The portal dissolved behind them, and the first thing they felt was the rain.
Thick drops fell from the sky, soaking their clothes the moment they set foot on Half-Blood Hill. The smell of wet earth mingled with a strange metallic odor in the air.
"Great," Sadie grumbled, pulling up the hood of her jacket. "First thing that happens when we step here: we get drenched. It can only be a—"
She stopped.
Not because she decided to give the universe a break for its tendency to make her life miserable, but because she noticed something strange.
Silence.
The wind whipped across the hill, the rain pattered on the grass, but beyond that, there was nothing.
The silence came from a figure among them.
Ikki said nothing, but his gaze was fixed on the valley below. His body was tense, his muscles rigid as if he'd been shocked.
That alone sent a shiver down Sadie's spine. Ikki rarely showed such raw emotions.
Zia noticed it too.
"Ikki?" Her voice was hesitant, as if she feared pulling him back to something he didn't want to see.
But he didn't respond.
The others followed his gaze. And then, they saw.
Camp Half-Blood… destroyed.
The hill offered a clear view of the valley below, and what they saw made everyone's stomach churn.
The lake's water was tinged red. Bodies were scattered across the mud-soaked, bloodstained ground. The cabins, once colorful and vibrant, were in ruins, some burning with greenish flames, others reduced to rubble. The Big House had one of its towers collapsed. The pavilion was twisted, as if a colossal force had crushed it.
A massive fissure split the camp in two.
And in the midst of it all, a war.
Demigods fought desperately against a sea of monsters. Dracaenae, cyclopes, giants, and creatures that shouldn't exist anymore. At the center of the carnage, colossal figures moved among the wreckage, their presence radiating raw power.
Titans.
The world seemed to slow.
Sadie had to blink a few times to make sure it wasn't an illusion. She hoped it was a trick, a magical mirage—but it wasn't.
It was real.
Ikki didn't move. He was frozen, staring at the scene before him as if his mind were trapped somewhere else, in another time. As if he saw not only the present destruction but also echoes of the past.
Camp Half-Blood, the only place he'd called home after losing his mother, was dying before his eyes.
His mind was flooded with memories.
Capture-the-flag games with Percy and Annabeth.
Nights at the pavilion, laughing with his friends as the campfire crackled.
Training sessions, challenges, the small joys of daily life.
It was all slipping away.
His chest ached. A pain so deep he didn't know if it was physical or something worse.
He didn't notice his fists were clenched so tightly that blood dripped from his palm.
He didn't notice the rain around him beginning to swirl, as if responding to his inner storm.
He didn't notice his eyes had become pure energy, electric blue flames burning where his pupils once were.
But the others noticed.
"Ikki?" Sadie called again, her voice hesitant, almost fearful.
He didn't respond.
He just kept staring at the hell before him.
Then, a single word escaped his lips.
Low, hoarse, laced with a power that made the very air vibrate around him.
"No."
Ikki's word wasn't a shout.
It was a whisper.
But even so, the world trembled.
The rain stopped falling around him. The drops hung suspended in the air for a moment before evaporating into blue vapor. The wind became charged with static electricity, as if a thunderbolt were about to strike but never hit the ground.
Then, he moved.
A flash of light exploded where Ikki stood, and before anyone could blink, he was gone.
...
Percy was exhausted.
Not just physically—that was a long-established fact—but something inside him felt drained to its limit.
He was panting, gripping Riptide as if it were the only thing keeping him upright.
Eurybia stood before him, wounded, her volcanic basalt skin leaking golden blood from deep cuts, but her eyes burned with pure hatred.
"You…" her voice was like rocks grinding together. "YOU… dared to injure me this much?"
She raised her hand. The lake's waters began to churn, as if her presence tainted even Poseidon's domain. A black whirlpool formed, and from the water emerged a trident made of pure darkness.
Percy tried to lift his sword, but his arms trembled.
He knew he couldn't.
He knew this was the end.
And, surprisingly, that didn't terrify him.
He just thought: *Grover… I'll see you soon, man.*
Eurybia hurled the trident.
But it never reached him.
Time seemed to fold in on itself.
The air exploded with an indescribable force.
And suddenly, Ikki was there.
