Luke's Resolve
The tip of Thalia's spear remained pointed at Luke.
Neither of them moved for several seconds.
Around them, the wind dragged dust and leaves torn from the trees. In the distance, the roars of monsters and the constant thunder of miniguns could still be heard from Percy's battle.
But Thalia never looked away from Luke.
Even when Percy's master, a divine being, seemed about to face Atlas, all of her attention remained fixed on him.
The same boy she had met years ago.
The one she had survived countless trials with.
The one she would once have given everything for.
And who, through some cruel joke of fate, now stood in front of her with his weapon pointed at her.
Luke's face remained just as still, though a mist could be seen slowly forming in his eyes.
But he forced down every emotion, setting a firmer expression on his face as his hand tightened around the hilt of his sword.
For a long time, he had believed he knew Thalia better than anyone.
He knew when she was lying.
When she was pretending not to be afraid.
When a threat was nothing more than a way to hide how much something mattered to her.
But this time...
Her eyes showed none of those things.
Thalia was truly prepared to stop him, even if that meant killing him.
Even knowing what might happen to her soul afterward.
"You're insane," Luke murmured.
"You're not the first person to tell me that," Thalia replied with complete calm and an unreadable expression.
Luke gritted his teeth.
"Fine. Have it your way, then. If you want to stop me, here I am," he said in an icy tone.
Thalia said nothing else.
And in the next instant...
She moved.
Her spear crackled with electricity as its tip came down directly toward his chest.
Luke knocked the attack aside with his sword.
The impact sent out a shower of blue sparks.
Thalia spun and launched another strike toward his neck.
Luke leaned backward.
The tip passed only a few centimetres from his throat.
Before he could regain his balance, Thalia struck at his legs with the lower end of the spear.
Luke jumped.
Electricity raced through the ground beneath him, making small rocks explode.
But Luke didn't remain on the defensive either.
He attacked with his sword at once.
Sword and spear clashed once.
"Looks like you didn't improve that much after all this time," Thalia said when she saw Luke was still at the same level as her, just like in the past, even though she had spent years turned into a tree.
"The greatest swordsman to set foot in Camp Half-Blood in generations... I think that was a bit much," she added.
Luke didn't answer.
Instead, his blade slid along the shaft of Thalia's spear and forced it aside.
Luke twisted his wrist.
The tip of his sword moved toward the girl's abdomen.
But Thalia didn't try to dodge.
Instead, she continued her attack, leaving her defence completely open.
Luke's eyes widened, and he stopped the movement at the last instant, causing the edge to barely cut the fabric of her jacket.
But Thalia's spear didn't stop.
And struck his shoulder.
A burst of electricity tore through his entire body.
Luke grimaced in pain and threw himself backward until he crashed into a rock, one hand going to his shoulder, which had now begun to bleed and felt completely numb.
Thalia leapt toward him with another thrust of her spear.
Luke ducked beneath it, letting it strike the rock behind him.
"If you don't stop holding back, you'll never defeat me. Just like in the past," Thalia said.
"We'll see about that, old friend," Luke said as he swept at her feet.
With one fluid movement, his sword moved quickly toward her.
Thalia blocked with the shaft of her spear, but Luke pulled his sword back in an instant and launched a thrust so fast Thalia barely saw it.
But by reflex, she raised Aegis.
That caused Luke to freeze for barely an instant, thanks to the enchantment meant to inspire fear.
Even so, Luke recovered quickly.
He moved his sword, opening a cut across Thalia's leg, then drove a knee beneath the shield to knock it out of his line of sight.
That made Thalia raise it above her head, leaving her defence open.
Taking advantage of it, Luke kicked her in the stomach, forcing Thalia to bend forward while clutching her abdomen.
Then Luke gripped his sword with both hands, staring seriously at Thalia's head, ready to strike.
But his attack didn't come immediately.
Instead, he took one second longer than necessary.
So Thalia ducked quickly, avoiding it while Luke's sword cut through a few strands of her hair.
Thalia spun her spear, striking with the blunt end toward Luke's face.
He moved his head to one side, dodging easily, then stepped back when Thalia raised Aegis again.
"Tsk," Luke clicked his tongue with an annoyed expression as he lifted his sword to block a direct thrust toward his neck.
Thalia's spear released sparks while the lightning around her seemed ready to fall on Luke.
"I see you've finally accepted your own blood," Luke said mockingly, since it was Zeus's latent power within Thalia that was causing those bolts.
Thalia didn't answer.
Instead, she used Luke's distraction to move her spear, spinning it above her head before slashing toward his face.
Luke stepped back.
Then Thalia launched several thrusts, each aimed at his head or neck.
Luke only moved his head several times, avoiding them with ease.
"If you want to stop me, you'll need much more than that, Thalia," he said seriously.
Then he swung his sword and struck Thalia's spear, knocking her attack aside before raising his foot in a straight kick.
Thalia protected herself with Aegis.
But even so, she was pushed several steps backward.
Luke had no intention of letting her recover her guard.
He leapt toward her, ready to deliver another slash.
But before he could...
An explosion shook the entire mountain.
"BOOOOOOOOM!!"
The ground rose beneath their feet.
Luke and Thalia lost their balance at the same time.
A fissure tore through the terrain between them, splitting open with such violence that several trees leaned into it before disappearing.
Chunks of rock began falling from the summit while both of them struggled just to keep their balance.
