It all happened so fast, after the collapse of the base and the team had regrouped to recover, Matthew's report on Artorian's fight brought desperation. But with their injuries and exhaustion, there was nothing they could do but drag themselves to see the chaos. For every strike Artorian landed, his injuries remained while Kai's healed away. And it came to a head when Kai punched a hole through the Lord's chest.

Emilia begged, pleaded with Matthew to help him. The entire fight the son of Ornstein ignored her, only watching with spear in hand with a trembling fist. She couldn't tell if it was anger, fear or regret, the hybrid's face was unreadable from that point. But he never spoke a word, as if uncertain himself on what the consequences of this fight was. His hesitation had even Claire protesting, the commander forcing her exhausted body to stand and prepare to go down herself if needed.

And that was when brightness overwhelmed everyone's senses.

No, Emilia realized it wasn't that the explosion to came from Artorian was bright, rather white enveloped their vision entirely. And it hit with incredible force, as she felt herself get knocked back harshly as pressure enveloped her body.

And that brought even further questions, why couldn't she move her body? She knew she was exhausted, but she wasn't paralyzed, she had just crawled to the cliffside minutes ago and now nothing was able to move. That was when she noticed she was cold, a severe chill going across her body compounded by the claustrophobic inability to move or see.

And she couldn't breathe.

Emilia's instincts went into survival mode at that realization. She was buried, whether it was sand, rock or whatever it was she knew she had to get out. It was agonizing on her tired body, forcing it to fight against the weight pressed around her, but she began to dig. Her fingers tore through the substance, sometimes pushing large amounts and sometimes scraping against a more compact segment. She didn't know if she was digging up, down or on the cardinal plane; any direction was better than sitting still.

With the white blinding her sight, she could only dig further and further. Some gasps of air were gained, the inhalation stinging as frost entered her mouth each time. It hurt, but it was better than suffocating.

Eventually her hands reached something different, something warm and soft on her trembling fingertips. It was a good sign, even if it was clearly one of her friends and not the exit. But she continued to tunnel, pulling away at the sea of white to reveal an equally bright contrast of pink. Pulling her, Emilia felt an increase of weight when she heard Sakura took a desperate gasp, coughing from the frostbitten air.

"Oh god, I think I nearly suffocated!" Sakura coughed, her throat even weaker from the cold air that assaulted her lungs. "Th… Thank you Emilia, I wasn't able to move and-"

"Thank me later, we aren't out yet." Emilia interrupted, but she could get them out. Pulling Sakura out from her entrapment gave Emilia the information she needed, that she was oriented with her chest to the ground. Meaning she had to dig up, which she did. Even as the cold tore her fingertips, she gritted her teeth through it.

A little bit of pain wouldn't stop her, she had to get out, she had to get them out. Sakura was trapped behind a compact barrier, which kept her from even moving. If anyone else was trapped like that… she didn't have time to even hesitate. As she dug up, it became easier as she got a solid footing, no longer needing to crawl. Even with tired legs, it was better than what she was doing before.

Eventually, she clawed through a layer and felt the cold substance land on her face, followed by the bright beacon of the sun. As she began to pull apart the surface level, a hand reached down and grabbed her, the Slayer being pulled out with ease to see Liddy.

"Oh good… you found your way out." Liddy panted.

"Sakura's still… down there…" Emilia informed, Liddy nodding as the white-haired girl moved to the side, so that she could go down to help the idol out of the fresh dug hole.

As Liddy and Matthew dug everyone free, they one by one came to see the sheer scale of the explosion. Across the ridge line and several meters out from the cliff, there was meters high amount of snow all around, going for a kilometer distance at both directions. And inside the canyon was just as insane. The once tan and red rock that decorated the surfaces were now enshrined in thick layers of ice. It was impossible, seeing the land change in such a drastic way, even Matthew surprised at how intense the change had been.

The dunes of sand and stone was transformed into a tundra of snow and ice in the blink of an eye.

"W-What the hell is this?" Kai stuttered out, his body shaking as half his body was trapped in ice. Thanks to his regeneration, he was able to bash the chunks away and regrow what he lost, which freed him from the seal he was forced in. But it wasn't the cold that caused his body to shiver, as pure malice flowed towards him.

