August 15th 2009:

The shadows around Kronos twisted and turned from his presence. A wicked glint of unadulterated malice simmered within the golden depths of his malign gaze. He buried his scythe down into the ground.

Luke Castellan stood next to him from a short distance. Back-Biter had been summoned into his calloused hand. His blue eyes glowed under the moonlight's influence. Determination illuminated his face.

Kronos snapped his head towards the silhouette of two grim individuals: who flew in his direction on the top of a revolutionary hover-board. The titan hummed. "So the hero has come to me, eh?"

Leaping off of the hover-board and landing down on the ground, Percy Jackson glared at Luke and Kronos. A palpable aggression was evident in his low voice. "I've been waiting for you, Kronos!"

Amusement replaced Luke's brief bout of determination. Luke tilted his head, smirked, and chuckled. Kronos had a humoured expression on his pale features. "That is lord Kronos to you, prophesied demi-god."

Annabeth Chase remained on the hover-board and watched the three of them from above. Glancing at her, Kronos stretched a hand out. "I would appreciate it if you joined our conversation on ground-level."

Particles of obsidian-coloured energy trickled out from Kronos' fingers before they morphed themselves into an enormous scythe. Launching the humongous scythe at Annabeth, Kronos closed his eyes.

However, Annabeth activated the gauntlets wrapped around her hands and bashed her knuckles through the ginormous scythe. She squatted down on the hover-board. "I was expecting more from you."

"Those gauntlets wrapped around her wrists…" Kronos pondered to himself, intrigued. "They let her destroy my energy-formed scythe."

Kronos' lips twisted into a small grin of praise. "Impressive device on your hands, demi-goddess. I hope you can give Luke a challenge."

"I doubt she will defeat me." Luke scoffed, twirled Back-Biter, and gritted his teeth in annoyance. "Annabeth, you will not survive this."

Annabeth slanted her head and sneered. "I could say the same to you, Luke. You defected from camp and decided to help the titan of time."

"You never understood why I defected from camp!" Luke yelled, letting loose a breath of pure frustration. "Kronos' will is what I shall follow."

"I can't believe everyone at camp trusted you." Snarling, Annabeth called on the enhancements of her gauntlets' runes. "You disgust me."

Tensing his muscles, Luke jumped at Annabeth and the hover-board before unleashing a destructive slash onto her head. Back-flipping off of the hover-board, Annabeth dug her feet down into the ground.

Annabeth pulled out three rune-covered daggers and threw them towards Luke: who had returned to the surface. Back-Biter blocked her three weapons. The son of Hermes disappeared in a blur.

Turning around and lifting her gauntlet, Annabeth felt the end of Back-Biter rip into the gauntlet's metal. The runes on her gauntlets glinted an ominous vermillion as she kicked Luke back.

Luke was unharmed by her kick of incredible strength and cracked his neck, unimpressed. A chuckle of endless mockery bubbled out from Luke's lips. "Your gauntlets are somewhat durable."

"They're more durable than your fragile ego." Annabeth smirked. An inflection of sarcasm filled her voice. "There's something behind you."

The child of Hermes' senses flared three seconds too late. Leo's hover-board slammed itself into the back of Luke's head. Luke scowled, rubbing the spot where he had been pounded. "My head."

Annabeth rushed at him and buried her gauntlet-wrapped knuckles into his abdomen. Luke spat out multiple globs of blood until she punched him straight in the nose.

Adrenaline and anger fuelling her movements, Annabeth slammed a ruthless roundhouse kick into his hip. Luke's fore-head was smacked by the hover-board once four seconds had passed. "I'm impressed!"

"You've improved by leaps and bounds since our last battle." A psychotic smile graced Luke's face. "Is it enough to defeat me?!"

Without wasting even a sliver of time, Luke vanished and materialized himself behind a surprised Annabeth: who raised her gauntlet to slow down his attack—but she was knocked into three motor-cycles.

Luke appeared above her and aimed a powerful fist at Annabeth's nose. Rolling backwards to establish some distance between herself and Luke, Annabeth grunted. "I'm lucky he can't use his mana."

Blood stained Luke's cheeks from Annabeth's earlier punches. Twirling Back-Biter, Luke stepped forward and shoved his shoulder into her clavicle. He yelled. "I hope you came prepared for this battle!"

