Chapter 121
Nobodies POV:
Blood Skulls army marched down the canyon towards the roman legions that had prepared themselves near the end of the valley. The soldiers stood together in rows of thirty men from the right wall to the left wall and going back were hundreds of men all standing firm and ready to face the approaching enemy. The shield wall was made up of three rows of men while behind it stood four rows of archers ready to launch their arrows at the oncoming enemy forces. Standing on top of the canyon walls were Hiccups Anubis warriors with Adal on the right side and Toothless on the left all waiting for the enemy to make their appearance. Hiccup stood at the front of the forces forming the shield wall staring up ahead of him waiting for Blood Skulls forces to make their appearance. In his right hand was his star sword and in his left hand was his eagle shield, both at the ready for when the souls began their charge so he'd be able to cause some damage to their ranks by sending the ones that avoided the arrows got through. The generals sat upon their horses on either side of Hiccup waiting with him for the enemies to make the enemy army to make their appearance. It was then then the sound of marching echoed through the canyon along with the sound of loud footsteps joining the sounds of the march. The archers notched their arrows preparing for the coming souls and monsters as Hiccup stood there glaring at down the canyon before Blood Skulls forces finally came into view. Hiccup and the generals stared at the approaching before the bald general said.
"Should we fall in battle I just want to say it is both an honor and a privilege to have the right to fight alongside you men." They both nodded as Hiccup said.
"The feelings mutual." I turned to the legionnaires and decided to give a little speech to lift their spirits. "ALRIGHT MEN, THE ENEMY IS MARCHING TOWARDS US IN COUNTLESS NUMBERS BUT WHILE THEY FIGHT FOR A SAVAGE MAD MAN WE FIGHT FOR SOMETHING FAR GREATER THEN THAT OR OURSELVES!" They slammed their weapons against their shields. "TODAY WE FIGHT FOR MORE THAN JUST OUR LIVES, TOGETHER YOU FIGHT FOR ROME, YOU FIGHT FOR YOUR PEOPLE, YOU FIGHT FOR YOUR FAMILIES, YOU FIGHT FOR YOUR HOMES, YOU FIGHT FOR THE MAN FIGHTING AT YOUR SIDE BUT ABOVE YOU FIGHT TO KEEP YOUR FREEDOM!" Hiccup punctuated this last bit by thrusting his sword up into the air as the men cheered while thrusting their weapons up into the air as he turned to face down the canyon where the enemy was marching. "NOW MEN, TO BATTLE!"
They all turned their attention back to Blood Skull's forces waiting for the approaching enemies to come into range of their archers. It was then Blood Skull's forces marched towards them until they were fifty feet away before stopping and staring at the roman soldiers in silence. For twenty-five seconds the only sound made in the valley were small stones that came loose from the vibrations the marching caused, falling down the walls of the canyon. Hiccup stared at the enemy front lines that was completely formed by souls and saw past them were beasts consisting of chimeras, manticores, giant and cyclopes. Hiccup knew behind those beasts was the human soldiers who were not here at their own free will but because of the magic that blood beard had stolen from Hades and needed a way to make sure they stayed out of this battle.
It was then a tall single soul wielding a long sword charged out of with his sword raised high and charged towards the army as Hiccup walked towards him. They met in the middle of the canyon where the soul swung its sword down to strike Hiccup who swung his own sword up to meet the sword that snapped in two while slashing the soul across the chest. The slash opened up the skin of the soul revealing burning brimstone under it as the soul screamed in pain while a fire ball burst from the wound before the soul fell to the ground. The skin burned leaving a scorched skeleton away as the fireball circled the skeleton before slamming down into it while spinning into the ground and pulling the bones in with it until all that was left was a piece of scorched ground. (AN: Picture the demons being descended in 'I Frankenstein') Hiccup stared at the scorched mark that was once the soul as did the soldiers and souls before the souls roared in anger and began their charge.
Seeing this Hiccup raised his sword up high signaling to the generals it was time for the men forming the shield wall to ready themselves and for archers to prepare to fire. Hiccup walked back to the front of the shield wall as the souls got closer to the forces while Hiccup kept his sword raised high as he stared at the coming forces waiting for them to reach a certain point. When they were within range Hiccup lowered his sword pointing at the souls before the generals yelled at their men signaling them to begin the counter attack. The archers let their arrows loose and their arrows went flying over the shield wall casting a shadow upon the ground until the arrows turned down into nosedives forming a storm of arrows falling upon the souls. Many souls were struck by the arrows and suffered the same fate as the first soul that Hiccup took out only the fire balls burst from their bodies as soon as the arrows pierced their skin. The rain of arrows coming down upon the souls did take out the majority of them but there were few who made it through the storm and charged towards either the shield wall or Hiccup.