Artorian stood in the void of ice, all of the bones that had impaled and trapped him crumbled away from the intensity of the frozen blast. In addition, his mechanical limb had fallen apart, shattered into useless fragments as the intense freeze turned the metal to less than glass. Black and blue ooze poured out from the hole in his chest and seeped out from the remaining metal housing at his forearm.

It twisted and contorted as the sludge turned to the cursed mist that surrounded him, amassing a formless tendril that raised up and moved around aimlessly. While his chest continued to pour out polluted blood that sloshed amidst the ice, heating the frost to evaporate in a twisted display of the paradox of its existence.

And then there was Artorian's eyes, bright ruby piercing through the falling snow and past the torrent of black and blue that obscured his vision. Because despite it, despite him personally being unable to see past it and have his vision remain dark; despite the Abyss itself blocking his line of sight, his eyes were starring directly into Kai's.

"This… this isn't possible… a Vessel can't have this much of the Abyss forced inside them…" The Vessel was trying to understand it, how Artorian's Abyss felt so far above the others he's encountered. Gluttony, Sloth, Lust, Greed, Wrath; even Pride wasn't able to call forth a presence this evil.

Evil.

It was that word that caught Kai's mind eventually, as the tremble in his mind's voice made him pause at the notion. He had won, he punched a damn hole in Artorian's chest! How could he be the one scared!

"Because your Abyss knows which is superior." Kai's eyes widened in shock as he heard Artorian's voice. But it wasn't the normal tone, it was muffled, yet perfectly clear in his mind. The Slayer's voice came from in his head, causing his very soul to tremble at the realization.

"Y-Y… You're not… a Vessel?"

"No." Was Artorian's simple answer, the Abysswalker standing upright as he looked to the sludge slopping down from his stump. It corroded the housing unit Charlotte worked so hard on to make, rust stripping off before it sloshed off, as if transforming from metal to melting flesh.

'Sorry Charlotte…' It confused Artorian at how well his mind was holding out, at this point his father was unable to do more than rampage after demanding he ran. He could feel the Abyss plucking at his mind, and if his senses were fully aware he bet it would have been blinding agony. But right now it was cool, like a prick of ice water being injected through his skull.

Experimenting his focus, Artorian shifted his arm around to test what could be done. Slowly, the sludge of the Abyss poured out more. And eventually, the sludge began to contort into the shape of a hand, waxing over to give a contorted parody of a corrected limb. There was an increase in the mist steaming out from the point of connection, the cold fluid burning his skin going up his arm to the shoulder.

"Not as good as your regeneration, but I think this'll work." Artorian spoke to Kai, his voice ringing in the Vessel's skull with each syllable.

An uncharacteristic grin spread across Artorian's face, the first tick he felt of the Abyss' influence. It hurt his lips, nearly pulling his cheeks' flesh apart as it revealed blackened teeth, his saliva appearing similar to the sludge pouring from his wounds.

'You have no idea how long you have, use it the best.' Artorian concluded, lowering his body down as he shifted his left shoulder forward.

'Don't let it scare you, you have to stay focused.' Kai thought to himself, growing four pincer blades across his forearms as multiple of his ribs protruded from both his chest and back to form defenses. Artorian himself stated it wasn't regenerated, the hole he punched into him was still spilling the polluted ichor.

But Kai wasn't an idiot, if Artorian wasn't a Vessel then the only conclusion for this power was the worst-case scenario. Just like Raime and his father, Artorian was an Abysswalker. Right now, he was certain Artorian was anywhere in power between Pride or Raime himself. So he had to avoid a quick fight and-

Kai's intention and thoughts were stopped as Artorian closed the gap between them in a single leap and he slammed his fist forward, the hardened sludge feeling impossibly heavy and knocking Kai back. The Vessel felt his back hit ice and he turned to see his spinal spikes impaled into a pillar of ice that formed behind him.

"Shit!" Kai screamed as he was forced to snap the bones off to dodge to the side, watching as Artorian's next punch eviscerated the pillar into tiny fragments. He thrusted forward with one of his arms, intending to skewer the Abysswalker again only to watch as tendrils of the Abyss grasp the bones and rip them out, blood erupting from the wounds as the Vessel recoiled back in pain.

