[Third Person’s PoV]

Lucian watched as the sword began levitating off the ground before shooting off at blinding speed in the direction Luke had disappeared.

‘Ugh, that’s right—I gave him the Recall Gloves as a Christmas gift,’ Lucian inwardly grumbled in annoyance. His face remained stoic and cold, his half-lidded eyes betraying no emotion.

Moments later, the sound of iron scraping against the ground echoed through the clearing. Emerging from the dark shadows of the trees, Luke appeared, walking slowly toward Lucian. Blood dripped from his head, staining his blond hair in red patches. The crimson streaks trailed down his forehead, smearing his face. His nose, bent unnaturally, was clearly broken. With a grimace, Luke grabbed his nose and, with an audible crack, snapped it back into place.

He pressed a thumb to one nostril and blew forcefully, sending a clot of blood flying to the ground. After a quick sniff, he spat blood off to the side.

“You know what?” Lucian said, a faint smile creeping onto his face. “To show you how far apart our skills truly are, I’ll use the weapon I’m least skilled with. And to make it fair, it’ll be the same weapon as yours—a sword~”

Lucian twirled his scythe in one hand before holding it out to the side. The weapon shifted, its form transforming into a sword. With a flick of his wrist, he activated its unique ability, [Morphblade], reshaping it into a sleek katana.

He swung the katana experimentally, examining the blade over the back of his hand. Spinning it forward, he rested it casually on his shoulder with a smirk. “I should use a katana more often. I bet I look so badass right now~” He tilted his head slightly, his voice dripping with mock amusement.

Without warning, Lucian vanished from sight. Luke instinctively anticipated an attack from behind, but Lucian reappeared directly in front of him, his sword arm poised for a strike. Reacting quickly, Luke ducked as Lucian swung his katana, its blade cloaked in shadow magic. The swing unleashed a sharp arc of energy that sailed over Luke’s head, slicing cleanly through the tree behind him.

The massive trunk groaned before splitting horizontally, toppling with a deafening crash.

“Hooohohoho! Man, I should’ve used this against Heracles~” Lucian exclaimed with a wide grin, clearly enjoying himself.

Luke retaliated with a swift upward slash, but Lucian intercepted it effortlessly. Their blades collided with a burst of sparks. Luke rolled to the side and then blurred into motion, his speed a reminder as to who he was, The Son of Hermes.

The two combatants became a blur of movement, their forms visible only when their weapons clashed. Sparks erupted from every strike, illuminating their duel as Lucian used the strength blessed upon him by Heracles to enhance his speed by strengthening his leg muscles.

Nearby, Percy crouched low, tightly gripping his trident as he inched toward Thalia and Annabeth. He kept his head down, wary of stray strikes.

“Are you guys catching any of this?” he asked in disbelief.

“Yes,” Thalia said, her eyes darting frantically as she tried to follow the fight.

“No,” Annabeth replied through gritted teeth, frustration evident in her voice. But her frustration wasn’t just at the fight—it was at herself. She would have done anything to stop Luke if he truly intended to kill Lucian, but deep down, she knew she wouldn’t have survived against Luke. Lucian’s intervention was the only reason she was still standing.

Luke shifted his body like a plank to the side, narrowly avoiding Lucian’s blade, which passed just centimeters from his nose. Without hesitation, he retaliated, his sword slashing a clean line across Lucian’s arm. However, Lucian didn’t so much as flinch. Instead, he repositioned himself fluidly and swung his blade toward Luke’s neck.

Luke instinctively leaned back, but the edge of Lucian’s katana still grazed his neck, leaving a shallow cut. He jumped back, clutching his neck in shock. Glancing at his hand, he saw a faint smear of blood, which sent a wave of anger coursing through him.

‘Why?! Why am I still not stronger than him?’ Luke’s thoughts raged. ‘I’ve trained endlessly. I’ve powered up, reached Sequence 7, and even taken the swordsman potion! If I’m the best swordsman born every 300 years, that potion should’ve made me the best in 10,000! Yet why is all I can manage a single scratch on his arm!’

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. ‘I can’t let my emotions get the better of me. As much as I hate to admit it, Lucian is a formidable foe. One mistake, and it’s game over.’

