Chapter 241
Hiccups POV:
The morning that came after beating Jakotsu babā came too early for my liking since I didn't exactly have a pleasant evening after finding the shack the old hag had called home, to use as shelter for the evening. It wasn't all bad since there was a firepit to cook myself a meal and it had a place for me to set up my bedroll so despite the dust, I could still spend the night there. I had a quiet meal of rice, cooked meat and some water but while my food cooked, I looked around the home and found a hidden basement that was filled with riches which I'm guessing, Jakotsu babā took from the travelers she killed. I collected the items into my spiderpack since there was no use leaving them there before I had my dinner and then got ready for bed which is when things got tough. I spent most of the night being woken up by the hissing of snakes who had come to either kill me or seek warmth from the cold night by using my body heat, so I spent half my night waking up and tossing snakes out the window before checking the room for others.
As one could expect, when morning came, I was all too happy to get out of that shack and out of that forest to get away from the snakes so I could catch up on my sleep when nightfall comes. This brings us to now, with me kneeling down by a rushing river while splashing water onto my face in an attempt to wake myself up after a near sleepless night. It was then a familiar voice from behind me asked.
"Long night Hiccup?" I sighed and turned to see a familiar kitsune sitting a few feet behind me.
"Yeah, I spent most of it dealing with snakes."
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, a lot of people have been saved by what you did while many souls can now pass onto the next life with their deaths being avenged." I sighed.
"That does help a little, but I assume that you're not here just to tell me that." She nodded.
"Indeed, as I have brought items to thank you for your aid in ridding the land of a great threat." She walked up to me and with one of her tails handed me a set of nun chucks, but these ones were different to the usual ones since both ends were shaped like snakes with one being red and the other blue. "This weapon was made from the snakes of Jakotsu babā and have great powers, but you will have to master their abilities on your own." I picked them up and gave them a few experimental swings and found them to be perfectly balanced making me smile. "And there is one last thing I brought you." I turned to her just as she brought out a familiar looking coiled snake pendant made out of jade.
"Isn't that the snake that was left in Jakotsu babā's ashes?" Asami nodded. "I didn't touch the thing since I got a bad feeling from it."
"A wise decision Hiccup, the magic within it would have ended you by draining you of your life and reviving Jakotsu babā."
"Is that how she's been around for so long despite many people going after her." Asami nodded.
"Those who were successful in defeating her figured the pendant would make a good trophy or could be sold for a high price on the market but instead they lost their lives and brought back the foe they had worked so hard to defeat."
"But what's stopping it from doing the same to me?"
"The dragon forge has cleansed Jakotsu babā's soul from it, sending it down to the underworld for all eternity while leaving a sliver of her magic behind in the pendant which was cleansed and altered by the dragon forge to serve as an upgrade for your spiderpack." I raised an eyebrow before I chuckled and took off the spiderpack.
"This thing is getting so many improvements on this trip."
"It's understandable since it is one of the pieces of equipment you use most often." I nodded and took the pendant.
"So, do I just place it in the mouth or somewhere else?"
"Just place it within the mouth and let the magic do the rest." I nodded and placed the pendant within the mouth and watched it sink into the darkness before my spiderpack glowed and a snake formed around the pearl that gave it its first upgrade.
"Any idea what this upgrade can do?" Asami gave me a smile before I sighed. "I know, I have to figure it out for myself." She nodded and I sighed before smiling. "Well as I've said before, that's part of the fun." I then put my spiderpack back on and watched Asami walk away.
"Good luck on your trip Hiccup, may you avoid any more threats." I chuckled as she disappeared and muttered.
"No chance of that happening with how Akuhei is." I then looked down at the nun chucks that were still in my hand and smiled. "It's nearly always worth it though." I then began trying out some advanced techniques I'd learnt while studying under the Ancient One.
