Chapter 29

Greetings readers! I hope that all of you enjoyed reading the previous chapter!

I would like to thank J for your continued support! I am very glad that you enjoyed the previous chapter and I hope you like this one as well!

I would like to thank Nice for your continued support!

I would like to the emoticon using guest reviewer for your continued support!

I would like to thank the other guest reviewer for your continued support!

In response to ShadowHunter2077's review, yes, Tartarus is the universally disliked baddie. There's no redeeming feature in him and he's basically the personification of Chaotic Evil. Well, this has always been a story where the hero has to earn his happy ending and I am pretty sure that after all the crap he's been through, Percy more than deserves a happy ending. I am flattered to hear that you think so highly of my story and I have to agree with you that it would have been awesome to have a story that expounded more on Zeus and Hades' abilities as well. But alas, that's just limited to the thinking and writing of fanfiction writers and not anything official. Thank you for your continued support!

I would like to thank Geurtg for your continued support!

In response to Walter Ha's review, yes, we are truly in the endgame now. And this happens to be my longest chapter ever, speaking content-wise so it took a lot longer than I would have liked. But I consider the action, dynamics and overall pacing in this to be the best I've ever written. And I hope you like it! Thank you for your continued support!

In response to the guest reviewer( the one who reviews frequently), I am very glad to hear that Atlas is a believable sympathetic villain. Ultimately, you realise that he's doing things the wrong way but his intentions aren't exactly wrong. And that makes his battle with Percy not a question of good vs evil or one of liberator vs tyrant, it's two people with similar ideals going about it in two very different ways.

I know! Percy finally picked up his swords. I had been itching for this moment since the beginning of this story. I am thrilled to hear that you liked the conversation between Percy and the other Protogenoi. I wanted to give some more insight into their actions and personalities, along with keeping the overall theme of fate and destiny karmic. I am really excited about this chapter and I hope you like it as well! Thank you for your continued support!

In response to Jubby1905's review, that was exactly the reaction I was looking for! I know that this was very long overdue but the reaction and response was totally worth it. I'm definitely gonna include a titbit with Percy and Damasen meeting once again in one of the future chapters. Let me tell you, the Percy vs Atlas battle that you'll come across in this chapter, is something I have given my all in trying to make it a fight for the ages. So I really hope you like it! Thank you for your continued support!

In response to Callum Runchman's review, glad to see such an enthusiastic response! In all fairness though, you were one of the first people to deduce that this would happen. Yes, even though the Percy of this AU was resurrected more than two dozen chapters ago, Perseus Diaboles made his comeback only with the previous chapter. And I am really glad to hear that you liked the interaction between Percy and the Protogenoi. Relax, when I started this trilogy, I told that the hero had to earn his happiness, rather than having it handed to him on a silver plate. And I think Percy has more than earned his happy ending at this point. I hope you like this chapter as well! Thank you for your continued support!

In response to skotos07's review, I know the conversation with the Protogenoi was a bit complicated and thank you for sharing your input with me!

In response to TheGracefulHuntress' review, I am thrilled to hear that you like the almost split personality like behaviour Atlas exhibits with different people. And yes, even though Calypso does take on a highly antagonistic role in this story, you can't help but feel for her. Because at her core, she's a kind and caring pacifist. It's just that circumstances have been absolutely brutal to her. Zoe will be fine. As most of you may have already gathered, she's not going to be killed by Atlas like in TTC. Thank you for your continued support!

I would like to thank HellRaiderS for your continued support! I am glad you liked the moment where Percy picked up his swords once again!

In response to Ryan Fowler's review, yes, the previous chapter was about Percy finally reconciling with his past. That's a fantastic saying, do you mind if I use it sometime later in the story? This chapter definitely feels like one of my best, in terms of action delivered as well as in terms of pacing. And I hope you like it as well! I am really glad to hear that you think Atlas comes across as a guy who's not inherently bad but one who's been forced to be bad. That's exactly what I was shooting for with this portrayal of him. Thank you for your continued support!

I would like to thank Arden2709 for your continued support! I know the moment where Percy picked up his swords was long overdue but I am glad you felt it was worth it!

I would like to thank NormalyBeast for your continued support!

All credit for the characters goes exclusively to Rick Riordan.


Percy was a man possessed and he was fighting in a no holds barred fashion. And Atlas had been caught completely off-guard by Percy's sudden power increase which had put him on par with the former, as well as by the sheer ferocity and relentlessness in Percy's attacks.

Atlas was brought of his thoughts when Percy brought his swords down with him in twin overhead slashes, his swords already turning into nothing more than extensions of his arms, as he attempted to trisect Atlas. Atlas however, managed to block Percy's swords with his spear, holding it horizontally with both hands. But the force and sheer momentum behind Percy's attack caused Atlas to drop to his knees while a shockwave erupted due to the clash.