One charged at Hiccup holding a short sword at the ready but Hiccup ducked underneath the swing of the blade and slashed his own sword across the waist cutting a large opening in its side. The flaming ball burst from the wound as Hiccup stood back up to look for his next target and grabbed a passing soul from behind before stabbing it in the back and pushing it away as it crumbled. It was then Hiccup heard a battle cry and turned to see a soul charging at him with a spear that had its point aimed at his heart and was only a foot away. Fortunately, his reflexes kicked in and he was able to sidestep the blow while grabbing onto the pole before he yanked it forward pulling the soul forward as well while pointing his sword out impaling the soul on it.
Turning back to the coming forces he folded up his shield and reached for his prosthetics upper arm where a slot opened up pushing out three handles of his throwing knives. He grabbed them all between his left-hand fingers and quickly threw them at a large group of souls that had managed to get through the arrow storm before crowding together in order to smash through the shield wall with their combined force. The knives Hiccup threw flew through the air as their lunar mirage ability activated creating a total of eighteen knives flying towards the group before hitting or cutting them in various places destroying them as Hiccup took his remaining three knives and threw them finishing off the remaining members of the group. With that large group down for the count Hiccup released his star sword and quickly elbowed a soul that tried to attack him from behind with his prosthetic making the horn on the elbow extend right through it.
Of course, Hiccup couldn't stop all of them and there were the enemy forces that were able to run past him and attack the shield wall up front. Those who charged at the shield wall didn't last long though since when they slammed into it the men either pushed them down before stabbing them or just thrusting their spears forward and stabbing them outright. While the shield wall held steady holding the souls back from the other troops the archers never let up in their constant firing of their arrows forming what seemed to be an endless storm of them.
It was then the sound of a giant's roar echoed through the canyon as Hiccup turned to see what was going on and noticed the remaining souls at the front of the enemy forces lining up while walking forward. Hiccup was confused at this but then he noticed they all held bows and arrows and knew they were preparing to launch their own arrow shower against the roman forces. He knew if they did this, many men behind the shield wall would either be injured or killed but he knew of a way to stop them but didn't know if it would be good enough. He held up his eagle shield before slamming it into the ground activating its phoenix mode causing an orange see through barrier begin to form as the enemy archers readied their bows. As the barrier finished forming the souls let their arrows fly high and Hiccup knew that if the barrier didn't stop them then they'd no doubt hit many men behind the shield wall. He then smiled as the arrows struck the barrier they turned to dust as they flew through while the Romans arrows went through the barrier with no trouble.
The enemy archers hadn't noticed this and kept firing as their allies stormed through the barrier continuing their assault as Hiccup looked at the line of enemies before an idea formed. He took out his kappa shell while focusing and threw it at the right side of the wall next to the archers but made sure he threw it low so they wouldn't notice. Hiccup blocked out nearly the entire world as he focused on controlling the kappa shell and smiled as it hit the wall and recached off it before flying at the long line of souls. When the souls took notice of the shell it was too late as its blades were already spinning at full force and cutting into the souls who didn't have time to dodge. When the last soul was sent back to the underworld Hiccup summoned the shell back as he stabbed into the chest of another soul that had charged at him picked up his eagle shield.
It was then the sound of a horn echoed through the canyon and the souls began retreating back into the monsters as the generals ordered the archers to hold their fire. It was then a single chimera charged out of the ranks past the retreating souls with all the heads focusing only on Hiccup who pulled star sword back into his prosthetic and released his crystal spear. Hiccup raised the spear up over his shoulder, aiming the spear head side at the chimera and threw it right at the beast with all his strength before standing still and watched the spear fly until it landed in the back of the chimera making it roar in pain. The chimera dropped to the ground and slid across the dirt towards Hiccup who just stood there watching it until it came to stop in front of him before he pulled his spear out of the beasts now dead body and yelled.
"ADVANCE!"
As soon as the word left his mouth the shield wall began advancing as Toothless came to land in front of Hiccup before he pulled his spear back into his arm and released his spirit bow. It was then the beasts began charging at the shield wall as Hiccup calmly mounted Toothless and stared at the coming forces before reaching back and pulling out a fire arrow that was thrust out from the top right spider pack eye. Hiccup notched the fire arrow while aiming it up at the sky but kept one eye on the coming forces waiting for the right moment to let the arrow fly. The arrow reached twenty feet past the edge of the canyon before going off sending out a large explosion that echoed through the valley signaling the Anubis warriors that it was time. Seeing their signal to begin they charged at the cliffs of the canyon and jumped down into it with their axes raised high to strike as they rained down on the beasts below striking their weapons down on the monsters that didn't have the chance to react. When the beasts shook out of their shock they immediately began to fight back against the jackal headed creatures that caught them by surprise when they dropped down on them.
