incredible!" Damfin announced as he held his hands to his side, condensing his blood into two handheld disks a foot in diameter. Gripping the handles he formed at their centers, he charged at Erica who was forced to form a barrier as she was cornered by a splatter of his volatile blood.

Predicting his approach, Erica, fired Everlasting through her barrier to strike his chest, getting a violent cough of blood in her face as Damfin took the blow willingly. Even with her glasses, blood still managed to get into her eyes, stunning her as Damfin pushed her Hundred aside to slash at her, torrent blood circling around his new weapons as if replicating the use of energy for finer cuts.

He was stopped suddenly however as he felt himself collide with Erica's barrier, failing to realize the complexity of the condensed energy providing a solid defense. And it wasn't until he saw the girl wipe the blood from her combat lenses did he realize he was baited into a trap.

"Not bad!" He shouted as he spat a bullet of blood at the Slayer before he was struck in the side by Claire's combined Alystherion pods. Erica had less than a second to react, adjusting her head to merely be grazed by the blood and feel a cut across her cheek. The blonde Slayer then ducked under him as the blood streams chasing her collided into his crystalline armor, smashing him through a pillar and the remaining wall beside them.

'They're baiting me, non-lethal attacks but with force I can't match.' Damfin thought, his grin widening as teeth fell from his mouth into the pool of blood at his hands and feet. 'Incredible! Incredible! Slayers were always this strong? No wonder the Fume Knight wanted so many of us, we're fodder in the gears of his war machine!'

The realization of his purpose got the Vessel to stand up with a sickening slack to his neck, the last crash through concrete seeming to have snapped his vertebrate. Had it not been for his blood magic, he'd be dead or crippled. Seeing how his adaptation couldn't keep up with three skilled Slayers at once, he knew he'd have to put all skills on the table.

"Slayers really are incredible… but one trick ponies." Damfin said, turning on his heels and holding a hand out as Liddy thrusted her lance forward at his chest. "And your presence is the easiest to detect."

Time slowed as the Slayers watch as Damfin's hand glowed orange, the blood around him boiling before fire erupted like hell. Flames engulfed Liddy completely at point blank, Sakura didn't even have time to form a barrier to stop the torrent before Damfin pushed forward. A secondary explosion went off and to the team's horror they watched debris go off in every direction.

Sakura's eyes darted between every resulting ball of fire from the explosion, trying to detect Liddy's energy so she could find her. Adrenaline and fear was putting off her concentration, but a lucky break of a momentary pulse was all she needed to see a larger flame falling from it's heightened position.

"Liddy!" Sakura cried out as she formed her wings and took off after the Slayer, Damfin clapping his hands together as he prepared a condensed stream of blood. It was the only opening he had on Sakura, and removing her would give him a level of superiority in range again. But as the blood went off he felt an unrivaled amount of force strike him as Claire slammed her shoulder into his side.

Damfin looked to see her eyes were burning a predatory gold, unaware of her condition as a Variant before her Full-Body Armament activated and she punched his ribs with even greater force. A horrid amount of blood escaped him as he vomited from the ruptured organs, and that was before he was sent four stories up into a rogue building.

Rolling across the empty space, he started to rise when he was knocked up several floors more. His vision was blurred and blinded by his own blood, but he saw the visage of Emilia in the finished motion with a warclub, tears streaming down her golden eyes before he was violently yanked to his side.

Dragged through several meters of concrete, Damfin wasn't even able to realize he was held by Erica's Everlasting before he was violently thrown into the ground. His blood hardly had time to cushion the fall as he felt portions of his body seemingly die before his blood magic forcibly resuscitated them. Blood escaped from all over his body as he rolled onto his hands, vomiting out far more blood than seemingly a human could have.

Even now, his magic was keeping him alive artificially, but was clearly failing.

'Suppose that's on me for exposing my trump card against a smaller fry.' Damfin thought, his pyromancy having been held back to now reveal and possibly being shelved as his blood magic prioritized healing. However, despite his position, some part of his mind felt it was the right call. It made no sense, but he could detect Liddy better than the others, as if she was different from the rest of the Slayers.

