Volume 45 - End to the Nightmare

== Chapter 529 - Evening the Odds ==
Karim was the first to shoot, Jack dodging the bullets and firing back as Karim took most of them but dodged the last, pocketing his gun and rushing at Jack.
"Gh!" Jack grunts, leaping behind a bench to reload. Karim rips the bench out of the ground with another grunt and grabs jack by the head, tossing him across the tower with yet another grunt.
"GAH!" Jack yells, as he felt something break but forced himself back to his feet, breathing heavily, as Karim stood upright again, wiping sweat from his face.
"...Wait..." Karim remarks, looking over at his how sweat-covered knuckles.
"I know...I can't beat you...as you are..." Jack says breathlessly. "...So we...made a bullet...to take your enhancements away..."
"...Finally..." The terrorist breathes, feeling the only partially regenerated wounds on his body. "...I haven't felt this...for so long..."
He then smiled wickedly, but truly.
"Pain!" He roars, leaping at Jack, who, shocked, rolls out of the way, Karim's fist slamming into the ground as he only smiled wider upon hearing bones in his hands crack.
He stood back up, taking out his gun to reload it, as Jack took that time to do the same. "Maybe...at long last..." He remarks. "I can get what I've always wanted."
"What would that be?" Jack demands. "A real fight!" Karim shouts in response, firing at Jack, who dodged the bullets and fired back, seeing Karim dodge behind a pillar to avoid them.
As both reloaded again, Karim leaped out from behind the pillar to fire at Jack from above, Jack rolling out of the way and firing at Karim as he landed. 
Karim sidesteps each bullet in a zig-zag motion as he throws a punch at Jack's face, Jack stumbling back but dodging the next punch, and going to catch the other before his foot was stepped on, his stomach kneed and kicked, sending him tumbling back.
"G-guh!" Jack groans, wheezing a bit as Karim walked around him in a circle. "I suppose you aren't used to fighting people like me." He remarks with a smaller smile than before. "This is your wake-up call that I was only slow on purpose."
"Y-yeah..." Jack groans in response. "...I can see that."
He then points his gun at Karim to fire again, Karim dodging those bullets as well as he throws a knife at Jack's wrist, causing him to drop his gun in pain as he sees Karim slamming his fist at his head and rolls away to dodge, leaping behind another pillar to narrowly dodge another barrage of bullets.
== Chapter 530 - Madness Takes Hold ==
Arthur rushed at the four and swung his arm at them, as they just barely dodged, Andromeda using her Psychic Weapons to block Arthur slamming his other arm on her, though she could feel herself being slowly pushed into the ground by his brute strength.
Kasper fires at Arthur with the disintegration blasts, Arthur leaping back to dodge them before tearing a piece of the wall out to fling at him!
"KASPER!" Candice screams, tackling him out of the way as Shunsuke leaps back and fires at Arthur with his Winchester, Arthur walking forward as if the bullets weren't there.
Andromeda started viciously slashing at Arthur, but he regenerated faster than she could cut, and managed to grab her in between slashes, slamming her into the ground repeatedly.
"GAH! GUH! ARGH!" Andromeda grunts and roars, as she could feel many bones in her body breaking with each slam.
Shunsuke leaps at Arthur from behind, brass knuckles on, but Arthur whirls around to throw Andromeda at him, and whack both aside with his forearm.
"Guh!" Shunsuke grunts, as Arthur roars a garbled, seemingly pained roar that sounded close to a scream, but not quite there.
"WE WILL BE TOGETHER AS ONE!" Arthur howls. "A COSMIC, GALACTIC MIND OF UNPARALLELED MIGHT AND ENDLESS LIFE!"
"So that's...what you wanted all along..." Andromeda groans, beginning to stand back upright. "...all of that sympathetic bullcrap...WAS JUST A FUCKING LIE!!!"
"...No..." Kasper breathes. "...This isn't Arthur, not anymore. It's the disease, puppeteering his corpse. What we're hearing is the last vestiges of Arthur's consciousness being subverted..."
"It doesn't matter..." Andromeda mutters. "...it still means that this...thing...whoever it is...deserves my full wrath."
"If you're done arguing..." Arthur growls, holding a piece of the floor over his head. "...I'm going to kill you all, now."
He then slams the piece of the floor at them, Andromeda slicing it into pebbles as she, for lack of a better term, punches him back repeatedly.