Hiccup smiled down at his Anubis warriors that had begun cutting down the monsters but the beasts were giving back just as good as they got and downed a few warriors before being killed themselves. Knowing he needed to help end the larger beasts Hiccup took out a hydra blood arrow and took aim at a giant that had just picked up two Anubis warriors before he let it fly. He readied another one as the first struck the giant in the chest barely piercing the skin but it was enough to get the blood into its body and kill it while Hiccup took aim at a Cyclops that was picking up a boulder to throw at the coming shield wall. Hiccup let the arrow fly and nailed the Cyclops in the eye making it roar in pain before dropping the boulder onto a manticore below it. Hiccup looked to the side of the cliff and a plan formed of a way to kill multiple beasts at once, it was at that moment he took out an earth arrow and launched it at the wall. When it made contact with the wall it began to shake before multiple large boulders rolled down it smashing and crushing the beasts that were too busy fighting the Anubis warriors to notice.
While the Anubis warriors dealt with the beasts from within the ranks and Hiccup dealt with them from above with the help of Toothless the roman army marched forward. The monsters that tried to rush the wall quickly found themselves impaled on the spears of the roman soldiers who thrust them forward into the bodies of the beasts. These blows would often kill the beasts but most of the time just wound them, making them collapse to the ground as the soldiers marched over their bodies before the men behind them delivered the final blow. It was as they began to penetrate the coming forces a giant charged at them intent on breaking the shield wall but as it closed in the generals gave the order for the archers to fire at will. A storm of arrows flew at the giant piercing its skin as it roared in pain before falling back onto a chimera crushing it.
It was then the sound of a horn echoed through the canyon making Hiccup turn his attention to the battle below after releasing another hydra blood arrow into the back of the neck belonging to a giant. He wondered what the horn was a signal for before he noticed something that made him realize the part of the battle he feared the most had finally come; the human soldiers had begun to march forward to join the monsters in battle. Hiccup realized he couldn't cause an avalanche like he originally planned since it would most likely injure a lot of the people and they were already victims because of Blood Skulls thirst for power and he didn't want them to become victims because of his stupidity. It was then an idea struck him and he quickly pulled his bow back into his prosthetic arm in favor of his crystal spear. He smiled as he raised it with the crystal end pointing at his front before he took aim at the ground between the human soldiers and the monsters and threw it at its intended target area. Hiccup watched as the crystal end imbedded itself into the ground in the center of the canyon before it glowed brightly as the ground began to shake making everyone stop and freeze as a large green crystal wall that reached both the canyon walls and was ten feet thick burst from the ground. This wall completely from the battle but it didn't end there as the crystals grew out of the walls before another wall formed behind the human troops completely trapping them in. Seeing this Hiccup smiled and said.
"Got to love the upgrades from the dragons forge." He then turned back to the battle and saw nearly all of his Anubis warriors had been temporarily destroyed while the shield wall was now barely holding and there were still a large number of beasts attacking. "This needs to end now!" He then turned to the platform behind the second crystal wall, guarded by a giant and a Cyclops while on the platform sat a hooded figure on a golden throne with a soul guard on the two front corners and on either side of the steps leading up the throne each holding a spear while Cerberus pulled the platform. "And I know exactly how to end it." He turned back to the battle. "But first, I think those guys need some help." He reached into Toothless' saddlebag and pulled out two leather bags. "Let's do a quick fly over bud and give the troops some help."
They flew over the side of the crystal wall that faced the enemy with Hiccup holding a bag in each hand before spreading them out as he turned them upside down dropping their contents out revealing them to be Damen's teeth. When they hit the ground the teeth sunk in before armed skeleton warriors burst out from the ground and attacked the monsters from behind. With the skeleton warriors providing the support needed to finish of the beasts Hiccup steered Toothless back to the platform. The giant and Cyclops took notice of him and prepared to fight as Toothless let out a plasma blast towards the Cyclops that began to charge nailing it in the eye. The beast roared as it covered its eye unable to see either Hiccup and Toothless closing in on it or Hiccup reaching into his saddlebag pulling out five spark stone bombs. When they were within range Hiccup pulled the pins on the bombs and threw them into the mouth of the beast before they took off as the bombs sunk down the throat. A few seconds past before the Cyclops gripped its chest and coughed up some blood while falling to the ground dead leaving only the giant to deal with. Hiccup quickly took out a hydra blood arrow along with his spirit bow, aiming the arrow at the giant he let it fly smiling as it pierced the chest of the giant and watched for a few seconds before the giant dropped to the ground dead. With the giant out of the way he looked down to Toothless as he said.
