I tried to fight Chronus again. He's still a cock.
Managed to actually get to his phase two (which, while faster, was easier), but he got a lucky shot off and killed me (final life bottle), and mopped up the rest of the party.
Alright, so I did a fair bit of running around and picked up as many items I could find, as well as abyss diving (that was nerve wracking, for sure). And then found my way to the Dimensional Rift to confront Chronus...