(-)

Silence inundated the atmosphere around Percy and Kronos. Five minutes passed without a single word even being murmured. Taking Riptide out from its sheath, Percy bent his knees and ran forward.

Kronos parried a vicious slash from Riptide, head-butted Percy's unprotected nose, flicked a left-hook into his cheek, and scoffed. "Even if you possess the curse, you stand no chance against me."

Percy staggered backwards, sinking to one knee and releasing a cough of exertion from his mouth. Climbing to his feet, Percy smiled. "Sorry. Sorry. I didn't think you were this strong."

Multiple geysers of water erupted from the streets beneath them and assaulted Kronos all at the same time. Cleaving his golden scythe through them, Kronos' head was punched by a water-covered fist.

He had been hurtled into four trucks parked against the left section of the road they stood on. Uninjured, Kronos emerged from the obliterated vehicles. "His hydrokinetic abilities are well trained."

Stomping the bottom of his foot into the concrete and grabbing onto a gigantic slab of stone, Kronos flung it at Percy. The son of the seas sliced Riptide into it, scattering it into fifteen shards of pure rock.

Percy strained himself and leaped towards Kronos—but the open air around him was touched by time itself. Kronos had decreased the speed within Percy's movements. "Tell me your weak spot, demi-god."

"Why the hell would I do that?" Percy raised a sardonic eye-brow. "Why don't I tell you about the time I found out I failed a physics test?"

Slapping Percy in the face and drawing out a puddle of blood from his up-turned mouth, Kronos let out an entertained laugh. He grinned. "You demi-gods always were funny creatures, weren't you?"

Kronos snapped his fingers, removed the layer of time settled over Percy, lowered his aureate scythe, and entered the stance of an aged warrior. "I'll give you the advantage for the rest of this battle."

Spitting out the blood gathered in his mouth, Percy blinked. "Advantage? What kind of advantage are we talking about, huh?"

"It is a simple one." Kronos' grin became even more ferocious and hostile. "I will not use any time-related powers for the rest of the fight."

(-)

Charles Beckendorf slammed the heel of his foot into the face of one of Kronos' countless soldiers. Twirling around on the spot, he dug his blade into the neck of an Empousa and killed the foul creature.

Numerous demi-gods, demi-goddesses, and monsters battled across the streets and areas of New-York-City. Ducking his head low, Charles slammed his fore-head into a demi-god's solar-plexus and grunted.

Many corpses decorated the blood-soaked ground beneath his feet. Steeling his heart from the pain of losing his fellow campers, Charles charged at a Cyclops and bisected his blade through its exposed hip.

Despite the grief within his heart, Charles had decided to knock out the enemy demi-gods to ensure no-one else died. Burying his elbow into a second Cyclops' nose, Charles knocked it downwards.

Kronos' malicious presence and Percy's determined presence filled the senses of every individual present on the battle-field. Charles smiled for the briefest of moments. "Percy is our beacon of power."

Charles lashed his hand out and curled his fingers around an arrow—this arrow had been shot at him from a distance. Scoping out the terrain in front of him, Charles noticed four cars and two trucks.

Running over to Travis and Connor Stoll, Charles grabbed onto their shoulders and moved them behind the large bodies of the trucks. He lowered his head. "I have a favour for the both of you. Will you listen?"

Scratching the back of his head and glancing at his brother, Travis nodded. "Of course, man. What do you want the two of us to do?"

"I want the two of you to push these trucks on my signal." Charles responded. "But you must not reveal your positions, alright?"

"Have some faith in us, man!" Connor shouted before he smacked a palm onto his mouth. "Sorry, didn't mean to yell that out so loud."

Charles rushed out from behind the two trucks, whistling to catch the attention of everyone on the battle-field. Ten Cyclopes glared at him. Hunger flickered across their unhinged eyes. Drool covered their lips.

These aggressive entities roared and bounded towards him. Charles unhooked an arrow from his belt, throwing it into the night-sky. Rolling to the left, Charles watched the trucks fall on the monsters.

Aureate ashes graced the road of the enormous city from the obliteration of the ten Cyclopes. Charles smiled while Travis and Connor rubbed their hands. "That took more strength than I thought!"