"Toothless, you go back and help the legionnaires, I'll handle Cerberus and blood skull myself." He crooned in concern. "Relax bud, I've been up against a lot worse." Toothless just grumbled as Hiccup looked up and yelled. "ADAL, NOW!"
When the words finished leaving his lips the son of Fenrir jumped from the right cliff of the canyon aimed right at Cerberus who turned to see what was happening only for Adal to tackle him to the ground, severing his bonds to the platform. This left the platform unguarded except for the soul guards that stared in shock at Adal who had tackled Cerberus down. While their attention was on the wrestling canines Hiccup leapt off Toothless spreading his wings and gliding towards the platform coming to land on the edge of it as he yelled.
"THIS ENDS NOW!"
He released his starsword and unfolded his eagle shield as the soul guards charged at him with their spear ready but when they were close he held up his shield to block the blows. The spears made contact with the shield and a powerful shockwave both shattering the weapons and throwing the souls back as their bodies were destroyed causing the balls of fire to burst out of their chests and suck the skeletons into the ground. Hiccup ignored this and marched his way up to the throne as he threw his sword at the figure that was getting up while gripping the branding iron in his right hand. The sword went through the mans hood pinning him to the throne as Hiccup finally reached him and took the branding iron from his hands while saying.
"Like I said, this ends now." He was surprised when the hooded figure laughed.
"Oh, but it's only just begun you fool." Hiccup pulled the hood off to find it was a soul under the cloak who was smiling up at him. "Did you really think your beast could take on Cerberus so easily?" Hiccup turned to the fight to see Adal ripping of the skin of what he thought was Cerberus but was only a Chimera and manticore dressed in furs to look like Cerberus before turning back to the soul as he grabbed it by the neck.
"Where's Blood Skull?"
"Preparing for his invasion of Rome while most of the Roman army is so far away!" Hiccups eyes widened as he realized they'd been tricked into lowering Rome's defenses only to be brought out of his thoughts by the sound of Toothless screeching in surprise. "Toothless?" He turned around to see Toothless had been caught in a net made of chains being carried by four harpies that were flying away with him. "TOOTHLESS!" Hiccup ran to the edge of the platform watching them carry his best friend away in horror knowing there was nothing he could do since if he took one of the harpies down Toothless would fall to the ground and most likely be killed. "Toothless!" Hiccup dropped to his knees with tears beginning to fall down his face knowing what fate awaited his best friend only to be brought out by the sound of laughter and turned to the soul on the throne who was the source of the laughing.
"Soon enough your beast will serve the master and help conquer all of Rome and soon the rest of the world will follow with one empire falling under his control after the another until all answer to Blood Skull." Hiccup glared at the soul while walking back up while lifting his eye patch revealing the eye of the dragon making the soul lean back in shock and fear before Hiccup grabbed the soul by the neck and looked him in the eye.
"What is Blood Skull planning?" The soul hesitated making Hiccup tighten his grip on his neck. "If you think Hades was bad then you've obviously not seen me when I'm angry and that is not something you're going to want to deal with so answer me now."
"Blood Skull intends to attack Rome from the sea with a small fleet of ships made up of pirates he's hired to help him attack." Hiccups griptightened wanting more details. "He intends to first send in Cerberus first to deal with any troops and siege weapons, then docking and sending in his forces to capture people to be brought back to him to be enslaved and then sent back into the city to collect more people for enslavement and continuing that cycle until they are able to overrun the city."
"When will Blood Skull arrive in Rome?"
"Tomorrow afternoon at the earliest." Hiccup nodded.
"Good!" He then took his sword. "NOW GO BACK TO HADES WHERE YOU BELONG!" He then stabbed the sword into the souls chest making him scream in pain as he turned to face Adal who'd just finished killing the beasts that were posing as Cerberus and was now looking up at his master in concern. "Adal, we're going to need to get back to Rome soon but for now go back and help the legionaries finish the remaining beasts." He growled and took off climbing up the cliff wall to get around the crystal wall as Hiccup looked into the distance. "Don't worry bud, I'll come to save you from that lunatic."
Six hours later
It's been six hours since Hiccup took down the soul that was posing as Blood Skull and in that time a lot has happened with Hiccup and the men he was with. They started things off by finishing off the remaining souls and beasts that were sent to lure the roman army away and thin their forces which wasn't that difficult with Adal joining the fight. When that was done they turned their attention to the people trapped within the crystal walls, knowing that they weren't the enemy but victims of the magic Blood Skull now possessed Hiccup launched his knockout gas into their cage putting them all to sleep. When they were all unconscious he stopped before taking his crystal spear out of the ground shattering the walls of crystal allowing the men of the army to tie the hands of the people until they're free of the magic that gripped their minds. While the soldiers dealt with the people Hiccup informed the generals about what he had discovered through his interrogation and they were horrified by what they were told. Knowing Rome needed to be warned it was agreed that using Adal's portal making abilities Hiccup would return to Rome to warn Caesar so they could prepare for the attack while the bald general with a small legion would take off to warn the forces that were farther back. While this was happening the blond general and most of the men would stay behind to guard the people and hold back any oncoming threat that might come through the canyon to help in the invasion of Rome.
