The Battle of the Titans – Part 2
CLAAAAAAAAANG!!
Black steel and Celestial Bronze collided once again.
The mountain roared.
The shockwave tore away another section of the summit while hundreds of tonnes of rock came crashing down the slope.
Meanwhile, Percy, who was still fighting the monsters, couldn't help starting to run, trying to avoid the rocks that could bury all of them.
The monsters weren't having a much better time.
Many of them failed to dodge in time and ended up crushed beneath enormous boulders.
"Hey, there are people down here!" Percy couldn't help shouting toward his master and Atlas.
Obviously, they didn't hear him.
Not because of the distance, but because both of them were far too focused on their own battle.
Atlas pushed with all his strength.
The muscles in his arms tightened to their limit.
His spear slowly began forcing Miraak's sword downward.
A smile appeared on the Titan's face.
"That's it! Hold on!"
Miraak remained completely still.
His sword gave way by only a few centimetres.
Then...
He twisted his wrist.
The black edge slid along the shaft of the spear.
The Titan's strength was redirected once again.
The spear pierced the ground.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The summit exploded again.
Before Atlas could recover his stance...
Miraak had already disappeared.
A fist struck him directly in the abdomen.
But this time, his body wasn't sent flying.
Miraak released his sword and grabbed the Titan's head before violently driving it into the ground.
BOOOOM!!
Miraak raised his fist before smashing it down against the Titan's head with all his strength, while the stone beneath them cracked like a spiderweb.
But Miraak didn't stop.
Blow after blow.
BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!!
With every impact, Atlas was driven deeper and deeper into the ground.
But before the next strike, the Titan's foot shot directly toward Miraak.
It struck his chest.
And sent him flying dozens of metres away.
Then the Titan planted both hands against the ground and pulled his head free from the enormous crater.
His smile still hadn't disappeared, even though his face was now covered in several bleeding cuts.
Miraak also had a few wounds.
And considering how long they had been fighting, those injuries could barely even be considered scratches.
Miraak disappeared again without warning.
Atlas hadn't even raised his head when the Dragonborn appeared in front of him once more.
His knee slammed into the Titan's chest.
Another explosion.
Atlas was sent flying again.
This time, he tore through the entire mountain before bursting out the other side.
He barely managed to get back on his feet.
But Miraak descended from above.
His kick came down like a guillotine, striking him and sending him hurtling down the mountainside.
BOOOOM!!
Miraak remained suspended in the air, letting gravity begin pulling him downward.
But at that exact moment, Atlas barely touched the ground before launching himself back toward the summit as though he had bounced off it.
Miraak looked down.
He saw Atlas leaping toward him with his fist aimed straight at him.
Then Miraak threw a punch as well.
Their collision in midair caused only a sonic boom.
But neither of them was sent flying.
Even in the air, it was as though they were breaking the laws of physics.
But at that moment, Miraak pulled his fist back slightly, allowing the Titan's punch to gain ground.
Before Atlas could feel proud...
Miraak moved his other hand.
The Dragonborn's fist struck him directly in the face.
BOOOOOOOOM!!
Atlas crashed into the summit once again, while his spear, which had been sent who knew where earlier, suddenly tore across the sky toward its owner.
Miraak also raised one hand toward the air, and his black sword, which had been left embedded in the mountain, flew directly into his palm.
Miraak landed on the summit again as Atlas climbed out of the crater once more.
Both of them now held their respective weapons again.
And they stared at each other once more.
...
Below...
Percy's chest rose and fell harder and harder.
Fighting while dodging a mountain collapsing on top of him, while at the same time avoiding minigun fire, arrows, spears, and javelins, wasn't as easy as it might seem.
Percy raised one hand and caught an arrow flying toward his neck.
With a twist of his body, he drove it straight into the chest of a hellhound almost as large as a wardrobe, causing it to burst into dust and mist.
At the same time, his black sword pierced the chest of the Laestrygonian standing in front of him.
The Celestial Bronze sword, which had previously pierced another monster's neck, returned through telekinesis, since he didn't have time to wait for it to reappear in his pocket on its own.
The monsters tried to take advantage of his exhaustion.
They crowded around him, attacking from every angle.
Three hellhounds emerged from the shadows.
Two dracaenae attacked from both sides.
And behind them...
Five Laestrygonians raised their miniguns.
RATATATATATATATA!!
Seeing that, Percy couldn't help complaining internally.
Annoyed, he drew in a breath.
"FUS RO DAH!!"
The Shout struck all the monsters head-on, sending them flying until they disappeared over the horizon.