3 days later
It's been three days since my meeting with Asami and that time has not only been spent peacefully travelling towards where I was told Akuhei rested but also trying out the new upgrades to my spiderpack and the snake nun chucks. For the snake nun chucks, I learnt that each one is lethal in its own way like how the red can light a flame in its mouth that can spray out in a stream but the thing about this flame is it doesn't just burn the victim, it poisons them with the blue snake holding the antidote. Along with the antidote the blue snake can release a blue flame that's not lethal, but it holds a poison that paralyzes the victim with the red snake holding the antidote to it. Of course, another way of injecting the poison into the victim is to strike them with the nun chucks and the heads would immediately turn so they could bite the victim and inject their venom.
Then there's the new ability of my spiderpack which I have to admit, made it a whole lot creepier since it was already creepy with it being a skull but now it was downright scary. This new ability made snakes come out of the four lower eye holes and when my spiderpack was covered it made it look as if they were coming out of my back but when it was uncovered, it would give a fully-grown man nightmare. The snakes themselves were a dark jade green color with glowing yellow eyes in appearance and could extend up to fifteen feet in length with coils that could wrap around victims and drag them to me. They also have a bite that injects a venom that could paralyze a victim with one bite and kill them with a second so very lethal but it wasn't all combat with them since when they ate something, it went straight into my spiderpack meaning, gathering would be faster. All in all, it was scary but useful and would come in handy when it comes to gathering items and taking on any more enemies I encounter along my journeys.
Besides that, things have been surprisingly peaceful for me with the only yokai I encountered being a hyakume in an old temple I slept in for one night. I knew I was in no danger concerning this yokai since although they may look like large blobs of flesh with countless eyes covering their bodies, they're not violent and prefer to avoid humans. Along with this the people of a small village that was near the temple were actually very grateful to the hyakume since at night, it patrols their village and keeps watch for any criminal activity and scares off the ones committing it. Before I left the temple, I went over to the entrance of the room where the hyakume rested and left a plate of dumplings with a cup of water and a note that thanked it for helping the people.
Other than that, there'd surprisingly been no yokai who came to bother me other than those who had looked at me in curiosity for a few moments before fleeing. Now night had fallen, and I was laying down beneath a tree, getting a little sleep but I kept my guard up since there's no telling what lurks in this forest. It was then the sound of someone walking down the path I was laying by and opened my eyes to see a woman in a dark pink kimono with short hair that ended at her shoulders, a paper lantern in her left-hand and a basket in her right. When she saw me, she smiled and bowed as she said.
"Good evening traveler." I bowed back.
"Good evening, madam."
"What brings you out here tonight?"
"I've been travelling for a while now and stopped here to sleep." She gasped.
"You cannot stay out here in the evening; it is not safe with the beasts who roam the forest in the night." I raised an eyebrow.
"Then what is a young lady like you doing out on the roads so late?"
"I was out gathering herbs for my inn and lost track of time." She held out the basket to show it was filled with various herbs. "I was just on my way back to the inn so you should join me as the animals are less likely to come after those who travel together, and you may spend the night there." I smiled and nodded but I had a bad feeling in my gut about this.
Akuheis lair
Nobodies POV:
Akuhei watched through the eyes of his pet and chuckled at the sight of Hiccup Haddock making his way down the path with the young woman since that woman belonged to a group of his most trusted assassins. They had never failed a single one of the missions he'd given them when it concerned killing men who were in that forest and he hoped that this time would be no different since he'd already sent out the order to them and they'd readily agreed. Now all Akuhei had to do was watch them trick Hiccup into lowering his guard after he enters the inn and then he'd be drained of his blood like all the other men who'd fallen victim to them in the past. Akuhei leaned back in his throne and let out one last chuckle while he continued watching his foe walk towards what Akuhei believed would be his doom.