Yet each punch did little to stop him as he screamed, beginning to mutate again as blades and spikes formed on his arms, legs and back, tendrils forming on his arms, head and back, as his shape became less humanoid in general.
They all took a few steps back, sweating, as Arthur stood over them, taller than ever, his shadow cast over them all.
== Chapter 531 - Bullet Chase ==
Karim was still firing at Jack, who dodged the bullets while trying to get back to his gun. It was difficult with how fast his opponent now was, but he managed to pick it back up while Karim was reloading, and leaped behind yet another pillar to avoid more gunfire.
When Karim was reloading again, he whirled around from behind the pillar to fire at his face, Karim dodging those bullets to fire at Jack again. Jack leaped out of the way and ran over to a power line, using it to swing onto the roof of a nearby building. As Karim followed, Jack ran behind the bulkhead of that building, reloading again himself.
Jack ran from behind the bulkhead to fire at Karim, who fired back while dodging to Jack's right, Jack dodging to his left to in turn avoid Karim's bullets.
As Karim was reloading, Jack shot his gun out of his hand, Karim simply rushing at him to grab his gun, letting the last bullet in its magazine fire through his hand, before ripping it out of Jack's hand and tossing it aside.
Jack leaps back, narrowly avoiding a grab to the neck, as Karim runs forward to throw multiple punches at him. Jack barely manages to block and redirect those punches, lifting his leg to block a kick as Karim sweeps him off his feet with his other leg.
"Gah!" Jack grunts, as Karim kicks him in the gut repeatedly. "Guh! Guh! Argh!"
Karim grabs Jack by the neck again, and walks towards the edge of the roof, dragging him across said roof with the aim of dropping him on the ground. Jack groaned weakly, and soon felt himself being held over the edge.
"Got anything else?" The terrorist asks.
"...Yeah...one more...thing..." Jack replies weakly, taking out the knife Karim had thrown earlier and stabbing it into Karim's wrist, forcing him to let go of him as he lands on a window cleaner platform, opens the window, leaps in, closes it, and locks it.
He knew Karim would be inside soon, and so he went to hide and wait.
== Chapter 532 - The Beast Evolves ==
Arthur swings his bladed tendrils at the group, who barely dodge as they run into another room, panting.
"How long until this is just like that thing from earlier?!" Andromeda demands.
"Hopefully never..." Kasper replies, as they roll forward, Arthur tearing the wall out of the room and flinging it at them, Andromeda slashing it apart.
Arthur sends his tendrils to wrap around them, but Andromeda manages to keep them back with their slashes. Kasper fires at Arthur again, but the man-turned-monster leaps up to dodge, now evidently on the roof as they tried to avoid wherever he was going to crash through.
And crash through he did, taking that portion of the roof down with him as they had all leaped back and over his tendrils. He leaps forward to slash and ensnare Andromeda and Shunsuke with his arm, but Andromeda manages to slash it off, Shunsuke punching the behemoth back.
Arthur's arm was already beginning to regenerate, Kasper disintegrating the detached arm as Candice tries to heal everyone.
"I WILL NOT BE DENIED!" Arthur shrieks, slamming his fist down on Candice, but meeting a forcefield Kasper, now furious, had created.
"DON'T YOU DARE!" Kasper roars, having the forcefield blast Arthur back.
Arthur landed on his hands and feet, as everyone else stepped back, Kasper creating numerous rockets to send flying at the center of the plague. Arthur is quick to dodge them all, grabbing one to throw back at its sender!
Kasper creates another forcefield to block the missile, and makes the ground rise up to trap Arthur, who merely slices through the trap and swings his tendrils at everyone while whirling around, knocking them all off-balance, before ensnaring them and slamming them all to the ground repeatedly, throwing them all through walls by the end of the attack.
As they all struggled to get back up, Candice healing them again but more slowly than before, they saw Arthur mutating again, large tubes and spikes appearing on his arms, while his face became a bit dragon-like in appearance.
He screamed once more during the ordeal, sounding more guttural, more animalistic, than the previous scream. Wings finally sprouted on his back, though while they were ultimately draconic, the tendrils wrapped around and sprouted from them as well.
He then turned towards them, glaring for a moment as Andromeda glared back, and, pointing his arms at them, erupted purple fire from the tubes and his mouth!
== Chapter 533 - The Hunt is On ==
Karim opens the door to the inside of the building, looking around, as he points his gun every which way.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are." He taunts, as Jack leaps out from behind a desk, throwing a pen at Karim, who dodges and tosses Jack's gun at him.