Percy was the first to recover and he brought his swords back before launching another monstrous linear shockwave at Atlas at point-blank range faster than the latter could react. It was powerful enough to dent Atlas' breastplate and sent him bursting through an entire row of monsters, causing them to explode into gold dust. But Percy was not done, he was just getting started.


Percy's arrival and subsequent dominant display of force had completely revitalized the Divine Forces who had been pushed to the back foot by the armies of the Titans. Now with Percy engaging Atlas, that had left Artemis free to wreck havoc on the armies of the Titans to lead the demigods of New Rome against the monsters.

It also freed Leo to help out Jason and Reyna in combating Magnus, the son of Theia, Aurae, the daughter of Mnemosyne and Spatha, the daughter of Themis. The previous time they had fought, the demititans had completely bullied the DSS agents but this time, with the addition of Leo, the tables had been flipped in the demigods' favour.

It had also provided Ares and Athena an opportunity to focus all their attention on their opponents, who were Perses and Calypso, respectively. Previously, they had had to do this along with having to fight monsters as well, owing to the fact that the latter were overwhelming the Romans.

In particular, Ares was benefitting a lot from this as it gave him all freedom to unleash his rage on Perses, and that he did. He swung his broadsword at Perses with a two-handed strike that was powerful enough to blow the Titan back a few dozen feet.

"Look around you, you foolish Titan. Don't you see the forces of Othrys crumbling around you? Now that my brother is here, it spells the end of the General. No one can stand against the might of Perseus Diaboles." Ares boasted before charging towards Perses with a red hue enveloping him.

Perses growled and blocked the attack with his own broadsword but momentum was on Ares' side and he barrelled Perses through an entire battalion of monsters. Ares' rage was fuelling him towards victory now.


Elsewhere, on the other side of the battlefield, Athena and Calypso were fiercely fighting each other and much to Athena's chagrin, Calypso was proving to be more than a match for her. If this had been a straight up physical confrontation, Athena had no doubt that she would have won this battle by now. But unfortunately for her, Calypso's sorcery was the greatest she had ever seen.

Athena had engaged Calypso in a clash of spears and quickly overpowered her in a few minutes. She cut a deep gash along Calypso's arm and was about to hit the side of the Titaness' head with her shield but Calypso dissolved into petals of moonlace at the last second.

She rematerialized above Athena and sent down a wall of white hot flame at Athena. However, Athena managed to defend herself by curling up behind her shield. Calypso gave her no respite and instantly used another spell to erect giant jagged earthen javelins from the ground and sent them towards Athena.

Athena jumped out of the way and through the wall of flame to avoid the javelins, aiming her spear at Calypso's head. She zoomed towards Calypso and her spear passed through the Titaness' neck, only for Athena to find out that this was just an illusion.

She had no time to react as Calypso materialised next to her and to Athena's absolute shock, slammed her into the ground with a funnel-shaped shockwave that was extremely similar to Percy's own shockwaves. Being hit by the shockwave at point-blank range sent Athena smashing through the ground, leaving a trail of mud in her wake.

"So, you found a way to mimic Percy's powers as well? Why am I not surprised. Did you steal it when you emotionally manipulated and used him?" Athena venomously spat out as she wiped some Ichor from the edge of her mouth.

"I crafted this spell, with Percy himself aiding me three thousand years ago, when we were passionately involved with each other in Ogygia. How poetic that I am now using it to destroy the woman who stole my Percy from me." Calypso stated with an infuriating smirk on her face.

"Calypso, he is not an object to fulfil your desires. Percy is a wonderful, selfless man who deserves love, affection and care after all the sacrifices he has made. You only view him as a tool. As a means to attaining happiness. You don't love him. You think you do. But all you are is a broken girl with a mind filled with trauma, extremely poor self-esteem and a void in your heart. And you expect Percy to just waltz in to your life and fix you? Laughable. Let me tell you something, no one, will be able to fix you." Athena harshly stated.

Calypso's anger boiled over at that statement as she used a spell to launch another shockwave at Athena. But this time, Athena was prepared and met Calypso's attack with a beam of stormy grey energy, causing an explosion that blew both of them back. This was now a battle of principles.


Despite his obvious power increase that put him on par with Atlas and after seeming like he had initially had the upper hand, Percy was now finding it very difficult to actually go toe-to-toe with the General. Even with his swords drawing all his power out, he was not able to physically match Atlas. And that was a problem.

Drawing from his uncle's experience, he had realised that it was necessary for him to fight Atlas from afar and mainly with his elemental and metaphysical attacks if he wanted to win this but that tactic was failing because while he was an excellent long range fighter with a very versatile arsenal, unlike his father and his uncles, that was not his primary style of combat.

His style of combat combined his unrivalled skill of dual wielding his swords and his unbelievable physical endurance into overwhelming flurries of close combat followed by retreating to long range attacks when he needed to go on the defensive or conserve his strength. Also, what worked against him from becoming mainly a long range fighter like the Big Three was the fact that despite the fact that he had very vast elemental reserves, they were not nearly as vast to that of his father's or uncles'. And that meant he simply would run out of energy if he tried to fight Atlas how his uncle fought him four millennia ago.