4 hours later
Hiccups POV:
It's been four hours since I met the woman who I now knew was named Sakura and, in that time, we'd arrived at the inn which was run by seven women including Shuna. I admit they were each incredibly beautiful but to me their beauty paled in comparison to the beauty of the wives I had waiting for me back at home. Still despite me telling the women this, they still flirted with me but I just pretended that it was part of their inn's service and went with it. As for the inn itself, it was a pretty nice building with multiple rooms, a dining room, a large garden with a lake and even an outdoor bath which I took full advantage of since it'd been a while since I last enjoyed one. I did feel a little uneasy though since I had this feeling that I was in danger and kept my guard up, even when I'd been shown to my room which was a simple room with a desk, a chair and a bed. When I got into the bed though, I remembered to keep my guard up and only pretended to sleep for an hour in case someone was watching me.
When I was done, I silently making my way through the halls of the building, not wanting to be seen as I checked for anything out of the ordinary sleep. When I came to the dining room where I left the staff that ran this inn and opened the door a crack and looked in before I gasped in shock and opened the door fully. Sitting there at the table were all the women who ran this inn but their heads were gone which would normally send someone running in terror from the inn but I wasn't as scared as I was curious. I walked into the room and examined the bodies, finding no blood stains, splatter or any blood at all, anywhere on or around the bodies which was incredibly suspicious since if the heads were removed then there'd be blood somewhere.
When I checked the actual wounds and found the spot where the head was meant to connect to the head was smooth and clean while the inside of the neck was sealed up with the seal being as smooth. I knew right at that moment that I was dealing with nukekubi, yokai species who appear as young women by day but become vampiric beasts whose heads float around to find victims by fast, I got to work, starting with hiding the bodies at the bottom of the lake by tying them all to a statue from the garden and chucking them in since the nukekubi heads needed to return to their bodies before dawn.
Now I was making my way through the forest surrounding the inn, searching for the heads so I could keep them busy before they could find their bodies. It was then I heard a voice say.
"Why is master Akuhei so determined to end this mortal exactly?" I rushed towards the voice but kept silent until I reached the source and found all the missing heads, floating in the air as the head that belonged to the inn's owner, who had her hair tied up in a tight bun answered.
"He is the one who destroyed master Akuhei last time with his weapons that were made from our fellow yokai." Another head with her hair tied back in a ponytail asked.
"Then what are we waiting for, let's go kill him while he rests now since it's been days since our last meal." Before any of the others could reply though Shuna's head came rushing into the clearing while screaming.
"HE'S GONE AND HE HAS TAKEN OUR BODIES!" I released my tetsubo as the inns owner yelled.
"FIND HIM!" Their eyes began to shine lights like those of the torches to light up whatever they looked at but it was when Shuna's eyes landed near me, that I made my presence known by stepping out and saying.
"Boo!" I then swung my tetsubo into the head, throwing it back into a tree while gaining the attention of the heads who roared at me, showing their fangs and then flying at me. "Time to get to work." And with that said the battle began.
Nobodies POV:
The nukekubi came flying at Hiccup who in turn readied his tetsubi and just when the first head came into range, he swung hard, knocking the head back into another right before one came at him from the side and sunk its teeth into his right arm but Hiccup just smirked. The head screamed as it let go to reveal cracked teeth from biting Hiccup right arm which was his prosthetic right before he slammed the head of his tetsubo into the head, sending it flying back. Hiccup then swung his tetsubo once more, hitting three more coming heads, hoping to do at least some damage as he sent them flying back with his strike but growled when they quickly recovered and came at him again as he said.
"Need to think of a way to keep these heads down for good."
It was then he remembered one of the new abilities his spiderpack had gained and slammed his tetsubo into another one of the heads, knocking it to the ground but this time he released a leg from his spiderpack and launched a crystal at it. The crystal split apart to form the web and landed on the head with the crystals slamming into the ground, pinning the head to the ground as it struggled. When it didn't come at him again, Hiccup smiled knowing he'd just figured out how to beat these heads and got to work on restraining them.