'I-I felt that!?' Kai tried to retreat back, but was stopped as a tendril wrapped around his ankle, his eyes locking with Artorian's as the Vessel's grin pierced through the torrent of black and blue.

"It's been a while since you felt real pain, hasn't it?" Artorian's voice guessed, Kai bringing his still bladed arm up when he was pulled towards the Abysswalker. Blinding pain instead followed as Artorian sidestepped the slash and slammed his knee into Kai's chest, sending him into the air before the tendril pulled him down into the floor.

Shards of ice and stone shot into the air upon Kai's impact, and the Vessel had no time to react as he began to be dragged across the canyon. Skin and muscle tore as jagged shards of ice ripped into him, a part of his skull being exposed before he was released and crashed into the canyon's wall with a cloud of frost cloaking the area he fell to.

'This… this is different from Raime's…' Kai realized, feeling the exposed bone on the side of his head. His regeneration was slower, taking longer as strands of meat were just starting to bind together as Artorian walked towards him.

"No two Abysswalkers are identical, the Abyssal's strain has only ever had the similarity of enhanced focus and awareness. Something I assume the two Drangleic strains share too." Kai cursed at hearing Artorian's voice in his brain, each letter throbbing numb pain across his skull as it taunted him with the fact the Abysswalker could hear his thoughts. "Normally we learn our abilities when we're fifty, but I got a solid guess a couple months ago."

Kai attempted to lash at Artorian as he pulled out two spine whips, watching as the marrow shattered upon contact with two tendrils returning the swing. He then coughed out blood as the tendrils lashed across his body, the last smashing a part of his jaw off and knocking him rolling across the floor. Healing the bone was easier, feeling the chipped pieces reform and fill in what was missing however hurt far worse than it ever had before.

"It was after my duel with Claire, although you probably don't know her. She would have kicked your teeth in a lot better than I ever could." Kai realized too late how close Artorian was, and felt hot blood splatter out of his mouth when Artorian slammed his foot into his jaw, teeth and blood flying as he fell to his back clutching his broken jaw with muffled shouts of pain. "After I got my ass handed to me and my episode of horrors ended, I felt good. A lot better than any time I woke up before. And it was when I saw her clash even with a Trenta, I realized what I can do."

Kai couldn't tell what hurt more, the fragments of teeth slowly reforming in his mouth, or the drumming of the Abysswalker's obnoxious voice pounding into his brain. Artorian's strength wasn't much different than before, and for no reason besides the fact his head wasn't knocked off his neck Kai assumed it was because he was holding back.

"Absorption, energy and magic alike." Artorian finished, cracking his shoulders as he felt the latest cool wash of sensation enter his brain. It was bad, going from pleasing to a slight numb. Not enough for him to lose focus, but it made him notice it, meaning the Abyss was plucking more and more. "It's interesting how it operates, it doesn't happen when I get hit and take in the power. But it's a continuous process. So it doubles up, I get stronger, and my opponents get weaker. At a glance it appears I'm dampening the power rather than stealing it."

"So you have a fancy new trick, a lot of nothing for a guy who'll bleed out." Kai spat back as his teeth finally reformed, the Abysswalker stepping to the side as he pondered it.

"Unfortunately that won't happen. But I'll lose myself no doubt. But before then, I'll rip you to bloody ribbons." Artorian stated, well aware of his fate now in this state. But for the first time, he felt like he could cut loose.

And it felt good.

"We'll see about that, freak." Kai spat a last bit of blood from his mouth, standing up as his body slowly altered once again. Bone growth and mutation began to alter his very body, talons ripping apart his boots, a thick reptilian tail burst from his waist, and rows of spikes erupted across his arms and legs. In a last bit of desperation, Kai's very soul raged against the overwhelming presence of Artorian's Abyss. It was scared, fearing consumption as each strain once separated becomes individual. And right now, an apex predator was hunting it.

"Nice look, it matches your heart rather nicely." Artorian chuckled, watching as bone split apart Kai's face before reconstructing, forming a full faced mask, pointed at the center as milky white eyes beamed through them.