Charles turned from his two friends and walked into an alleyway. Taking out his monster-repellent phone, he dialled in a number until the call was accepted. "Lou Ellen? Can you hear me right now?"

"Yeah. Yeah. I can hear you just fine." Lou Ellen—child of Hecate—answered. "Have you found out where Luke is?"

Peering into the distance, Charles grunted into his phone's speakers. "I can see Annabeth and Luke fighting it out, what should I do?"

"Keep the weapon you and my cabin created ready." Lou's eyes glowed a potent green. "The weapon just has to touch Luke."

(-)

Annabeth and Luke were engaged in a merciless fist-fight. Annabeth was pushed back by a punch to the chin. Her head snapped up at a rather painful angle.

Another inundation of blood trickled out from the nostrils of Luke's broken nose. Driving his elbow into Annabeth's solar-plexus, Luke slammed the daughter of wisdom against the back of a small truck.

The runes on Annabeth's gauntlets glowed a vermillion-tinged light before she axe-kicked Luke's chin. Annabeth hacked out three puddles of blood. "You really do love hitting people in the chin, huh?"

A humoured snort filled Annabeth's ears. Luke shook his head and smiled. "It's a favourite hobby of mine. You pack a good punch."

"Thank you for your terrible compliments." Annabeth rolled her grey eyes and parried a tenth punch. "Neither of us are winning this fight."

"I'm still holding myself back." Luke laughed, drilling his knee into Annabeth's abdomen. "Have you already reached your limit, then?"

Upper-cutting Luke, Annabeth then roundhouse kicked the temple of his head. Luke was smacked backwards—but the blatant amusement within his blue irises remained. "How about we speed this fight up?"

"Funny." Annabeth flicked off the last traces of blood on her lips. She flexed her biceps. "I guess you and I were thinking of the same idea."

An untraceable distortion grabbed onto Annabeth's neck and pushed her through the window of ten vans. Shards of glass embedded themselves into Annabeth's skin as she grunted in pain. "His speed!"

Annabeth's fore-arm sunk into Luke's damaged nose. However, Annabeth realized something was amiss about their clash. Her gaze grew suspicious and confused. "Don't you have the Curse-Of-Achilles?"

Throwing Annabeth downwards into the ground and producing a massive crater of perpetual depth, Luke glanced at Annabeth without a hint of humour or mischief. "I do possess the Curse-Of-Achilles."

Dragging herself out from the ginormous hole in the concrete, Annabeth coughed out more blood and grunted. "How was I able to hurt you, Luke? Or are you lying to me about having the curse?"

Luke extended his hand out towards Annabeth. A single rune glinted on his calloused palm. "I had Hecate alter the curse's effect on me."

"This is a rune that allows me to activate and deactivate the curse." Luke explained. "Don't you realize? I had the curse deactivated."

"You've grown strong, Annabeth." Luke clenched a casual fist and chuckled. "But you're still too weak and naive if you think you can win."

"This war is a clash of ideals, Annabeth!" Luke shouted. His voice turned calm before he spoke. "I will create a new world of peace."

"Peace?" A bitter smile twisted Annabeth's lips. She scoffed. "You're responsible for the murder of countless demi-gods! You're a fool."

Sighing to himself, Luke summoned Back-Biter into his coarse hand. "It is their own fault for not seeing the truth, Annabeth. I am no fool."

The blue rune illustrated across Luke's calloused palm twinkled and activated the Curse-Of-Achilles for him. A faint outline of azure surrounded Luke's body, healing his broken nose and other injuries.

Annabeth had plucked out the shards of glass submerged into her flesh. Bringing out all of her stamina, she used the runes on her gauntlets to enhance her physical capabilities. "I'm ending this fight."

Breaking out into a sprint of unparalleled agility and speed, Annabeth shoved her entire body into Luke and propelled both of them into the window of an unoccupied shop. Luke was unharmed from her attack.

A kick to the jaw from Luke flipped Annabeth backwards until the top of her head was grabbed by a ruthless hand. Striking his palm into her face, Luke slapped Annabeth's left and right cheeks twenty times.

Plunging her knee into Luke and impelling him back into a shelf of mundane items, Annabeth scanned the area around her. She spotted a discarded pipe on the front-counter inside of this destroyed store.

