Chapter 156: "To Me, My Steed!"

[Third Person's PoV] 

Thalia surrounded herself with crackling electricity as she charged toward the towering giants, her eyes glowing with power. In a blink, she used her 'Storm Step', vanishing and reappearing directly in front of them.

Taking a deep breath, she puffed out her chest and roared, "AHHHHHHHHHH!" The thunderous soundwave, amplified by her ability, 'Thunderous Roar', caused the giants to cry out in pain, clutching their ears in a desperate attempt to block the deafening noise. Staggered and disoriented, they took a step back, trying to distance themselves from the source of the attack.

One giant, however, despite the agony, swung its massive hand down to snuff out the noise.

Thalia reacted instantly, transforming into a streak of lightning as a consequence of using 'Storm Step', zipping up the giant's arm. Charging her spear with electricity, she unleashed her 'Piercing Strike', driving her weapon into the giant arm's midsection with her enhanced strength. The lightning-infused thrust ripped through half of the giant's arm, causing it to lose balance and scream in agony.

As the giant began to topple, Thalia changed direction midair using 'Storm Step', to charge right towards the falling giant. Holding her shield in front of her and her spear at the ready, she built up speed with each step, her power increasing exponentially.

With a final burst of energy, she pierced through the giant's chest, creating a gaping hole as she passed cleanly through. She used her shield to block the spray of blood, landing smoothly on one knee, sliding back as she braced herself with her shield and spear to slow her momentum.

The giant collapsed with a heavy thud, shaking the ground beneath her feet. Thalia stood up, casually whipping her shield to the side, flinging off the blood. Smirking, she got into a combat stance, pointing her spear forward. "I think I'm just realizing how dangerous I really am," she said, her eyes glowing with electricity as lightning flashed from them.

An aura began to manifest around her, her 'Aura of Intimidation' amplifying her already formidable presence. It worked in tandem with her shield, which had a similar effect. The remaining giants gulped, unsure whether they were terrified or entranced by the deadly figure before them.

---

Annabeth soared gracefully through the air, pulling down her goggles with a confident smirk. She weaved effortlessly between the giants, who lumbered beneath her. One of them tried to swat at her, cupping its hands to catch her like a fly.

Big mistake.

Annabeth spun in midair, her silver wings slicing cleanly through all ten of the giant's fingers, leaving the giant screaming in pain as it held up it's now fingerless hands.

She scoffed and unleashed a volley of sharp feathers toward its face. The giant tried to shield itself, but without fingers, it was a futile effort. As it staggered back, Annabeth boosted herself forward with her back thrusters, running across its face before leaping behind it. Mid-jump, she twisted in the air and made a pulling motion.

The back of the giant's head ripped open as the feathers returned to her wings, snapping back into place. As she landed softly, wings fully extended, the giant fell backward, hitting the ground with a heavy thud before dissipating into dust.

Annabeth exhaled sharply, then held up four fingers on each hand, closing them together. She struck the ground with both hands, burying her fingers into the earth. With a smirk, she eyed two more approaching giants.

"The Earth is mine to mold… the very soil are my building blocks," she muttered, focusing on her Geomancy abilities.

The ground around her began to shift and rise. In moments, two massive constructs formed from the earth—giant harpoons, towering beside her, ready for battle.

…

Percy and Clarisse sprinted toward two of the remaining giants as Annabeth took on two others. Percy gripped his trident tightly, the tips of the prongs encased in swirling water. He swung the weapon in a wide arc, sending a sharp crescent of water slashing across the giant's leg, cutting deep into its flesh.

The giant roared in pain, staggering as it bent down and ripped a tree from the earth, swinging it at Percy with brutal force. 

Percy's eyes widened in panic. "Oh, gods!" he muttered, quickly pointing his trident downward and blasting a powerful jet of water, launching himself skyward just in time to avoid being crushed. He landed with a roll to soften the impact, immediately springing back to his feet and charging forward.

'I really, really, hate this!' Percy thought, dodging as the giant brought the tree down like a hammer, trying to squash him. The repeated strikes turned into a game of whack-a-mole as Percy darted and rolled to avoid each swing. 

Too close now for the tree to be effective, the giant tossed it aside and tried to stomp Percy into the ground. Percy narrowly avoided the foot, but the force of the stomp sent him 

airborne. He used the momentum to land on his feet and rushed toward the giant's injured leg.

With a shout, Percy stabbed his trident into the deep cut he'd made earlier, channeling a powerful geyser of water into the wound. The leg swelled grotesquely before exploding in a gory mess, forcing the giant to collapse onto one knee, screaming in agony.

"Ew, ew, ew! It got in my mouth! That's disgusting—and unhygienic!" Percy gagged, spitting out blood as it covered him.

The giant, furious, swung a massive fist down at Percy. But Percy was faster, using his trident to blast water and propel himself backward, just out of reach.

"You know," Percy shouted sarcastically, dodging another attack, "if Camp Half-Blood had a brochure, they should really mention the *constant* life-threatening situations!"