Jack, shocked, barely catches it, and narrowly avoids being shot in the head as he runs to the side to dodge Karim's gunfire, shooting at Karim's gun as the terrorist avoids Jack's own gunfire.
Both began to reload, but Jack did so while running to and down the fire escape. Karim noticed, and followed, shooting at Jack as he did so.
As Jack reached the end of the fire escape and began to run across the street, he saw the flames of City Hall!
"ANNE!" Jack screams, before narrowly dodging another row of bullets from Karim, firing back as Karim dodged Jack's own bullets.
Jack ran across the sidewalk, beginning to reload and running in a staggered zig-zag motion to try and keep Karim from being able to aim properly. He felt a bullet graze his ankle and winced, but kept himself from flinching, as doing so right now would mean death. He simply didn't have the luxury to let himself flinch right now.
As he kept running, he knew Karim was catching up to him, and ran behind a car to fire at him. Karim dodged those bullets as well, firing back at Jack who hid behind the car, hearing the windows be shot out.
Both began to reload, as Jack whirled around to fire at Karim again, Karim having walked to stand beside him. Karim once again sidesteps the bullets and kicks Jack in the ribs, before grabbing him by the head and tossing him over the car with a grunt, still smiling as he walked after him.
Jack began to run again, reloading as he did so before firing at Karim, who dodged the bullets while himself reloading.
Jack could feel Karim once again gaining on him, as he took out a grenade and tossed it at the terrorist, who dodges the grenade and uses the backblast from it to leap at Jack, grabbing him by the face and tossing him into the alleyway.
Jack dodges four out of the five bullets fired, but one hits his leg, causing him to collapse backward, hitting the wall as he howls in agony, Karim standing over him with his gun pointed at his face.
Jack's eyes widened, as now he could see it. Even with Arthur not here to help, even when he was now just a normal human...
Karim was still too much for him.
== Chapter 534 - Flames of Plague ==
City Hall was now a charred pile of ash and rubble, the purple flames beginning to spread across whatever was left of the city, as the monstrosity Arthur was mutating more and more into stood at the center.
Kasper had taken them atop a building, and they were all panting and healing. Though not all the burns could be healed.
"He just...keeps evolving more powers..." Shunsuke breathes.
"Must be...the perks...of having DNA from so many different species..." Kasper replies. "...He must've...gotten to the Netraxians, too..."
"...How do...we beat him...?" Candice asks weakly, looking as though she could collapse any moment.
"...I...I don't know if we can..." Andromeda admits. "...We need to...find a way to restrain him...so Kasper can...disintegrate him..."
"...I only...have enough power left...for one blast..." Kasper replies, holding Candice close. "If it misses...or he blocks...there is no more hope...we can realistically have...of winning this war..."
"Don't call this...a war..." Andromeda mutters. "...this is...the Apocalypse..."
"How do we restrain...something like that?" Shunsuke asks.
"...There might be a way." Andromeda answers. "I might be able to...hold him in place long enough...if I access more of my Psychic Weapons' power."
"I...wish I could help..." Candice says breathlessly.
"What do you mean, Andromeda?" Shunsuke asks her.
"I used ten percent against that...thing..." Andromeda explains. "...I think I need twenty-five percent against Arthur...or whatever's left of him."
"Have you done this before?" Shunsuke then asks.
"...No." Andromeda answers. "I'm...not sure if I can...but it's the only chance we have."
"Then we'll do whatever it takes to stall him until you can." Shunsuke replies. "I'm not sure how long I can last, but--"
Suddenly, the building began to shake, and then fall! Arthur had destroyed its bottom floor!
== Chapter 535 - Final Duel ==
Jack couldn't move anymore, his legs had been broken, and his spine hurt like Hell. Karim kept his gun pointed at him, dodging when Jack fired again. Jack tried to reload...but he had no more magazines. He couldn't fight anymore. He just looked into Karim's eyes, now so full of life for the first time since they first met, with his own, fearful, despaired eyes.
This was it. It was over.
He had tried everything, but in the end, it didn't matter. None of it mattered. Nothing he tried had worked, nothing had beaten Karim.
He had thrown away his entire life to beat him, and it was all for nothing.