Luke jumped out of the shelf and glanced at Annabeth: who had retrieved the long—but sharp—pipe from the front-counter of the shop. Feet cracking the ground beneath him, Luke rushed forward.

Annabeth pulled out three daggers from her belt, flung them into the floor of the store, moved herself out of the building, and grinned. "Even if this doesn't damage him, it should still distract him long enough."

The gashes on her skin from the scraps of glass hindered her over-all performance in battle. Focusing on Luke, Annabeth saw her three daggers burst into a hurricane of vicious flames.

"I have to deduce where his weak-spot is." Annabeth touched her chin for a brief moment and hummed. "But how can I find his weak-spot?"

Smoke billowed out from the remains of the burned and obliterated shop. Luke stepped forward, undamaged and amused. "You cannot win this."

Luke appeared in front of Annabeth in a flash of unadulterated speed. Shocked, Annabeth had no time to block the powerful punch to her stomach. She flew into the air and crashed into a sky-scraper.

Blood coated itself over Luke's knuckles. Luke dematerialized Back-Biter, gazed at the sky-scraper where he had punched Annabeth, and smirked. "She's dead…"

(-)

An exhausted Leo Valdez sprinted through the innumerable alleyways in New-York-City. Breaths of fatigue streamed out from the cavern of Leo's mouth. He collapsed against a wall.

The darkness within these alleyways were illuminated by the green glow from Alabaster C. Torrington's gaze. Alabaster turned the corner and approached Leo: who grinned. "Are you gonna kill me?"

"I find myself impressed by your capabilities." Alabaster replied, blinking his emerald-hued eyes. "You did somehow beat Hyperion."

"That was because I had help from your sister and my robot." Leo clicked his teeth in pain. "That lantern-man didn't use his full power."

Alabaster nodded, cracking an amused and somewhat amiable smirk. "You are correct in your statement. Hyperion did not go all out."

Snorting at Alabaster, Leo grunted. "You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to realize that type of crap. So, what now? You murder me?"

"I think I will extend an invitation to you instead, Leo Valdez." Alabaster murmured. "Will you work under me in Kronos' army?"

"I won't join you!" Leo shouted until the pain in his leg was amplified when Alabaster stepped on his foot. "So just kill me, magician-man."

Alabaster pressed the sole of his shoe down into Leo's foot before he stopped and crouched down. "Lord Kronos did want you to join us."

Brown eyes were clouded by countless suspicions. Leo laughed. "That's hilarious! Why the heck would he want me in his damn army?"

"You, Percy Jackson, and Annabeth Chase were close to defeating Luke." Alabaster mumbled. "Do you even realize what that means?"

"Prometheus and my mother trained Luke in the arts of mana themselves." Alabaster smirked. "You three pushed him to his limits."

"Luke is the most powerful demi-god in Kronos' army even without his mana." Alabaster elucidated. "Kronos acknowledged your strength."

A sigh of feigned despair escaped Alabaster's lips. "You do realize I have the ability to sense the life-forces of everyone in this city?"

"How the hell is that relevant in this discussion?" Despite his pain and exhaustion, Leo raised a confused eye-brow. "You're losing me, man."

"Yours and Annabeth Chase's life-forces are depleting." Alabaster answered. "That means that the two of you are going to die soon."

"What the hell happened to Annabeth?!" Leo lurched forward—but was stopped by the agony within his limbs. "Is Percy also dying?!"

"You care for your friends' lives except for your own." The magician shook his head, astonished. "You do realize you are also dying?"

The child of the forges gritted his teeth in frustration. "Those two are my friends! Do you really think I'm not worried about their lives?"

"I think it is foolish to care for others beside yourself." Alabaster's green eyes glinted an ominous light. "You have potential in power."

Alabaster had an unamused smile on his freckled features. "Us demi-gods are designed for death, battle, and violence."

"You possess the rare ability of flames." Alabaster's voice was calm. "But you squander your potential in the pursuit of companionship."

"Even Luke has not reached the full reach of his potential." Alabaster sighed. "If only he realized that his mana is a tool for him to use."

"Instead, he views mana how one would view a friend." He gazed into the brown depths of Leo's irises. "Friends are worthless and useless."

