Object of Incalculable Value
Grover immediately blew into his flute while the Chinese cabbages in front of Percy moved toward Arthur, attacking as they followed the command carried through Grover's music.
Arthur moved both hands with precision and caught the giant jaws of the plants… before throwing them aside without stopping his advance.
"Fireball!" Harry shouted without hesitation.
Arthur turned his gaze, staring directly at Harry without slowing down for even a second… and raised his arm at the last second, striking toward where Harry was aiming.
Then an explosion of heat rang out while his arm was shaken violently for a moment, almost sending him flying. But Arthur spun to regain his balance and, even with his hand now injured from the explosion, kept moving toward Percy.
With his other healthy hand, he attacked like a spear, the tips of his fingers aimed directly at Percy's neck.
Percy felt the danger immediately… and quickly raised his sword to defend himself.
The moment Arthur's fingers collided against the blade, the sound that came out was hollow, as if his fingers were as hard as stone. Percy was even pushed back slightly, causing the sword to slam against his chest despite him holding it by both the handle and the blade to contain the attack. Arthur's strength was greater.
Arthur quickly shifted his hand, grabbing the sword by the blade. This time fully closing his hand around it, since he couldn't be hurt anyway, especially because the wooden sword wasn't actually sharp enough to cut anything.
And in the next second he swept toward Percy's legs… while his injured hand healed so quickly it looked as if time itself had reversed back to its previous state.
Arthur attacked with that healed hand toward Percy's chest, his open palm aimed directly at the sternum.
But Percy reacted just as quickly and, without hesitating, let go of the wooden sword and lifted his right leg toward Arthur's stomach. At the same time he kicked him, he pushed himself backward, flying back and rolling across the sand.
Thankfully, that earlier movement softened the blow. Because even that brief touch made it feel like he had been hit in the chest with a hammer. If he had taken it directly, there was no doubt Arthur would've shattered his sternum.
Percy immediately pushed himself back up in the sand while lightly touching his chest with a faint pain.
But Arthur was already right in front of him, attacking with the wooden sword, which made a whistling sound as if it could cut Percy's head off right now.
"Depulso!" Harry's spell was heard from behind Arthur.
But Arthur, without even turning to look, moved to the side without interrupting his attack… which was aimed directly at Percy's neck.
But Harry's Depulso wasn't aimed at Arthur… it was aimed at Percy, blasting him backward once again and saving him from the slash.
Meanwhile, the two Chinese cabbages jumped toward Arthur's shoulders again.
But now Arthur, with the wooden sword in his hand, simply swung it in a crescent arc… and all that could be heard was the sound barrier breaking, even kicking up the dust around Arthur's feet.
Before both plants were cut in half at the same time, falling to the ground… while Arthur didn't stop his attack and pulled the hilt close to his chest before thrusting toward Percy, leaping forward almost directly toward Percy's chest again, even while Percy was still flying backward from the Depulso spell.
The wooden sword looked far more dangerous in Arthur's hands, making Percy feel like it could absolutely pierce straight through him.
So at the same time, Percy touched his pendant… which flashed slightly.
A silver sword flashed into existence in his hand. It looked fairly ordinary, with a plain handle lacking any decorations, like nothing more than a simple silver sword.
Without hesitating, Percy raised the sword, barely blocking the thrust in time, though he was still shoved backward forcefully… but he never lost his guard while being pushed several meters back.
But…
Something was strange.
Arthur, the moment he saw the sword, widened his eyes with a look of genuine shock. The strongest reaction he had shown so far… aside from that fake smile when they first met him.
Meanwhile, Percy adjusted his body midair to spin with the sword against the sand… then flipped backward, dispersing the force until he landed on his feet, though his shoes still slid several centimeters through the sand, showing how much force still remained behind the impact.
Seeing that, Harry reacted at once, prepared to stop Arthur even if it was only long enough to give Percy time to reposition.
"Fireball!" he shouted while a fireball shot from the tip of his wand.
He even pulled out his magical tome, causing the spell to become larger and faster.
A hidden card prepared specifically to surprise Arthur… but not worth keeping hidden if Percy was in danger.
Grover didn't waste time either. After seeing his two cabbages die, he shoved his hand into his seed bag and started pulling out what looked like a fern mixed with a venus flytrap… except the thing tried to spit at Grover the second it peeked out of the bag.
A difficult plant to control… but pretty good at attacking.
Annabeth paid attention to every movement, as if trying to find a weak point. Noticing that Arthur had abandoned all restraint in his attacks against Percy, fully focused on him alone.
Percy forced himself steady on the ground, raising a high guard, ready for Arthur's follow-up attack…
But it never came.
Right now, Arthur was staring fixedly at the sword in Percy's hands.
As Harry's fireball closed in on him, Arthur could already feel the heat against his skin.
Arthur swung the wooden sword without looking backward, striking Harry's Fireball directly without even needing to turn around… and without taking his eyes off the sword in Percy's hands.
And when he finally opened his mouth, the word that came out was:
"Excalibur…"
The moment he spoke that mythical name, Harry, who had been about to launch another spell, paused for a second… though no real surprise appeared on his face.
Only Annabeth, who had been trying to study Arthur's movement patterns, widened her eyes in shock as well.
And Grover, who was pulling more plants out of his seed bag, opened his mouth so wide he almost dropped the little green pouch, while the plant spat a stream of acidic venom onto the ground.
All of them stared toward Percy with the exact same shocked expression.
"Excali… what?" Percy said with a completely confused look on his face.