"Shut up and fight."

In a blink Kai dodged a set of tendrils that shot out from Artorian's chest, cutting them apart with the spikes across his arms before bone crafted across his knuckles in jagged patterns. They tore apart the vines that attempted to coil around his throat, but as Artorian's fist slammed into one of them Kai watched as his entire forearm erupted into blood and shattered bone. He avoided the next punch and delivered a flying knee to Artorian's head, growing a jagged end to skewer his throat before he could retaliate.

The sickening crunch of flesh and bone surrendering to mutated teeth seemed to deafen Kai's own heart as he saw the Abysswalker bite through the offending knee like it was a cracker. A whip slamming across his chest sent Kai flying back next, before being caught around and lashed back in front of the Abysswalker, fist punching through armored bone and flesh as Kai's stomach was exposed to the frozen elements.

The Vessel vomited out blood before Artorian's fist pulled out and his free hand slammed into the side of his head, smashing bone. In that instant Kai's destroyed hand and knee regenerated instantly and he slashed across Artorian's face, clawing at his chest as the Abysswalker recoiled momentarily from the near loss of his eyes.

The Vessel's tail struck Artorian's head and knocking him to the side monetarily, as the Vessel then jumped and slashed across his back with his talons and grabbed into his skin. He felt the Abyss tear into his offending arm, but the Vessel screamed through it and ripped flesh off, skin tearing from Artorian's back and hanging inside his cloak of darkness. And yet despite it, he felt no pain and he turned, punching through Kai's stomach again to elicit another vomit of blood that splattered against the mist surrounding him.

Kai prepared to bring his elbow up with a blade of bone, but was stopped when Artorian's palm crashed into his lower jaw, shattering the bone before he was thrusted off his feet. His head was slammed into the ground with incredible impact, the ground nearly collapsing as Kai's skull fractured.

The Vessel rolled off and brought his arms up in time as Artorian's twisted limb punched through both at the elbow. And yet even as he those pieces of meat fell from him, they immediately grew back as the Vessel pierced ten razor talons into the Abysswalker's sides. A flurry of ice shocked Kai as his arms crumbled to shards and Artorian headbutted him, the freshly regenerated bone fracturing again at the continued abuse.

From the start of the fight, this had occurred in only thirty seconds. Kai's regeneration had improved at his Abyss strain's desperation, but it was only serving to keep him alive. His strength, speed and enhanced power was incapable of keeping up with an unleashed Abysswalker. As his pulped face reformed, he dodged a strike from a tendril and Kai could see the difference in capabilities. It wasn't a situation of night and day, it was a whole other world in comparison.

Kai's mutation would likely have killed Artorian prior to his transformation in no time, but it was too late to be efficient. As he retreated away, a horde of tendrils lashed and whipped at him, his bone blades and protection shattering each time upon contact. Even as he began to follow their trajectory and dodge the onslaught of darkness, when Artorian appeared he had no opening to make.

A crushing kick to his ribs knocked him sprawling back, a large whip slamming down onto his chest and shattering whatever bone hadn't been dusted by the Abysswalker's foot. Blood splattered out from his torso as he couched out the vital ichor. Specks of black was seen amidst the crimson, and that was Kai's indicator he was beginning to suffer from his new form.

Even then, the knowledge only hampered his abilities further, as now he was too cautious to get close to Artorian. He now could only see the crimson iris staring directly to him, the body lost in the torrent of Abyss and he range. The tendrils were manageable now, despite the appearance there was a level of pattern to them.

Diagonal, diagonal, horizontal, vertical. That was the pattern he saw after a minute of avoiding them. And he made his gamble when the pattern recycled.

At the first diagonal lash, he rolled to his side, bone beginning to rotate around his arm. At the second diagonal swipe, he stepped back, letting stone fragments cut past his cheek as the bone fully formed into a coned lance. At the horizontal slash he ducked down and readied his lance, right foot forward as bits of bone came down to begin the separation of the weapon he made. There was one shot at taking the Abysswalker down, his apparent confidence to be his downfall.