The black trident was stopped midair by a single finger.
The weapon disintegrated into dust upon contact.
Eurybia froze. Her entire body shuddered, not from anger, but from something far worse.
Fear.
Percy blinked, confused.
"Ikki…?"
His friend didn't respond.
Eurybia, on the other hand, had never felt fear.
She was a Titan.
But in that moment, facing Ikki's gaze, she knew.
She knew she was going to die.
Ikki didn't think.
He just acted.
His body moved before his mind could process.
In the blink of an eye, he was in front of Eurybia, his hand gripping the Titan's throat with a force that cracked her granite skin.
She tried to react. Her fist, powerful enough to crush a mountain range, swung down in a brutal strike, but Ikki stopped it effortlessly, catching her fist in midair.
The force of the impact should have been enough to bury him in the ground.
But Ikki didn't even flinch.
His eyes glowed with a ghostly blue light, and his fury was palpable, radiating like a storm about to devastate everything around him.
Eurybia tried to break free, her entire body writhing, but Ikki's grip didn't yield.
Then, he squeezed.
A horrific crack echoed as the Titan's throat began to compress under the pressure. She let out a choked growl, fear overtaking her face for the first time.
Ikki then pulled.
With a brutal motion, he lifted her into the air and slammed her into the ground.
The earth split, the impact so violent it caused a deafening boom.
But he didn't stop.
He advanced.
His fist rose and crashed into Eurybia's face.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Each blow sank her head deeper into the ground, cracking her granite face, golden blood splattering in all directions. Eurybia tried to muster her strength, but Ikki grabbed one of her arms and, in a single motion, tore it from her body.
Her roar of pain was animalistic, but Ikki showed no emotion.
He grabbed her other arm and ripped it off too.
Eurybia thrashed, golden blood gushing from her severed limbs. But there was no mercy in Ikki's eyes.
Only fury.
Ikki didn't hesitate.
With a brutal yank, he grabbed Eurybia's neck and lifted her head, forcing her to face him.
And, without a word, he pulled.
Eurybia's flesh tore like paper, her head snapping off like a Lego piece.
Golden blood poured in torrents. Her body convulsed violently before beginning to dissolve, consumed by her own primordial essence.
The scream she let out echoed across the battlefield.
And then, silence.
The Titan's head rolled across the ground before dissolving into golden dust.
Ikki stood, the Titans' blood dripping from his hands. His eyes still burned with fury.
But then, he turned.
Percy was still on the ground, breathing heavily. His orange Camp Half-Blood shirt was torn and stained with blood, his black hair plastered to his forehead by sweat and rain.
His green eyes lifted to Ikki, and for a moment, he just stared.
He wanted to say so much.
He wanted to ask so much, like, what happened to make Ikki look older and taller? He seemed to have become a young adult in an instant!
He wanted to yell at Ikki, blame him for disappearing, for not being there when everything fell apart.
But it wasn't the time.
So instead, Percy forced a smile—one of those smiles he gave when trying to hide the pain.
"Good to see you back, man."
Ikki didn't respond immediately. He just knelt beside his friend and placed a hand on his chest.
A blue light glowed from his palm.
Percy shuddered, but soon the pain began to fade, his cuts closing, his bones realigning. His breathing steadied; he was completely healed and back at his peak.
He let out a shaky sigh.
"You really gotta teach me how to do that someday…"
Ikki rose slowly, his silhouette framed by the rain and the flickering light of the flames around them. He said nothing to Percy and quickly shot off at the speed of light in another direction.
...
The battle roared around Annabeth and Clarisse, the boom of explosions and the clash of swords filling the storm-charged air. The rain weighed on their armor, the smell of ozone mixed with the iron of blood making the atmosphere even more suffocating.
They were exhausted, wounded, but kept fighting.
But then something happened. Pallas.
The Titan, who until then seemed amused with finishing them off, paused for a moment, his eyes shifting to something beyond the battlefield.
Annabeth followed his gaze instinctively, her heart racing.
Something was happening on the other side of the camp…?
She tried to understand what it was, but she didn't have time.
Because Pallas moved.
And this time, he wasn't playing.
Clarisse was hit first. The blow struck her stomach with enough force to send her flying back, her armor shattering under the impact. She crashed into a pile of debris, her spear falling from her hand as blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.