Leo leaned deeper into the alleyway wall behind him and snorted. "You really do love belittling people who have friends, huh?"

"Look." Leo strained his entire hand to scratch the back of his head. "What are you trying to tell me? You want me to forget my friends?"

"You misunderstand me." Alabaster responded. "I am sharing my philosophy about power and companionship, nothing more."

"However." Alabaster climbed to his feet and stared down at Leo, unimpressed. "You have disappointed me, Leo Valdez."

Leo smirked. "Funny! Hyperion told me something similar!"

"It won't be so funny when your friends die." Alabaster's senses were stretched out across the city. "You and your friend are still dying."

Calloused hand stretched down at Leo, Alabaster gathered an accumulation of wind onto the front of his palm. "I won't kill you. But your injuries shall end your life."

Leo shuddered in unadulterated pain once the seven slashes of wind opened multiple lacerations on the midsection of his body. Blood leaked out from Leo's wounds. "I can't summon my fire to heal me."

"I was expecting a different outcome for you." Alabaster lowered his arm in disapproval. "You shall perish alongside your friends, then."

"No." Leo gritted out through teeth clenched in pure pain. Blood trickled out from his mouth. "I ain't dying to you, magician-man!"

The emotionless expression on Alabaster's face turned somewhat sad and disappointed. Alabaster gazed at the seven gashes on Leo's body. "You will bleed out soon enough. I shall leave you to perish."

Alabaster twirled around and skulked out from the alleyways. Green eyes of neutrality glanced at the silhouette close to the entrance of the ginnel. Nico Di Angelo stepped out from the shadows. "Alabaster."

"I remember you." Alabaster tilted his head, wearing a mask of impassivity on his freckled visage. "I captured you in the hideout."

Smirking at the magician and sliding his pale hands into his pockets, Nico chortled. "I ain't interested in a rematch, don't worry yourself out."

"Your soldiers have killed many fellow demi-gods." Nico glanced at Alabaster's facade of pure apathy. "Does that not bother you at all?"

"Leo Valdez and Annabeth Chase are dying." Alabaster announced out of the blue. "Shall you not tell this to your leader and comrades?"

"You're kind of dumb, aren't you?" Obsidian eyes twinkled in unconcealed amusement. "I am the child of Hades—lord of the dead."

"Let me tell you this." Nico teleported himself next to Alabaster and whispered into his ear. "Those two are still alive and kicking."

Their discussion was interrupted when the alleyways behind them were scorched by an incredible hurricane of perpetual flames. A fire-covered body brightened the shadows within the area.

Alabaster turned towards Nico—but the child of Hades had disappeared. The magician tensed his muscles, adopting the familiar facade of a trained warrior. "How did you survive your injuries?"

Leo emerged from the darkness of the illuminated alleyways and pointed into the sector where he had been seconds ago. Grinning, he responded. "Nico had his ghost feed me some Ambrosia to heal me."

Humming in realization, Alabaster widened his green eyes. "That conversation was a distraction so his phantom could heal you."

The childish grin of mischief strewn across Leo's face widened itself. Leo gestured a coarse finger at Alabaster, accumulating a small amount of fire onto its tip. "Bingo! You win a hot reward from me!"

A plentiful number of flame-constructed bullets were launched in Alabaster's direction. Erecting a barricade of mana and dispelling the fire-based attacks, the child of magic smiled. "I'm glad you survived."

Leo cracked his neck, clenched his fists, disappeared in a burst of flames, and materialized himself next to Alabaster. A fire-enhanced punch to the temple of the head knocked Alabaster into a wall.

"I'm going to be honest." Lowering his hand, Leo watched Alabaster heal his injuries. "I don't think I could have beaten you in the hideout."

"But everything's different right now." Leo clenched his fists for a second time, covering them in flames. "I've grown stronger."

(-)

Annabeth had landed on the roof-top of another building close to the sky-scraper that Luke had punched her into. A non-stop stream of blood left her lips. Fatal lacerations decorated her wounded flesh.

The gauntlets gifted to her by Leo remained wrapped around her hands. Grey eyes peered at the stars within Nyx's domain. Grunting, Annabeth felt her wounds open even more. She sighed. "Damn it."

