The storm raged over Camp Half-Blood. Gusts of wind howled through the wreckage, making the flames dance like living shadows. The smell of smoke, wet earth, and blood hung in the air.
Percy could hardly believe what he was seeing.
The cabins were destroyed. The strawberry fields? Transformed into a swamp of mud and ash. Ancient trees had been uprooted, their trunks fallen like slain giants. The dining pavilion was now a pile of smoldering rubble. Worse still were the bodies. Fallen demigods, warriors he knew by name, friends who had trained alongside him.
He couldn't think about that now.
Percy gripped Riptide tightly, his chest heaving with heavy breaths. Rainwater streamed down his face, mingling with sweat and blood. His arm trembled with exhaustion.
Before him, Eurybia, the Titan of the Deep Seas, stared at him coldly. Her body seemed sculpted from volcanic basalt, fissures glowing in shades of blue and green like the ocean depths. Her eyes were two black whirlpools, devoid of emotion. She had assumed this form instead of a human one as soon as the battle began; a woman with blue hair.
"You fight well, son of Poseidon..." she said, her voice echoing like a distant storm. "But you have already lost...."
Behind her, three Drakon moved like living shadows, their scales gleaming in the lightning flashes. Each one was large enough to swallow a horse whole. Their eyes glowed with hunger.
Beside the monsters, a Hydra hissed, its nine heads thrashing. Venom dripped from its fangs, toxic fumes rising into the air, mixing with the rain.
Percy gasped, his heart hammering against his ribs. The storm roared around him, but now it didn't feel like his ally; it felt like an untamed beast, responding only to Eurybia's command.
His eyes scanned the battlefield.
Annabeth and Clarisse were fighting Pallas, the Titan of War, and they weren't doing well. He was a monster of living bronze, with eyes like burning coals and a spear that vibrated with pure destructive fury. Every blow he landed made the ground tremble. Annabeth and Clarisse were exhausted, covered in cuts and bruises, but they still fought.
The other demigods… Percy felt his stomach churn. They were being slaughtered. Two unknown Titans had entered the battle and were dispatching the campers one by one. The ground was covered in bodies. He recognized some. Demigods who trained with him in the Hermes cabin. A boy from the Apollo cabin, whose voice Percy remembered from the songs around the campfire.
They were dying.
And then, further on, another fight.
Bianca and Nico di Angelo were facing an unknown man, someone who didn't exactly look like a Titan, but who exuded a terrifying presence. His black sword cut the air with deadly precision, forcing the children of Hades to retreat with each blow.
Nico looked furious, shadows twisting around him, but Bianca… Bianca was bleeding. A deep cut on her left arm. She held her daggers with difficulty.
Everything was falling apart.
Percy gritted his teeth, tried to move, but his body was slow.
The ability Ikki had given him was weak. And he knew exactly why.
He had overused it. Throughout his journey through Daedalus's Labyrinth, the ability had become a shield, a weapon, a salvation. He had pushed it past its limit, trying to compensate for every threat that arose. Against Antaeus, against the monsters, against Kronos… But now, when he needed it most, his body wouldn't respond.
Without a doubt, this was the worst mission of his life....
Nothing in Daedalus's Labyrinth went as planned. From the moment they descended the second time, Percy and his friends were forced to make quick decisions, each one leading them deeper into confusion and danger.
It was Rachel who guided them with her vision, seeing the right path through a faint glow on the floor. However, before they could go far, they found Grover's hat lying discarded, a worrying sign that something was wrong. Following this clue, they reached Tyson and an unconscious Grover, only to soon enter Pan's last refuge in the Carlsbad Caverns.
There, the god of nature greeted them with devastating news: he was dying. Or rather, he was already dead. His domain was too destroyed to be saved, and all he could do was bestow his last blessings before disappearing. Grover, reluctantly, was forced to accept the truth and carry the responsibility of spreading the news.
Before they could even process what had just happened, they were captured by Luke's forces and taken to Antaeus's arena.
An unknown man suddenly bound them in special chains, draining their strength, which allowed them to be captured.
Percy was forced to fight a son of Nike, Joe Lincoln, but refused to kill him. His disobedience enraged Antaeus, who decided to fight Percy personally.
It was a mistake.
With a last effort, Percy defeated him.
But the real threat wasn't Antaeus.