"You know, kid." Karim says. "I'm sure you heard this before, but...I think you've become obsessed with me. I'm the big bad criminal, most wanted in the galaxy, and you wanted to be the one to take me down. You wanted the glory, you wanted to prove yourself, but in the end, all you proved is just how much of a moron you are. I enjoyed this battle, but the fact that we barely fought hand-to-hand shows that you finally understand that you can't outskill a guy who's been alive for two hundred years longer than you have. I'm grateful for what you've given back to me, but you're clearly not the worthy opponent I've been searching for, and you never were."
He then points his gun at Jack's chest, where his heart was.
"I'd say this is goodbye. Pray to whoever you worship that you end up in the Good Place, whatever form it takes."
Jack closed his eyes, as tears rolled down his cheeks. Karim was right, they were all right. He had neglected his friends, and for what?
He should have known this was impossible from the start. He should have known this was impossible when he heard that Karim had killed Rosenstock.
What the Hell was he thinking?
Now, though, all he thought of was Andromeda, the girl he had saved from the swamp, and who he had helped see the light in humanity. He knew he would never see her again, and he silently apologized to her, but accepted his fate.
That was when Karim fired.
But when the bullet hit Jack's jacket, it bounced off the Huscil weaving, bouncing around the alleyway for a while, Karim tracking it with his eyes...before feeling it hit his heart.
== Chapter 536 - The Cavalry Arrives ==
Andromeda caught everyone, including themselves, and landed them on the ground gently, before glaring at Arthur, who had grown in size and was now sporting extra limbs. His face resembled a human's very little, and he seemed to have a dozen eyes now.
There was nothing left of the school medic they had met so long ago, this was a monster, actively destroying every memory Arthur had that it thought of. And it needed to die, for the safety of all life in the galaxy.
Shunsuke leaped at the beast, but it pinned him between two fingers, and began to crush his spine and ribcage!
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Shunsuke screams, as they could hear bones begin to crack.
"SHUNSUKE!" Candice screams, as Andromeda rushed at Arthur, who threw Shunsuke at her, sending them both flying into multiple vehicles, destroying them. Arthur whipped his tendrils at them, as Candice tries to use her Psychic Weapons to block, both her and Kasper being sent back.
He then points his arms at them, opening his mouth to prepare to bathe them in another torrent of flame, right when an orange laser hits him in the back from above, stumbling him!
Standing on top of one of the last remaining buildings was Kiyomasu, holding his hat, which along with his hair and coat blew in the wind, as his eyes were partly shrouded in darkness. He looked down at them all with a dead serious expression, as Falqo and Dione arrived on the scene as well. 
Kiyomasu!" Andromeda shouts.
"Focus inward!" Kiyomasu shouts back. "We'll distract him, just focus on your own mind!"
Andromeda nods, as Arthur rushes up to stab at Kiyomasu, who seemingly lets himself be stabbed before exploding into a burning cloud of energy, revealing it to have been a hard light hologram.
"WHAT?!" Arthur roars, though the word barely sounded like 'what', as Falqo fires at him with his shotgun and Dione punches him in the face.
Arthur is sent to the ground as Kiyomasu sends down another net, but Arthur leaps out of the way and sends a wave of fire at them all, Kiyomasu creating a forcefield to block as Falqo and Dione run out of the flame's path.
Candice, Kasper and Shunsuke looked on in awe, as Andromeda did too momentarily, but soon closed her eyes, and breathed, trying to focus on her Psychic Weapons, and drawing out more of their power.
== Chapter 537 - Last Breaths ==
Karim remained stunned by the bullet for a moment, before chuckling and looking up at the sky.
"Ahahahahahaha...I suppose that's what I get for letting my guard down." Karim remarks. "Old habits die hard, I guess."
He then walks over to Jack, and sits beside him, one leg crossed, one leg raised, where he placed his hand on his knee.
"...This is all I ever wanted..." He says. "...To die to a worthy opponent, as the most dangerous man in the galaxy. And with your wit, it looks like I may've gotten that. So thank you...Jack...and just so you know...Arthur was probably fucked from the start..."
It was then, that Karim closed his eyes, and let out his last breath. He went limp, and remained limp. Forevermore.
== Chapter 538 - Final Treatment ==
"ALL WILL...BECOME ONE!" Arthur shrieks. "I WILL...I WI--AAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Arthur screamed again, as his body mutated even further, now sporting flame tubes on his back.
It was over, there was truly nothing left of Arthur anymore.
The beast that was once Arthur rushes at Falqo and Dione, ramming them through the building Kiyomasu had previously been standing on, while it takes Falqo's shoots and slashes like nothing.