Annabeth's eyes widened, but she couldn't react in time.
Pallas swung his spear's blade in a swift arc. The pain hit like a shock, tearing through her abdomen and bringing her to her knees. Her dagger slipped from her trembling fingers, warm blood staining the rain-soaked ground.
She knew, in that moment, that she had lost.
The Titan raised his weapon for the final blow.
Annabeth closed her eyes.
She wasn't afraid of death. She'd always known she might die young.
But there was something that hurt.
Something she'd never said.
*Ikki… I never told you I love you.*
The blade came down—
But it never reached her.
The first sign something was wrong was the smell.
Familiar.
Comforting.
A scent that made her heart race in a different way.
Strong arms wrapped around her, lifting her from the ground with a care that contrasted violently with the brutality of the battle around them.
Annabeth opened her eyes.
And saw Ikki.
But not the usual Ikki.
The fury in his glowing blue eyes burned brighter than a supernova.
Annabeth was breathless.
She was safe.
But Pallas wasn't.
The Titan took a step back.
And, for the first time, Annabeth saw something new in his eyes.
Fear.
Ikki set Annabeth down with a gentleness that seemed out of place in that infernal battlefield. His fingers brushed her cheek for a brief second, feeling her skin cold from the rain and warm from the blood.
"Stay here," he said. His voice was low, almost a whisper, but the thunder that roared soon after seemed to answer the silent promise in his words.
And then, he stood.
Annabeth tried to say something, but the words caught in her throat when she saw the expression on his face. Ikki didn't just look furious. He looked like something beyond that.
Pallas took a step back. The Titan who once crushed demigods like insects, who laughed in the face of death and others' pain, now hesitated.
"You…" Pallas tried to speak, but his voice faltered. He gripped his spear tighter, forcing a crooked smile. "You think you can scare me, boy?"
Ikki didn't respond.
He just kept walking.
Pallas tried to convince himself it was an illusion. That the suffocating aura around Ikki was a trick of the gods. That the fear creeping up his spine wasn't real.
He lunged.
His spear, a weapon capable of piercing the very sky, sliced through the air in a perfect arc, fast as lightning.
And then, it stopped.
The moment the blade's tip should have struck Ikki, he simply caught it between two fingers.
Pallas' eyes widened.
Ikki snapped the blade with a casual motion, as if it were cheap glass.
The Titan didn't have time to react.
Ikki moved.
A punch.
That was all it took.
Ikki's fist struck Pallas' face with such force that the Titan was torn from the ground. His body flew back, snapping a massive tree on impact before crashing into the ruins of one of the cabins.
He tried to rise, spitting golden blood, but Ikki was already on him.
Another blow.
And another.
And another.
The ground shook with each impact.
Pallas' face began to deform. His skull, made of a material stronger than adamantine, began to crack.
Ikki gave him no time to react.
In a fluid motion, he drove his hand into the Titan's mouth, gripping his upper jaw. His other hand seized the lower jaw.
Pallas tried to fight. His muscles writhed as he struggled to break free. But it was futile.
Ikki began to pull.
The Titan's bones groaned. The skin stretched to its limit. A wet, grotesque sound filled the air as the flesh began to tear.
Pallas' eyes widened in pure horror. He screamed, but the sound came muffled, turning into a hideous gurgle as his mouth was forced beyond any natural limit.
Ikki kept pulling.
The Titan's jaw dislocated first, a loud crack resounding. Then the tendons began to snap, one by one, like the strings of an instrument breaking.
Golden blood poured from his mouth in torrents, mixing with the rain and creating a sticky pool at Ikki's feet.
But he didn't stop.
He pulled harder.
Pallas' head split open. The skin of his face tore down to the base of his skull, exposing muscles, bones, and the grotesque structure of his titanic anatomy. His eyes rolled back, his throat emitting inhuman sounds, a mix of gurgles and desperate spasms.
Then, with one final, violent yank, Ikki tore him in half.
The Titan's head split like wet paper, separating completely.
Pallas' body shuddered one last time before collapsing to its knees. The golden blood still pulsed from his mutilated carcass, gushing in an endless cascade.