However, as he fought with Atlas at close range, his noticeable deficiency in brute physical strength become clear when Atlas broke through his guard and slammed the pommel of his spear into Percy's stomach, knocking the air out of Percy's lungs and sending him flying through a dozen trees.

"Diaboles, all the power in the world means nothing if you haven't mastered how to utilise it effectively. It takes skill and eons of practice and experience to put all that power on the battlefield. And that is something that you sorely lack." Atlas taunted as he zoomed towards Percy again, his spear held out in front of him, ready to impale Percy through the head.

Percy intercepted Atlas' attack with both his swords at the nick of time and he brought up his greave clad knee to block a strike from the pommel of Atlas' spear but the impact still sent him skidding back. He readied his swords to launch a shockwave but Atlas didn't let him do that and zoomed towards him to keep the fight in close range. And once again, while Percy was doing a fair bit of damage to Atlas and was more than holding his own, Atlas slowly started to gain the upper hand.

Atlas broke through Percy's guard and struck the side of Percy's neck with the blade of his spear and while it bounced off, Percy was sent skidding away and immediately felt a burning sensation erupt in his neck. He knew that would turn into an extremely painful bruise later on.

However, Percy quickly regained footing to condense the air around him into two dozen javelins of solidified water which he sent at Atlas. Atlas launched blades of wind at them and neutralized the threat of the javelins but Percy had used that time to prepare and combined all his abilities, atmokinetic, seismokinetic and metaphysical to launch a bluish-white column at Atlas.

Recognising the raw destructive energy behind the column, Atlas used all his brute physical strength to swirl around the pommel of his spear at sonic speed and then struck it at the rapidly approaching column with a two-handed strike. The result was a deafening explosion that blew up everything in a hundred feet radius and blasted both Atlas as well as Percy away.

Atlas was the first to recover and he was a blur as he sent crescent shaped blades of wind towards Percy. Percy immediately retaliated by gathering a hurricane around himself, which seamlessly absorbed and brushed aside the blades of wind, before rushing towards Atlas.

Before Atlas could even react, the arm of the hurricane slammed into him with enough force to smack him all across the field and he collided against one of the large stone walls of the reforming palace of Othrys with enough force to bring the wall down on him.

Percy then materialised a few dozen feet above Atlas and fired a barrage of shockwaves at Atlas. The latter regained his footing fast enough to defend, evade or neutralize most of them but he was grazed by one which blew him further inside.

Percy then followed up by firing a beam of sea green energy at him but Atlas scythed through it with his spear, zooming in towards Percy, who was forced to block his spear with both of his swords. However, the hurricane continuously buffeted Atlas and slowed his offense just enough for Percy to blast him away with a radial shockwave.

Atlas slammed into the ground with enough force to form a crater but he wasted no time in gathering all his energy and fired a gargantuan beam of stone grey energy at Percy. This forced Percy to temporarily dissolve the hurricane as he countered against the stone grey beam of energy with a sea green beam of his own.

Once again, the clash between the two attacks was so explosive that it blew both of them away but this time, Percy was the first to recover as he sent dozens of spheres of sea green energy at Atlas. Atlas countered with his wind blades, detonating each and every single one of them before they even reached him. He then followed that up by launching an extremely large blade of wind, forcing Percy to counter it with a shockwave of his own.

Making use of this, Atlas immediately zoomed towards Percy at supersonic speeds and in order to prevent the fight from once again devolving into close combat, Percy tried to detonate a dome of energy around himself.

However, he had already used up a sizeable amount of his own energy in quick succession and there was just a fractional lag in him detonating the dome of energy. That lag was more than enough for Atlas to slam his pommel into Percy's side and send him crashing into the ground, kicking up a large cloud of dust and debris.

It was very clear – even though he was just as powerful as Atlas, Percy had to somehow come up with an answer to Atlas' brute physical strength and channel his vast power effectively, because he certainly couldn't win like this.

With the battle now slightly tilting in his favour, Atlas descended on Percy with a two handed slash, intending to bisect him. But Percy recovered in the nick of time and slashed his ethereally glowing swords above him at the last moment, hoping to catch Atlas off-guard with a point-blank shockwave.

Atlas managed to shift the position of his spear at the last second and blocked both of Percy's swords with his spear held horizontally. However, the swords still had seismokinetic energy in them and when Atlas blocked them with his spear, the energy was released and sent him skidding backwards.

At that moment, Percy had an epiphany. Perhaps his most important one ever. With that attack, he realised that there was a sustainable way to match Atlas' greater physical strength – utilize his seismokinetic abilities not just as shockwaves, but in lesser amounts to enhance the strength behind his blows, finally allowing him to put his much greater elemental reserves into proper use.