Dione punches it in the face, but it seemed largely unaffected, and prepared to gut them both before Kiyomasu slashed it in the back. It roars in agony, whirling around to whack at Kiyomasu, who flew back with rocket boots.
Andromeda kept focusing, trying to draw out more power but not knowing quite what to focus on to strengthen her. Not until she finally realized it. Then, Jack appeared in her mind with a smile on his face.
Andromeda in turn smiled in the real world, a tear rolling down her cheek, before she opened her eyes, her expression becoming serious again.
She suddenly boosted towards the beast, creating a shockwave that blasted the others back as she did so, and slashed at it with a Psychic Weapon that cleaved straight through both it and the building nearest to him!
The beast howled in agony and, while regenerating, blasted flames at Andromeda, who blocked them with her Psychic Weapons before slashing at it repeatedly and brutally, cutting it into more and more pieces faster than it could regenerate.
She then slammed all the pieces to the ground, creating an explosion that sent the others further back, and raised another Psychic Weapon to block a slash from the newly regenerated monstrosity. She grabbed its arms, legs, and tendrils, crushing all its flame tubes and slamming it to the ground, as Kasper pointed his keypad at it, and fired.
The instant the blast hit the beast, it howled in an agony none of them thought they heard before, as every last part of its body began to turn into the fiery orange-gold dust typical of the disintegration blast.
As it continued to scream and disintegrate, they thought they saw a tear roll down what counted as its cheek, its eyes suddenly wide in shock and horror.
"...What have...I done...?" Arthur whimpers, as the disintegration began to reach his face. "...I'm...sorry..."
And then, he fully turned to dust, Andromeda and Kiyomasu landing, as they turned and looked on at the sun rising on the ruins.
== Chapter 539 - The Aftermath of Chaos II ==
Standing in front of the graves, and statues, of Rosenstock, Grimwald and Demetrius, was Reuben, his eyes closed, his hands behind his back.
"...In this time of conflict, we lost the greatest leader this nation has ever known, along with its greatest scientist, and the former lone gunslinger who had once operated in the desert." Reuben says. "We have lost so many good men and women, and the rest of the galaxy has too. I don't know what it will take, or...if it's possible, but I vow to live up to Rosenstock's legacy, and undo the damage that Arthur and Karim have done."
Jack, Andromeda, Candice, Kasper, Shunsuke, Kiyomasu, Dione and Falqo sat silently, watching and listening to Reuben's every word.
"The Human Star Realm is no longer a monarchy." Reuben says. "Rosenstock had no children, and if he did, there'd be no telling if they would be good rulers or not. In his will, he requested that the Human Star Realm become an elective government. I will be leading for the first few years, but after that, anyone who fits the qualifications of age, morality, and willpower, will be able to run. I am trusting that we have all grown closer together in this age of strife, and I am hoping you will trust me to live up to Rosenstock's example the best I can. That is all from me, thank you all for your time."
Kiyomasu stood up from his seat, and began to walk away. "Kiyomasu?" Jack asks.
"We only have Atlas left to worry about." Kiyomasu replies. "After this whole apocalypse, I don't know where we all stand on the board."
Suddenly, Andromeda hugged Kiyomasu. "Wha...?" Kiyomasu exclaims.
"Thank you, Mr. Kiyomasu..." Andromeda says softly. "...for everything."
"...Of course." Kiyomasu replies. "Let's get back to Farfair."
== Chapter 540 - Rebuilding ==
Gerald had cooked up meals for each of the five who had returned to Farfair. The suburban district was by far the least destroyed, and by far the easiest to rebuild.
"This is so good!" Candice shouts.
"I am so glad you like it, Miss Distler." Gerald replies. "I was keeping my culinary skills well-rounded by working with those like Chapman."
"...What...happened to him?" Jack asks, as Gerald remained silent for a moment.
"...When the zombies attacked Farfair, I was at his bakery." He then answers. "He sacrificed himself to save me, telling me to go, as he used every last bullet he had left to keep them at bay."
"...Oh..." Jack replies. "I wish I could have done something." Gerald says. "But there was nothing I could do."
It was then that they noticed the blue-skinned, black-haired, green-eyed man standing at the entrance, with the grey, small and bent horns of a royal Socqreath. He wore black and white clothing and silver and black leather armor along with a cape, all looking simultaneously regal and practical.
In his hand was a katana, one made from Huscil, as he looked at Andromeda, and her alone.
"My name is Ares of the Galactic Defense Force." The man says. "I am here to arrest you, Andromeda."