The Dragonblood's Disciple - Part 1
No one answered Percy.
Not even Grover.
Meanwhile, the Hesperides, completely overcome with panic at Ladon's awakening, fled while letting out desperate screams.
Which was the only thing anyone heard for several seconds as they watched Ladon slowly rise, while the heads, which seemed to take a little longer to awaken, gradually opened their eyes.
One by one.
Until a hundred pairs of golden eyes were fixed on Percy all at once.
The pressure radiating from that creature's mere presence was so overwhelming that Grover unconsciously took a step backward. Bianca swallowed hard. Thalia tightened her grip on her spear. Zoë was the only one who didn't look away, though her face had gone pale.
And, of course, Percy.
Who stared back at the heads watching him, even though he had no idea which pair of eyes he was supposed to meet.
"Percy..." Bianca murmured, as though she still couldn't believe what was standing before them.
Percy wasn't entirely sure he believed it either as he watched the dragon begin moving around the tree.
He himself believed he had become much smarter, and that he normally didn't let his emotions carry him away like an idiot.
Except when his friends were in danger.
But this time...
He was the one putting them in danger.
And he didn't even understand why.
With a deep metallic sound, like hundreds of swords being dragged against one another, Ladon began uncoiling himself from the apple tree.
Making it immediately clear that what they had seen until now wasn't the dragon's true size.
"We're dead," Grover whispered, accepting his fate.
Percy took a deep breath, his expression completely serious.
"Yeah..." he said, never taking his eyes off the hundred heads. "Probably."
But there was no more time for conversation.
The first head lunged at him.
It moved so fast that Bianca couldn't even follow it with her eyes.
"Percy!" she shouted.
Though she knew it was unnecessary after everything Percy had shown throughout this journey.
Truthfully, she had never seen anyone fight a creature of this magnitude before.
Percy, on the other hand, had already noticed that head was about to attack him.
His body moved before he even had time to think, his reflexes flawless.
Riptide flashed into his right hand in a burst of Celestial Bronze, while his black sword was already in his left.
He took half a step to the side, letting the fangs graze past his face, and at the same time twisted his wrist.
The black blade slashed upward without a second thought.
Its edge buried itself into Ladon's neck with a wet, horrifying sound.
Then the sword's enchantment did the rest.
Lightning, fire, and ice raged through the wound, causing even greater pain to the beast and forcing the head back with a piercing roar as it thrashed from side to side, several scales tearing loose from its neck.
But Percy didn't have time to check whether the wound had been deep enough.
Five more heads were already lunging at him.
And now that he had done it...
There was no turning back.
Unlike the Lernaean Hydra, which had only around a dozen heads, Ladon had far, far more.
At least these didn't regenerate after being cut off.
Though each one was still dangerous enough on its own.
The heads surrounded him.
One from the left.
Another from above.
Two from the front.
And one more from behind.
Percy ducked beneath the first, planted a boot on the snout of the second, and used the momentum to launch himself backward.
Riptide carved a silver arc through the air and slashed a deep line across the eye of a head trying to seize him from the side.
The dragon roared again as another dozen heads descended on Percy from every direction.
Meanwhile, Zoë's eyes had gone so wide they showed every ounce of her astonishment.
Even her mouth fell open as she watched Percy wound Ladon only seconds after the battle had begun.
Obviously, they weren't very deep wounds.
But her surprise didn't last long.
She had seen another man face Ladon once before.
And in the end...
Even he had failed to defeat him.
Percy raised both swords in an X in front of him, blocking the incoming attack.
A massive jaw slammed into the blades, sending him flying backward through the air before he crashed into the ground with enough force to explode the earth beneath him, sending dirt from the garden flying everywhere.
He felt his arms tremble from the sheer force of the impact.
But he didn't have time to think about it.
The entire dragon surged toward Percy as its heads opened their jaws, ready to devour him and tear him into a hundred pieces.
One piece for every head.
"Fall back!" Thalia shouted when she realized they were inside its attack range.
Even though she had her shield and spear ready to help, for a moment she hesitated, wondering if she could really do anything against a creature like that.
Zoë grabbed Bianca by the arm and pulled her back, while Grover nearly tripped over his own hooves trying to get away.
But Percy didn't retreat.
Instead...
He charged forward.
The hundred heads seemed to grow even more enraged by that.
Percy ran straight toward the dragon's body while its heads came crashing down on him like a storm of fangs.
He dodged one bite with the slightest tilt of his neck.
Leaped over another.
Slid beneath a third.
Then spun in place and slashed with both swords at once.
Riptide tore through monstrous flesh.
The black sword carved an even deeper wound.
The blades in Percy's hands flowed effortlessly, finding the perfect angle for every slash and every dodge.
At one point, Percy even threw both swords out in front of him before raising both hands.
No one could understand why he would do something like that while surrounded by all those heads, which were lunging at him from every direction without leaving him even the smallest opening to escape.
But Percy raised both hands as golden light gathered in his palms.
Then he slammed them toward the ground.
With Percy at the center, a massive explosion of fire suddenly erupted outward, blasting all the heads away at once.
The flash illuminated the entire garden for several seconds, even blinding Ladon for a brief moment.
Although the flames didn't inflict much damage, they still left soot covering the dragon's mouths and stunned it for the briefest instant.
Percy reclaimed his swords and leaped, finally aiming to sever one of the heads closest to him.
But one head recovered its vision sooner than the others and smashed him head-on with the side of its skull.
Percy was launched through the air.
He tore through a patch of glowing flowers before crashing into a boulder, shattering it on impact.
"Percy!" Grover shouted in panic, because that blow was far more than any demigod should have been able to survive without every bone in their body breaking.
To make matters worse, Ladon charged forward, as if that wasn't enough and it wanted to finish crushing him once and for all.
But before it reached the shattered rock...
A rain of lightning burst from that very spot, forcing the enormous beast to stop.
And even driving it back.
Even Thalia's eyes widened in surprise.
"That magic...?" she said, stunned.
Because while she knew Percy possessed a magical system taught by his master, it wasn't as though she had ever truly seen him use it to its full extent.
Other than those spells that hardened his skin.
Once Ladon had backed away far enough, Percy stepped out from the rubble with his clothes completely torn to shreds, while his skin shimmered with a dark metallic sheen.
The very same one he used with the spell called Ebonyflesh.
Only then did Grover realize Percy had cast it before being sent flying.
Even so, a few wounds could still be seen across his body.
He simply placed a hand over his chest and let Restoration magic flow through him.
The warm light sealed the shallow cuts and whatever internal injuries the impact might have caused.
"Maybe it's a little late to ask Bianca to give me my jacket back," he said as he rolled his neck and stretched his arms, feeling his bones crack, still aching from the blow.
If not for his hardening spell, they would probably be dust by now.
Percy cast Telekinesis.
The swords that had fallen from his hands flew back toward him, and he caught them effortlessly as he stared at the creature.
Which now regarded him far more as an enemy than as prey.
Just as it had before.
"Alright..." he muttered.
"It looks like we're both fully awake now."