A few seconds before sunrise
Hiccups POV:
I was sitting beneath a tree and smiling as I looked at the heads of the nukekubiwho were now pinned to the ground by the webs that were created by my spiderpack. I have to say that so far, these yokai had been the easiest to fight since they'd solely relied on their numbers and trying to surround me in hopes of beating me by attacking me from multiple sides but it was easy to figure out what their strategy was and how to handle it. Now all the heads were either pinned to the ground by my webs or trapped against the trees by my threads and there was no getting out of them. To be on the safe side, I pinned the heads down with a few extra webs to ensure they didn't go anywhere and remained pinned to the ground so they wouldn't escape. I'm guessing Shuna's head had begun fearing for her life since she'd begun asking where I hid their bodies but I just kept silent and watched the heads struggle. I looked and saw the sun beginning to rise before Shuna's head weakly asked.
"Where did you hide our bodies?" I sighed and stood up.
"I chucked them in the lake while tied to a stone garden statue." She stared at me in shock but I shrugged. "You should've looked harder but at least you ladies will get to enjoy the sunrise." I smirked as the suns light shone down into the clearing and onto the heads that screamed as they went up in green flames exposing their skulls that turned to ashes. "Well that takes care of that." I rolled my shoulders before turning in the direction of the inn and shrugged. "I might as well see what's left at the inn since it's not going to do them any good." I began making my way down the path. "Might be able to restock up my supplies." With this in mind I made my way back to the inn to loot the place.
1 hour later
Nobodies POV:
Asami walked into the clearing where the nukekubi had met their end and looked down at the various piles of ashes that were resting under the webs, left by Hiccup. She smiled at the ashes as she said.
"It's about time someone dealt with those beastly women." She then began gathering up the ashes into crystal balls that she brought with her. "Hopefully, the dragons forge can make them into something useful." Once they were all gathered up she disappeared into the forest.
Nightfall
Hiccups POV:
It's been hours since I took on the nukekubi and since then I'd raided the inn and found a lot of things besides the food that I placed in my spiderpack for the trip. I also found a ton of money, which the nukekubi must've taken from the travelers they killed, a couple of items like paintings, pots, vases and other things that were used to decorate the inn since there was no use in leaving them behind to gather dust and they'd look good among the art work in my collection. I also grabbed all the cook wear and utensils in the kitchen since there was no sense in leaving them there to gather dust when they could be used at one of the houses. Besides that, nothing has happened which brings us to now, with me sitting by a fire while my dinner of rice, cooked in the pot that was hung above it. It was then I felt a familiar presence and smiled as I asked.
"And what brings you here Asami?" The kitsune walked up next to me.
"If you sensed me so easily, it must mean that I'm losing my touch."I shook my head.
"No, I've just got my guard up since I'm in the woods and not sure what's lurking around it that'll want me as a meal."
"You're right to be cautious about what lives in these woods but this will hopefully help you sleep a little easier." One her tails extended towards me to reveal a black leather bracelet with a small crystal skull. "Like the other items I have given you, it is more than it seems and like those items, you'll have to figure out what it does yourself." I chuckled as I slipped the bracelet on.
"And as I've said before, that's part of the fun." She giggled as she faded into the darkness, leaving me alone in the woods as I looked down at the bracelet. "Now what is it that you do?" I spent the remainder of my night trying to figure out the bracelet.