Ikki released the remains of his jaw, the chunks of flesh falling with a grotesque sound into the blood-soaked mud.
For a moment, everything was silent.
Then, Pallas collapsed. His lifeless body fell backward, his essence beginning to dissipate.
Ikki stood still. The Titan's blood dripped from his hands, slowly pooling on the ground.
Then, he snapped his fingers.
The sky exploded.
Thunder roared like a waking beast, and the air filled with the smell of burning ozone.
The light came in an absolute flash.
And in a single instant, it was over.
The lightning struck.
Not one.
Thousands.
Every monster on the field was hit. No mercy. No time for screams or resistance. They simply disintegrated, burned to golden dust before they could comprehend what was happening.
The field was empty.
The silence was deafening.
The thunder still echoed in the air when Ikki moved again.
The rain was a distorted curtain of light and shadow as he advanced. His body seemed to dissolve into the storm itself, lightning snaking around him like living chains.
In less than a blink, he was elsewhere.
...
Nico could barely stand. His body was covered in deep cuts, blood flowing in dark rivers down his black armor. He was holding on by sheer willpower, his sword wavering in his trembling hands. Chernobog, the Black God, loomed before him.
The god's spear pierced the air. Fast. Precise. Deadly.
Nico knew he couldn't block it. Not this time.
He saw death coming.
And then, it stopped.
The spear's tip shuddered, frozen in space.
Ikki was there.
Between Nico and the Black God.
One of his hands held the spear's tip as if it were nothing.
Chernobog frowned.
Ikki said nothing. His eyes shifted to Nico, assessing his condition.
The son of Hades was breathing heavily, his eyes wide with exhaustion and pain. But when he saw Ikki there, holding the Black God's spear like it was a twig, something inside him relaxed.
Ikki was here.
He always showed up.
"Bianca…" Nico gasped, his voice urgent and desperate. "Please… she…"
Ikki glanced to the side.
Bianca lay on the ground a few meters away, her chest rising and falling in a faint, irregular rhythm, her blood staining the rain-soaked earth. Her eyes were half-closed, her lips parted as if she wanted to say something but lacked the strength.
Ikki felt something in his chest. Something heavy and uncomfortable.
He moved a finger.
Chernobog didn't even see the blow.
In an instant, the Black God was hurled back with colossal force, his body crashing through a mountain of debris as if made of paper. The structure collapsed over him in a cloud of dust and rubble.
Ikki wasn't looking anymore.
He knelt beside Bianca.
Nico dropped to his knees beside her, his eyes wide with panic.
"Bianca…!"
She blinked slowly, trying to focus on her brother's face.
"Nico…?"
Her voice was a whisper.
Ikki pressed a hand over her wound.
It was bad.
Very bad.
Chernobog's spear wasn't an ordinary weapon. It carried a divine poison that corroded any hope of recovery.
Bianca's time was running out fast.
Ikki clenched his teeth.
His hand glowed with an ethereal blue, and in the next instant, all the pain vanished.
Bianca's wound began to close as if time were reversing. The blood disappeared, the muscles regenerated, the skin knitted together without a scar. In less than a second, it was as if she'd never been injured.
Bianca blinked, surprised.
"I…?"
She touched her abdomen, feeling the intact skin, no pain, no weakness. Her eyes met Ikki's, still glowing like incandescent stars.
"You're okay now…" Ikki said simply, his voice calm but firm.
Nico looked at Bianca, then at Ikki.
His shoulders trembled.
He didn't say anything, couldn't. But the relief and gratitude were clear in his eyes.
Bianca tried to speak, but Ikki was already standing.
Because Chernobog was coming back.
And now, it was his turn.
Chernobog quickly attacked with his spear.
But Ikki didn't hesitate.
He grabbed Chernobog's wrist the exact moment the Black God's spear came down to kill him. The weapon stopped in the air with a dry thud. The impact should have destroyed Ikki, but he remained motionless, his expression unwavering.
"That was pathetic."
Before Chernobog could react, Ikki twisted his wrist.
The sound came before the pain.
A grotesque crack echoed across the battlefield as the god's arm was broken at an impossible angle. Chernobog's pale skin tore, and golden blood gushed like a river, mixing with the rain.