From the corner of her pained vision, Annabeth noticed the shadows of the roof-top flicker before a familiar individual stepped out from them. Nico pressed a hand into his hip. "Hey, Annabeth."

"Nico?" Annabeth's eyes were confused. "I don't recommend staying in this area. I'm pretty sure Kronos and Percy are battling it out."

Nico shook his head and let out a nonchalant breath. "Worry about yourself, would you? Don't worry, I ain't gonna let you die."

"I used all of my Ambrosia when my ghost healed Leo." Nico smiled and pulled a scroll out from no-where. "Lou Ellen gave me this."

"Her mother gave her a lot of presents before defecting to Kronos." He explained. "One of these presents was a scroll that healed someone."

"The best part about this scroll? It heals the recipient without fail." Nico chuckled. "You'll be just fine once I get the runes on this scroll open."

Annabeth released a relieved breath from her mouth. Nico opened the scroll, activating its runes and raising it into the air. The runes glowed and covered Annabeth in mana. She had been healed. "Perfect."

Jumping to her feet and flexing her muscles, Annabeth patted Nico on the shoulder in appreciation. She smiled. "Thanks for the help, Nico. All I have to do is deduce a method to find Luke's weak-spot."

"Good luck, Annabeth." Nico nodded at her before he dissolved into the shadows of the roof-top. "I still have some more work to do."

Annabeth bent her knees and leaped off of the roof-top of the building she had been on—this building was destroyed by the power of her jump. She landed on the ground, analysing her immediate vicinity.

Luke had entered a battle between himself and a fatigued Charles: who buried his blade into Luke's shoulder. His weapon bounced off of the child of speed's body as he was upper-cut straight in the chin.

"I thought you would have joined us, Charles!" Luke shouted, kicking Charles in the stomach and elbowing his nose. "Why didn't you?!"

An inundation of blood gushed out from Charles' nose. "I never wanted this for you, Luke. You were a friend who I once trusted."

Charles reached for his blade and raised it at Luke's chest. Luke lifted an annoyed eye-brow. "You do realize I am invulnerable right now?"

Shaking his head, Charles chortled. "That doesn't mean anything to me. Even if nothing hurts you, I will fight you to my last breath."

"How heroic of you, Charles!" Luke grinned. A psychotic inflection infected his otherwise composed voice. "I will be the one to end you."

"Luke." Charles kept his blade aimed at Luke's chest. "I performed hours of research on how I could harm your invincible body."

Annabeth had stopped to listen to Charles' statement. Fascinated, she maintained her distance between herself and the two demi-gods. Charles huffed. "I cannot fully remove that curse from your body."

Luke was entertained by Charles' nonsensical claims and crossed his arms. The child of the forges pulled out a cube from his pocket, extending it into the shape of a knife. "The Hecate-Cabin created this."

"I helped forge the knife itself—but they imbued the magical-attributes this weapon possesses." Charles smiled. "There are only two of these."

Charles flicked the knife forward and tapped it on Luke's shoulder. Luke had allowed him to perform this action for the sake of his own amusement. Nothing happened. Charles murmured. "This will—."

Growing bored and uninterested in Charles' explanation, Luke unfolded his arms. Kicking Charles' nose and hurtling him into a car, the son of Hermes watched the knife fall onto the ground.

Luke grunted. "What the hell was that useless knife supposed to do?"

Annabeth appeared behind Luke in a burst of incredible speed. Surprised by her survival, Luke grinned and their fists collided. Jumping back, Annabeth picked up Charles' knife from the ground.

She glanced at the unconscious Charles and reverted his knife into a cube before she buried it into her pocket for safe-keeping. "Thanks for keeping Luke busy, Charles. I'll keep that knife safe on your behalf."

"I'm amazed that you healed from your injuries." Luke tilted his head. "I suppose you received outside help, then. You were lucky."

Rushing towards Annabeth, Luke was surprised once again when she blocked all of his punches in rapid succession and was even able to roundhouse kick him in the nose. "That one was for Beckendorf."

Although unharmed by her powerful attacks, Luke scratched at his nose and felt some type of painful sensation. Shrugging to himself, he charged at Annabeth and slammed his knuckles into her neck.

She slapped Luke's fist to the left and elbowed his fore-head. Uninjured, Luke scratched at his nose for a second time. His eyes widened. Blood gushed from his nose. "How? The rune is still active."