The unknown man revealed his identity. He was Veles, the Slavic god of thunder and the underworld, an equivalent of Zeus.
He had allied himself with Kronos, believing Zeus was weak and a new ruler should take his place.
Even with their special abilities given by Ikki, they couldn't defeat him, as the god was fighting with his full power. If Nico hadn't used his shadow ability to get them out of there, they all would have died.
The escape led them to Daedalus's workshop, where they discovered that Quintus was, in fact, an automaton containing the consciousness of the inventor himself. Unfortunately, he had already given the String of Ariadne to Luke, ensuring that the enemies would have a decisive advantage in the Labyrinth. Before they could convince him to change sides, they were attacked. Minos, Kelli, and other monsters forced them to flee, and with the help of Daedalus's mechanical wings, they escaped through the Labyrinth.
In his haste, Percy made a dangerous decision: to explore alone a tunnel leading to the Titans' palace, but everyone followed him without his knowledge. Inside, he found a golden sarcophagus, where, to his surprise, was not Kronos, but Luke. The shock of seeing him there was quickly overshadowed by something even worse: Kronos had merged with the boy's body and was about to awaken.
Before Percy could escape, time stopped. Kronos rose, his scythe in hand. Only Rachel's intervention, throwing an insignificant object—a hairbrush—at the Titan, managed to break his concentration for an instant. It was enough time for him to react. But not fast enough.
Grover died there, before his eyes.
Kronos's blow was swift, lethal. There was no time to stop it, to reverse it, to trade places with him. Annabeth tried to use her special ability, the one Ikki had given her to shift his injuries, but it wasn't enough.
The pain and shock were instantaneous.
Nico raised a wall of black stone to prevent Kronos from pursuing them, and they fled.
But nothing could erase what had happened.
The silence between them, as they returned to the outside world, spoke more than any words could express.
When they finally reached Camp Half-Blood, everything was already in flames.
Remembering all this, Percy felt his stomach sink…
Oh, right… Grover was gone…
He had never known what true despair meant until that moment.
He had lost battles before, suffered defeats, seen friends injured. But nothing, absolutely nothing compared to what he felt holding Grover in his arms, the satyr's body lifeless, the eyes that once shone with hope and nervousness now empty, fixed on a point beyond reality.
Everything in him screamed that this wasn't real. That somehow, this could be fixed. Annabeth tried too. Percy felt her kneel beside him, her fingers trembling as she touched Grover's shoulder, murmuring desperate words. Then came the attempt, the ability Ikki had given her, something that had seemed miraculous before. She tried to pull the pain into herself, to trade places, to reverse the impossible. But nothing happened.
Percy watched Annabeth sob, saw the moment she realized there was nothing that could be done. But he couldn't cry. Couldn't speak.
He felt Grover's warm blood on his hands, mixed with the dust of the Labyrinth, and could only think that this shouldn't have happened.
That he should have been faster. Stronger. That he should have stopped Kronos sooner.
Grover's name echoed in his mind like distant thunder. All the times the satyr had been by his side, all the bad jokes, all the times he had been scared of monsters and yet stayed by Percy's side. Grover had never abandoned him. Never hesitated. And now he was dead.
Percy's breath grew heavy, short, almost a sob. He clenched his fists, trying to find some explanation, some logic, but all he felt was the weight of the loss.
Nico murmured something, his voice hoarse, tired. Percy didn't answer. Barely noticed when the son of Hades raised the stone wall so they could escape. He only moved because someone – maybe Annabeth, maybe Clarisse – pulled him, forcing him to let go of Grover.
The walk out of the Labyrinth was a blur.
The silence was absolute. Not even Annabeth could speak. The weight of the loss crushed them, and all that remained was an unbearable emptiness.
Remembering this, he didn't want to let his friend's death be in vain; he didn't want to let the Titans win this war. Percy tried to gather energy from the storm around him, drawing the power of the waves, of the water… but he had already spent too much. His head throbbed. His muscles screamed for rest.
Eurybia raised a hand. The rain around her stopped in mid-air, drops floating like suspended pearls. Then, in an instant, she closed her fingers…
And each drop transformed into an ice blade.
The storm obeyed the Titan.
Percy rolled to the side, feeling the sharp whistle of the blades passing close to his body. Some embedded themselves in the ground around him, others struck the remains of the cabins behind him, scattering shards of ice and splintered wood.