Now Hiccup stood on the docks of Rome supervising the preparations of the coastal defenses such as catapults and ballistae. He already convinced Caesar to order the civilians to evacuate this part of the city to avoid any casualties or people being grabbed and put under Blood Skulls control so the only people present were roman legionaries who were all armed and ready to defend Rome. Along with the men working on the defenses there was also Adal who was helping pull catapults into position and Wave Chomper who was patrolling the waters. Hiccup had gone back to his island to collect knowing he'd be helpful in sinking the ships were going to be coming since the less ships there were standing between Hiccup and Blood Skull the better. Along with Wave Chomper Hiccup also picked up Bubo knowing that Blood Skull most likely already had Toothless under his control
While they prepared for the attack in Rome Blood Skull sat in a throne on the top deck of a large ship that was surrounded by thirty other ships with Cerberus sitting down at the front of the deck looking off into the distance with a blank look in the eyes of its head. Blood Skull watched the pirates on deck doing their jobs until he heard a screeching from above and looked up to see the harpies he'd enslaved with something struggling in the chain net he'd supplied them with making him smile. He stood up from his throne with Hades branding iron gripped in his right as the harpies landed with their prey in the net being dropped onto the deck. Blood Skull looked down at Toothless and smiled as the dragon stopped struggling to glare at him but all he did was smile as he pointed the iron at him and said.
"You'll be looking at me differently in a moment beast." Toothless just fired a plasma blast that he easily sidestepped as he turned to four men. "Hold the beast still while I brand it." The men held Toothless' head down as he struggled against their grip before Blood Skull pressed the iron right on the top of his head in the middle making steam rise from underneath it as Toothless screeched in pain before Blood Skull pulled the iron of revealing Hades mark now burned into his scales. "The beast will be mine in a few seconds." As soon as he said that the brand glowed red and Toothless stood back up but his eyes were slits before he turned to Blood Skull and bowed making him laugh. "Hiccups beast will be the one to bring him to his end." He then turned to the men. "Now onward to Rome and to victory." The men cheered at this.
Afternoon the next day
Hiccup stood on the edge of the docks looking out to the ocean with his eagle eye active allowing him to see Blood Skulls forces approaching. Standing at his right side was Adal, on his shoulder was Bubo staring blankly at the ocean and in the water in front of him circling was Wave Chomper eager to begin the attack. Hiccup turned around to face the docks seeing no less than twenty catapults on either side of him with four rows of archers standing behind them ready to light their arrows on the large metal torches in front of each row. They too were eager to begin sinking the enemy ships but Hiccup made a deal to only sink the ships and arrest the survivors since he wanted to do this with as few casualties on either side. He stood there waiting for the ships to come within range of the catapults and archers with only four things on his mind. Getting Toothless back, freeing the people, bringing Blood Skull down and getting Cerberus back to where he belonged along with the brand.
It was ten minutes later when the ships came into range and Hiccup stood on the platform with his spirit bow in hand with a fire and forest arrow loaded and pointed through the skull on the bow. Hiccup knew he needed to wait for the right time to fire since when the first shot he fired hit the ship he targeted it would be the signal for the men to begin their attack. He took aim at the lead ship using his eagle eye to get the perfect shot and held it for three more minutes before he knew it was the right time and let the arrows fly and let the string go. The arrows glowed as they flew before pulling together like all his arrows do when fired through the skull together and then struck the hull of the lead ship in the center of the front. Two seconds later the arrows took effect and vines grew from them but the difference between these vines and the usual vines that the forest arrow created were these ones were on fire and spreading like wild fire ripping the hull apart while also setting it ablaze. As the ship slowly began to sink the romans launched their catapults and flaming arrows raining down on the ships at the front of the fleet either sinking them by smashing a hole in their hulls or setting them ablaze. It was then multiple boulders were launched from the ships but before they could reach them Hiccup unfolded his eagle shield and slammed it onto the ground turning it into phoenix mode and erecting the barrier. When the boulders struck it they shattered into harmless dust as Hiccup launched a water arrow into the water between two ships before a large whirlpool formed sucking them both in. When it stopped the remains of the ships surfaced along with the men who controlled them as Hiccup loaded up another fire arrow and let it fly before landing on another ship, setting it ablaze and destroying it as its inhabitants abandoned it.