The momentary thoughts went away as Damfin clapped his hands and spread them apart, sending a razor disk of blood around him that Claire and Emilia flipped over as they reached him. The twin golden glow of their eyes were a cruel omen as Damfin sees he really didn't have the chance to win, but continued to grin at the results he was able to achieve. Pillars of crystal blood blocked Emilia's hammer while redirecting the energy of Claire's cannons, knocking through Damfin as the Vessel had flames explode to life around his forearms.

The blood trying to repair him was evaporating from his pyromancy, the burden he was warned about when he became a Vessel. But there was no use in worrying about repairing his body as the two in front of him were capable of tripling the damage before he'd finish. So that only meant one thing left for him.

Attack.

Chaos erupted as torrents of flames began to erupt all across the dimensional space, Emilia and Claire taking to the air before where they were blazed to life. The two then twisted around as streams of blood shot past them, a laugh escaping Damfin as he stood amidst the torch he was spawning.

With hands spread out, the fire at his arms was cooking and boiling his flesh, his blood desperately trying to heal it as it was going up his arms to his shoulders. The rest of his remaining armor and mesh were melting to slag, the scarring tissue of his skin charring and hydrating with crimson ichor as a hellish gamble of creation and destruction.

"What the hell is this." Claire said with calmed shock, anger in her tone but overpowered by the horror of the display of destruction. The space created was a small city, and for as far as could be seen, fire and blood rampaged all around. Buildings were collapsing as concrete turned to magma, and at the center of it was Damfin, only his face visible as his hair combusted from the increasing temperature. And what was seen was the red markings had completely overtaken his skin, as if appearing like a Hellspawn as his eyes turned black.

'This is what Vessels can do?' Emilia thought. As far as she was aware, Damfin was something along the lines of a lieutenant. Strong sure, but this was an apocalyptic display. Had he gone to any city and let this power loose, he'd kill thousands before anyone could even realize what was going on. 'Is this what the Anti-Slayer movement has become? Are they… are they trying to kill everyone?'

"Emilia!" Claire shouted, snapping her out of her stupor as the two shot up more into the air, avoiding a barrage of blood and flames. "We have to stay focused, we need an opening to take him down!"

"What about the others!? I can't sense them in all of this!"

"We have to trust they're alive!" Claire responded, wishing she could say better but regretting she couldn't. "If we don't finish him now, we'll all be killed, if the blood doesn't skewer us the heat will burn us up!"

"…Okay." Emilia responded, her tone calming down as her Arms Shroud glowed and reformed, creating a bow with energy string as her eyes pulsed with golden light. By now there was too many flames shooting around Damfin for close quarters, they had to kill him at range.

"I'll create an opening through his attacks." Claire detailed, her Alystherion condensing as her Buster Cannon formed in her grasp. "I fire, then you shoot your arrow through my blast to bypass any of his defenses."

"Think you can get past that?" Emilia asked, watching as balls of flame and blood cyclone around.

"A month ago I'd say its impossible without time." Claire answered, before giving Emilia a glance of confidence. "But with two Variants, we can punch through. I'm certain."

"Then waiting on your order Prez." Emilia responded, grabbing at the energy of her bow and pulling back, bright cyan energy shining around her as she concentrated her manipulation into the arrow she formed.

Claire's eyes shined as her Buster Cannon overcharged in a second, her Variant Mode exploding her energy reserves from 0 to 120% in no time. It was an overwhelming reservoir like before, she wasn't able to balance the power appropriately and could only fire everything she had and then some. But right now that was exactly what she needed.

"Disappear!" Claire bellowed, a deafening boom sounding off as her Buster Cannon fired into the chaos beneath them.

Emerald energy cleaved through the fire encircling Damfin, his blood evaporating long before the energy ever came close to it. Even then, the crystalline form threw itself into the pillar of encroaching light as if a sacrifice, blind survival instincts which had kept Damfin in this fight for the time he was.