He needed to react.
Grover was dead.
And he couldn't let anyone else die.
Percy gripped Riptide so tightly his knuckles turned white. Every fiber of his being screamed for him to fight, but his energy was draining too fast. He tried to pull strength from the ocean, but it was like trying to hold sand between his fingers.
Eurybia smiled.
"You are at your limit, child of Poseidon," she said, her voice reverberating like the deep sea. "Your powers are failing. Your body can't take any more. Your soul is wounded..."
Percy spat blood on the ground and rose, trembling.
"Maybe..." he growled. "But I'm still here..."
The Titan's eyes gleamed. With a flick of her hand, another volley of ice blades shot towards him.
This time, he didn't run.
Percy raised Riptide at the last second and spun on his axis, deflecting the blades with as little movement as possible. Each one passed inches from his body, slicing his shirt, his skin, but he didn't stop. The world slowed around him, his battle instincts taking over.
He leaped forward, charging at Eurybia with everything he had left.
The Titan raised a barrier of solid water to block him, but Percy plunged through it, dissipating the defense with sheer willpower. He was no longer fighting with technique or strategy. He was fighting because there was no other choice.
His friends were still there. Annabeth and Clarisse needed him against Pallas. Nico and Bianca were fighting for their lives against that mysterious warrior. Camp was in ruins, but it wasn't lost yet.
And he couldn't fall.
With a cry of pure determination, Percy struck Eurybia with Riptide. The blade met resistance, a shock of energy reverberating across the battlefield. The Titan stumbled back, surprised.
Percy gasped, his chest heaving. His body ached. His muscles burned. But he wouldn't stop.
He couldn't.
Eurybia recoiled, her gaze dark and fixed on Percy. She snapped her fingers, and the rain around her began to swirl in a deadly vortex, each drop transforming into a sharpened ice blade. The storm raged harder, as if the sky itself was trying to crush him.
Percy forced himself to take a deep breath. His body screamed for rest, but he refused to fall.
"I admire your persistence, boy," Eurybia said, her voice echoing like distant thunder. "But you are finished."
She raised her hands, and the ocean answered her call. Waves of dark water erupted from the ground like serpents, swirling around her in furious spirals. Then, with a sharp movement, she unleashed it all on him.
Percy tried to react. Tried to command the water to obey him, to turn against the Titan. But he couldn't. He was too exhausted.
The first blast hit his shoulder, throwing him back. The second slammed into his chest, crushing him against the debris of a destroyed cabin. He felt something crack in his ribs. His vision blurred.
The Titan approached slowly, as if savoring the moment.
"You are a foolish hero," she murmured. "Do you really think you can defeat a primordial force of the ocean?"
Percy spat blood and raised Riptide, his arms trembling.
"I've defeated a Titan before," he gasped. "And I was less annoyed then."
Eurybia frowned, clearly not amused by the taunt. She gestured, and a column of water lifted Percy into the air, spinning like a miniature whirlpool.
"You talk too much," she said.
The water began to constrict him. Percy felt like he was being crushed. He struggled, trying to regain control, but his connection to the sea was weak.
That's when he realized something.
The storm. He had control over that too, right? It was still there.
Percy closed his eyes. He ignored the pain. Ignored the exhaustion. Ignored the fact that everything around him was falling apart.
And he pulled.
The storm roared like a monster awakening. Lightning ripped across the sky. The wind howled, and the rain came down so hard it felt like cannonballs hitting the ground.
Eurybia's eyes widened as a bolt of lightning streaked towards her and veered away. The water holding him dissolved.
Percy hit the ground, rolling to absorb the impact, and raised his sword.
Before Eurybia could react, Percy advanced.
He moved like the storm itself, fast, unpredictable.
Riptide's blade flashed with lightning as he spun, deflecting a blast of ice and striking the Titan's flank.
The sword cut.
Eurybia screamed in fury. Her basalt skin cracked, a fissure opening where Percy had struck her. From within, something glowed; a blue-green light, pulsing as if the ocean itself was trapped within her body.
She stumbled back, clutching the wound. Her eyes, once emotionless, were now filled with hatred.
"You…" she snarled. "You wounded me?"
Percy staggered, barely able to stay on his feet. His body ached. His head spun. But he managed a weary grin.
"Don't feel bad…" he said. "I've hurt worse."
