Clarisse didn't hesitate. The moment her feet hit the ground, she surged forward with a force that rattled the marble columns. Her spear crackled with electricity, white-blue arcs dancing across its edge. She closed the distance between her and the Brute in a breath and thrust towards his eyes, but as always, the brute didn't bother dodging.
He caught the shaft with his bare hand, and his laugh boomed like a war drum. "Ares' runt," he growled, and then twisted his grip on the spear shaft. Clarisse tried to brace, shifting her weight against the force, but she was thrown like a javelin, slamming into a stone pillar that fractured on impact. Dust and broken rock fell around her as she gasped and rolled to her feet, blood already smeared across her cheek. She spat out a bloody tooth and got back up, snarled and lunged again.
This time, when she thrust and he gripped the shaft, she released her spear and instead drove her shield into the brute's head, causing him to stumble backwards, releasing the spear.
The brute's taunting grin changed into a frown, and when he felt something cold running from his nose, he checked what it was, discovering it was blood. His face contorted into an asura, wrath emanating from his eyes, especially when he saw Clarisse's mocking grin. It seems the beatdown wasn't enough to break her, so the brute cracked his knuckles and once again started beating on Clarisse, his punches causing the wind to wrap around his fist, as he pummeled her, cracking her shield and causing Clarisse to cough up what little blood she had left. Yet, still she stood, eyes locked and waiting for another opportunity.
...
A few yards away, Ethan ducked under a slash and countered with his own. His blade met the masked man's cutlass in a flash of bronze and sparks. His strikes came in patterns Ethan hadn't seen before, switching styles and changing rhythms, keeping Ethan unbalanced as he played with him. But there was a reason Ethan was second only to Luke in swordsmanship. He gradually adapted to the strange pace, using his footwork to his advantage on the uneven ground. For as great a swordsman as this man was, he seemed unaccustomed to fighting on such terrain, which allowed Ethan to struggle.
The masked man laughed upon noticing Ethan's changes.
"Oh, you've got promise, little one," he said, his voice confident, almost as if he was appraising a child who had managed to do something to entertain him.
He deflected a feint from Ethan, pushing him off-balance, spun into a backhand slash, and opened a cut across Ethan's temple. Blood ran down Ethan's brow, combining with the sweat to drip into his eye, stinging it, but Ethan didn't have the opportunity to wipe it away, forcing himself to stay focused and continue his fight.
...
Lucas ducked beneath his opponent's swing. The air split open where the blow passed, cracking the column behind Lucas as he made his way around the attack. Lucas threw some throwing knives, and while a few veered off course, landing around the man, the ones that aimed true struck his flesh and did nothing; his skin was still invulnerable to damage.
"I would have thought you would realize how pointless it was to attack me. Why do you still try? You don't even have the strength to throw them accurately anymore. The stranger mocked, looking at the daggers strewn across the ground.
But when he looked at Lucas, he saw a cunning smile, immediately sensing something was wrong, he tried to charge toward Lucas to throw a punch, but he couldn't move, chains spiralling around his body, restraining him. The stranger looked down and saw where these chains came from - the daggers that he thought had missed were, in fact, releasing magic, constructing a ritual around him, trapping him. He tried to struggle but couldn't escape. His abilities lay in avoiding damage, but his strength wasn't enough to break through. Luckily, he had help.
A gunshot rang out, and one of Lucas' daggers was destroyed, weakening the ritual and allowing his opponent to break free. Lucas turned to the origin of the shot, seeing the masked man casually putting away his flintlock, looking directly at Lucas with mocking eyes, all while casually defending against Ethan's rapid attacks.
Lucas responded instantly to his opponent's release; he retreated backward, launching molten fire and stone at the now-released stranger. His opponent ignored these attacks, focusing solely on his anger and desire to smash Lucas's head, so he charged straight at Lucas without care.
Just when he was about to bulldoze Lucas, the ground lit up; another ritual had been constructed, but unlike the previous one, this one created a prison that sealed him inside. Unless he had the strength to smash it, he wouldn't be able to escape, even with the help of the masked man. However, after a grunt from Clarisse, the brute rushed to Lucas' battle and punched through the seal, destroying the prison and allowing the stranger to be released.
With that release, the stranger shook his head, clearing his thoughts. While he was angry about being trapped, he didn't think he was stupid enough to let his anger consume him and ignore any potential traps Lucas might have set. He believed Lucas must have manipulated him for this to happen.
This was indeed true; Lucas used his sequence 5 abilities of using illusions to cloud his judgment, along with using his thread-tugging ability to amplify his rage, causing him to act in such a manner.
Seeing his traps not working, even after his plans worked, Lucas frowned. However, it was nothing compared to the worry his opponent had. He was lucky to be rescued twice, but could he be rescued again? And if so, how many times? Due to this, he was reluctant to fight against Lucas. Picking up on his reluctance, the masked man sent a strike to Ethan, forcing him back as the masked man retreated to Lucas' opponent. The brute followed too, throwing Clarisse against the floor as he rejoined them.
They muttered amongst themselves before returning to look at Lucas and, without a word, started leaving.
The masked man sheathed his blade, giving Ethan a mock salute. "That was fun. Let's do it again sometime."
The three turned to leave. Lucas didn't try to stop them, knowing that while he might have the potential to defeat his opponent, the other two would likely defeat Ethan and Clarisse before he could, possibly even taking them hostage. Letting them leave was the best choice.
But Clarisse didn't seem to understand that, she picked herself up off the ground and made one last charge at the brute while he had his back turned, but she was too weak to catch him by suprise, he turned and shoulder-checked her into a nearby column where she slumped unconscious, as he walked away; but not before smashing the wall near the entrance causing it to crumble and caving in, trapping them in the ruin.
With no need to focus on the enemy, Lucas turned towards where Annabeth and Selena were, seeing them near Malcolm. He went over to check on Malcolm's condition, intending to heal him, but upon reaching them, he saw the truth.
Malcolm was dead.