Zoë, who remained beside Artemis without knowing what to do, since the goddess refused to let her take her place, could only stay there and protect her from any harm.
But in reality, both of them were now looking toward the same point.
And both wore the same expression of surprise.
Thalia and Luke stopped their fight for a moment to look in the same direction.
And just like them, they couldn't help widening their eyes in shock.
An enormous cloud of dust covered part of the mountain.
Something had been sent flying from within it.
It tore through a wall of rock and kept going until it crashed into another side of the summit.
Luke narrowed his eyes.
The figure began rising from the rubble, pulling his body free from where it had been embedded in solid stone.
It was Atlas.
The Titan slowly stood while enormous chunks of rock fell from his shoulders.
He stretched his limbs, making his bones crack, while his elegant suit was now somewhat ruined.
Atlas didn't seem to have suffered much damage, except for a small cut on his lip from which only a little golden blood was flowing.
Meanwhile, on the part of the mountain where that fissure had opened, the man known as Percy's master remained standing.
He held an enormous black sword in one hand, its tip resting against the ground, right where the trench that had split the mountain in two began.
With a movement of his other hand, Atlas's spear was thrown aside like garbage.
Then he lifted that black sword, which seemed to devour all light, and calmly rested it against his shoulder.
Miraak looked toward Atlas without changing his expression.
Atlas ran his thumb across the blood, stared at it for a few seconds, and began to laugh.
It was a deep, satisfied, almost savage laugh.
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
His voice echoed across the entire summit.
"I thought you were all talk, but it seems you really do have what it takes!" the Titan added as he looked toward Miraak.
Miraak didn't answer.
He only raised slightly the hand that had been wounded before.
A golden light wrapped around it, completely healing any injury that remained.
Without taking his eyes off Miraak, Atlas picked up his spear from the ground and spun the weapon between his hands.
"It's a shame," he said in a somewhat annoyed tone. "It's a shame we can't fight with all our power."
At the same time, several black chains suddenly seemed about to rise from the ground.
As though threatening to stop both of them.
But still not doing so completely.
As though they had not yet broken any rule.
Or rather, the main reason why the Champions' Competition had been created.
Gods cannot fight one another.
So the exchange just now still respected the rules of the Trial.
But seeing how the mountain had been split in two...
It was hard to believe that kind of strength could be considered mortal.
From Atlas, it could be expected.
But for Miraak to match him...
That already said a great deal.
Both measured each other in silence.
Even Zoë and Artemis watched in disbelief as that man managed to equal the Titan.
Both smiled again at the same time.
They leapt toward one another at a speed that broke the sound barrier, causing sonic booms before they had even literally appeared in front of each other.
Sword against spear.
Their clash once again caused a tremor that ran through the entire mountain.
They had only exchanged a few blows...
And the mountain was already showing signs that it wouldn't be able to endure many more.
...
Meanwhile, on Thalia and Luke's side...
Taking advantage of the distance, she attacked again.
Luke barely managed to react.
His sword knocked the spear aside, but Thalia used the momentum to strike him directly in the face with the shaft.
Luke stumbled several steps backward.
He raised his sword just in time to stop another thrust.
But this time, Thalia moved faster than before.
She released Aegis and pointed her free hand toward Luke's face.
At once, a large amount of electricity began gathering in her palm, copying the ability Percy had used, but in her own style.
Dozens of sparks shot directly toward Luke.
His eyes widened, and he quickly jumped to one side to dodge them.
But Thalia followed him with her palm extended while a rain of lightning descended over him.
"You don't understand anything!" Luke shouted as he dodged the bolts and ran toward Thalia at the same time.
But Thalia, without stopping the electrical discharge, moved her other hand and attacked with the spear.
That forced Luke to stop for barely an instant.
And it was enough for several bolts to strike his chest, violently throwing him backward.
"AAAH!" he cried in pain.
But without stopping, he began rolling across the ground to keep the rest of the lightning from hitting him.
The pain filled Luke with fury as he prepared to charge at Thalia again.
But he didn't take a single step.
His body stopped completely.
Between the flashes of electricity leaving Thalia's palm, he could see several tears slowly beginning to fall down her face.
While she tried to keep that cold expression.
Prepared to kill him.
That sight made Luke's hand tremble.
But at the same time, a voice sounded directly inside his head.
"Let her do it."
"Her decision is made."
"Die by her hand."
"Do it," Kronos whispered inside his mind. "Force her to carry your death."
Luke gritted his teeth, knowing perfectly well what Kronos wanted.
That made his expression harden.
Since when had that been the real objective...?
And then he remembered every time Kronos had insisted so much on Thalia.
"No!" Luke roared, lunging toward her again.
Thalia stopped a few metres away, believing he was speaking to her.
"What?" she asked just as her lightning ended.
Luke didn't answer.
Instead, he launched a slash directly toward Thalia's neck.
This time it was more violent.
More dangerous.
Thalia barely managed to avoid it by ducking.
But when she did, she took a knee directly to the face that forced her upright again.
She saw Luke preparing a thrust aimed straight at her chest.
But just before carrying it out...
Luke suddenly stopped.
"AAAH!" he roared in pain as he brought one hand to his head.
Even so, he gritted his teeth and attacked.
That completely confused Thalia.
But she still raised her defence at once.
"Come on. Didn't you want to stop me? Then do it," Luke shouted as his attacks became more and more ruthless and fast.
Thalia stopped trying to understand what was happening.
Her determination returned.
And both of them began clashing their weapons once again.