'As the arrogance of Lords would always be their greatest weakness.'

Lords were arrogant people, that was the truth that Kai had learned with certainty. However, humanity was not without their own arrogance that could match the demigods. And as pride is a sin, it does not form without some merit behind it; a lesson Kai learned far too late as he watched his arm vanish from his side.

No, it didn't vanish, it was swallowed amidst a flurry of darkness that came from his side. He only had time to notice a jagged glowing eye before a heavy impact sent him off his feet. And then dozens of freezing fangs sank into his body, both his legs being torn to ribbons, hanging together by strings of flesh as his back was torn by the sudden spikes forming at the ice.

It wasn't until he smashed through a frozen boulder that the pain screamed across his entire body. His body was being thrashed around in the air, control of his movements gone amidst the shadowy assailant. Before the pain could elicit a response from Kai, he was spat out of the jaw of the abomination and bounced off the frozen floor, cracks forming across it as he slid away from his impact.

Dimness filled his vision as he used his right arm to flip himself onto his back, distinctly feeling the awkward movement as he had intended to will all of his limbs to turn. And that was when he saw the black ichor that escaped Artorian was seared into his flesh, and in ripped chunks both his legs and left arm were torn off.

'He… he's delaying the regeneration?' Kai thought in shock, now actively trying to regrow his lest limbs, but was stopped cold as a shadow encompassed him.

Looking up, for the first time in twelve years since he saw the depths of Artorian's soul when he nearly killed him before, Kai's entire world froze in the presence of fear. It was nasty, a disgusting visage of what was mistake for a wolf's head. Amassing pus and oily blood swiveled across its entire length, appearing more serpentine as glowing slits of eyes narrowed down at him. A mix of polluted blood and Kai's own dripped from the curled and jagged teeth that lined the beast's jaw.

It couldn't be possible, a beast constructed wasn't possible to Lords. It reflected more to the Pus of Man, an Abysswalker can't-!

"I believe you've been long since shown your ignorance." Artorian's voice pierced into Kai's skull again, and Kai looked to see that the beast was originating from the Abysswalker's dismembered arm.

"W-What the hell are you?"

"That's rich. You already know." Artorian responded, a satisfied smirk hidden by his aura as he looked to the defeated Vessel. "I'm a monster. Just like you."

"Like me? I took the fight to traitors and criminals. I liberated people subjugated by Slayer occupation! I helped strike fear into freaks like you, dogs of Warslran and every pathetic sympathizer that gives up their rights to weapons without souls!" Kai screamed, pain and fear forcing a last reaction.

"I was meant to do more, to free this world of your people's tyranny! A trailblazer that'd one day take the fight to the Savage! All you've ever been, every second of your life, was a bastard creation! Something so disgusting and worthless that not even your own parents wanted you! Your devil of a father and whore of a mother!"

The whole canyon went silent after Kai's words left his mouth. It was adrenaline and anger, all the words just came to mind in what could be noted as a dying gasp. And yet it paled in comparison to the boiling fury that arose in the Abysswalker. The contorting form of the wolf head coming from his arm snarled and rapidly replaced lost pus with more ichor. The crimson slits glared curses into the Vessel, and yet it appeared like a dim shade compared to the burning crimson suns that came from amidst the mist of the Abyss.

The torrent of rage seemed to instantly evaporate the surrounding ice by five meters, particles of water scattering as the Abysswalker stared down to the wounded Vessel. His senses were already slipping past control, the Abyss' scraping at his brain now resulting in a bloody nose that he didn't bother to wipe. He didn't know if it was his past damage, his stress, or the sheer presence of the Abyss, but he knew whatever was clawing at his mind was going too fast for much more time. So he'd make this quick, and savor it.

"Dog of Warslran? I remember the Hunters called me that all the time." Artorian's voice whispered into Kai's mind, and the Vessel's body trembled as the Abysswalker let out a wide grin, the beast licking its disfigured teeth with a tumorous tongue as his face became visible through the torrent of mist and ichor.

"Then let this dog eat, Dog Food." That was the last thing Kai heard before the hound tore into him, blood and gore stripped apart as the beast ripped the Vessel into pieces. And yet as flesh was carved from his body with curled and rotten teeth, Kai didn't feel anything. Instead he merely blinked, and a black void greeted his vision.