Meanwhile on the center ship Blood Skull sat on his throne watching as his attack was halted with the lead ships being sunk and the attacks they launched were destroyed before they could even reach touch the city or its protectors. He was not happy about this before his eyes landed on Cerberus who still stood at the front of the ship with a blank stare and knew how to gain the upper hand in this battle. He whistled for Cerberus who turned to face him with the same blank stare before Blood Skull ordered.
"Bring that barrier down and destroy the catapults beast!"
Cerberus gave a short bow before jumping off the ship onto one of the ships that was up ahead and continued to do so heading for the dock as Blood Skull watched with a smile before he turned to Toothless who was laying in front of his throne. In the short amount of time Toothless had been with Blood Skull he'd been forced to go through multiple tests to show what he was capable of and Blood Skull was almost satisfied by what he saw. Now Toothless had a harness wrapped around his torso with a chain connected to it leading back to Blood Skulls throne as a show of his power to Hiccup when he arrived. He expected he'd be seeing Hiccup soon since with Cerberus tearing their forces apart he'd have no choice but to confront Blood Skull himself since there was no force on Earth that could match the guard dog of the Gates of hell.
Back with Hiccup, things were looking good on his side and he had just sent in Wave Chomper to begin pulling the men in the water to shore to be arrested by the waiting men or free any men trapped in the debris. It was then he noticed a large black blur in the distance jumping across the rubble of the destroyed ships before he used his eagle eye to see what it was only to be greeted by the sight of Cerberus approaching fast. Knowing Cerberus would be here in second he turned to the men manning the catapults along with the archers and yelled out.
"BACK UP MEN, CERBERUS IS COMING AND ADAL'S GOING TO NEED SPACE TO FIGHT WITH THE BEAST!"
They all began backing up but Hiccup stood straight and calmly watched, as Cerberus got closer until the beast landed on the docks looking around for its first target and spotted Hiccup. Cerberus pounced at him but he didn't make any move to dodge both confusing and worrying the men until Cerberus was only a foot away from him when Adal tackled the beast from the side and onto the ground in defense of his master. They began wrestling until they collapsed over the dock and onto the beach before Hiccup signaled the men forward and to continue the attack against the oncoming fleet that now only had ten ships including the one Blood Skull was on. With their forces being so badly damaged Hiccup knew now was the time for him to strike but before he could an all too familiar sound broke through the wind before one of the catapults was destroyed by a plasma blast he recognized. Hiccup looked up as another plasma blast was launched destroying another catapult only to see Toothless with an angry Blood Skull on his back.
Hiccups fury reached new levels at the sight of that mad man on the back of his best friend but before he could do anything Bubo flew off his shoulder and towards the dragon and mad man at an incredible speed. Everyone watched as Bubo's wings opened up and expanded becoming wires and taking on a claw like form that latched onto Toothless, pinning his wings and legs to his body and making them descend to the ground as Bubo's head opened up and latched onto his head forming a muzzle. Blood Skull screamed as they fell to the ground until they were only a foot away from the ground when they suddenly stopped as Bubo's parts glowed for a second before they dropped to the ground. Blood Skull got off Toothless gripping the branding iron as he looked down at the restrained dragon while muttering.
"Worthless beasts!" It was then he looked up and noticed many men had surrounded him and were now pointing their arrows at him but he just glared and yelled. "YOU THINK I'LL GIVE UP SO EASILY?" He then held up the branding iron. "AS LONG AS I HOLD THE IRON I'M INVINCIBLE YOU FOOLS!" hiccup walked through the crowd and said.
"We'll see about that." He then held his hand up signaling the men to stand down. "DON'T SHOOT MEN!" they all turned to stare at him. "HE'S MINE!" Hiccup then walked into the circle with his star sword in hand. "Blood Skull I presume." Blood Skull smirked and nodded.
"I'm guessing you're Hiccup." Hiccup nodded as Blood Skull chuckled. "I expected something better from the so called champion of the gods."
"And I expected a man who was smart enough to raise an army to have enough common sense to not only leave Cerberus alone and not be crazy enough to steal from Hades."
"That foolish god never knew the power he truly possessed."
"He had responsibilities and I'm going to make sure he gets back what you stole from him." Blood Skull pointed the iron at him.
"I'd like to see you try."
He then charged at Hiccup and swung the iron down at him but Hiccup jumped back dodging the strike only for him to jump backs again avoiding another blow. When Blood Skull turned his body Hiccup was able to deliver a punch into the side of his waist making him gasp in pain and growl before swinging the iron at his head as he turned but Hiccup ducked underneath the blow. While his arm was outstretched Hiccup grabbed it and used it to flip him over his head sending Blood Skull tumbling across the ground but he stood up growling as he asked.