A dozen feet away, Atlas had had the same realisation and he once again rushed at Percy in order to distract him before Percy repeated his earlier feat. But unfortunately for him, Percy's swords, which had a high degree of sentience immediately drew out his seismokinetic powers, giving them a soft white glow.

It was just enough to match and block Atlas' thrust and for the first time, Percy didn't find himself pushed back by it, allowing him to immediately retaliate, by imbuing his greave clad leg with his powers and kicking Atlas in the chest.

The sudden rise in Percy's physical strength had caught Atlas off-guard and the roundhouse kick sent him flying off the peak of Mount Tamalpais and somewhere near its base.

"I love you guys." Percy addressed his swords with a grin on his face. And the swords seemed to hum, as if replying to his comment. Percy then launched off in Atlas' direction, ready for round two.


Leo was in complete control in the battle against Magnus, the son of Theia. While he probably still could have taken on the demititan even before becoming partially immortal, owing to his elemental advantage, Leo had to admit, the fight wouldn't have been this one-sided in that case.

He was brought out of his thoughts when Magnus sent another wall of flame at Leo but Leo simply retaliated by condensing the air around him and sent a wall of water at Magnus. The wall of water rather easily overpowered the wall of fire and immediately drenched Magnus, who felt like all energy had been sucked out of him.

Leo wasted no time in charging towards the demititan, with every intent to skewer the son of Theia but the latter managed to block Leo's sword at the nick of time. However, Leo immediately solidified water into a dagger and jabbed it into the base of Magnus' neck, causing the demititan to roar in pain.

"Consider this payback for the time you hurt Thalia and Nico. And for all the mortals, demigods and legacies you killed." Leo angrily stated before sending a roundhouse kick at Magnus' face and sent him flying away.

Magnus tumbled to a halt and angrily fired a pillar of fire at Leo but Leo took the pillar head-on, emerging unscathed from it. He then retaliated by sending three javelins of water at Magnus. The Champion of Hyperion covered himself in a dome of fire in the nick of time, defending himself.

Realising that he had no way of winning this fight, Magnus used all his remaining energy to cover himself in fire and charged towards Leo like a blazing comet. However, Leo responding by summoning a mini-hurricane around himself and met Magnus' charge midway.

The resulting collision caused a large volume of steam that completely covered the two of them. But when the steam dissipated, the victor was evident as Leo stood over Magnus, with Riptide embedded into the demititan's neck, giving rise to a sight that would haunt the forces of the Titans forever and something that would symbolise the victory of life over destruction.


Atlas had managed to prevent himself from colliding into the ground by using his spear to halt his descent, tearing a line through the tree cover before finally coming to a halt. Before he could ascend back to Othrys, he was forced to block two vertical slashes from Percy's glowing swords that pushed him to his knees.

Atlas immediately shifted the position of his pommel to try and slam into Percy but Percy deflected it away with his softly glowing sword before delivering another seismokinetically enhanced kick to Atlas' face that sent him skidding backwards and broke his nose with a crunch.

"Impressive. So you have found a way to match my physical strength. Zoe told me that you were a combatant of prodigious calibre. And now that it seems like you have unlocked your full potential, you finally are a worthy opponent." Atlas stated in an impressed tone.

His view of Diaboles had shifted a lot ever since he had had that fateful conversation with Zoe. In a way, he gained grudging respect for the man's unwavering loyalty to his family. And he also had a twinge of gratitude towards him for saving his youngest daughter.

"Where is Zoe? Where have you kept her? I swear to Chaos, if you or Old King Cannibal has harmed even a hair on her head, I'll unleash horrors worse than those found in the Pit on you." Percy stated with anger shining in his eyes as he zoomed towards Atlas and tried to horizontally bisect Atlas with his swords.

Atlas blocked them with his spear and shifted the position of his spear to thrust the tip of the blade at Percy. But Percy blocked it with his sword, halting Atlas' offense in an instant. Atlas however, had gotten adjusted to the fact that Percy now matched him in physical strength and rotated the pommel of his spear to slam Percy in the side of his torso.

The attack sent Percy skidding sideways but he dug in his swords into the ground and brought himself to a halt. He immediately blocked another thust from Atlas' spear and retaliated with a flurry of slashes, stabs and feints.

Atlas answered Percy's attacks with his own set of thrusts and slashes from his spear, as well as well as a myriad of blunt force attacks from the pommel of his spear. But neither of them managed to decisively gain an advantage over the other, even as they inflicted multiple injuries on each other and decimated through the forest cover at the base of the mountain.

Finally, after a long, arduous, continuous duel that went on for more than half an hour, and after being riddled with injuries, Atlas made the smallest of errors of putting too much force behind a pommel strike.

Percy immediately took advantage of this and deflected Atlas' spear away, putting Atlas off balance for a fraction of a second, before slamming his other, glowing sword into Atlas' side, unleashing a monstrous shockwave that propelled Atlas away.