Luke exhaled slowly and disappeared into thin air. He had used a rare gift that only those chosen few of Hermes’ children could use, he teleported. He reappeared directly in front of Lucian, swinging his sword in a calculated arc toward Lucian’s chest. But to his shock, Lucian’s body dissolved into shadows, the blade passing harmlessly through him as if slicing through mist.

Lucian grinned mischievously and stuck his tongue out in mockery before driving his sword into Luke’s shoulder.

“ARGHHHH!!” Luke cried out in pain as the stygian blade sank into his flesh, radiating a cold, unnatural agony. Lucian withdrew his sword smoothly, but Luke’s resolve only hardened.

Despite the injury, Luke didn’t falter. To everyone’s astonishment, the pain seemed to fuel him, making him more determined to bring Lucian down.

The two clashed again in a storm of movement, each blow faster and more ferocious than the last. After a few intense minutes, Lucian launched himself from the air, spinning toward Luke like a missile.

Luke raised his sword to block, catching Lucian’s blade and redirecting his momentum. Seizing the opportunity, Luke grabbed Lucian by his sweater, yanking him forward. With a powerful slash, he tore a deep gash into Lucian’s side, blood pouring relentlessly from the wound.

Yet Lucian’s expression didn’t falter. He looked down at the wound briefly before smirking, his tone teasing.

“You know,” he said with a playful glint in his eye, “if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were trying to kiss me~.”

Luke wore an expressionless look as he muttered coldly, “You wish, you bastard.”

Before the words fully settled, Lucian activated his shadow travel, disappearing in a blur and reappearing behind Luke. With swift precision, he grabbed Luke by the neck, tilting him back, and aimed his blade at Luke’s throat.

“Hm? Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that. You’ll have to speak a little louder,” Lucian taunted, his voice dripping with mockery.

Luke teleported again, materializing behind Lucian, his sword poised to pierce through him. But before either could strike, a streak of lightning blazed between them.

“Thalia?!” Lucian exclaimed, his voice coated with annoyance as Thalia stood behind him, her shield raised to block Luke’s attack. He despised interruptions, especially in the midst of a fight.

“What are you doing?” Lucian demanded, his tone sharp.

Luke, however, froze in place, his sword trembling slightly as his gaze locked on Thalia. She was biting her lip, her face contorted with emotion, and tears glistened in her eyes.

“God damn it, you two!” she yelled, her voice breaking. “Are you seriously planning to keep fighting until one of you dies?! Is that what you want?!”

Her gaze shifted to Luke, raw and pleading. “Why do you have to be so thick-headed and stubborn? Wasn’t Lucian your best friend? Your brother in arms? You’ve fought countless battles together, Luke! Are you really willing to throw all that away? To kill him—or let him kill you?”

Thalia paused, struggling to compose herself, but her tears betrayed her pain.

“I know you hate the gods, Luke. I know that better than anyone because I hate them too! But is this worth it? Is betraying your friends, trying to kill them, all because of your hatred and thirst for revenge, worth it? What do you think awaits you at the end of all this? I’ll tell you what—nothing. Absolutely nothing!” Her voice cracked as tears streamed freely down her face.

“This is why we’re trying so hard to stop you!” she continued, her voice rising with desperation. “But you don’t listen. You don’t see. You’re so obsessed with your revenge—against the gods, against your father—that you’ve blinded yourself to everything else! And it breaks my heart to see you like this.”

For a moment, there was silence, broken only by Thalia’s quiet sobs.

Luke slowly looked down, his sword lowering. When he finally spoke, his voice was cold and distant. “You don’t understand… You never did. And you never will.”

He turned away from her, letting out a weary sigh. “Lucian… This isn’t over. Not by a long shot.”

Luke began walking, his grip on his sword tightening as he slashed through the fabric of space, creating a tear that shimmered with energy. Annabeth and Percy stared in stunned silence, their expressions a mix of awe and disbelief.

Thalia, overcome with grief, barely registered the act.

Luke stood at the edge of the portal, pausing for a moment as he listened to Thalia’s quiet sobs. Without looking back, he stepped through the teared space, disappearing into the void.

‘Betrayal comes in many different forms from different people. The one causing it may not even consider it a betrayal but the only way. A betrayer doesn’t care about the people they hurt, even if they were once considered friends or family. There is simply no other way, This is the path I chose to walk on’ Luke thought bitterly as the portal closed behind him.