Eurybia roared in rage, raising her hands to summon another wave of destruction.
While Percy struggled against Eurybia, Clarisse and Annabeth fought Pallas, the Titan of War. The ground trembled with each step of the colossal creature. His body seemed made of living bronze, and his armor gleamed under the lightning flashes. His eyes, two burning embers, pulsed with an immortal fury.
Clarisse gripped her electric spear, Maimer, and spat on the ground. She was covered in blood and dust, a deep cut on her forehead dripping into her eyes.
"You're not that big…" she growled, spinning the spear and advancing.
Pallas laughed, his voice reverberating like the boom of a cannon.
"Little warrior… your bravery is admirable, but futile…"
He moved with a speed impossible for something so large. In a blink, his spear came down, and Clarisse only had time to raise Maimer to block. The impact threw her back as if she'd been hit by a battering ram.
Annabeth ran to the side, her dagger gleaming under the rain. Her brain raced. Facing a War Titan head-on was suicide. She needed to think. She needed a strategy.
"Clarisse distract. I'll find an opening."
Clarisse got up with a grunt and spat blood.
"Is that all you got?! I've fought a stronger Cyclops!"
She charged again. Pallas spun his spear, the movements as precise and lethal as a battle dance. He deflected Clarisse's thrust and struck with the butt of the weapon, hitting her ribs hard enough to make her stagger.
Annabeth seized the opening and lunged at the Titan from behind, aiming for the joints of the armor with her dagger. She drove the blade into the gap between the Titan's shoulder blade and arm.
Pallas roared, feeling the blade cut.
But he didn't fall.
His free hand moved swift as a serpent and grabbed Annabeth by the collar of her coat.
"Clever… but weak!"
Before she could react, he hurled her. Annabeth flew several meters before colliding with a pile of rubble from the Dining Pavilion. The impact made her vision blacken for a moment.
Clarisse roared in fury and ran towards the Titan with all her might, her spear sparking. She spun and slammed Maimer against the side of Pallas's armor, releasing a powerful electrical discharge. Sparks exploded across the battlefield.
The Titan faltered slightly, feeling the electricity coursing through his armor.
"Interesting…." he murmured. "But not enough!"
He grabbed the shaft of the spear and, before Clarisse could let go, lifted her off the ground with a brutal yank.
Clarisse screamed, trying to resist, but was hurled violently against the ground.
Pallas raised his spear, ready to finish her off.
Annabeth, stumbling, saw this.
Her heart leaped.
No.
Not Clarisse.
She gripped her dagger, ignoring the pain in her body. There had to be a way to win this.
Then she realized.
Pallas's armor.
Made of living bronze, but… bronze. A metal.
If it was normal material, she may not have considered this. But Clarisse was still holding Maimer, and that spear produced electricity.
"Clarisse!" Annabeth shouted. "His armor! It conducts electricity!"
Clarisse gasped in pain on the ground, but her eyes gleamed with understanding.
She tightened her grip on the spear.
Pallas realized too late.
Clarisse rolled back and spun Maimer, slamming it into the ground.
The shock traveled through the wet earth, spreading electricity throughout the Titan's body. His armor glowed blue, and he screamed, staggering back.
It was now or never.
Annabeth ran, leaped over debris, and drove her dagger into the crack she had made earlier in Pallas's shoulder blade.
This time, she twisted the blade.
Pallas roared in pain. His hand went back, trying to grab her, but the shock from Clarisse's spear made him lose strength for an instant.
Clarisse didn't waste the opportunity.
She surged forward and slammed Maimer against the Titan's chest, releasing the last electrical discharge her spear held.
Pallas crashed to his knees, smoke rising from his armor. He was still alive, but weakened.
Meanwhile, Annabeth gasped, tasting the metallic tang of blood in her mouth. Her body ached like she'd been hit by a truck, but she couldn't stop now.
Clarisse was beside her, on her knees, clutching her ribs. Pallas's blow had been brutal. Her spear still sparked weakly, but they were both at their limit.
And the Titan was still alive.
He was trying to get up, his colossal body shaking from the shocks. The ground around was covered in dracaenae, lesser cyclopes, reanimated skeletons. They were hesitant, but still a threat.
Annabeth clenched her fists.
She had to do something.
