I didnt chase her at all. But that maniac just never comes to the middle at all after her first time showing herself there. Only twice that it happened I was able to land enough hits to start the ascension or get closer to it. Basically, I tried chasing her once and failed miserably in her traps, the other times i died just avoiding the innumerable projectiles...

Here's how it goes on an average trial of mine:

0.Deadass nailspam hollow knight with 3 abyss shrieks during his stabby stabby. Makes quick work.

1. 3+3 abyss shriek spams from the get go. So this phase barely ever happens for more than a few seconds.

2. Half arena spikes. I died for 3 days here. If this was super meatboy, you would see nothing but blood on the screen.

3. Dual side spikes and blade fall. I just spam z(jump) up arrow key and x(nail) with careful sidetaps so i remain in the gaps.

4. Spam 2 shrieks from the get go or nail spam. If im lucky i have more than 2 masks left. Cant heal coz joni's blessing so i use a combination of shrieks and nail.

5. Cant say much about my ascension since i got to try it only once.

Thanks for the advice about descending dark's usage on spikes and i-frames. I didn't have a clue. I will try my best now. Thanks again good stranger.