If you go to hell and meet your heroes… well, I don't even need to say it.
Arthur was the first to move.
The instant he pushed himself toward Percy. His eyes never once stopped looking at the backpack hanging from Percy's shoulder.
"Fireball!" Harry reacted immediately, launching a spell straight toward Arthur as he moved.
The moment Arthur heard Harry shout, he shifted his gaze for a second directly toward Harry's wand… and crouched perfectly, dodging the fireball without slowing his steps at all.
But Percy was already ready with his guard raised. Without wasting time, he moved his sword to the side, grabbing it with both hands, and swung sideways… straight toward Arthur's face, who had crouched to dodge Harry's spell.
Arthur stopped for a thousandth of a second and only slightly tilted his head aside while the tip of Percy's sword barely grazed his cheek.
The moment Percy's sword passed him, Arthur moved his body almost right against Percy while both his hands moved incredibly fast.
His left hand went toward Percy's face… while the right attacked directly toward the sword's hilt where Percy was holding it.
The strike aimed at the pommel landed first, and Percy instinctively tried to protect his face by raising his guard… but the impact made his hands vibrate, loosening his grip.
But the attack aimed at Percy's face lowered at the last second and moved toward the sword instead.
Percy's eyes widened, recognizing the move.
The next thing he saw was Arthur grabbing Percy's sword by the blade again… and twisting it, wrenching his wrist.
The exact same move Vincent used against Ares to disarm him… while Percy's instincts warned him that if Arthur took his sword this time, things would become seriously dangerous.
Percy immediately opened his hands and let go of the sword… while everything seemed to slow down for a moment as he watched Arthur rotate the blade from the edge to grab the hilt.
But Percy reacted instantly and touched his inventory necklace.
Then Riptide flashed and was absorbed back into the necklace, something that seemed to confuse Arthur for a brief second… at the same time Harry moved quickly.
"Freeze!" he shouted while aiming at Arthur's feet.
Arthur immediately snapped out of his surprise and jumped backward while throwing a quick glance toward where Harry's wand was pointing, creating distance.
The ground beneath him froze over, creating a thin layer of slippery ice.
"Little plants, attack!" Grover shouted as he pulled three purple cabbages from his small green bag and threw them onto the ground… before immediately blowing into his flute.
Then their buds exploded open as the cabbages unfolded, revealing sharp teeth like little plant monsters… and they rolled at high speed toward Arthur before leaping at him as if they wanted a taste of his flesh.
Arthur didn't seem surprised by the strange plants at all… he simply moved his hands, knocking the cabbages away in a single strike and sending them flying with ridiculous ease.
But they were pretty durable. Even though they lost some of the leaves covering them, they immediately rolled back toward Arthur to attack again while Grover controlled them with his flute.
Harry and Percy recognized those plants from Herbology class. Even though Percy honestly didn't pay much attention during lessons, he still remembered when one of those things latched onto his arm during class, which had been incredibly embarrassing.
But he also remembered Professor Sprout giving Grover several interesting seeds for always being the top student in Herbology.
Arthur didn't stop and once again closed the distance while Percy jumped backward to buy himself a little time… then twisted his finger over his pendant before a wooden sword came out, which he grabbed with one hand.
Focused on Arthur, Percy briefly glanced toward Harry to coordinate their attacks like usual. Without saying much, they understood each other pretty well.
Harry didn't need to answer and immediately raised his wand toward Arthur.
The moment Harry aimed at him, Arthur paused for a millisecond, as if dodging something invisible.
Harry's eyes widened… realizing how Arthur had dodged the spells earlier if he supposedly couldn't see them.
Percy saw Arthur stop for an instant before rushing toward him again… and spun the wooden sword in his hand. But this time his stance looked strange, with the sword behind his back and his free hand in front of him, palm open.
Arthur's hand shot toward Percy's neck, but Percy ducked while using his free arm to shove Arthur's hand upward… and without wasting time attacked directly toward his stomach with the sword.
But instantly Arthur lowered his other free hand, trying to catch Percy's sword. But Percy suddenly bent his wrist and the wooden sword's blade pointed downward, striking the ground… before he lifted it again, throwing sand toward Arthur's eyes, forcing Arthur to move the arm he attacked with first to shield them.
Harry, taking advantage of the moment Arthur had his eyes covered so he couldn't see where he was aiming, raised his wand.
"Fireball!"
But Arthur, at the exact same time Harry launched the fireball toward him, moved backward, causing the heat from the spell to barely graze his face.
Harry's eyes widened slightly.
"How?" he said, because technically Arthur hadn't seen where he aimed since his eyes had been covered.
And without even looking, Arthur moved both his hands behind him, catching the two Chinese Chomping Cabbages attacking his shoulders… and without wasting time hurled them straight toward Percy's face.
Out of reflex, Percy raised his sword and smacked both Chinese Chomping Cabbages away, sending them flying far off.
"Oh, sorry," Percy said after realizing he had just hit their allies… technically.
Annabeth, who still hadn't entered the fight yet, noticed this too while seeming to study the entire battlefield in real time.
"The sound…" she murmured before looking toward Harry and shouting, "Harry, use that magic you used on the beach balls, but on those monster cabbages!"
At the same time, the third Chinese Chomping Cabbage leaped in front of Arthur, causing him to raise his hand to catch it. And judging by his expression, he seemed genuinely annoyed by those things, already prepared to destroy it the second he touched it.
"They're called Chinese Chomping Cabbages," Grover murmured after stopping his flute for a second, but since this really wasn't the moment to learn Herbology during a fight, nobody paid attention to him.
Harry understood Annabeth's command instantly and didn't hesitate for even a second before shouting:
"Engorgio!"
At the remaining Chinese Chomping Cabbage, which was already close to Arthur's face.
The moment the spell hit it, the Chinese Chomping Cabbage rapidly increased in size, becoming twice as large. Even its teeth looked more dangerous now.
Arthur narrowed his eyes slightly at that, though he didn't seem overly surprised. He simply opened his arms a little wider… and before it could bite him, he grabbed both sides of it and spun it with a movement from both hands, stopping its momentum. Then he placed one hand to the side like a blade… and slashed sideways.
The giant cabbage was instantly cut in half, as if his hand itself had an edge.
Seeing that, Grover couldn't help making a face. Even if it was technically a plant, he was still a satyr, and he really wasn't happy whenever even a small flower got hurt.
Letting out a small scream:
"Aaaah! Little cabbage!" he shouted, sounding genuinely upset. Even though he knew they could grow back from their own seeds… he was honestly angry now.
And he blew harder into his flute, causing the other two cabbages to speed up to avenge their sister.
"Fireball!" Harry shouted at that moment.
Without turning around, Arthur moved backward to dodge the spell. But unlike before, he didn't feel the heat brushing against his body, so he turned to look toward Harry for a second… or more accurately, toward where the spell had been fired from.
When he did, he noticed Harry hadn't been aiming at him at all… he had been aiming toward Percy.
Arthur immediately looked back toward Percy and saw him holding his wooden sword like a baseball bat… right after swinging it.
Then Arthur felt a hot impact slam directly into his chest, sending him flying several meters backward. But without losing balance, he landed on his feet, though he crouched slightly to absorb the impact while touching his chest for a moment, barely frowning.
But not for long… because the two extremely angry cabbages jumped at him from both sides.
"Harry!" Annabeth shouted.
"Engorgio! Engorgio!" Harry yelled in rapid succession.
And both cabbages grew larger while their mouths moved dangerously close toward Arthur's head.