Including the Laestrygonians with their miniguns.
At last, he was rid of those irritating things.
Though who knew where they would end up landing afterward.
But that was no longer Percy's problem.
All the monsters stopped at that moment when they realised barely half of those who had started the battle were still left.
At that moment, Percy landed on a rock and, taking advantage of the monsters' confusion over whether they should keep attacking him or not, sat there for a moment.
His breathing was clearly heavier.
Blood ran down from several cuts along his arms, but a healing spell had already begun visibly mending them, leaving a golden glow over his body.
"H-he's getting tired. We can't stop now," one of the nearby demigods said.
But he didn't even take a step to continue the fight.
Instead, the other demigods looked at one another for a moment, uncertainty in their eyes.
Then they looked across the battlefield.
Many of their companions could be seen lying on the ground, writhing in pain, while others were completely unconscious.
It was obvious that Percy had been holding back, at least against the humans.
And that seemed to give the demigods a little courage.
"You'd better get those stupid thoughts out of your heads. The only reason I didn't kill you was because you weren't a real threat. You're the weakest ones in this group. But that doesn't mean I'm not prepared to kill you if necessary," Percy said coldly, as though he had read the boys' minds.
And after receiving that look and hearing those words, they couldn't help swallowing hard.
Even though only a few seconds had passed, Percy stood again and stretched his muscles a little.
"All right. Let's finish this before sunset. I still have a Trial objective to deliver," Percy said calmly before gripping both swords again and taking his stance.
The moment he did, it was as though a heavy aura began surrounding him.
Carrying the weight of a superior creature.
His enemies, feeling that aura, couldn't help taking a step back and swallowing hard.
But before Percy could begin again, he suddenly froze.
Then he turned around at once, staring toward the summit with wide eyes.
...
At the summit...
Half of Atlas's face was still buried in the rock.
Miraak was still holding him by the neck.
For the first time since the battle had begun...
Atlas was unable to respond.
The Dragonborn raised his arm again.
And brought down another punch.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The entire mountain roared once more.
Then...
A laugh began rising from the bottom of the crater, growing louder and louder.
"Hahaha..."
The stones began to tremble.
"Hahahahaha..."
Atlas's hand slowly closed around Miraak's arm.
His head emerged from the rubble.
Blood ran down his forehead.
But his smile was wider than ever.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
With a single movement...
He pushed Miraak several metres back.
He slowly rose while wiping the blood from his face with the back of his hand.
His eyes shone with an almost childlike excitement.
"It's been thousands of years...!"
He slowly spun his spear.
"...since anyone managed to make me enjoy myself like this. But... it's time to end it. This won't lead anywhere. We can't even use all of our power," Atlas said as he raised one fist, which began glowing with a golden light.
But black chains immediately rose from the ground, about to bind him.
So Atlas stopped using his divinity.
"As long as this foolish competition remains in effect, gods in conflict cannot fight each other or harm the champions. So this is pointless," Atlas said with a slightly irritated tone.
Miraak remained silent.
But from his expression, he also seemed somewhat annoyed, as though he now regretted accepting that foolish agreement with Zeus simply because it was costing him a good battle.
Then, in the middle of their silence, a scream suddenly came from not far away.
More precisely, from the centre of what remained of the ruined mountain, which seemed to still be standing only by some miracle.
"Thalia, nooo!" Annabeth screamed from the drakkar, her eyes wide with panic, while Grover covered his mouth.
Without even realising it, everyone had stopped watching Miraak and Atlas's battle.
Now they were all staring at the same thing.
Miraak and Atlas also turned their gazes toward that place.
And then they understood the reason for the scream.
There, they saw Luke and Thalia embracing.
Face-to-face.
Staring into each other's eyes while a thin line of blood ran from both of their mouths.
But they weren't connected only by that embrace.
Luke's sword had pierced through both of them.
And Thalia's spear was sticking out of Luke's back.
Both opened their mouths, spilling large amounts of blood, unable to say a single word.
Thalia looked down, watching the blood gush from her chest.
Then she raised her eyes toward Luke.
She opened her mouth as well, but only more blood came out.
Then both of them fell to one side.
Still staring directly into each other's eyes.
"I-I'm sorry..." Luke managed to let out as he coughed up more blood.
And with those final words, his eyes began to close.
Thalia said nothing.
She only managed to shift her gaze toward Annabeth for a moment.
Who was kneeling on the drakkar, her face covered in tears and her entire body trembling.
And with that final image...
Thalia's eyes also slowly began to close.