2 days later
It's been two days since I received the bracelet and, in that time, I'd been able to figure out what it could do and I had to say that with its ability, I'd be able to sleep a lot easier at night. The way it works is the bracelet floats off my wrist and begins hovering above me, slowly spinning before the leather strap breaks up to form seven crystal skulls that then lower down towards the ground until they're six feet above it and circling me to form a fifteen-foot-wide ring. From the ground, wooden poles would then sprout out before the skulls come to land on them before ropes with glowing paper talismans would burst from the poles, connecting them. This created a barrier around me that no beast, person or yokai could pass meaning, I could relax a bit but I did find the skulls were creepy though but I learned fast that they had their own abilities. To begin with they could float up into the air with their eyes letting out light to shine on the spots they were looking at so they could act as torches but the heads could also let out balls of green fire to scare off and if necessary, kill enemies. It was because of this; I knew I'd be able to sleep a lot easier during my nights where I couldn't find a place to sleep so my journey got a bit easier but I wasn't letting my guard down since there's no telling what else Akuhei has waiting for me.
Now, I was making my way down a dirt road that was clearly man made which I hope meant that I was near a town since it was late afternoon and it would be nice to have a place to sleep that had a bed and no yokai, to attack me. It was then I was brough out of my thoughts by the sound of people screaming in the distance and knew something bad was happening and rushed towards the sound. It wasn't long before I came to the top of a hill and found myself looking at a small village, surrounded by farmland but what caught my attention the most was the group of men, armed with farming tools who were surrounding a giant bear. I knew immediately that this bear was a yokai known as an Onikuma and although they rarely come into human inhabited areas, it's never good when they do since it always ends in violence and from what I could tell, the men weren't faring well against it. With me being me, I couldn't just stand there and let those people get hurt so without hesitation I rushed towards the fight while reaching for my weapons sash and pulled out three grey shuriken. I quickly threw them towards the onikuma's arm that was raised and ready to bring down on one of the men and smiled when they embedded themselves into the yokai's arm, making it roar in pain and turn towards me.
It roared in both anger and pain when I threw three more grey shuriken at its other arm which also gained me the attention of the men who had been fighting the beast. I glared at the onikuma before I turned to the men and yelled out.
"GET BACK TO YOUR HOMES, I'LL HANDLE THE ONIKUMA!" I could tell they were hesitant to do so but a roar from the giant bear was enough to make them forget about their hesitation and run towards the village while I turned to the onikuma who was glaring at me. "Alright big guy, let's dance." I released the legs of my spiderpack and had four attach themselves to my arms and legs before I charged at the onikuma to begin our battle.
Nobodies POV:
Hiccup charged at the onikuma just as it slashed its clawed hands down at him but Hiccup dropped to the ground and did the slide to avoid the strike before getting back up when he was right next to its leg. Hiccup quickly struck the knee joint with his prosthetic fist, stabbing the spider leg into it, making the beast roar out in pain and drop down onto the legs knee right as Hiccup used his ox flame boots speed mode to back up. He was quick to use this small opportunity to examine the beast and saw it was four times bigger than a normal bear, dark brown fur with a long grey diamond on the chest but what caught his attention the most was the glowing black orb in its chest since he'd never heard or read about anything like this before.
He didn't get the chance to dwell on it for long though as the beast quickly recovered from the blow and although the wound would slow it down, the anger it was feeling towards Hiccup would make up for it. It was quick to turn back to him and charge while roaring angrily and swinging its arms around in various strikes to build up strength before it reached Hiccup and began striking towards him. Hiccup was easily able to dodge most of the blows but as time went on, the strikes got faster, and Hiccup had a little more difficulty dodging blows that were so close to him. He knew however that if he went in to deliver a blow at the wrong moment, he could lose the fight, so he kept on dodging and waiting for an opening to begin his own attack.
Eventually an opening was made, and Hiccup was all too happy to seize it by thrusting his fists forward and spraying the sticky goo right into the onikuma's eyes, covering them and blinding the yokai in the process. The onikuma began slapping at its face to try and get the goo off, making Hiccup smirk as its hands got stuck to the beast's face thanks to the goo. This gave Hiccup the opening to end the fight that he'd been waiting for and he was quick to take it by rushing right at the onikuma and jumping right at its body. When he was only two feet away from the yokai, he thrust both his fists forward and into the giant bears chest with the legs of the spider stabbing into its body. The onikuma didn't die because of this and instead roared in pain before thrashing around in an attempt to throw Hiccup off its body but Hiccup held on tight and released the two top snakes from his spiderpack. The two snakes then quickly sunk their fangs into the neck of the onikuma from either side, injecting their venom into the beast's body while causing it immense pain to the yokai's body in the process.