The fire was what did the best at holding back the blast, however even then the torrent of flame was pushed aside during the opening shot. As emerald clashed with orange, the pressure at the center began to eat away at the incredible overcharge Claire fired. It was like a rabid animal tearing into the flesh of its prey, and yet it always pressed forward. So much so even Damfin recognized the threat outside of his crazed stupor.

A wall of crimson crystal shot out of his seared flesh, the beam of energy refracting and going in every direction the moment the wall shattered. It was a blinding flow of orange, red and green, the very air was cooking as the clashing heat and power fought for the temporary dominance.

All of that seemingly receded as Emilia took aim with her bow, Damfin's last eye looking in shock as he realized what the Slayers had planned. Being able to see the white haired Slayer, looking past her cyan light and seeing the concentration in her gaze, the rage mixed in as her focus went right to the guaranteed kill shot.

He couldn't react as Emilia released her energy, a line of light shooting through the opening Claire's Buster Cannon made. All he registered was the light overwhelming his vision, burning his last retina before everything went dark, and he was embraced by the Abyss' shroud. Or was it hell? Was the tingle he felt the Abyss or the removal of his senses?

No… someone?

"That was for Liddy, you poor bastard." Emilia said with a downcast stare. The moment her arrow pierced Damfin's skull, that was the end of it. All their enhancements, all the cursed power, Lord magic and secrets of Chaos; none of it mattered when your brain was torn and cooked by a pinpoint shot of energy.

The hell the space had become seemed to almost fizzle out moments after Damfin dropped dead, the fires sputtering out while the blood evaporated to nothing. The evidence was on display however, crumbled and half melted buildings, and the flowing pools of lava that flowed around but was slowing down and cooling unnaturally quickly.

"Are you okay?" Claire asked, looking over to Emilia. The question itself was rather pointless, some of Emilia's biofoam liquified from the heat and she was bleeding again, along with a few cuts from blood attacks decorating her face and arms. There was a few burn marks as well, nothing that would likely scar but clear sources of pain. Aside from the wound on her side, Emilia's condition was similar to Claire's; tired and hurt, but alive.

"No… I'm not." Emilia answered, taking a calming breath that hurt her lungs from the residual heat. "Let's find everyone else."

"Agreed."

"Please, please stay with us." Sakura teared as she held Liddy, weakly lowering down to the roof of one of the collapsed buildings. It was the least damaged, and was clear enough for her to treat the wounded Slayer.

Catching her was grueling, even with a pulse of her energy to force the flames off her Liddy was still burning hot. As if the fire cursed her it nearly burnt the idol just holding onto her. And the hell that came after overwhelmed her to only being able to form a barrier to protect them. She had no idea what was going on anymore; if Damfin was defeated or if everyone else was killed.

But as she rested Liddy on her back that was all she could focus on. Pained, whimpering gasps came from the burned Slayer, life clinging to her. It was the only good news Sakura could process, as while that was the case she was looking bad. Charred flesh decorated what was visible, portions of her variable suit were burned off meaning a lot had been scarred. And what wasn't blackened was sloshing red, skin having peeled off by the intense burns.

It was too much, far too much. Sakura wasn't certain what to do, how to help her or even if she could. She wasn't a doctor, she didn't have any supplies, all she could do was just keep Liddy still. And that would only buy her minutes. There was no telling if there was a medical team, or if a medical team could get in here.

"I'm… I'm sorry Liddy." Sakura cried, tears streaming down her face. "I don't know what to do… I can't think… I… I… I'm sorry…"

As tears fell onto the wounded Slayer, a sharp wince escaped her as her hand moved, placing it onto Sakura's thigh. The idol was uncertain if it was a reflex from the pain or not, but her eyes widened as she saw Liddy's eye open slightly. It was barely open, and the charred flesh cracked from the tiny amount, but she was looking at her.