"What the fuck?"

"How lucky you are, you deserve to feel every second of pain being brought to you." Kai turned when he heard Artorian, staring in confusion when he saw the bloodied visage of the Abysswalker from when they last met as kids.

"You bastard!" Kai attempted to fire a projectile of bone, but paused when he saw his hand at the corner of his eye. Looking closer, it was smaller, feebler, and covered in scratches and blood. And then he felt the flesh around his scar swell, realizing he was in the same pitiful state he was in at the same time. "You… what are you doing!?"

"I'd say it's Sympathy, but you don't have the energy and I don't have an ounce of care for you." Artorian spat, walking past Kai as he looked amidst the endless void. "My guess, this is what its like when an Abysswalker consumes a fragment of the Abyss. And this is what waits for everyone at the end."

"Go figure, you spend your entire life taking and taking, of course cannibalism would be your last fucking insult to me before I go." Kai scoffed, flinching as Artorian looked back to him with burning eyes.

"You are… the most pathetic person I ever met." The Abysswalker said simply, not saying a word more. He didn't have to, in this state their thoughts were being shared, as bits and pieces of Kai's mind were picked apart by the superior Abyss, it all was put together. "The Sin of Envy, your master really knows how to pick them."

"I was chosen because I represent his desire for a better tomorrow, for the rights your people took from us."

"No. You were chosen because you're a self-important, sabotaging madman who deludes himself. Someone so far gone, you believe that the girl you traumatized has any interest in you. You were perfect, so far lost in your desire to have what I have, you'd never look around and see the writing on the wall."

"Fuck you! I wanted what was deserved!" Kai growled. "What you have, you don't deserve a single thing! Your friends, your life style, you don't deserve any of it! Especially Karen, the person who's entire life was cursed the day she met you!"

Artorian was silent as he turned his gaze to Kai. In the singular reason, they agreed. He never felt he deserved to know Karen, and the past couple months were practically paradise to him compared to the past ten years. But even if he didn't deserve it, Kai wasn't one to talk. For so long he festered in hatred, hatred caused by his grieving mother and ailing father. All of this being caused by the mere look at a person, because Karen's smile one day seemed to make him forget the gloom his family brought…

Artorian could almost sympathize. He hated Kai, nothing would change that the man went too far back when they were kids, and his violent nature only got worse. All he had to do was move on, find something more to do with his life, and maybe he'd have actually became the hero he thinks he was. But that time is long gone, and Artorian wasn't about giving third chances.

"You want what is deserved? Then you'll get it." Artorian said, and in that moment Kai felt darkness slither around his body, looking in shock as tendrils tightened around his body.

"What the hell are you doing!?"

"Absorbing what remains of your soul." The Abysswalker said simply. "My Abyss has claimed dominance, and now your soul will begin to fade away into mine. There's no afterlife to go to for patrons of the Abyss. Just the void."

"Go fuck yourself! I'm not meant for the void like you!" Kai began to thrash, fighting to the end as cold sludge pulled him down. There was no true floor, but he was being sucked away into the Abyss itself. Nothing was waiting for him, no one to greet him, he would suffocate in darkness, and that was it.

"You deserve nothing. So embrace it." Artorian spat, igniting a last outburst from the Vessel.

"Go to hell! I'm not supposed to die before you! I'm supposed to save Karen, bring change to this world! Fucking Slayer trash!" Kai howled at the Abysswalker, who's kid visage stared at him with unblinking crimson eyes. "You can't do this! You can't!"

In the last few moments of thrashing, the wounded visage of Kai's younger self sunk into the darkness without so much as a whisper. That last moment of fear gave Artorian a moment of satisfaction, the best he could get with the Abyss clawing at the innermost parts of his mind. It was an assault that only got worse, but the relief in it was solely knowing that what would come next was handled.

"You better be quick Matthew, we don't want to lose an entire country." Artorian said as he felt the tendrils of the Abyss coil around him now. He didn't fight it as his soul began to fade into the darkness, the process taking little time as his eyes was invaded by the void.