This went of for a full seven seconds before the onikuma stopped moving, fell backwards and lay there dead while Hiccup stood back up, retracting both the legs and the snakes. Hiccup looked down at the carcass before he noticed the black orb in the chest begin to shake and then shatter, allowing a grey like fog to float out of it and slowly take the form of human bodies that whispered words of thanks to Hiccup before fading away. Hiccup watched this happen in confusion before he was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of feet rushing towards him and turned to see the villagers rushing towards him with looks of shock and amazement on their faces. Hiccup sighed knowing this was going to take some explaining but he also knew that he might have a roof over his head for the evening along with a meal that was cooked on something other than a campfire. With this in mind, he began making his way towards the approaching group while preparing for the onslaught of questions that they no doubt carried.
Akuhei's lair
Akuhei roared in rage at the image that he just witnessed in which his onikuma that had been gathering both souls and lifeforce for him within an orb he'd placed within its chest, had not only been defeated but lost all it had collected due to the actions of Hiccup who came to defeat the bear yokai. Akuhei clenched his fists knowing that if it weren't for Hiccup, the onikuma would have slaughtered that village and gathered up all the souls and life force which would've allowed him to take a considerable leap in the recovery of his power. This is something he greatly needed as the life he'd been draining from the surrounding land was now nonexistent while all the yokai and animals who had called it home were either drained of life by Akuhei or fled in search of a new home. It was then the hooded figure walked in and asked.
"What troubles you master?"
"Hiccup Haddock has once again played a part in slowing down my recovery and killed one of my beasts."
"Which one master?"
"My onikuma which was sent to slaughter that villages inhabitants and gather the life force of those worthless villagers."
"My apologies master but not all is lost." Akuhei raised an eyebrow. "I have just gotten word from the other members of your forces and ordered them back with multiple orbs filled with lifeforce to restore you to your full power." Akuhei smiled and leaned back into his throne.
"Leave me." The hooded figure nodded and left. "Soon Hiccup Haddock, I will be back to my full power and with it I shall have my revenge."
5 days later
Akuhei who resembled his old self more and more with every passing day with the land surrounding his lair resembling a rocky desert with no sign of the lush forest that it once was or any sign of life at all. It was then the hooded figure walked in before Akuhei looked up and asked.
"Is everything in place?" The hooded figure nodded.
"The beast has been sent after Hiccup and will no doubt at the very least injure him." Akuhei clenched his fists.
"Don't underestimate him as that is a mistake I made before and the price was my body." He then leaned back into his throne. "Still, you may be right as the beast remains out of Hiccups reach within the clouds." With that said he began watching Hiccup through the eyes of his bird once more.
Back with Hiccup
Hiccups POV:
It's been five days since my run in with the onikuma and in that time not much has happened starting with me spending the evening in the village as thanks for saving them. When we went back for the body of the onikuma though, we found it to be missing but we got our answer when Asami came to let me know she'd taken the body to have it turned into something that'd be useful on this journey. A day later, Asami showed up with the body of the onikuma with the bones and fangs being used to create a wakizashi that was as long as my forearm with the blade being forged from the skull of the onikuma while the grip was wrapped in leather made from its hide. This weapon also came in a sheath, wrapped in the same leather as the grip with a bear standing on its hind legs, carved into the leather of the sheath and surrounding the opening was a ring of claw tips. As for the wakizashi itself, the blade had the same image carved into the blade as the one in the sheath while the hilt had a single strip of leather that was long as my index finger, with a single tooth on the end.