In that moment, the Betrayer’s Potion fully took hold, its power completely digested within Luke’s being.

…

Lucian was comforting Thalia as he sat down by a tree, healing his wounds. “I know you care for Luke like family and that you’ve known him longer but like you said. He’s a stubborn bastard, you weren’t going to change his mind”

“I know…” Thalia said, wiping her tears, “But that doesn’t mean I want to see you two trying so hard to kill each other. We were once really close… Did things really have to change so much?”

Meanwhile Annabeth was looking towards Lucian in confusion, “You know there’s something that’s really confusing me…”

“Hm?” Both Thalia and Percy looked towards Annabeth curiously while Lucian was drinking his healing potion as if he was a drunk drinking liquor.

“There was a point during the fight when you were seriously trying to kill him… And don’t deny it, I know you long enough to know when you’re feeling murderous. So why didn’t you? Not to mention you held back a lot, more so than what you needed too. Like using your sword, you didn’t even add your curse flames to it, you just fought him with limited skills and powers” Annabeth said as she was confused by Lucian’s action.

“What?” Thalia asked, surprised to learn that Lucian was seriously planning on ending Luke’s life.

There was a heavy silence in the air as the question hung in the air.

Lucian let out a sigh, “You’re right, I was completely ready to rip his heart out with my bare hands, he tried to kill Annabeth.”

Thalia grimaced slightly as she had forgotten the small detail of Luke seriously planning on killing Annabeth.

“However, I stopped myself at the last minute from doing it,” Lucian sighed.

“Why?” Percy asked, still gripping his trident securely.

“Because he was suspiciously skilled,” Lucian said grimly.

Annabeth’s eyes immediately widened, before anyone could question it, Annabeth said, “I see, so you were testing him…”

“That’s right” Lucian sighed in annoyance, “I’m by no means a master swordsman, however I’m not so bad either, with my current skills and abilities I would have easily overpower a regular Luke, even if he was the best swordsman this camp had seen”

He paused letting the words sink in before he continued, “However, you see how he was even able to injure me. Tell me honestly, would the Luke you all know have been able to injure me even with the way I was fighting?”

“No… I wouldn’t even injure you the way you were fighting just now. And the Luke we all knew he wasn’t capable of even beating me” Annabeth retorted.

“The Luke you all knew? Are you trying to say he’s an imposter somehow?” Percy asked with a confused expression.

“No… Not an imposter.” Annabeth said, “A different Luke, an enhanced version of the Luke we know.”

Thalia’s mind was spinning trying to catch up with Annabeth and Lucian were insinuating. After a brief, few seconds, Thalia’s eyes widened in disbelief, “No way…” She muttered.

“What?! Oh my God! Just tell me already, you people are going to drive me crazy with beating around the bush! I’ve never been good with riddles!” Percy exclaimed in exasperation.

Annabeth, Thalia, and Lucian all pulled out a card from their back pockets. It was the Card of Blasphemy,

“Luke…” Lucian grumbled in annoyance, “He’s just like all of us here… Is the owner of a Card of Blasphemy”

[End of Volume 2]

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A/N (Afterwords):

I will say this… Volume 2 of this fic has been the best volume I have ever made out of all of my fics. It’s the one I had the most fun writing after all, so I’m really glad to see it finally be completed.

Do I even need to say it at this point? I’ve done it so far in all of my fics…

IT’S TIME FOR EVERYONE’S FAVORITE MOMENT IN THE VOLUME! RAAAAAHH!!! AND CROWD GOES WILD! RAAAAAHHH!!

*Clears throat*

Anyways this volume has some of the best moments I believe, at the beginning Lucian Vs. Thalia with their ultimate moves, Lucian’s dream, Medusa’s meeting, becoming a Cursed Knight, dropping down and calling his steed, Percy and Clarisse’s romance, to meeting Nico and Bianca, Fighting Heracles… Etc

My favorite moment was when Lucian drank the cursed knight potion, I feel like I really captured the essence of the horror and pain of advancing through the sequences.

So what’s your favorite moments… (I mostly do these things for an ego boost. I just love to see what people enjoy most when reading what I write. It’s such a good feeling)

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+10 advance Chapters on: patreon.com/Shadow_D_Monarch3

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep