While Ares knew that Athena's physical strength couldn't compare to his, he knew that she could make up for it by enchanting her sword with elemental magic. While it wasn't exactly her field of expertise, Athena knew a thing or two about magic. She was particularly good at controlling lightning magic. It was probably one of the things she inherited from her father.
In order not to give her the chance to use that, Ares decided to change his strategy. Instead of relying on brute strength, he decided to rely on speed. While teleporting around, he dashed toward Athena and swung his blade. Her sword still electrocuted him, but only for brief moments. While Athena could keep up with that speed, there wasn't much she could do to counterattack, so her stance was slowly breaking, and the damage on her arms was piling up.