Atlas managed to shake out his disorientation just in time to counter an X shaped slash from Percy that would have given him a major injury. He immediately twisted his body and aimed a kick at Percy's midsection but Percy blocked it with his knee and responded with a thrust from one of his swords.

Atlas blocked and parried the thrust with one of his own before hitting Percy's shoulder with the pommel of his spear. The impact caused Percy to hiss in pain but did nothing to halt his offense as he head-butted Atlas with enough force to split the skin on the latter's head.

Atlas responded with flipping back and slammed his knees into Percy's chest, putting some distance between the two of them. And as soon as the General regained his footing, he sent a dozen wind blades at Percy in rapid succession.

Percy scythed his way through most of them and made his way towards Atlas. However, the General was prepared for this and had used the time to shift his grip on his spear and after furiously rotating it, he slammed the pommel of his spear into Percy's side.

However, owing to his temporarily enhanced physical strength, Percy had managed to get through the wind blades faster than Atlas had expected and while Atlas managed to deal a thunderous blow, Percy simultaneously bashed him away with a shockwave. Both of them were launched off their feet and collided through dozens of trees, boulders and other debris before rolling to a painful halt.

They both got on to their feet fairly quickly but even with their truly monstrous endurance, all the cracked bones, overexerted muscles, the innumerable number of bruises and other internal as well as external injuries were starting to take their toll on them. They had entered the endgame now.

"You need not worry about Zoe. I made sure no one got near her, especially not Kronos." Atlas revealed with a huff.

"I find that hard to believe." Percy stated with narrowed eyes.

"It doesn't matter what you want to believe. The Olympians have spread their propaganda to every corner of the world that I am nothing more than a stupid, brutish stooge of Kronos. But that is far from reality. Whatever I did, whatever I am doing, is all for my daughters. Their happiness is paramount to me. I despise the Olympians, make no mistake. But I dislike the Titans as well. They have no value for the ideals of family." Atlas stated with his nose crunched in disgust.

"If your daughters' happiness was so important to you, why did you banish Zoe without even thinking twice?" Percy furiously questioned.

"Because I was too blinded by my own hatred towards the Olympians to realise that I was making a grave mistake. And by the time I realised it, it was too late." Atlas admitted with a guilt-ridden expression on his face, one that Percy knew was genuine because he had seen the same expression many times in the mirror and his own expression softened a bit.

"Calypso always spoke about how you were a great father during my stay at Ogygia. And Zoe always secretly reminisced about the good memories she shared with you. I could never fathom why both of them were so attached to a cold-hearted killer and genocidal maniac but now, I can see why they felt that way." Percy shared in a calm, deeply reflective voice.

After verifying with Artemis a few seconds ago that Zoe was safe, he was finally starting to see the father in Atlas. And suddenly, so many things made sense to him. He also couldn't help but gain a shred of respect for Atlas' adherence to ideals of family.

"Tell me something, why of all possible avenues, would a man, so powerful and so gifted in combat and so attached to his daughters, voluntarily become the lieutenant of a slimy bastard like Kronos?" Percy curiously asked.

"It is precisely because I was gifted in combat and because I wanted to protect my daughters that I became Kronos' lieutenant. I wanted to protect my daughters from his vile gaze and this was the only way for me to do so." Atlas neutrally answered, although there was some hidden anger in his voice.

"You may be the product of a cruel age, but you could have done a million other things, morally right things, to save your daughters, but you chose the easy, immoral way and slaughtered tens of thousands without a second thought." Percy stated with a shake of his head.

"Spare me the preachy nonsense, Diaboles. You have done plenty of wrong for the sake of protecting your family. Who do you think you are? Some saint?" Atlas snapped back.

"Not you." Percy calmly replied in a voice that was only above a whisper but it was more than loud enough for Atlas to hear. His rage exploded at that statement and he immediately started gathering all his immortal essence.

"Diaboles, I will show that there is no right or wrong in the world. There is only winning and losing in combat. Only those who can win in combat, can achieve what they want. And winners need no rationalizations for any of their actions. Power, strength and victory are the only measures of a person's worth. Someone who cannot win, cannot protect anyone or anything." Atlas hotly declared as he started to emit a stone grey light.

"You have it all wrong, Atlas. Combat prowess is very important but it's not everything. The world we live in is a world that is dictated by the consequences of our own actions. All the power in the world doesn't matter if you misuse it. No amount of victories can save you from the jaws of fate if you tread on the wrong path. That is why, despite all your strength, the Titans were overthrown by the gods. The bill always comes due." Percy answered with mature determination shining in his eyes as he gathered in his own energy.

"This world you speak about, rather, this world you wish for, it does not exist, Diaboles. And I will show that to you." Atlas stated with a growl as he felt all his immortal essence gathering in one place.

"Whether you like it or not, this is the world all of us live in, Atlas." Percy calmly retorted as a large, buffeting hurricane started to gather around him.

