The Vanishing Hero

chapter 25

Chapter 25: Baited

3RD PERSON POV

Wherever Percy stepped foot on the battlefield, carnage followed. Mountains of gold dust from the beasts slain piled up across the field from the campers and hunters, as did the bodies of slain demigods from monsters. Percy paid them no mind; he didn't have the time to. He continued to hack and slash his way through the droves of monsters that plagued the field.

Artemis was just as demonic as her Guardian. Silver clothing and hunting knives continuously flashed through the monsters' ranks and left gold dust in their wake. A small smile even crept its way onto her lips whenever she felt another pulse of aura coming from her crush from across the battlefield.

The Hunt was managing, but their numbers had dwindled slightly and would only continue to dip lower. Artemis and Percy both felt this and while it saddened them both, it also fueled the fiery determination that was present in both of their eyes.

PERCY POV

'Too many lost. Always too many,' I thought bitterly as I destroyed another two dozen hellhounds with Riptide and Frostbite. I reset myself and sheathed them both to draw my katana and one of my hunting knives. 'A little less range and power but a little more speed,' I mused before my eyes widened at the aura that popped up right behind me and I ducked out of the way.

"Oceanus," I spat at the Titan of the Seas. "Jackson. I can't wait to take your head and throw it at your father's feet," came his reply and I clenched my teeth. I got into a ready stance and waited for his charge. We circled one another for a bit before he rushed in.

'There's too much to do. I can't waste time with this one,' I thought as we exchanged strikes, his snake sword with my katana and hunting knife. Unfortunately for me, my water powers would be next to useless against Oceanus. Fortunately for me, I had my fire powers from Hestia to even it all out. "Why no water attacks, Jackson? Already know that they're useless?" Oceanus taunted to me and internally I smirked while my face was stoic and unchanged.

Instead, I coated both my blades with Greek Fire and charged again. In the rush, he parried and blocked most of my strikes, but I overwhelmed him enough to litter him with cuts through the chinks in his armor. He matched some of the cuts I gave him, but the true nature of the battle was back and forth for around 20 minutes.

I threw my hunting knife coated in Greek Fire as part of my plan, ensuring it caused the area around it to burn as well after he dodged. I then charged with just my katana and gave him a series of diagonal slashes that he parried some but not all. The real effort of those was to push him back, which it did.

Once I had, I stepped into his guard as his snake sword bit me and I let out a small grunt of pain but pressed forward. 'Guess the immunity to pain went down with time,' I mused as I charged a fist with earthshaker abilities and planted it in his gut, driving him within range of the fire that was started earlier with my knife.

I sent a mass of water at him as a distraction and he laughed. "Pathetic!" he roared and sent it right back toward me, obscuring me from his vision long enough for me to fire travel to the fire behind him where my knife was. I scooped up my knife and ran my katana through his back, piercing a lung. He gasped and choked on his blood, but I slit his throat with the knife without another word.

I fire traveled back to the camp for brief cover so I could treat my wounds with fire healing from Hestia, water from my father, and a quick dose of ambrosia and nectar, before leaping back to the battle.

THALIA POV

The battle was hectic, even by battle standards. I couldn't bring myself to look down at the fallen allies. There were too many of them, campers and hunters alike. There were always too many of them. But I pressed on for them because we still had so much to lose and so many enemies to defeat.