Her eyes flashed gold for an instant, and she felt energy flow through her body. Ikki's ability. The one she had named [Karmic Vengeance].
She had tried something impossible before, trying to reverse Grover's death. And failed.
But this… this she could do.
"Clarisse, hold still…" Her voice sounded firmer than she felt.
"What are you talking about?!" Clarisse snarled, trying to get up, but the pain made her grunt.
Annabeth ignored her.
She closed her eyes and felt the wounds.
The deep cuts. Clarisse's cracked rib. The bruises on her own body. The utter exhaustion. All the pain.
And then, she returned it.
Not to Pallas – that wouldn't work on him.
But to the monsters around them.
The effect was immediate.
The nearest dracaenae screamed, a cut opening on its shoulder as if struck by an invisible blade. Another monster – a lesser cyclops – stumbled, its ribs caving in as if broken. The skeletons began to crumble, cracks appearing in their bones as if they had taken unseen blows.
Clarisse's eyes widened as she felt the pain disappear. Her ribs were whole again. The dried blood vanished, skin regenerating.
She remembered Annabeth's unique ability. It truly was absurd to witness firsthand!
But there was no time to gape.
Pallas was holding back before. That's why her ability hadn't been able to predict his attacks properly.
She couldn't efficiently use the skill she received from Ikki…
[Martial Simulation].
The world around her vanished.
In her mind, Pallas appeared before her.
Not as he was now, but as a projection, recreated from everything she had observed: his physique, his gait, breathing, even how often he blinked.
It was as if she was fighting him inside her mind.
She tested attacks. Defended against his blows. Simulated blocks, dodges, feints. Created and broke thousands of possible patterns, predicting every variation of attack he could use.
Her body began to sweat cold.
Even in her mind, each simulated fight took a tremendous toll on her stamina. Her body couldn't keep up indefinitely.
She gritted her teeth.
Beside her, Annabeth narrowed her eyes at the titan.
She couldn't hurt him with her ability. Maybe because a Titan was too powerful, or maybe because she was still weak after trying to save Grover.
But the monsters around them were shattered.
And that was enough.
The wind whipped across the battlefield as Clarisse surged forward first.
Her body moved like a blur, brute strength and speed combined into a single driving force. The ground trembled, cracking beneath her feet as she shot forward like a thunderbolt, her spear Maimer buzzing in the air.
Pallas barely had time to react.
The Titan raised his own spear to block, but the impact was monstrous. The clash of metal against metal resounded like thunder, and even with his titanic strength, Pallas was driven back, his feet gouging the earth.
Annabeth appeared right behind Clarisse.
She ducked low at the last instant and kicked off the ground with inhuman force, launching herself into a leap that made the air explode around her.
Her fist clenched.
"Die, you bastard!" She roared, her voice raw with fury and determination.
Pallas tried to block, but Annabeth was too fast.
The impact of Annabeth's punch slammed into the Titan's abdomen with a force that made his armor buckle. The sound of warping metal and cracking bone echoed across the field. The monster was thrown back violently, crashing through columns and tearing up the ground in its path.
But they didn't stop.
Clarisse spun her spear, lightning dancing along the blade. Her eyes blazed with the fury of battle, her strength overflowing with pure ferocity.
Annabeth landed softly, eyes sharp as blades.
Pallas rose from the debris.
His eyes glowed with fury, and his titanic aura intensified.
But Annabeth and Clarisse were unimpressed.
They were already moving.
The air shimmered.
Pallas didn't move.
He just spun his spear in a fluid, casual motion, creating a shockwave that swept Annabeth and Clarisse away like ragdolls.
Both were thrown back violently, tearing up the ground as they tried to regain control.
"Damn…" Annabeth slammed her feet into the ground, the impact sending cracks through the terrain.
Clarisse leaped back into battle without hesitation, her spear crackling with electricity.
"I'm gonna rip your head off, you piece of trash!"
She shot forward like a missile, the sound of the explosion of her own movement echoing across the battlefield.
Pallas smirked.
The Titan raised his spear slightly, calculating Clarisse's trajectory with absurd precision.
At the last second, he moved.
It wasn't an exaggerated movement. Just a slight adjustment. But Clarisse vanished.
An instant later, she was spinning through the air, crumpled by a brutal blow.
The impact of her fall created a deep crater, and her spear bounced harmlessly away.
Annabeth barely had time to react.