His swords were charged with so much seismokinetic energy that they were glowing a pure, transient white and thick arcs of sea green energy erupted out and back into him as he tapped in on most of his elemental reserves to counter Atlas' divine form.

A few seconds later, Atlas slammed his glowing spear into the ground and the very air suddenly exploded in a blinding explosion of stone grey energy that raced towards Percy at supersonic speeds.

Percy immediately responded by striking his swords against each other, unleashing a devastating shockwave and a bright sea green ring of energy that quickly combined with the hurricane around to form a bluish-white monstrosity of pure destructive potential that clashed against Atlas' divine form.

The two attacks tried to overpower each other, rapidly expanding due to Percy and Atlas fuelling them excessively but even after a few seconds of struggle, neither attack managed to decisively overpower the other.

Finally, the pressure from the collision of the two attacks proved to be too much and caused a cataclysmic explosion that was as bright and as hot as a second sun, reaching the size of over half the mountain and engulfing and vapourising everything in a hundred league radius.

The explosion was so bright that the entire battlefield on top of Mount Tamalpais could see it and were forced to avert their eyes. And as soon as the intense light subsided, it was followed by a deafening sonic boom that could be heard all the way from Olympus. The boom was soon followed by a terrorizing gale of buffeting wind carrying large chunks of debris that blew away many off their feet.

Down below, once the dust settled after the titanic struggle, the final explosion between Atlas' divine form and Percy's dome of destruction had blown a huge hole through the side of the mountain, turning it into something that more resembled a cliff. And even though they had completely exhausted all their metaphysical energy reserves, Atlas and Percy were still standing.

The explosion had engulfed both of them and had given both of them grievous injuries. While Atlas' were more visible since he was covered in Ichor head to toe, Percy was in no better shape as every inch of his body was battered with damaged internal organs, broken bones and muscles that had been ripped apart as he coughed out a copious amount of Ichor.

Their helmets had been lost in the explosion, pants were in taters and they had numerous chinks, cracks and broken bits in their armours. Anyone else in that position would have been in no position to even stay conscious, but the two of them still stood tall and proud.

"You just refuse to die, don't you?" Atlas stated with a hoarse chuckle. He still fully intended to completely subjugate Diaboles. But that didn't prevent him from respecting the warrior in front of him.

"I could say the same about you. I guess you aren't called the Titan or Endurance for nothing." Percy retorted with a similar chuckle. This was odd. It was almost as if he was fraternizing with the enemy.

"Perseus, I offer you one last chance to surrender." Atlas seriously offered.

"It's funny because I was about to say the same thing. But it looks like that is something that won't be happening. So there's only one way to settle this." Percy stated with a shake of his head before launching himself at Atlas, without his weapons. Atlas met his charge midway and this time, the two of them engaged in a furious bare-handed brawl.


A few moments earlier, while they were still engaging their opponents in a relentless clash of blades, Jason and Reyna, as well as their opponents stopped their fight for a second to stare in awe at the giant, bright explosion emanating from Percy and Atlas' clash of the ages. It was so powerful that they could feel the raw energy radiating from it all the way here.

However, their reverie was short-lived as a gale of wind and tons of debris suddenly made their way towards the two of them at breakneck speeds. Jason immediately jumped into action, pulling Reyna into a protective embrace and surrounding both of them in a dome of lightning to protect her.

Their opponents had not been so fortunate, as they had been blown away by the relentless gale that battered at Jason's dome. But he held strong, fuelled by his intense desire to protect Reyna and it was only after the gale completely subsided that he dropped the dome of lightning.

"You saved me." Reyna stated with a small, grateful smile on her face as they emerged out of the dome unscathed.

It had been truly heroic how Jason had thrown himself at her and had protected her, potentially putting himself at harm, as soon as the explosion had subsided. She could not even imagine what would have happened to her, had Jason not been there.

"I would do anything for you, Rey." Jason softly stated.

At that moment, Reyna became fully aware of the fact that they were still embracing and she noticed that their faces were only a few inches apart. And finally, Reyna decided to give in to what her heart was telling her and closed the space between them by planting a short but passionate kiss on Jason's lips. Jason's eyes widened in shock but he reciprocated a moment later by deepening the kiss.

"I love you, Jason." Reyna confessed, slightly out of breath, as soon they parted.

"I love you too, Reyna." Jason responded in a throaty voice as he rested his forehead against Reyna's. However, their short moment of bliss was interrupted by Leo.

"For the love of Chaos, of all the places where two could have chosen to confess to each other, you choose a battlefield where you are only one second away from dying, as the place to do so?" Leo stated with a groan of exasperation as he emerged from a dome of water that he had erected around himself.

His voice caused the two of them to instantaneously part, with Reyna's face as red as a tomato and Jason looking away whistling, forgetting for a moment that they were in the middle of a battle. The two of them twitched nervously for a second as Leo stared at the two of them with exasperation.

"In case you got distracted from sucking each other's faces, we are in the middle of a battle. A battle where we have to fight and destroy monsters." Leo sarcastically reminded.