There was nothing to see, nothing to feel, none of his senses were being used anymore. Or rather they had no further use as the Abyss began to consume him. He wondered if it was this peaceful for all the others. If it was, it'd explain why every other Abysswalker never regained control. After fighting it for years, surrender felt almost peaceful. As if he was experiencing sleep again for the first time.

His body was becoming numb now, as everything outside of the void faded like a distant memory. There was no real need to think about it anymore, what point was there when he was going to die? There was no more responsibility, nothing for him to worry about. He had even started to forget his name, the sensation of being submerged under ice-cold water relaxing him to stillness.

Not even a breath escaped him as his eyes closed, even if he couldn't tell that he closed them.

'Sorry everyone.'

Strange, he didn't recall who "everyone" was. Why would that be his last thought? Was someone waiting for him? The confusion brought a sharp throb to his skull, angering him. Why was he suddenly in pain? He was just about to sleep. Were they going to give him another headache?

And again his thoughts were to a "they", faces he couldn't put names to. Deep pulses rattled his brain, his fingers twitching. It was burning hot, the frozen liquid he craved clashing with superheated gas that burned at him. None of it made sense, he was in the Abyss, this heat shouldn't be possible for him.

Emilia and Claire had a problem with heat, not him.

.

.

.

"Wait…" Artorian's fog cleared momentarily, his every muscle twitching as his eyes opened to darkness.

"Emilia? Claire?"

"Please don't be too late. Please." Charlotte begged as she landed, the sand turned snow was bad enough, the scientist was furious it had stopped her for as long as it did.

Not long after the pickup beacon went off, the blinding flash freeze nearly tore her out of the sky. She barely kept herself in the air before she was able to stabilize and reattempt a landing. Too much time was wasted, every second was a step closer to losing Artorian. Just as she lost Artorias.

She won't lose him.

Charlotte had nearly fallen off the ramp before it finished dropping and ran towards the beacon. Alongside Karen and Miharu were the Slayers, the wounded moved to higher ground as they tended to those they could.

"Dr. Dimandias, what-"

"Where is he?" Charlotte demanded, interrupting Claire before she could finish. "There's a lot that has to be explained, but I know it can be fixed." The doctor spoke as she pulled out the lighter. "We just need to get Karen close to him with this."

"Char…" Emilia spoke up, her voice trembling as Charlotte saw her.

That had her heart sank, as her eyes darted over to Matthew without a consideration to anyone else's words. The whole place went silent for her as the hybrid looked back to her for a single second, lightning coursing across his spear in a wordless apology.

Artorian at the center of the canyon was temporarily motionless, his face looking up to the cloudy sky with a blank expression. The only thing moving was the pus creature, licking its teeth as it scarfed down the remains of Kai's body that wasn't blood scattered around him. Amidst its licking, its own tongue would be cut open, maggots and pustulent blood spewing out before it reformed itself. It was as if the Abysswalker was dazed amidst the high of freedom, but was instead in the throes of finality from the corruption's hold on him.

His shoulders then twitched, before the body stumbled forward and lurched black ichor into a continuous puddle. The limbs that were once idle began to thrash, Artorian's remaining hand grasping and clawing at his face as a dry scream erupted from his throat. Black, pus and black sludge spattered from his mouth, before the ichor hardened into tendrils, spreading across his body like roots as portions of his body began to be lost to the darkness that made up his arm. Black veins popped across his visible body, and his eyes began to ooze the Abyss' sludge.

The pus beast that came from his arm meanwhile began to lash and snap around the area in a response of rage. Teeth cleaved through stone and ice with no hint of resistance, even debris reached the group and would have hit Matthew had his lightning not eviscerated it. The beast roared as Artorian's hand went from his face to its serpent body, clenching and pulling out clusters of maggots as he screamed again. This time, no sound came out as blood continued to spill from his lips, his ears ringing and releasing his precious crimson ichor as the beast howled.

"He's gone." Matthew said simply, watching the horrid situation with pity. Unlike everyone else, he could see the scene in perfect vision, seeing the reactions of his fellow Lord's body lash out. His eyes were void, no sense of purpose or focus behind him. It was just his physical response to the corruption, a last-ditch effort of his nervous system to expel the poison that was taking over his vessel and soul. If the Abysswalker wasn't fighting, it was the way they always reacted to their transformation.