Unintelligible sounds came from her cracking lips, Sakura starring with tear filled eyes as she realized Liddy was trying to speak to her. Through all the pain, the horrid agony she had to be going through, and she was still trying to talk?

"No, no Liddy save your strength." Sakura tried to comfort, her voice trembling as she placed a hand over Liddy's. "You need to rest, don't move. If you move you might not-"

"…Festival…"

That one word caught Sakura by surprise. Liddy was too hurt to speak another, and her eye closed back as she went limp. Passing out from the pain, the Slayer put all her faith in Sakura to understand what she was saying, the idol trembling at the prospect.

She took a second, but understood what Liddy meant. At the Founding Festival, Artorian had used his energy to save Krovanh from the drugs Vitaly injected him with. But… but that was completely different. Both Artorian and Krovanh were Variants, Artorian's strain was pure and he was just expelling foreign elements. This was too much, way more than Sakura could be expected to handle! She didn't know the first thing about using energy as a healing tool.

…But did Artorian?

That thought of doubt, that moment of second-guessing tore away at the panic Sakura was experiencing. Looking down to Liddy, Sakura watched the weak rise of her chest, each breath becoming more hollow as time was running out. This mission… it proved to Sakura that Artorian was right, that she wasn't ready for something like this. But she had helped, and now she had to do it again.

It didn't matter that she didn't know what to do. She had to do something.

Collecting herself, Sakura winced as she took in a breath of hot air before her eyes turned gold. Activating her Variant mode proved easier this time, a small blessing she pushed aside as she lowered down. Hesitant as she was uncertain if this would work, she remained steadfast as she planted her lips onto Liddy's.

A glitter of light shown as Sakura's energy wings sprung out again, shrouding the nearby area with a teal glow. Slowly, glitter of energy fell around them, as Sakura put all her concentration in imbuing Liddy with her energy.

She didn't know what to do, and didn't waste the details. Energy followed the intent of the user, it was all fundamental. Just as you focused your energy to your arms to increase strength, or into your legs to boost your speed, Sakura put all her thoughts and focus into transferring her energy into Liddy. Healing was a far more complex process, but she put her hope and focus into the idea imagining it into her mind would work best.

She kept her eyes close, she had to concentrate on the image of Liddy's current and desired condition completely. Nothing else mattered, just processing on chipping away at the horrid scars and return the vitality to the wounded Slayer.

A pulse of her energy drew away her focus, uncertain of what it meant as she opened her eyes. Her breath was caught in her throat as she saw part of Liddy's face; not charred and melting, but with present scars and healing skin. Pulling away from her, Sakura saw that while the burns and seared skin was visible across her body, the blackened flesh and pooling blood was no longer present.

A faint remaining glow of her energy seeped into Liddy's exposed body, as if flowing into her by intent and repairing the damaged skin. It was incomplete, the dimming light signaling it was ending soon. But what was clear was the worst of the injuries were gone, and Liddy's breathing was more apparent, stabilizing from the dying gasps she had left a minute before.

"I… I…" Sakura whimpered out, before she lowered down and hugged the Slayer, trembling as she did. "Thank god… whatever god."

"Sakura." The idol's eyes opened as she looked to her shoulder, seeing Emilia's hand on her as the Slayer looked to her with a smile. "You're okay."

"Y-Yeah." Sakura responded, wiping the tears from her eyes and failing as she smiled back. "We both are."

"Is… Is Liddy…" Claire began to speak, finding it hard to finish as she looked to her friend.

"She's… she's a lot better than she was a minute ago." Sakura stated, uncertain herself of what to say.

"We… we need to pull out." Erica said. "We have too many wounded, and our energy reserves are low."

"What about Artorian?"

"I know you're concerned for him Emilia. We all are, but right now-!"

"Aaaaaaahhhhh…"

Coild fear ripped into the conscious Slayers at the sound of a wrangled gasp of desperate air escaped behind them. Slowly, they all turned to see a sight of horror; a mangled burnt corpse standing across the roof from them, a hole clean through its skull. Nothing else was identifiable, and that was what made it terrifying to think about.

