Well, this story is finally getting updated again. Boring yet plausible excuses, etc.

I'm not really in the mood for some pre-chapter humor or bullshitting since midterms are coming in like a rampaging bull ready to gore my unsuspecting ass.

Well, enjoy.

After the duel, none of the hunters dared to go near Percy. Percy, reading the mood, opted to eat away from the Hunters, furthering the schism between them.

It didn't take a genius to know that he didn't feel that he belonged there.

However, it didn't mean that Percy neglected to look after the Hunters. After getting Nova back from where he was resting, he decided to train the Hunters in using different weapons.

"But why," asked a puzzled Artemis. "The Hunters are strong enough with their knives and bows."

"That is true, but as these weapons are so generic, they can easily be taken down by one who has had enough experience going against them. Should they have an extra weapon, however, then I can say without a doubt that they will not fall easily."

It wasn't an easy path. The Hunters were so accustomed to using knives and bows that they struggled to adapt to using unorthodox weapons. However, they persevered in the end.

The Hunt was split into three groups. One group, Stryker, was led by Thalia. They were the main offensive group and wielded various close range weapons ranging from Bagh nakas, flamberges, and katars. Basically, they all had the same goal: extra power with no restriction on speed.

The next group was Sylvan, which was led by a Hunter named Kira. They were mainly support, wielding bows. However, Percy also assigned them repeating crossbows, should the enemy be too close for conventional bow usage. When they ran out of arrows, they would use a rope dart (a lot stronger than it sounds, to be honest) to put some distance between them and the adversary.

Finally, there was Fury. There were a group led by Phoebe, which should probably explain everything. They wielded weapons ranging from dandpatti to lances to monk spades. The meaning was clear: stay away.

This division was one of the better ideas Percy had come up with. By distinguishing each person, they could support each other faster, and as such, were a lot safer than before.

Time passed by quickly, and before they knew it, three months had passed since the duel.

Artemis had attempted to reconnect her Guardian to her Hunters. However, they were under constant threat from the monsters, who were beginning to attack in coordinated groups and become more deadlier.

But then again, it would pale in comparison to what they would have to face today.


About ten miles from the Hunters' camp, a conglomerate of monsters were forming.

"Are we ready?" rumbled a being, who was missing an eye, to a telekhine.

"Yes, sir. We have been watching the Gate for a while, and it appears to have stabilized. Provided that we leave a few guards to defend it, we should have no problem whatsoever."

"Excellent. Those accursed Hunters won't know what hit them. What of the other Gates?"

"Ninety percent of the gates have been put up and are active. A few immolated after a meltdown occurred when the fools tried to rush the process. But sir, if I may..."

"Speak your mind. In this camp, all are equal."

"I don't think that our new allies should be trusted."

"Neither do I, yet we have a common goal. Besides, we cannot disobey our master."

The being looked at the massing army. At its core was an empty space, with five pillars placed symmetrically so that they were an equal distance from each other. The crystals shone crimson and thrummed with power.

Every few seconds, a new monster would come out from the center and join with the rest of the horde.

The being gave a soft smile.

"It's time to make our strike. And then, I might be able to find some peace."


Percy looked up from his book. He felt a strange tension in the air, as a sense of foreboding washed over him.

He flared out his wings before flying towards the source of it as silently as he could. He had flown a few miles before coming across a company of monsters.

Acting on sheer instinct, he razed them down before they could even register the threat.

Breathing slightly harder than usual, he paled slightly as he saw more groups of monsters heading towards the Hunters.

"Of course my life has to become even more complicated," he muttered.

He raced back to the camp as soon as he could, kicking up a cloud of dust as he went past the unsuspecting Hunters.

"What is it?" asked Thalia, who was in control considering how Artemis was summoned for a solo hunt yet again.

"We've got company."

No sooner than he had said those words, the forest burst into action as monster began flowing out of the brush.

Amidst a few cries of panic, Thalia's voice was heard. "Tortoise formation, now!"

Those in Fury immediately surrounded the others, while Sylvan stayed as far away from the fighting as possible. As the monsters crashed onto the wall, some vaporized by the quick shooting of the Hunters, while others were cut down by the assault from Strykers. Those that survived this found themselves destroyed by the brutality of the Furies.

The Hunters and the monsters stalemated for a while as neither got an advantage over the other. However, the waves of monsters never stopped flowing.

This did not go unnoticed by Percy, as he tore apart monster after monster while slogging towards the source of the monsters.

As he fought his way to the enemy base, his eyes widened slightly at seeing the area in which the monsters were spawning from.

Almost like a -

"Gate."

Percy turned around and was greeted with a man clad in armor, a mace in one hand and an axe in the other. He was also missing an eye.

"Who are you?"

The being laughed. "Oh, how offended I feel. Can't tell who your namesake is?"

Percy's face paled a little as he found out who he was going up against.

"Perses, Titan of destruction."

Meanwhile, the Hunters were getting tired and more sloppy, though the inexperience of the monsters covered for them

Thalia gave a shout and a lightning bolt fried a small group of monsters trying to outflank the Hunters.

Come on Percy, we're not going to last long without you!


"Why are you doing this, Perses? As far as I can tell, you were never one to actually engage in war."

"True, but then again, you have the real neutrals like Pallas. No, I'm just a pawn in another plot to take over Olympus."

Percy noticed a small weariness in Pallas's voice. "What do you mean?"

"I've become a shadow of my former self. The world has no need for destruction anymore. The only real destruction happens whenever you are in a war or when Harry Dresden finds himself in another building."

"Who?"

"He's part of a book series that I would recommend to you if you weren't dyslexic. But that is not why we are here. Perseus Jackson-"

"Just Percy."