When she tried to advance, Pallas was already in front of her.
A fist obliterated the air.
She raised her arms to block, but it was like being hit by a meteor. Her body was buried in the ground in a deafening crash.
Pallas laughed.
"You are impressive. But you are still just toys before a true Titan."
The titan spun his spear casually as Annabeth and Clarisse struggled to rise, their bodies trembling.
Annabeth activated her unique ability again, her hand glowing.
And then…
All the damage she and Clarisse had taken was transferred to the monsters around them.
The cyclopes and dracaenae screamed in agony, their bodies being ripped apart by invisible wounds.
Annabeth and Clarisse recovered completely in an instant.
As the two faced Pallas, on the other side, near the destroyed Hades cabin, Bianca and Nico faced the unknown man.
The battle had gone on for too long. Nico and Bianca were exhausted, blood dripping from deep cuts as they faced the man—no, the *monster*—who stood before them.
He was tall, with black hair and eyes that were a black void, pale skin and a build that seemed frail at first glance.
Bianca's poison was already circulating through his body. She had created the toxin right there, before his eyes, a lethal substance forged with her divine ability. The strike of her dagger should have been enough to bring him down.
But he was still standing.
"Interesting…" The man flexed his paralyzed arm, observing it as if it were merely a slight inconvenience. "No one has wounded me in centuries…"
He raised his head, a cold smile forming on his lips.
"But where are my manners? My name is Chernobog."
Nico frowned. He'd played enough Mythomagic and had seen some fan-made Slavic god cards. Besides, he had encountered Veles in the labyrinth, another Slavic god, and knew these gods weren't just obscure legends. They were real entities, as dangerous as the Greek ones.
And Chernobog wasn't just anyone. His name meant "Black God". The Lord of Chaos and Destruction.
"Nobody cares who you are… You should be dead…" Bianca spat blood on the ground, her dagger trembling in her hand. She wanted to attack again, but her body wouldn't obey.
"Many have tried to kill me…" Chernobog took a step forward. "None have succeeded…"
Before he could advance, Nico attacked.
He vanished into shadow and reappeared behind the god, his sword shattering the air with a dark gleam. But at the last instant, Chernobog turned, his hand lashing out in a destructive blow.
Nico didn't try to block.
The attack passed right through him.
The son of Hades was intangible, his body immersed in his own dimension of shadows, a power he had received from Ikki. While like this, nothing could touch him.
But it also meant he couldn't attack.
Chernobog narrowed his eyes. He realized this in the same instant.
"An interesting trick…" he murmured. "But tricks don't win wars…"
He raised his hand and, suddenly, the ground exploded beneath Bianca.
She was thrown back, slamming into a rock with a sickening crack.
"Bianca!" Nico roared.
She tried to get up, but her legs faltered.
Chernobog smiled.
"Let's see how long you last, boy…"
Nico didn't think. He charged.
Darkness exploded around him as he projected himself towards Chernobog, his black sword slicing through the air. The Slavic god deflected effortlessly, moving as if gravity didn't affect him.
Nico reappeared behind him, unleashing a wave of shadows that stretched out like spectral claws, attempting to tear at Chernobog's flesh. The god merely raised his hand, and the black energy dissipated like mist.
"You fight like a son of death," Chernobog murmured, his voice laced with amusement. "But it is not enough."
He spun, and before Nico could react, a monstrous blow struck his chest.
The pain was immediate.
Nico was thrown back, crashing through a line of rocks. His body hit the ground with a thud, and he tasted blood in his mouth. His power of intangibility had vanished for a second—he was too tired to maintain it continuously.
He tried to get up, but his body wouldn't obey. His vision blurred.
Chernobog approached slowly.
"You should thank me," the god said. "I will grant you a swift death."
He raised his hand. The shadow around him condensed, taking the form of a pulsating black spear.
Nico knew he couldn't deflect it. His body wouldn't move in time. He tried to summon the shadows again, to escape into his dark dimension… but his power failed.
He was about to die.
Then, a figure moved in front of him.
Bianca.
She threw herself in front of the spear, her hands outstretched, her expression determined.
Chernobog's attack hit her full force.
For an instant, the world seemed to freeze.
Nico saw his sister's eyes widen as the black energy pierced her chest. Saw her mouth open, but no sound came out. She sank to her knees, her fingers twitching as she tried to clutch the wound.