"That… that's impossible."

"There's… what is he?"

No other words could be said as Damfin's charred corpse attempted to take a step forward. Skin tore from its foot as it made the attempt, but before it could the standing leg buckled under pressure, before snapping and it fell back into a splatter of blood.

"A… a last wind?"

"That shouldn't be possible." Claire muttered with shocked eyes. They were a hundred meters away from where he died, a dozen meters up and they only found here because of Sakura's energy. How could Damfin move like that?

The four Slayers then all stood up and formed a protective line for Liddy as it began to thrash. The corpse seemed unwilling to die, seared flesh tearing as its jaw opened amidst the flailing. Blood and torn muscles popped as it slammed its limps into the concrete, and before they could process it all of the meat was seemingly torn off of the agonized skeleton. First it was the ligaments, the melted joints searing together and reforming as if nothing had happened.

Then, the marrow began to reshape. First the leg that had snapped in half pulled itself together, as if only needing glue to fix the small problem. Then, the cracks and snaps all filled in with fresh white, the entire frame bleaching as if receiving a new coat of paint.

When it rose up to its feet, it seemed as if that was natural if it wasn't for the lack of flesh. Starting at the feet, the blood and red matter began to form, muscle threads weaving together as the bone contorted to new measurements and scale. The threads spun and weaved around the lower limbs and rose up, reaching the torso and expanding out to the arms and head as skin began to form over the remade muscles.

Four Slayers watched in horror as a body reconstructed itself from scratch. Bone, meat, skin, organs; everything was visible to them. Even clothes seemed to materialize from dancing threads, a vibrant grey uniform taking shape across the body.

As the head raised up, the threads of meat reformed the tongue in apparent slow motion as skin overtook the head. Fresh, vibrant red lips smacked in approval as black eyes blinked awake. And finally, long midnight hair grew in seconds, reaching down the newly remade person.

The thin figure took in a long breath, testing the new body before smiling in approval. As if like a painter who had finished their greatest canvas. Or a photographer, who captured the most beautiful horizon anyone in the world had ever seen.

The face appeared male, but also hints of femininity in the corners and eyes. A hermaphrodism creation standing in place of the once burnt corpse of Damfin. And his eyes graciously looked to the horrified Slayers as he smiled his ruby lips.

"Ah, so I assume you're the ones I have to thank for finally giving me the opportunity of claiming this luscious skin." The man said, his words disgustingly honeyed for the horror he had just performed. It wasn't Damfin's voice, as was the face or body. He was taller, but thinner in comparison.

"He was rather selfish, this olive skin is one so many would crave. A shame it took such a horrid burn to finally give it to me." The entity said, glancing at his new skin like one would a watch. "I appreciate it though, that last attack gave him no pain. It makes the process easier."

"What… what the hell are you?" Emilia stuttered out, the Slayers Hundreds held defensively at the creature.

"That's rather rude, but I will forgive it as battlefield fatigue." The cruel mockery of a human form said, bowing in a showmanship display. "I have forsaken my previous name, so I will grace you with my title."

"You may refer to me as Lust."

(A/N): Oh man, this was a long time coming. Ideas and roadblocks and efforts to make a fight last a chapter without being quick or slow comes as a serious pain at times. But I feel pretty good with this one, hopping I made up for what I felt was a lesser chapter before. As for going forward, I'm feeling close now, I think with my plan I'll be done with this arc in three chapters. At most it will be four. But I'm excited to get through this arc and flow into something different. It's been years stuck on this, and to think I'm almost done releaves a bit of pressure from me. But before I can look to those, my goal is to finish this right.

I appreciate all of you, new and old who have been reading. The feedback, the discussions, everything pushes me forward to keep doing better. And I hope you continue to enjoy this as I do. Until the next chapter, I hope you enjoyed this and will see you later. Peace!