The Hero and The Phantom

Anna wasn’t very sure of what was happening or how she arrived here. She knew something or someone gave her something and helped her arrive on the Leviathan, but her mind was too clouded to remember how. Without it, she would still be stuck in the middle of the ocean recovering from her overdose. Now, she was somehow where she wanted to be and would pay the price for it later.

But as long as she could take down that traitor brother of hers, then losing more of her very limited sanity was fine. She only needed to see her target and only needed to feel the number of demons close by going down, no matter if they were dead or if they were leaving the area.

Even her nominal allies weren’t around anymore

All filling her mind right now were ways and more ways to kill that disgraced hero in the most effective way. Every single spell she knew and every single fighting style she trained at, Annabeth could consider every single one and use them best. And right now, she was also willing to use all her long-collected reserves. A very important side-effect no one seemed to notice when she explained the seals on her body: the fact that she had a huge reserve stuck on most of her body.

It was even possible to go further if she broke her chockers too, but those were the only really dangerous ones. They were there more to keep her body stable than to lower the effects of the Demon Eater, but that wasn’t important right now.

What mattered now was to continue moving her pseudo-body to bring her target down, her 'survival' being irrelevant there. Only then her contract would be over and she would accept passing away. She was only here for this reason either way.

Destroying her body, using most of her blood to double cast with her improvised obsidian spell-rocks, or even killing thousands to keep herself going, all was valid right now.

Each obsidian pellet she threw and blew up would eat more of her conscience. Each counter her brother tried to do and she took instead of dodging only to manage a counter of her own would wear her body out. And the spells that were keeping her body moving at the right speed were draining her blood to keep working.

The only reason she could manage this much was that Annabeth Solomon was long dead, so she couldn't die.

When she first fought her brother, the day he killed both her parents and destroyed her new house, was the same day her body died. She was too weak by the time to take something like a lightning spell from the hero head-on. Anna was too young and too inexperienced to manage it, but it at least awoke her real skills.

Although it was something she wasn't supposed to ever use...

Either way, Anna’s entrance into the fight had changed the power dynamics even if the two other members of her group were almost out-of-combat. It was easy to see this much on the grey bastard’s expression. The golden calamity herself wasn’t sure if she could say this much, but for her, he actually feared her right now.

Fighting against a monster that wouldn’t die had this kind of effect on someone. Even if this someone was the strongest person alive.

Combos wouldn’t work when the first attack would always hit, even if in a not-so-good way. No huge attacks could be prepared when your enemy would keep on assaulting you without bothering about anything. There was no point in using psychology or buying time against something that couldn’t listen.

All in all, the best result manageable was a draw bordering mutual destruction.

The hero was slowly getting more and more wounded. Each small fireball, overaccelerated punch, and small cut added up to something bigger. His constitution wore out as the seconds of unrelenting assault passed by, but the crazed girl reacted differently from it.

Anna would stop only if her brother was dead or if she was bisected a few times, and even then, she would be back soon enough. All the while with her face stuck in a maniacal grin and spouting unresponsive nonsense.

“Step up, brother! Yer very from gettin’ me again. If that’s all ya can manage…” She shouted off while snapping her arm back in place for the fifth or so time. “Then why dontcha die with me ‘ere?! I’ll even send ya to yer mother’s hands so you’ll be able to explain all the bullshit ya did… But of course, after we pay our deeds in hell, ay?!”

“That’s for when the world is back in shape, why don’t…?”

“’Cause the world can blow itself fer all I care! All I wanna's yer head and nothin’ more, ‘Hero’, and I’ll gettit!”

Anna went for another all-out attack even with her body still regenerating. This regeneration had slowed down since the beginning of the fight due to her energy reserves burning out, but it was still enough.

As is, she could keep going for a good while, and right now, she had a big weapon ready to fire. A move that relied on having her lose a massive amount of blood while keeping enough spiritual energy to pull something outrageous off.

Something that her brother was unable to notice due to the continuous assault until it was way too late.

He stared at the floor for a moment when it started to shine, but again, that was too late to react to it. The hero was capable of noticing what was happening still. He could see and understand what was being created, but he had no way to react.

By now, the blood the girl spilled around the area was already formed into a rough magical circle and was in process of activation.

“Stop it, Anna!”

“DON’T EVER SAY MY NAME AGAIN!!!” The redhead blew out even further, dodging away for the first and only time in the fight before stabbing her dagger on the bloodied steel floor. A move made only to further connect her spirit with the spell and fire off something, for her clouded mind, would finish this fight off.

Even if the whole Leviathan and its fleet would be taken out with it.

This circle had more than five different levels of energy conversion and could go through every single element only to be sure. Though, in all honesty, it was poorly built for her standards and more likely to blow up than of working.

But it blowing up still worked for Anna’s goals.

Materials would turn into energy, spiritual energy would create as many effects as possible, and everything would go as far as it could. Or, if it went wrong, the thing would go out of control and create a magical explosion of never seen proportions.

Either way, very little, if anything would remain around.

Her target would go down and then she would too, and all would be over once and for all. Or that was what should've happened if, in a surprise strike, a wheel made of dark flaming wisps hadn't destroyed a good chunk of the circle.

Of course, the sudden move didn’t give anyone the time to react. Both fighters had a more pressing matter now either way, but the damage was way too big for either planned effect to go off. Almost half the circle was lost in a second and even Anna was unable to keep it under control after such a huge change.

Worse than that, too much of the energy she spent on it would be lost with this much destroyed. Even with the fact that all would blow up, it was unlikely that the explosion would be enough now. Even with the massive spiritual discharge going towards them, the two Solomons would survive this. And whoever saved her brother from some hiding spot would then be sent to the same kill list he was.

But that was for the next distasteful encounter between them.