Annabeth had already realized what had happened. A mad grin of amazement was plastered across her blood-caked features. "Charles told Luke that he could not fully remove the curse from his body!"

More calculations of intensity passed through Annabeth's mind. "That knife must have turned Luke's full-invincibility into partial-invincibility!"

Countless deductions filled Annabeth's head. "That means some of my hits will damage him. But he'll also remain unhurt from some of them."

Luke was in a state of absolute shock. The rune on his palm that could deactivate and activate the Curse-Of-Achilles for him had somehow been destroyed. This was because of his body's partial-invulnerability.

Annabeth took advantage of this situation and punched him right in the chin, snapping his head backwards at a harmful angle. More blood ripped itself out from Luke's lips. He stayed paralyzed by shock.

Another punch touched his nose. However, this time, he remained unharmed by the attack powered by the runes of Annabeth's gauntlets. Luke clenched his jaw. "I now have partial-invincibility…"

Annabeth landed multiple punches and kicks onto Luke's body without wasting a single second or without wasting any time whatsoever. Luke collapsed, twitching his hand. "Damn it, I let myself get distracted."

Some of Annabeth's punches and kicks wounded him while other punches and kicks left him uninjured. Annabeth pulled out a dagger, stabbing it into the prone Luke's shoulder until she could damage it.

A massive gash had opened up on Luke's shoulder—this gash went from his shoulder across to his collar-bone. He laid in a puddle of blood. Annabeth sighed. "I'm sorry it came down to this, Luke."

She turned around and walked through the area. Blue eyes closed, Luke released a breath of pure denial. "I refuse to accept this. I can't die. Why the hell did I let myself get so shocked by that damn knife and its ability to weaken me?"

"Annabeth, Thalia, and Percy don't understand anything about this world." Luke grunted in his mind. "They think they're the heroes."

"Lord Kronos will succeed." Ruthless determination illuminated Luke's sapphire-coloured irises. "And I will not die from this pathetic wound."

"I will not allow myself to die now." Something forbidden within Luke's body unravelled itself and cracked. "I'm the one who will bring change, aren't I...?"

"Naruto Uzumaki." Luke remembered the blue-eyed individual. "You humiliated me in battle. I acknowledge that you are out of my reach."

Luke smiled to himself, coughing out more blood. "I'm no longer going to obsess over these people. But, still, I really could die right now."

"If only I had been more selfish in my pursuit of power." Another deluge of blood oozed out of Luke's body. "I haven't truly lived…"

In that moment of self-reflection, particles of some type of yellow-tinted energy trickled out from every pore of Luke's body. The seal given to him by the goddess of magic had been destroyed.

Luke luxuriated in the sensation of his mana within the open atmosphere around him and took in a breath of fresh air. A peaceful smile graced Luke's handsome features. "How long has it been?"

Dragging himself to his feet, Luke channelled his mana throughout his body and healed his injuries. Luke touched his neck. "My partial-invulnerability will protect me from the effects of my mana-reserves."

The potency of Luke's mana would no longer serve as an issue for him since the Curse-Of-Achilles—albeit weakened—provided him a form of invincibility. His body and organs would remain unharmed.

Breaking out into a sprint and morphing himself into an aureate distortion, Luke approached Annabeth and smacked his foot into the back of her head. Annabeth was knocked into the concrete.

"COME ON!" Luke stretched his arms out wide and shouted. "I thought you wanted this outcome! I'm ready whenever you are to fight it out!"

Dazed for the briefest of moments, Annabeth twisted herself around and climbed to her feet before she analyzed her situation. "Luke's regained his mana somehow, despite it being sealed off by someone."

A tendril of magic erupted out from the ground underneath and wrapped itself around her waist. This tendril swung Annabeth straight into Luke's mana-enhanced knuckles. "I can't stop his fist in time!"

Annabeth was propelled through another sky-scraper—but produced two daggers from her belt and stabbed them against the building. Sliding down, Annabeth saw Luke fly at her from the distance.

Luke had summoned his infamous Condensed-Cube spell onto his calloused palm—a technique that was inspired by Naruto Uzumaki's Rasengan. Gritting her teeth, Annabeth braced herself for the attack.