The god screamed.
Ikki didn't stop.
He grabbed the other arm and ripped it from the body as if plucking a dry branch from a tree. The flesh tore, the bones snapped, and a new torrent of golden blood soaked the ground.
Chernobog staggered back, eyes wide, his mouth trembling as if he wanted to say something.
But Ikki gave him no time.
He kicked the god's knee with enough force to shatter it. The bone jutted through the flesh like a blade, and Chernobog fell to his knees, his face twisted in pure agony.
"You think you can touch my friends and walk away alive?"
Ikki's voice was low. Warm. But there was no compassion there.
Chernobog tried to rise. Tried to mutter something, perhaps a curse, perhaps a plea for mercy. But Ikki grabbed his face with one hand, forcing him to look at him.
"You don't deserve mercy."
And then, with a slow, cruel motion, Ikki began to squeeze.
Chernobog's facial bones groaned under the pressure. The skin sank. Golden blood began to leak from his eyes, nose, and mouth, dripping down his chin in a steady stream.
The god's screams turned to wet gasps. His eyes glazed over, and absolute despair took hold of his expression.
And Ikki kept squeezing.
The god's face began to distort, crushed under his brutal strength. His nose shattered. His teeth pierced his lips. His jaw dislocated.
Then, finally, with a nauseating crack, the skull gave way.
Chernobog's head imploded between Ikki's fingers.
The god's body shuddered one last time before collapsing into the blood-soaked mud.
He no longer existed to him.
The moment Chernobog died, his essence was absorbed, just like the Titans'. But it wasn't like before. This time, his divinity already encompassed everything these gods and Titans represented. There was nothing new to gain, no domain to conquer. But there was understanding, a certain "boost" to the comprehension of other concepts and laws he was trying to grasp.
But his focus wasn't on that. He stood there, staring at Chernobog's destroyed body.
The metallic smell of golden blood still hung in the air.
And for a moment, he realized.
His heart was beating faster.
But not from fear.
Not from anger.
From satisfaction.
The feeling of crushing that god or the Titans before, of tearing them apart until nothing remained, brought him a pleasure beyond vengeance.
It was pure.
Instinctive.
Cruel.
Was there something wrong with that?
Maybe.
But he didn't care.
Because, for a brief moment, he wasn't the kind Ikki, the gentle friend who sacrificed everything for others. He had become someone who didn't mind looking at his enemies' bodies and feeling… nothing but the desire to move on and destroy the next obstacle.
Ikki took a deep breath.
The rain fell heavily around him, washing the blood from his hands, but not erasing the feeling.
Then, he turned his back on the corpse.
The wind blew hard, ruffling his black hair.
His gaze shifted to another part of Camp Half-Blood, and he vanished.
...
Meanwhile, the forest was shrouded in shadows. The wind howled through the branches, carrying the smell of wet earth and blood. Beneath the Fist of Zeus, a group of young demigods huddled together—children, some yet to wield a real sword. Their wide eyes gleamed with fear as they crouched behind Chiron.
The centaur was breathing heavily. His legs trembled, his skin covered in deep cuts and golden burns where a Titan's blade had struck. But he stood firm, his posture upright, even as his body threatened to collapse.
Hyperion smiled.
"Admirable…" said the Titan of light, his voice crackling like fire. "But useless…"
Crius, at his side, twirled his spear, his eyes glinting with malice.
"You can't protect them. Your time is up, Master of Heroes."
Chiron didn't respond. He simply raised his bow, a trembling arrow nocking into the string. He knew he wouldn't win.
But winning was never the point.
He just needed time, because he had faith that Ikki would come; he could hear the distant sounds of battle…
And he was right.
Thunder roared in the sky as Ikki emerged from the shadows, his body enveloped in a spectral glow that made the rain evaporate before touching him. His blue eyes shone with glacial intensity, cutting through the darkness like blades.
Hyperion and Crius hesitated.
They had planned to use the demigods as hostages, believing Ikki would hesitate when he saw them threatened, as they watched their allies fall one by one at his hands. But now, under the boy's cold gaze, it was clear that plan had already failed.
Ikki didn't look at the Titans immediately. Instead, he walked to Chiron, his steps echoing against the rain-soaked ground. The centaur opened his mouth to speak, but Ikki merely raised a hand, a calm but unquestionable gesture.