Realisation dawned on their faces a moment later and they immediately sprinted away. They were followed by Leo who shook his head at them. But despite that, he couldn't help but have a small smile on his face. He was happy that two of his best friends had finally gotten together. And he hoped that something similar was in store for him.


Elsewhere, Percy and Atlas were relentlessly brawling as they ascended up the cliff shaped mountain, battering each other with fists and kicks that had enough force behind them to level mountains. And they were smashing each other through rocks, trees and everything on the mountain that had not already been vapourised. Finally they reached the peak once again and Percy took the chance to body slam Atlas through a wall of the Black Palace.

Atlas immediately retaliated by grabbing Percy's torso and flinging him across the hall and then an entire row of grey stone columns. He then balled his hands together, leaped towards Percy brought them down on Percy's head like a club but Percy rolled out of the way at the last second and Atlas' fists hit the ground with enough force to cause a small tremor.

Percy then kicked Atlas away before zooming towards Atlas and then slammed his fist into Atlas' armoured gut, cracking and destroying it. Atlas repaid the favour and slammed his elbow into Percy's back, destroying a part of Percy's armour. A moment later, Percy and Atlas simultaneously slammed each other in the face with brutal right hooks that launched the other off their feet and embedded them into walls.

They groggily got out of the walls as Percy plopped his broken, profusely bleeding nose back into place while Atlas forced his dislocated jaw back into place. Then, Percy shed off his already tattered armour and Atlas followed a moment later. The two of them tried to rush towards each other once again but their broken legs gave out and both of them collapsed. And Atlas decided to ask Percy a question that had been nagging at him for days.

"Why did you leave Calypso, Perseus? I can so clearly see how much your family and your lover means to you. You already knew my daughter was broken. You could have given her happiness. And you know she would have given you everything you ever wanted. Why did you give her hope and then snuff it out so cruelly?" Atlas rasped out as he supported himself against the debris of a stone pillar.

"I had no choice, Atlas. Believe me, leaving her behind is one of my greatest regrets and I have wallowed in my own guilt for so long in repentance of my actions. I take all responsibility for the wrong decision. But the fate of the world rested on this. I had to do it to reform the gods and make the world a better place." Percy explained with a sorrowful sigh as he took support against a wall.

"That is a cruel justification. You are justifying your actions by saying that you sacrificed my daughter for the greater good. For the betterment of the world. I ask you, what did the mortals ever do for you? What did the world ever do for you?" Atlas asked as he seethed in rage.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. In fact, if anything, the world and fate itself have been beyond cruel to me. But my actions, my sacrifices, and Calypso's sacrifices led to a positive impact on so many others' lives, primarily my family's. In a twisted work of fate, your youngest daughter, Zoe, would have been defiled by that wretch Hercules if it weren't for mine and Calypso's separation. I eventually came to the realisation that this sacrifice had given hope, joy and love to others and my family. And I learnt to accept it." Percy calmly answered as he stared at the ceiling.

"You had no right to sacrifice her for your machinations. You played with her. You played with her emotions. You gave her hope. You showed her dreams. And then snatched everything away and deserted her for three thousand years. You exploited her." Atlas roared in anger as he tried to stand up but failed to do so.

"I know. I know I did something that was horribly wrong. But you have a family yourself, Atlas. You love your daughters more than anything else and give paramount importance to their happiness and well-being. So, tell me, if you had an opportunity to make life better for them, to bring them closer, to make them happier, to keep them safe, but at the cost of someone else's happiness, at the cost of a promise to someone who you love, what would you do?" Percy asked in a subdued voice as he intensely looked at Atlas.

At that moment, Atlas knew exactly what Percy was talking about and if the roles had been reversed, he most probably would have done the same thing. But the father in him still refused to come to terms with Percy's decision and he was determined to reverse its consequences.

"Even if I can understand your decision, that doesn't mean I will accept it. You hurt my daughter. And in a twisted work of reality, only you can fix her now." Atlas hissed as he stood up, his entire body felt like it was on fire but he pushed through the pain.

"That's where you are wrong, Atlas. That's where even Calypso is wrong. I hurt her. I hurt her very grievously. But she doesn't need me to fix her. And I won't be able to do so even if I wanted to. She has to learn to let go and first find solace within herself first. And only then, eventually, she will find another person who will make her happier than I ever could. Just like I found my peace with Athena." Percy explained in a calm tone as he stood up and faced Atlas.

"I thought I could reason with you. But I was sorely mistaken. You won't change. No, change has to be forced upon you." Atlas declared through gritted teeth before finally gathering back enough energy to charge at Percy, who met him halfway to resume their fight.

Percy and Atlas' brawl got even more bloody and animalistic as the two of them broke each and every single bone in each other's bodies. They had long since lost exhausted their metaphysical and elemental energy reserves and their muscles had been torn in so many places that they didn't have the strength to even use their weapons anymore. But yet, they refused to stop.