"No, no we have time." Charlotte pleaded, and when Matthew turned away from her, panic took over. "No Matthew, we have time!"

"Dr… Charlotte, you know I have to." Matthew said back, looking with sympathy to the woman. Hed had been prepared for this moment, the day he met Artorian he knew this was going to be the outcome. He was willing to do it at any moment, he had hoped to put Artorian out of his misery before the transformation happened, to spare him the pain.

But now with the form already underway, he felt nothing but pity for the man. The Abyss was a vile, evil force. And Artorian's agony was proof of that. And the response it had on the people that had him, fear and concern only showed the horror of it all. There was no saving him now, whether they knew it or not, everyone could see that.

"No, I can save him!" Charlotte shouted back, and before she could go for her armor's housing disk, she was stopped by Nesat that grabbed a hold of her. "Nesat!?"

"Dr. Dimandias, he wouldn't want you to get hurt." Was all the Hunter said, her body numb but forcing to hold onto the now thrashing scientist, wincing as her body screamed from the pain. "He would have wanted this, it's the only way to keep it from getting worse!"

"He still has a chance, he isn't lost yet!" Charlotte pleaded as Matthew planted his foot down, looking down to the Abysswalker as his thrashing stopped.

As the scientist begged for the Lord to wait, Liddy and Emilia hung their heads in shame. They hated this, they didn't want to have to let Matthew kill Artorian, but they knew the danger he had become. And it only twisted the knife in their guts more at the overwhelmed stares of the remaining Slayers. Claire and Sakura didn't want it to happen, that was clear as day. But they had no idea what was even happening, and the horror of Damfin and Lust had them unable to process what was going on with Artorian.

"W-Wait…" Claire tried to speak up, but before she could finish Liddy placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping the protest before it could begin.

"How… how can you all give up on him?" Miharu muttered out, watching in shock as the Slayers aware of the situation were unable to respond. "After everything he's done… you won't even try to help him? How many of you did he save, he deserves-!"

"Waaaah!" Before the nurse could finish, Karen erupted into tears as she hugged Miharu. The nurse's initial concern was heightened as the young girl clung to her, trembling as she looked down in defeat. "He… he can't be saved!" Was all Karen could choke out, her tears pouring down her face as she looked to Miharu.

"Don't say that Karen, there's still a chance!" Charlotte responded, trying harder and failing to break free of Nesat's grasp. "I know I can save him, we can save him!"

"You're letting your emotions get the better of you." Matthew said, unable to look back as he saw the Abysswalker twitch.

"Go to hell Matthew! I won't lose him!"

But it was too late, thunder erupted as Matthew vanished from everyone's sight. The resulting backblast nearly sent the team flying, but it was as if in that moment Charlotte was able to see everything in the canyon.

With trembling eyes, she saw the yellow bolt Matthew was had evolved to a brilliant gold, the Slayer having activated his Fully-Body Armament. And she watched it tear into the darkness that had formed inside the den of corruption the canyon had become.

"No… please…" Tears built up in Charlotte's eyes as her senses showed her the approaching forces of nature. She was still, unable to fight against Nesat anymore as the former Hunter held her in regret. A deep pit formed in Charlotte's stomach as lightning exploded across the frozen stone, hot steam bursting out. But she didn't look away, even as burns formed across her face she didn't dare look away.

All she could do was watch.

All she ever did for him was watch.

And she failed still.

"PLEASE! DON'T KILL HIM!" She cried, it was all she could do as she lost sight of the fight, her eyes forced shut from the heat.

(A/N): Took a bit, had to rewrite this once and finally got the hang of it as I was deciding whether to end the chapter now or make it a longer one. Went with ending now so I can get it out and already start working on the next chapter. It's a bit of an experience, this arc has been a major burden on my writing as a whole, and I'm getting close to finishing it. It feels almost releasing, and its just a way to get things moving. I look forward to going past and seeing where things go. And here's to the future! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and look forward to the next.

Peace!