"N-no…" Nico choked out, his heart stopping in his chest.
Chernobog raised an eyebrow, surprised.
"Tsk. I hadn't intended to kill her first," he shrugged. "But so be it."
Bianca swayed. She turned her head to Nico, a faint smile on her lips.
"N-Nico…"
Then, she collapsed.
The silence that followed was crushing.
Nico stood frozen, his mind unable to process what had just happened.
Bianca was down.
Blood stained her tunic, and her eyes, once filled with determination, were beginning to lose their light.
Something inside Nico snapped.
A wave of pure power exploded from him.
The ground beneath his feet quaked, cracks spreading like spiderwebs across the soil. The air grew thick, heavy with the energy of death.
Then, the camp *trembled*.
Not a normal tremor.
A monstrous earthquake, savage, as if the gods of the underworld themselves had awakened in fury. The earth split open, forming a black, bottomless chasm. Trees were ripped from the ground. The ruins of what was left of camp crumbled, dust and debris rising like a gale.
Chernobog frowned and took a step back. For the first time, he looked surprised.
Nico didn't think. He didn't care about anything but the raw rage burning inside him. His body felt light and heavy at the same time, as if the darkness itself had fused to his bones.
He advanced.
With every step, the earth splintered. His body was surrounded by a pulsating black aura, and his eyes glowed with a deep, frigid emptiness, devoid of any trace of the humanity that still lingered within him.
Chernobog raised his hand, conjuring more shadows around him, preparing for attack.
But Nico was faster.
He moved like a living shadow, appearing in front of the Slavic god in the blink of an eye. His black sword came down with force, cleaving the air towards Chernobog's chest.
The impact was like thunder.
Nico's blade struck Chernobog with enough force to shatter a mountain. The Slavic god raised his arm to block the blow, and the resulting explosion widened the chasm in the ground, cracking the earth around them. Black energy spread out in waves, debris flying as if a hurricane had just detonated there.
Chernobog was driven back, his feet tearing up the earth. For the first time, he looked… annoyed.
"Interesting…" He spun his hand and conjured a black spear, made of the very essence of shadows. "You have finally stopped playing games, boy."
Nico didn't answer. He vanished into the shadows and reappeared behind Chernobog an instant later, sword already slashing towards the god's neck.
But Chernobog moved with the same speed.
His spear spun, blocking the blow, and the two were locked for a second, the force of their weapons colliding, making the air crackle with black electricity.
Then, both pulled back and advanced again.
It was a blur of shadows and steel.
As Nico and Chernobog fought with destructive fury, in another corner of the battlefield, the situation grew even worse.
The ground still trembled, fissures spreading throughout the camp, and the remaining demigods were busy trying to survive against Kryos, the Titan of the Constellations, a colossal figure clad in black armor speckled with stars. His spear shimmered like a supernova with every movement, tearing at the air and leaving behind rifts of pure cosmic energy.
The demigods fought with everything they had. They were superhuman warriors, capable of destroying cities and moving at the speed of sound, but before a Titan… even they seemed like mere mortals.
Chiron and the demigods were trying to hold him off, but Kryos was relentless. He had already killed many—the Stoll brothers and several others. The battlefield was littered with bodies.
Yet he still seemed bored.
Katie Gardner screamed in rage and raised her hands, causing the earth itself to rise against the Titan. Thick vines, hardened like steel, coiled around his legs, pulling him down. Trees sprouted from nowhere, transforming the battlefield into a savage forest in seconds.
For an instant, it seemed she had stopped him.
Then, Kryos glowed.
His armor shimmered like an expanding constellation, and in an instant, all the vegetation around him turned to dust. Katie barely had time to recoil before a wave of pure cosmic energy consumed her. Her scream was cut short.
Chiron roared in fury and charged, his centaur form moving with unmatched speed and grace. His bow rose, and a rain of shimmering arrows tore across the sky. Each one carried enough power to demolish entire buildings. They struck Kryos head-on, exploding in waves of fire and electricity.
But when the dust settled, the Titan was still there.
Unharmed.
Kryos smiled. He spun his spear, and the very atmosphere around him seemed to bend. When the blade sliced through the air, a black rift opened in space. Chiron tried to deflect it, but the explosion that followed threw him against what remained of the Big House. The centaur fell heavily, his body too wounded to move.