As the brawl continued, Percy found his opening as he clasped his hands in front of him and slammed Atlas in the stomach with enough force to send the General into one of the palace's outer walls with enough force to bring down the entire section on him, destroying a quarter of the palace.

As Percy caught his breath, Atlas broke through the tons of debris and ignoring the immense pain shooting through his entire body, he started to throw giant slabs of rock at Percy, catching the latter off-guard and in a few minutes, Percy was completely buried in debris.

Atlas tried to surge forward but his legs gave up and he collapsed to the ground, on his last ropes, as he wheezed and popped back his dislocated joints into place while he coughed out some Ichor.

Unfortunately, in the time interval he had taken to do that, Percy had managed to free himself and when he emerged, there were a few dozen more violent purple bruises littering his body, a few more broken bones, a few more torn muscles adding to an already huge pile of injuries.

It had been three thousand years since Percy had last suffered injuries that were on this magnitude and even though Athena was caught up in her own fight, when she saw him from the corner of her vision, she couldn't help but feel extremely worried.

"Is this what you wanted? Your father and the man who you are supposedly in love with, beating each other to death? Look at them, Calypso. They look like they are about to collapse any moment now. Put a stop to this madness, Calypso. Whatever Atlas is doing, he is doing it for you. And Percy is fighting for us, for me. Stop Atlas, I will stop Percy. This does not have to end with more sorrow." Athena implored as she locked spears with Calypso.

"No. I trust my father enough to not hurt Percy more than necessary. And I know that I will heal them. And once Percy is mine, we all will be one big happy family." Calypso retorted with distorted determination blazing in her eyes.

"You disgust me. You don't love Percy. You don't love him at all. All you want to do is use him. Use him to alleviate your own problems. And I will never let that happen." Athena furiously answered, breaking through Calypso's guard and slamming her into a tree.

A few feet away from them, Atlas and Percy were still reeling from the effects of their last brawl, too exhausted to get back into fighting immediately. Both of them were on their last ropes. It was only their unmatchable endurance that had allowed them to fight until this point, even after having exhausted their energy reserves. No one else would have managed to do it, but they had. But they knew the end of the battle was very near.

"You have my respect, Perseus Diaboles. I have never faced a sturdier opponent than you. You will lose but you can rest assured knowing that history will never forget the fight you put up." Atlas stated with grudging respect as he summoned his spear and despite all his torn muscles, he propped himself up using his spear.

"I can say just about the same about you. You are the toughest opponent I have ever fought mano-a-mano." Percy answered as he hoisted himself up by materialising his swords.

"So, how do we end this?" Atlas asked as he started twirling his spear above him, drawing from his immortal essence, using up energy that he needed to maintain a physical form, despite knowing how dangerous that was, and filling his spear with energy.

"The old fashioned way." Percy answered with a wolfish smirk on his face as he did the same and drew upon his immortal essence to attack Atlas, giving his swords an ethereal glow. He was using up some of his own life force but he would not give up now. Not when he was so close.

"A fitting way to end a battle of warriors." Atlas nodded with a similar smirk on his face before he charged at Percy.

Percy met his charge midway and both of them unleashed their attacks on each other simultaneously. Percy's swords cut a large, deep X on Atlas' chest, causing multiple lacerations in Atlas' internal organs while Atlas' spear collided against and bounced off of Percy's bare torso, but not before the impact punctured one of Percy's lungs and completely shattered a few ribs.

The raw force behind their attacks caused a massive shockwave to erupt around them and destroyed the entire palace, once again burying them in debris and kicking up a giant cloud of dust. And once again, the entire battlefield stilled for a moment, waiting to see who would emerge.

To the absolute horror of all the demigods, hunters and gods who were present in the battlefield, it was Atlas who was the first one to emerge out of the wreckage and Athena felt a pit of dread form in her stomach. She was about to rush in that direction when a pile of debris blasted away to reveal Percy, who shakily stood up to meet Atlas' intense gaze.

The two of them stood in stoic silence for a moment before their knees finally gave out. But Atlas was the one to fall first as he collapsed on his back, completely drained of all energy and with his spear hanging limply next to him. Percy followed shortly after but he managed to halt his fall by embedding his swords into the ground. And instantly, the Divine Forces let out a loud cheer as they charged at their foes with renewed invigoration. Perseus Diaboles had finally triumphed over Atlas, the General of the Othryian Forces and the Terror of Olympus.


Hey guys! Man this chapter was just a behemoth to write and sapped the living daylights out of me. But this is also the chapter that I am arguably the happiest with. And that is because it sees my two year dream of writing this very fight to fruition. I mean, this fight was the entire reason why I even started writing this trilogy in the first place. Finishing up with this chapter and wrapping up this arc in the next one just is a surreal and nostalgic feeling. And I hope that all of you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Read and review, I hope that all of you enjoyed reading this chapter! Have a fantastic day!