"Percy Jackson, I offer you a chance to save the Hunters' camp. If you defeat me in combat, I will allow you to tear down the Gate as well as receive my powers."

"...I don't have a choice, do I?"

"No, it's my last way of messing around with you."

Percy groaned before settling into a combat stance. However, Perses merely hit the ground with his mace, causing a moderate sized earthquake that threw Percy off balance.

"Remember, there is no strategy to counteract against destruction."

Percy jumped into the air and flared his wings, before striking with Anaklusmos, only to be blocked by the axe.

Meanwhile, Thalia struggled to fight off a Hellhound, something that would never have happened if it wasn't for the endless legions of monsters heading towards them.

As she landed the killing blow, she noticed too late that another one was heading towards her. Knowing that it would take too long to raise her weapons, she closed her eyes and resigned herself to her fate.

The next thing she knew, a scream tore through the forest.

And then the Hellhound burst into flames.


Percy heard the scream and grinned internally.

So he's finally making his debut.

He took out Anarchy, only to have his hand broken by the mace and the scimitar flying off to the side.

"Yeah, no. I know the risk of that weapon. Simply put, destruction, to maximize its efficiency, must take out the biggest threat. As you see, I've also broken your left hand."

Percy grit his teeth and forcefully straightened his hand out. No sooner had he done this, however, he was smashed to the side by the mace.

"Always keep your undivided attention on destruction. Otherwise, it becomes too powerful and out of your control."

Percy steadied himself, and fought through the pain as he stood up. He decided to go Manhattan all over Perses.

Destruction over destruction.

He shot fire at Perses, who instinctively dodged it, but he also willed some water into the same area, causing a steam explosion.

The blast sent Perses flying, which Percy capitulated on by using the shadows to impale his limbs, only to see that it couldn't break against his armor.

He reached for Anarchy, only to feel a sense of foreboding, and retreated at the last instant. As soon as he moved back, an axe tore through the air and would have cleaved his head if he hadn't moved.

Glaring murderously at a grinning but wincing Perses, he had one thought in his mind.

Now I know how the gods feel whenever they are around me.

He threw Anaklusmos at Perses, which was deflected by a thrown mace, but also left Perses unarmed, leaving Percy to get Anarchy.

After he grabbed the weapon, he went over to a smiling Perses.

"How sad, I thought you might actually learn."

"What?"

"Don't trust that blade so much. You risked so much over it. So what if it can cut through anything? Any good blade could do that. You've become pathetic."

Percy's arm lowered as his resolve weakened. he thought about how he almost lost his life several times to to get an easy win over Perses. he even through Anaklusmos-

Oh gods. He had practically tarnished her by throwing her blade away just to get another.

"One last thing. Destruction doesn't always have to be physical.

"I can destroy your psyche."

Percy's realization of this psychological warfare came too late as he was pummeled to the side again by the mace.

As Percy staggered up, he felt his side bleeding slightly.

That was all it took to finish this.

Feeling Anaklusmos return to his pocket, tossed Anarchy at Perses, who smacked it aside, only to give Percy enough time to activate his blood magic.

Feeling the massive surge of energy, he ran at Perses, who threw his mace at him. He deflected it with such force that it went flying into through the air and into the heart of the fighting.

As wit the Hunters, a few dropped from exhaustion but the rest held their own against the monsters. For once, they were glad for Percy's harsh regime.

Kayla was taking a quick breath before noticing a Laistrygonian giant coming towards her. She panicked, seeing that she was too tired to use her weapons, and curled up with her phoenix, who was trying to defend her.

Just as the giant was about to grab her, a mace flew through the air and struck the giant in the head, knocking it unconscious.

The fighting stopped for a few seconds after seeing this, before resuming again as if nothing happened.

What was going on?


Percy struck with Anaklusmos at Perses' thigh, which was blocked by the axe. Without letting up, he struck the axe again, and then punched Perses across the face.

Although the punch was nowhere near the amount of strength necessary to do some real damage to Perses, it was more than enough to distract him long enough for Percy to strike the axe one more time and break it in half.

Perses looked at his broken axe in disbelief before looking at Percy again, only to find Anaklusmos pointing in his good eye.

"Like you said, 'Always keep your undivided attention on destruction.'"

Perses laughed and put his hands up in defeat. "Alright, you beat me. Go blow up the damn thing already."

Percy used the shadows to form weapons of various shapes and hurled them against the pillars, which were destroyed rather quickly.

"Alright, seeing as you have won, I'll get this over with. I, Perses, Titan of destruction, hereby deem myself incapable of maintaining my domains and thus grant Perseus Jackson my powers."

Percy felt a massive surge of power flow through his veins and he staggered in shock.

As the surge eventually dimmed out, he straightened himself out and looked at Perses, who seemed to be struggling to breathe.

"And what about you?"

"Probably will fade ... domains were the only thing keeping me alive ... life isn't long enough, kid, even if you're ... an immortal. Go enjoy your life sometime... You deserve it."

With those final words, Perses slowly faded from view, with a smile on his face.

Percy sighed before straightening his wings.

The job was not over yet.


The Hunters were now falling apart. Although none were fatally injured, several were too exhausted to even stand up. yet, the waves seemed to continue flowing.

Suddenly, a pulse of sheer power flowed through the area.

"No," hissed a dracaena. "The boy livessss."

Then, something fell out of the sky and landed in a group of monsters, detonating a large explosion, and incinerating the area around them.

Out of it, walked Percy with Anaklusmos in his hands, with sheer power rolling off of him.

And cut. Go ahead, tell me all about how long it has been or whatever.