All in all, it was a beautiful weapon that I was looking forward to testing out, especially after I discovered what it was capable of and knew it was going to come in handy. To begin with it had no trouble cutting through rock since when I gently pressed it against a boulder, the blade entered the rock with ease as if it were a hot knife going into butter. Along with that, when I stabbed it into the ground, the surrounding ten feet of ground turned into wet clay that was not only slippery, but I could manipulate a little. The way I could manipulate the clay is make it seep up around things and then harden, trapping whatever it was they had wrapped up and also make four foot long clay spikes burst from the ground. I knew this weapon would be handy since while my prosthetics punch dagger was made for stabbing, this knife was built for cutting and I knew it would also come in handy for skinning animals.
Besides that, things had been peaceful with me just continuing my journey and now I was making my way across a field on my kappa shell helmet but as I did this, I noticed that storm clouds were gathering which wasn't giving me a good feeling since something felt off about them. I groaned while wishing I could fly up to get a closer look but sadly, I didn't have Toothless with me so I couldn't, but it was then, I realized something and slapped my forehead as I said.
"I'm such an idiot." I reached onto my sash and released Pirus and Ventus in their sword forms while keeping an eye on the clouds as I turned them into their full forms. "Ventus, do you think you could go up and check those clouds since something doesn't seem right about them to me." They both looked towards the clouds before turning back to me as Ventus said.
"You are correct master, there is something strange up there, but it seems familiar somehow." Pirus nodded in agreement.
"There is something familiar, but I can't remember from where it was." I turned to the both of them.
"If you both remember it then it's got to be trouble so check it out but be careful and have each other's backs while in the clouds."
They nodded and took off while I stood there and watched the clouds as lightning flashed from within followed by the rumbling of thunder. A minute later there were multiple flashes of lightning, creating the silhouettes of both Pirus and Ventus as they screamed in pain before their sword forms fell from the sky and to the ground while I watched in shock. I quickly retrieved the blades, catching each by the handles before I asked them.
"What happened up there?" Pirus was the one who answered.
"We were caught by surprise by a beast who commands the storms and holds a great deal of power." Ventus then continued.
"This beast was able to draw power from the storm and then attack us from all sides but what it is doing here is not something we know." I looked up at the clouds.
"I have the feeling I know why it's here." I clenched my hands around their handles. "It's been unleashed by Akuhei to kill me since he'll stop at nothing to end my life." I then looked to the skies. "So, what is this thing that can command the storms?" Both my blades shook as they answered.
"A Nue!" My eyes widened hearing this since I'd heard stories about the nue and none of them ended with a happy ending, only endings of pain and destruction but it was then Pirus said.
"Be careful master, the beast was preparing to attack when we encountered it and now that we've interfered, it shall come down to face you head on." I smirked as I looked to the skies.
"If that's the case then I hope you're both ready to taste the blood of a nue." Ventus replied.
"Do not get overconfident master, as this beast is something some gods fear." I smiled.
"And don't you forget that I've actually faced a god and won along with many other beasts." It was then the clouds began to light up and I gulped. "Let's just hope that I'm able to keep my remaining limbs since if I go home without anyone of them, the girls will remove what makes me a man." As soon as the words left my mouth though I quickly jumped to the side to avoid a bolt of lightning. "I knew training with the skrills would pay off someday." I then looked to the clouds. "Let's do this." With that said, the battle began.
Nobodies POV:
The moment Hiccup finished speaking lightning continued to come down and strike at the ground where he stood but he was quick to dodge the bolts which was only possible, thanks to his training under Master Shen and The Ancient One. It was easy to tell that this was infuriating the nue by the sounds of its roars that echoed like thunder within the clouds and reached down towards Hiccup. Hiccup gave a slight cringe since it was a little painful even though he'd faced worse with the thunderdrums in the Bewilderbeast nest, but it showed how powerful the nue is. It was then a beast began to descend from the clouds the head of a monkey, the body of a tanuki, a dark green snake for a tail, and the limbs of a tiger. Hiccup knew immediately that this beast was the nue, a beast that brought about illness and misfortune and illness to all those that it encountered.