"Are you making fun of me?" Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "You have a weapon so bring it into this battle and fight like a warrior." He charged at Hiccup again but he sidestepped him.
"If you want me to use my sword then I will since I've been wanting to test out its new ability."
Hiccup held his sword out with the side facing Blood Skull before he bent it making the suns light shine onto it and creating a bright flash into Blood Skulls eyes freezing him. This gave Hiccup the opportunity to run up to him with his real fist raised and ready to punch Blood Skull in the face. Just as the effects of the sword wore off Blood Skull shook his head in shock as he was greeted with a hard punch to the face with the ring Hades gave Hiccup sinking into his skull while he dropped the brand in shock. Blood Skull fell to the ground gripping his forehead that was now sporting the mark of Hades as Hiccup picked up the iron and turned to his downed opponent and said.
"It's over Blood Skull!" Blood Skull glared at him and shook his head as he shook with rage.
"No, it's not over till I say it's over." It was then a deep voice echoed through the area sending shivers of fear up the spine of the men as it said.
"It is over Blood Skull!" The mark of Hades now on Blood Skulls head glowed red as he dropped to the ground screaming before Hade's burst from the flames of one of the torches that was used to light the arrows making all the men back up in fear except for Hiccup. "You're going to pay for stealing from a god." He then turned to Hiccup and held out his hand. "My branding iron if you will Hiccup." Hiccup walked up to him and bowed as he presented the iron.
"Of course lord Hades!" Hades took the iron from him before raising it up making it glow red and then bringing it down.
"All those who were enslaved by it in this realm are now free of its control, good work on both getting it back and defeating Blood Skull Hiccup and know you shall be rewarded as soon as things have returned to order here in the underworld."
"Take all the time your require lord Hades." It was then Cerberus ran up to its master while Adal followed behind.
"Cerberus, it is good to see you have returned to your true master." The three heads barked before turning to Hiccup and began licking him, making the mortal hero laugh and try to push the heads away.
"Lord Hades, please call Cerberus off before I drowned in slobber." Hades smiled.
"Cerberus, come!" Cerberus returned to Hades but left head kept its eyes on Hiccup while the right stared at Adal and the middle looked out for trouble. "My apologies for Cerberus but you can't blame my dog for being grateful to you for helping free it." I shrugged.
"I understand lord Hades." Hades then turned to Blood Skull who was still rolling on the ground in pain and glared before reaching out and grabbing him.
"As for you Blood Skull, I have a great deal of punishments for you in Tartarus for your crime of stealing from me, releasing and enslaving Cerberus and helping so many souls escape from their punishment." He then looked him in the eye. "The pain you are experiencing now is nothing compared to what awaits you in that pit." He then turned back to Hiccup. "Till next we meet Hiccup."
Hiccup nodded and gave a final bow as did all the surrounding soldiers while Cerberus ran up to Adal and gave him a quick nuzzle surprising Hiccup but making Hades smile. It was then the three headed dog returned to its master before they were both covered by a tornado of flames leaving nothing behind other than a torch that was now nearly melted. Hiccup stared at the torch and shook his head knowing it was better not to ask what fate awaited Blood Skull since if there's one thing you should never do its anger the gods especially the ones that run the afterlife. He was brought out of his thoughts when a great weight knocked him over and began licking his face revealing it to be Toothless who was back to his normal, playful self. Hiccup chuckled but the cheers of the surrounding men who'd begun chanting his name drowned the sound of his laughter out as Toothless continued to cover him in drool. When Hiccup was able to get Toothless off him he said.
"It's good to have you back bud." He then turned to the ocean and saw the remaining ships fleeing. "Looks like those pirates are trying to escape." He walked up to the edge of the dock and let his ship out onto it before it grew to full size. "We can't let that happen." He turned back to the commander. "Continue to fish the men out of the water when they reach the shore and ensure they don't go anywhere till they can be properly dealt with." He nodded. "Also send a messenger to deliver word to Caesar that Blood Skull is no more."
"But Hiccup, what will you be doing?" Hiccup smirked at him.
"I'm going to hunt down the remainder of Blood Skulls men to be dealt with." With that said he boarded his ship with Toothless and Adal following him while Bubo flew onto his shoulder before willing his ship after the retreating pirates.
Next day
Hiccups POV:
Yesterday I took down Blood Skull but it was afterwards that things got pretty busy for me. For starters I took off after the remaining pirate ships using my own ships ability to devour ships and transfer its inhabitants into the cells below. While I did this I learnt of another ability my ship had that was similar to this ability only it's the upper parts of my ships hull that opened up before ropes lowered down fishing the men out of the ocean and throwing them in to the opening before they reappear in cells. By the time I was done the cells were nearly overloaded and an entire shelf in the cupboard where the ships were stored was full with a gold nameplate underneath it reading 'Blood Skulls fleet' along with the date they were captured. Along with this my storage hold had been loaded up with more than a few treasures from their ships such as gold coins and items, jewels, jewelry, statues, books, maps and artifacts.