The few remaining demigods hesitated. They were fast. They were strong. But they were facing a monster that couldn't be beaten.
The battlefield was chaos. The sky flickered between light and darkness, torn by the power of gods and Titans. Demigods were scattered, many fallen, others still fighting, but clearly losing ground.
Kryos, the Titan of the Constellations, spun his incandescent spear, surveying the scene around him with a glint of cruel amusement in his eyes. To him, this was nothing more than a game.
Then, a new voice boomed, laced with authority and impatience.
"Stop playing, Kryos."
The air grew hotter. The sky itself seemed to vibrate.
A figure walked through the destruction, tall, wreathed in a brilliance so intense it was almost impossible to look directly at him. His body radiated heat and energy, as if the sun itself had taken on a humanoid form. Each step he took left the ground scorched with glowing embers.
Hyperion, the Titan of Light, stopped beside Kryos, crossing his arms. His gaze swept across the battlefield with disdain.
"Finish this."
Kryos let out an exaggerated sigh, as if disappointed.
"Oh, but I was having fun…" He spun his spear once more. Then his eyes landed on something.
Or rather, someone.
A younger girl, lying amongst the wreckage.
A daughter of Aphrodite.
She was trembling, wounded, barely able to prop herself up on her elbows. Her eyes were wide with terror as Kryos began to walk slowly towards her, the golden gleam of his spear reflected in her tear-filled irises.
"Well, if it mustbe over…" Kryos smirked, raising his weapon. "How about I start with you?"
The girl tried to scramble back, but her body wouldn't respond. Fear held her in place.
Hyperion showed no reaction. He just watched.
Then, Kryos brought the spear down.
It pierced the girl's chest without resistance. A choked sound escaped her lips as the light in her eyes faded, and her body slumped lifelessly amongst the debris.
The battlefield didn't stop. No one came to save her.
Hyperion watched impassively, as if her death was no more significant than a spark extinguished by the wind.
Kryos twirled his spear, cleaning the blood with a flick of his wrist. "There. Satisfied now?"
Hyperion merely glanced around. The slaughter continued. And the gods weren't there to stop them.
The cries of the demigods became less frequent. The smell of burning flesh and hot metal filled the air. Percy, battered and bruised, watched in horror as Eurybia prepared another attack, a swirling vortex of ice shards forming above her hand. He knew he couldn't withstand another direct hit. His body was screaming in protest, his energy reserves completely depleted.
Suddenly, a blinding flash of light erupted from behind Eurybia, followed by a searing wave of heat. The Titan cried out in surprise as a figure, wreathed in flames, slammed into her with the force of a meteor.
The newcomer was a young man, his eyes blazing like molten gold, his body radiating an almost unbearable heat. He wielded a celestial bronze sword that shimmered with intense light, and even the rain seemed to evaporate around him.
It was Apollo, the god of the sun, finally arriving on the battlefield.
"You dare harm my children?" Apollo's voice resonated with power, echoing across the ravaged camp. He turned his burning gaze to Percy. "Hold on, Percy. I'll take it from here."
With a renewed sense of hope, Percy stumbled back, leaning against a broken tree for support. He watched as Apollo engaged Eurybia in a blindingly fast duel, the clash of their weapons creating shockwaves that rippled through the air.
Apollo's movements were a blur of light and fire, his sword a searing brand against the Titan's dark form. Eurybia fought back with furious desperation, but she was clearly outmatched. The sun god's power was overwhelming, fueled by centuries of pent-up rage against the Titans who had once imprisoned him.
Across the battlefield, similar scenes unfolded. Ares, the god of war, roared into the fray, his presence invigorating the remaining demigods. He clashed with Pallas, the Titan of War, in a brutal, earth-shattering duel, their weapons meeting in a shower of sparks and blood.
Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, appeared alongside her brother, a rain of silver arrows decimating the ranks of monsters that swarmed the camp. Her hunters, resurrected by her divine power, joined the fight with renewed ferocity.
Even as the gods turned the tide of the battle, the cost was heavy. The camp was in ruins. Many demigods lay dead, their sacrifices a stark reminder of the price of freedom. But with the arrival of the Olympian gods, a glimmer of hope finally shone through the darkness. The fight was far from over, but for the first time, Percy felt like they might actually have a chance to win. He just hoped it wasn't too late.