Knowing this beast was not going to be easy to kill Hiccup wasted no time in activating his ox flame boots speed mode and rushing right at the nue. Hiccup quickly slashed towards it with Ventus, sending a slash of wind towards the nue, just as it landed on the ground but the wind barely scratched it showing how tough its hide is since the wind could cut through metal like a hot knife through butter. This did do one thing though and that's anger the nue who turned to glare at Hiccup in a way that actually sent shivers down Hiccups spine before it let out a roar that was louder than a thunderdrums and carried a sonic blast that sounded like thunder. Hiccup quickly ran out of the way but the nue followed his body with its head and carried its sonic blast with it towards Hiccup who had to keep running or risk being killed. When the nue stopped roaring, Hiccup quickly rushed at it again but this time he didn't let out any ranged attacks and instead went right up to the body of the beast and slashed at the torso of the nue who roared out in pain.
Hiccup didn't get the chance to do more damage though since the snake that was the nue's tail quickly lunged at him from the right side, but Hiccup jumped back to avoid the strike. He was then forced to jump back again to avoid a swipe from the angry nue's paw but as it passed by him, Hiccup quickly slashed at the paw with Pirus when the blade was ignited, making the nue roar in pain due to the searing pain of the wound. The nue turned to glare at Hiccup with unrelenting fury as it growled at him before it took a deep breath and let out another sonic roar that resembled thunder, which Hiccup was quick to avoid it. This time though, instead of running away from the nue, he ran around it while slowly getting closer to the body as he used his ox flame boots speed mode. When he was within three feet of the nue, he dropped to his knees to avoid a lunge from the snake's tail and slid across the ground towards the nues back legs. He quickly swung both blades forward towards the back of the legs while channeling the power of the beasts contained within the blades to enhance the damage of the cut.
The nue roared in pain, cutting off its sonic roar before it jumped to the side and turned to Hiccup, quickly snapping at him with its giant fangs but Hiccup jumped back, barely avoiding the beasts fanged bite. Hiccup was quickly to take this opportunity to strike the nue once more by slashing across its face with Pirus' still burning blade making the nue pull its head back and roar in pain while giving Hiccup the opportunity to end this battle by exposing its throat. Hiccup lunged forward, stabbing both blades into the throat of the nue and didn't stop until he reached the end of the blades while the nue began choking on its own blood while its body slowly turned began turning into black mist. Hiccup backed up and watched it all happen until the grey fog completely engulfed the beasts' body and floated into the sky leaving only a skeleton behind. Knowing the beast was officially dead, Hiccup walked up and reclaimed his blades as he said.
"Not an easy fight but it's good training for when I face Akuhei." It was then Pirus said.
"You have just defeated one of the most feared creatures in all of Japan and walked away unharmed." Ventus then said.
"You never cease to amaze us master." Hiccup chuckled.
"I can't take all the credit since you guys helped out and I couldn't have done it without my ninja and kung fu training." He then sheathed the blades and pulled out his kappa shell helmet. "Let's get out of here before any more beasts show up." With that said, Hiccup jumped onto his kappa shell helmet and took off, leaving the skeleton of the nue behind.
4 hours later
Asami made her way across the field and up to the skeleton of the defeated nue and nodded as she examined the skeleton before she said.
"It's times like these I wonder if there's anything that can kill that mortal." She shrugged. "Well it just means more materials for the dragons forge." With that said both her and the skeleton vanished from the field.
AN: And I'm back from vacation and once again writing on the computer instead of getting a tan in the pool but it'll still take me some time to get out of vacation mode and into writing mode which is not easy. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and will review kindly since it was not easy to write when still partly in vacation mode. Until next time, have a nice day and please review.