Nartak wasn't native to the underground ocean, neither was he native to any body of water, Nartak had been and still was, a land creature first and foremost, but with the blessings of his only friend, the king, he could live fully underwater.
In spite of lacking any physical or magical method to do so, he hadn't hesitated to take the plunge.
All for the sake of guarding the king, the people, at some point, began to worship him as a guardian deity, he grew even larger than before and his power soared, at this point in his life, Nartak had believed that nothing would ever get to the king.
The serpent was ignorant however, he had failed to understand that not everyone was like the king, not everyone could live as long as he could, including his beloved queen.
The tragedy that struck the king was one Nartak couldn't have done anything to prevent, he was his guardian but was unable to shield him from everything.
Having met utter failure once and again when he didn't do anything to prevent the king from staring into the Abyss and a third time, when the stranger was allowed through.
The king's heart had been broken by something out of the serpent's reach, but it was the Abyss that was to blame for ruining his kingdom so deeply.
He had pursued a small creature that was not only holding the vile dark within his heart but had also dared to desecrate the queen's tomb, he had somehow ended up encountering an old man that stinked of the Abyss as well.
Unlike the wretch, this human man wasn't harboring the Abyss within himself, he seemed to have only been in contact with it for some time, however, seeing how he had been drenched in abyssal matter could only mean one thing in Nartak's mind.
That he had come out of the breach! Which was exactly correct.
Nartak thus identified him as an enemy that should be put down, one was manageable but two? One had to go and the old hunter seemed like the easier to bring down.
Though, this was by default since the wretch was nigh impossible to damage.
The old man was swift and dodged the humongous serpent's attack with ease despite lacking his vision entirely.
From the way he moved, it was clear that he had experience not simply fighting larger creatures than himself, but also fighting giant snakes as he seemingly predicted Nartak's moves.
Th edge of the axe embedded itself in the serpent's side, the old man running forward, drawing a bloody line on Nartak's body.
With his weapon, the venator had no issue jamming it underneath a scale and popping it off, after that, it was free game for him to strike the vulnerable spot.
Watching the slow fight from a good distance away, Axiolypito yawned and stretched.
He had never been very interested in watching others fight, he certainly could have just slipped away and gone to the cave already, even if he expected Nartak to somehow know if he tried.
He was staying here because one part of his plan wasn't simply about helping him reach his goal, it would also be a magnificent boon to get and to gain that prize, he had to stay here and watch.
He had to say though, the old man was quite the menace, he had managed to dodge every single blow without any problem, sporting a big toothy smile on his scarred face the entire time and making weird noises that sounded like words when striking.
Even if a single of those hit did as much as scratch him, he would be greatly delibitated, and this was the best outcome, Nartak's strength was no joke, the air pressure some of his tail swipes created could totally lift a grown up into the air and send him flying powerlessly.
Not only that, but the brilliant light he was emitting was healing his wounds, since he was very protective and his head and neck, the fight was deemed to be one of attrition and this extra boring to watch.
It should also be boring to partake in but one was a crazy old man that wanted nothing more than slaughter some beast and the other a maddened serpent that seemed to hold a deep grudge.
They were too busy trying to murderise each other to care whether or not their confrontation was dynamic or not.
Axiolypito had first expected one of them to get the upper hand early in the fight, after all, the old man only needed to strike the right place and Nartak only needed to get in a single hit, but neither was happening, so he decided to step in.
None of the two combatants was unaware of this fact as he didn't try to be stealthy just yet, he simply ran in between the two of them, garbed in his abyssal clothing and crown, both seemed wary of him.
After all, he was the only Abyss around now, no sign of the abyssal corruption was to be seen anywhere anymore after he had defeated the Abyss Eater, so the hunter who had known of the corruption around probably believed that the wretch had absorbed it all or something.
As for Nartak, he was simply aware that he wouldn't be able to hit him anyways, so he just observed.
Everyone was focused on the wretch and could only be surprised when it turned out that the wretch hadn't actually moved in between them, it was an illusion.
An illusion had slipped in suddenly and quickly dispelled before they could figure it out for themselves, then Nartak hissed loudly as something pierced him in the back of the neck.
"Damn..." the old hunter only had this one word as he felt the gigantic snake be engulfed by Abyss and corrupted in an instant.
Axiolypito crawled out from beneath a scale and grew back to his normal size, satisfied that his plan had worked, Nartak really was considered a monster and thus, susceptible to the needle.
The great beast would have probably shaken it off had he not imbued Abyss into it, Nartak was powerful but not equipped to deal with this.
"Now, old man, bow to me and you'll die without pain" offered Axio, his ego over inflated enough to not even bat an eye while saying such words.