With a spin of his trident, Percy sent another crescent of water slashing across the giant, adding more deep cuts, he kept dodging, adding cuts, more dodging, and more cuts. He began to pant, exhaustion setting in. 'I can't keep this up forever…'

"Ugh, this is going to be gross," Percy groaned, launching himself up toward the giant's face. The giant opened its mouth, trying to swallow him whole, but Percy boosted himself again, landing right above its lips. He jammed his trident into its nose and summoned the moisture from the air, firing a massive, pressurized blast of water that ripped through the giant's skull from the inside.

Blood exploded everywhere, coating Percy in another layer of gore. The force of the blast sent him flying backward. He managed to soften his landing with a hand of water but was too exhausted to maintain it, crashing to the ground. Kneeling on one knee, Percy leaned heavily on his trident, struggling to catch his breath.

Meanwhile, Clarisse had been relentlessly slashing at the Achilles tendons of her own giant, forcing it to its knees. With a fierce war cry, she drove her spear into its thick skin, running circles around the giant while opening up deep gashes. Even when it swatted her away, Injuring her heavily, she came back, more determined and relentless. She inflicted so many wounds that the giant became too weak from blood loss, too anemic to fight back. Seizing her chance, Clarisse finished it off, putting the giant out of its misery.

Clarisse, breathing hard, glanced smugly toward Percy—only to freeze. Percy, drenched in blood, was standing up from his kneeling position, brushing his hair back as he coldly watched the remains of his giant dissipate. He spat out blood in disgust and wiped his chin before resting his trident over his shoulder. Sensing her gaze, Percy looked over and flashed her a confident thumbs-up.

Clarisse blinked, momentarily stunned, before shaking her head and scoffing. But she couldn't deny the smile creeping onto her face, which she quickly wiped away. She shot him the middle finger instead, then turned back to her own dissipating giant with a smirk.

…

Thalia was a blur of lightning as she darted through the battlefield, appearing and vanishing in mid-air with her 'Storm Step'. Each flash of her movement left devastation in her wake—she tore through the chest of one giant, then exploded through the head of another, her battle-hungry grin growing wider with every kill. 

'This is so much fun!' she thought, filled with adrenaline as she pierced through yet another giant's chest, yanking it's still-beating heart out with her spear. Without missing a beat, she spun and severed the head of the next giant in one long sweep.

The last giant was barely standing when Thalia charged right through its leg, moving upward in a blur as she ripped through its stomach, then chest, and finally took out half of its face as it collapsed to the ground. 

With a twirl in the air, Thalia shook the blood off her body before landing gracefully, her spear resting on her shoulder. She smirked, hands on her hips. "Sigh, if only Lucian were here to see how great I am," she muttered, surveying the destruction she'd left behind.

Her gaze then fell on the two giants Annabeth had been facing, their hearts impaled by massive stones like harpoons. Thalia gave an approving nod. "Just another day's work, I suppose," she sighed with satisfaction.

Suddenly, a loud, panicked voice cut through the calm. "BAAAH! HELP ME! I'M THE ONE IN DANGER! BAAAAH! THERE WAS MORE TO THE GROUP THAN EXPECTED!!" 

Everyone's heads snapped toward the sound, their faces dropping in shock. There, in the distance, Grover was held tightly by a giant, surrounded by six more, all of them leering hungrily. 

"Look! Look! Yummy goat!" the giant holding Grover said in a slow, dumb voice, causing Grover to squirm in terror.

"GROVER!!!" they all shouted in unison, hearts pounding with worry.

Thalia's body immediately crackled with electricity as she prepared to rush to Grover's rescue. But before she could move, something dark and fast shot down from the sky like a meteorite, slamming into the ground in front of the giant holding Grover. 

The earth trembled under the impact, a massive dust cloud billowing up from where the 'Black Meteorite' had struck. As the dust began to settle, a tall figure rose from within it. The silhouette carried a massive buster sword in one hand and something else in the other.

With a single swing of the buster sword, the dust cloud was blown away, revealing a dark knight clad in black armor with ominous red highlights and a cape that flapped violently against the force of his swing. 

The giant that had been holding Grover froze, confused. Then, in an instant, a thin red line appeared down the middle of the giant's body. The massive creature split in two, collapsing as it was cleanly severed. In the knight's free hand was Grover, no longer in danger.

The Black Knight gently set Grover down, motioning for him to run to the others. Grover didn't need to be told twice—he scrambled back to safety, his hooves barely touching the ground as he bolted towards the stunned demigods.

A chill ran down all their spines when they heard the Black Knight's voice. It was deep, cold, and commanding. "To me, my steed!"

The shadow behind him expanded, and from the darkness emerged a magnificent black stallion, its hooves stamping the ground as it reared up and neighed loudly. The knight effortlessly grabbed the reins and swung himself onto the horse's back, his cape flowing dramatically behind him.

With a powerful gallop, the Black Knight charged toward the remaining giants, his buster sword gleaming, ready for battle. The demigods could only watch, awe-struck by the knight's terrifying yet elegant presence as he thundered toward the enemy.

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