However, the runes instilled into Annabeth's gauntlets had some kind of negative reaction against Luke's mana. Picturing the image of a shield in her mind, Annabeth materialized a magical barricade.

The Condensed-Cube collided into Annabeth's barricade of magic and created a massive shock-wave of mana. Somewhat surprised, Luke summoned himself two suction-cups and stuck onto the sky-scraper.

These gauntlets' main design and function were to convert the user's stamina into mana that would be used to enhance their physical strength—but this mana could be utilized however the user wanted.

Annabeth had deduced all of this and smiled to herself. Her skills in magic were abysmal—so this battle against Luke, a talented magician, would prove useful for her growth in strength and prowess.

Skating down the sky-scraper and planting herself onto the top of a car, Annabeth snapped her head forward. Luke's fist had missed her by several inches. The son of Hermes screamed. "Mana-Burst!"

A powerful pulsation of pure magic ripped itself out from Luke's palm and drove itself into Annabeth, shoving her across the air and into a lamp-pole. Annabeth was irritated. "He's regained his full power…"

(-)

Kronos had his hand wrapped around Percy's ankle and threw him into thirteen sky-scrapers. Flying through the atmosphere of the enormous city, Percy concentrated on the titan and gritted his teeth.

He dug his feet into the soil-covered platform of a small park in the outskirts of an abandoned area. Appearing in front of him, Kronos flexed his pale fingers. "I would have rather fought the fox."

"You mean Naruto?" Percy twirled Riptide, bent his knees, and scoffed. "You're not his main priority, Prometheus and Atlas are."

Rolling his aureate eyes in amusement, Kronos chuckled. "I wanted you to give me more of a challenge—but is this all you can offer me?"

Percy focused on the water of the lake behind him. A gargantuan hand erupted from the lake and clenched itself onto Kronos' entire body. Grinning, Percy hurtled Kronos through numerous trees.

The trunks of the trees shattered into shards of wood once Kronos' back touched them—courtesy of his body's natural durability and the Curse-Of-Achilles. Kronos slanted his head as he walked forward.

Obliterated trees adorned the grass-surface behind him. Kronos and Percy's battle was interrupted when a loud yell of exertion echoed into their ears. An unnamed demi-god had entered the park. "Percy!"

Unimpressed by the sheer audacity and bravado of this demi-god, Kronos waved his hand and time itself rippled. The demi-god's head was sliced off within an interval of three seconds. "Stay out of this."

Despite not even being friends to the demi-god whom Kronos had slaughtered, Percy had a sense of responsibility for all of the people under his leadership. He clenched his jaw in outrage. "Why do you do all this?!"

"How the hell can you kill these innocent people without batting an eye?!" Percy yelled, angered. "They did nothing to deserve this crap!"

Kronos kept his head at a tilted position. "Why should I care for pathetic creatures who I will outlive? They have no value for me."

"That's why you heroes confuse me." Kronos pointed at the corpse on the blood-soaked grass. "Why do you desire to live so much? Why?"

"If I lay even a finger on a mortal, they will die." The titan of time grunted. "So tell me, Percy Jackson? Why do you fight to live?"

"I fight to live because I can." Percy groused through gritted teeth. "I fight for everyone because they deserve to live."

Kronos lowered his finger and extended his pale hands out. "I wonder how much resolve those words truly hold. Come at me, prophesied one."

(-)

Naruto Uzumaki and Prometheus stared at each other from the top of the roof of an apartment-complex. Moonlight illuminated a pair of vibrant blue eyes. Starlight brightened two brown-tinted irises.

A calm and peaceful silence inundated the open air around them. Naruto's shoulders were slumped while his calloused hands were tucked into his pockets. He spoke. "You really intend to kill me?"

Prometheus let loose a gentle hum of confirmation before he smiled. "Indeed, I do have full intentions of slaughtering and eliminating you."

"Have no fear, Naruto Uzumaki." Prometheus covered his hands in a layer of impenetrable mana. "I will extract the Kyuubi from you soon."

"You keep telling me the same crap." Naruto had a grin of mockery on his whiskered features. "You haven't been close to taking Kurama."

They gazed at each other again and blurred forward.

Naruto sighed and mumbled. "I'm still tired."

A/N: Thanks for reading.