When I got back to the dock I had to deal with the men cheering me before two of them picked me up and paraded me through the masses as they cheered. Once I was let down we were able to escort the prisoners off the ship in shackles with more than a few of them putting up a struggle to the point where I had to gas them to make them stop. The men were grateful for this since it made my job a whole lot easier and now all the pirates were locked up in cells where they belonged while their treasures and ships were now on my ship out of their hands for good. When they were all locked away Caesar demanded a meeting with me in which he not only congratulated me on an amazing victory and thanked me for coming to the aid of Rome but also asked that I stay a couple of days to help settle things down, let the people see their hero and answer questions he and the generals had concerning my adventures. I agreed to do so since I did promise that I'd answer their questions when this whole thing with Blood Skull was over but when he spoke I saw a glint in his eye that seemed familiar but I couldn't place it since it seemed different somehow. When I was done dealing with Caesar night had fallen and I was able to get back to the house with Toothless and Adal for a good nights rest after Caesar told me to come to the palace tomorrow morning for both breakfast and the beginning of a celebration.
Evening the next day
It's been an incredibly long day and I was more than glad that it was finally over after today's events since it felt like they took forever. When morning came I did as Caesar had asked and come to the palace for breakfast and was pleasantly surprised to see the generals who lead the armies had made it back to Rome and were joining us for breakfast. It was there I learnt that all the people who were enslaved and then freed from Blood Skulls control were overjoyed to have control over their own bodies again revealing that they knew everything that was going on but weren't able to do anything about it. They sent the generals back with many thanks to be passed onto me, which brought a smile to my face as we all enjoyed a delicious Roman breakfast. As we ate Caesar informed me that today I needed to be seen by the public for my deeds before attending a celebration tonight in my honor for all I'd done for Rome by defeating Blood Skull and not only getting rid of him but also helping return Cerberus to the underworld, my help in sending the souls back to the afterlife, returning Hades branding iron to its rightful owner, freeing the people from Blood Skulls control, defending the city and capturing the pirates all of which were enemies of Rome that the roman army had been after for months but could never catch.
Once breakfast was done I had to ride a chariot through the city behind Caesar with a huge crowed on either side of me throwing flowers at me and cheering how great I was. In this crowd there were people from every class of society from the lowliest peasant to the highest noble standing side-by-side cheering and throwing flowers at me from behind the line of guards keeping them back. I spent most of my day like this along with dealing with a few meetings with some nobles who wanted to publicly thank me for my services to Rome, getting a full army salute, permission to keep the majority of what I'd gained from the pirates ships after the artifacts that were stolen from temples were taken out to be returned to their homes, being rewarded with the wreath of victory along with four chests of gold and multiple other celebratory events that ended tonight with a party in my honor which was the longest event of them all.
For clothing at the party I wore the standard roman general armor gifted to me by Caesar earlier today for my services to the crown along with my spider pack, flaming ox boots and ice claw rings. The reason I wore the weapons though was because at those parties you could never be too careful and with how these parties occasionally ended with me facing off against some power-hungry opponent. I didn't get a moment of peace at party with all the nobles walking up to thank me, the girls who were around my age flirting with me and the generals wanting to ask me about the weapons and tools I got from the gods along with what threats I had to face in order to gain them. Now tomorrow I was to give a demonstration of the weapons to Caesar and his generals in the palace training grounds.
Presently I was walking up the stairs of my roman house tired out from the day's events while thinking of my bed and how long tomorrow was going to be since with my weapons demonstration I was going to get questions that needed to be answered. I sighed and shook my head as I made my way into the bedroom and all but collapsed on the cline and was out like a light the moment my head hit the pillow. As sleep fully took hold of me I wondered what awaited me tomorrow since whenever I showed off my god made weapons or my skills then something bad happens. I had the feeling tomorrow would be no different with how my life has a habit of taking a turn for the dangerous most days but unlike my younger self who preferred to run from the danger I learnt it's better to take it head on even if it could kill you.
AN: Hey guys here's the new chapter and I am sorry if you think the fight between Blood Skull and Hiccup was too short but I'm not that great at battle scenes and I wanted to take care of it quickly. I would've had this chapter up yesterday but sadly for some reason my computer erased over half the work I'd already done so I had to restart. Anyway I have some ideas for the gifts the gods can present Hiccup with but could use some more ideas so if you have any ideas let me know. Also could more of you guys vote on the poll since so far only eight people have voted for what they'd like. Have a nice day all and don't forget to review and please keep the reviews friendly.