"Rest, Professor." His voice was firm, but kind. He helped the professor lie down carefully on the ground, away from the combat line. "Leave everything to me."
Then, he turned to the Titans.
His expression, once serene, changed. His black hair fell over his eyes, casting a shadow over his face as a cruel smile formed on his lips.
Hyperion felt a shiver.
Crius frowned, twirling his spear again. "What's that? Finally realized you're outnumbered?"
Ikki ignored the taunt.
With a snap of his fingers, the children collapsed to the ground, lulled into a deep sleep by a spell. There would be no screams. No witnesses to what was about to happen.
"You made the wrong choice." Ikki's voice was low, but it resonated like distant thunder.
And then, he moved.
Too fast.
Hyperion didn't even see when Ikki was in front of him. All he felt was searing pain as his leg was crushed at an impossible angle, the bones snapping like glass.
The Titan screamed.
But Ikki had already turned to Crius.
His hand seized the Titan's jaw, fingers digging into the skin like claws, and with a brutal motion, he tore off half the enemy's face.
Crius' scream was drowned by the golden blood gushing from his mutilated mouth. He staggered back, clutching the wound, trembling with horror.
Ikki didn't stop.
He grabbed Hyperion by the throat and slammed his head into the ground with such force that it created a crater. With a nauseating crack, the Titan's teeth shattered as they bit into the earth.
The rain washed away the blood, but the smell of burning flesh lingered.
Ikki yanked Crius' spear and, in a single strike, drove it through Hyperion's shoulder, pinning him to the ground. But he didn't finish him.
He wanted them to feel it.
Ikki then seized Crius by the throat and lifted him, his fingers tightening, crushing the Titan's trachea. But that wasn't enough. He wanted them to feel the despair. The absolute pain.
With a brutal twist, he tore one of the horns from Crius' armor and drove it into the Titan's mouth, pushing until the tip emerged from the back of his head.
Crius thrashed. His body convulsed. Then stopped.
Hyperion tried to crawl away. Tried to beg. But Ikki no longer listened.
He pulled the spear from the Titan's shoulder and, with a precise spin, drove it into his stomach. Not as a fatal blow. Not quick.
Slow.
The metal pierced every inch of skin and muscle, twisting like a living blade, tearing and pushing organs outward.
The Titan screamed.
Ikki merely watched.
When Hyperion finally stopped moving, Ikki released the spear.
The forest was silent.
He stood there, breathing deeply. The golden blood dripped from his hands.
Through one of his authorities, he prevented the Titans from even using their full powers. Without that "manipulation," he would have needed to fight with greater intensity, unleashing his power destructively. The camp could have been wiped off the map in the process.
Ikki took a deep breath, expelling any trace of the dark satisfaction he felt. The battle was over, but he still had something to do.
He appeared in front and knelt beside Chiron, running his hand over the centaur's wounds. His touch glowed with a pale golden light, but it wasn't ordinary healing magic—it was something far more refined. He didn't just close the cuts and burns; he restored Chiron's body to its peak. Every muscle, every bone, every fiber that had been damaged returned to its ideal state, as if he'd never been injured.
The centaur let out a heavy sigh, and Ikki felt his muscles relax as the pain vanished. Chiron opened his eyes, surprised, and flexed his legs.
"This is… impressive," he murmured, testing his movements. "I feel better than I have in years."
Ikki didn't respond. He had already risen and walked to the fallen children. With a snap of his fingers, the sleep spell lifted, and they began to wake slowly. Before any could feel pain or panic, Ikki extended a hand, and a comforting warmth enveloped the group. Their small cuts, bruises, and scratches vanished as if they'd never existed.
The children opened their eyes, blinking in confusion, but without recalling the worst of what had happened. Ikki ensured that, softening their memories of the terror, turning them into something milder.
He turned to Chiron.
"Let's take them back to the camp." His voice was low, but filled with certainty. "It's over."
Chiron watched him for a long moment, as if wanting to ask something. But in the end, he just nodded.
Ikki glanced at the Titans' bodies one last time before following Chiron and the children out of the forest and away from the Fist of Zeus.