Chapter 238
Nobodies POV:
An area that was once filled with all sorts of life both mystic and mortal, was now a wasteland with dried up plants that were once green with life, dead trees slowly falling to pieces, dried wood littering the ground and the dried up bones of animals in various places. This land had been drained of any form of life in a creature's sick desire to return to its former glory as the most feared demon in all the land in the world. It is within the hidden cave where the Telchines met their end a skeletal like figure who was responsible for all this was resting in a throne made of black stone with black wooden roots coming out of his back and going into the cave walls and draining the life out of the land. It was then the hooded figure who served this demon walked in with what looked like a hairy kappa demon that had long limbs that it was flailing around in an attempt to free itself from the hooded figures grasp. The creature in the throne glared at the hooded figure as he asked.
"Is this some sort of joke?" The hooded figure bowed his head in shame.
"My apologies master but with the land being drained of life to help restore you, many of the animals and yokai who called this place home have gone elsewhere, where there is more food and more humans to feed on and I was lucky to find this enko to help restore a sliver of your power." As soon as the words left his mouth a root shot out of the wall and stabbed into the enko which let out a shriek as it was quickly drained of what little power it had and turning it into dust in the arms of the hooded figure.
"This will do for now as every little bit helps me return to my original power." He took a breath as the body seemed to gain some mass making him look a little less like a skeleton and more like a corpse that was drying out. "Now how goes the summoning of my forces?" The hooded figure looked down in fear.
"I am afraid it is going slowly master for after your defeat, many fled to the farther parts of the lands in order to avoid the eyes of both the gods and those who would hunt them so word will take some time to reach them." The figure growled.
"Disloyal cowards." It was then a figure in red robes walked into the cave and said.
"Not all of us fled in fear my lord." The figure looked at the red hooded one and smiled.
"I should've known you would not flee like those pitiful cowards." The red hooded figure bowed.
"Of course, not for I live for the battle and that is something you have always sent me out to deal with opponents who are worthy of facing me on the battlefield." The figure on the throne smiled.
"And I shall do so once more for your latest target is none other than the one who defeated me so long ago." The figure in the throne. "You are to go to his island and kill all that live there once you have finished off your main foe and don't worry for there are many dragons upon that island." The red hooded figure licked his lips.
"A battle followed by my favorite meal; you spoil me master."
"Just be sure to bring back the weapons of your fallen foe as their magic will serve as excellent nourishment for my new body and also bring back his family members as they will make good slaves." The figure bowed.
"It shall be done my lord." With that said he burst into flames and was gone with no sign of him ever being there other than the scorch marks on the ground as the hooded figure looked to the creature on the throne.
"Do you truly think he shall win against your foe master?"
"I honestly don't know but it best to strike now when his guard is down, making him an easier opponent to defeat." A terrifying grin appeared on the creatures' face. "And as soon as his weapons are back within my grasp, the magic they hold shall play a major role in restoring me to full power." His grin faded as he looked down. "Although nothing would please me more than finishing him off myself, I will have to settle for the knowledge of his death along with forcing his family to serve me until the end of time." He then grinned savagely as he let out an inhuman laugh that would make even the bravest man shake in pure and utter fear. "Soon I will have my revenge Hiccup Haddock and once more, the world shall know my power and shall know I am to be feared." He then turned back to the hooded figure. "Now go and find me more yokai to devour so I may be restored." The hooded figure nodded and left.
Hiccups Island
Hiccups POV:
It's been seven weeks since I began testing out my new gifts from the gods and unlocked my new armor along with my submersible ships upgrade and in that time, a lot has happened. For starters I'd pretty much mastered the use of my new armor with the tail since I could now swim with the tail with no problems whatsoever which made my undersea exploration a whole lot easier. What made things even easier was my new submersible ship since no matter how long we spent below the waters, we never ran out of air. Speaking of my new submersible ship, I'd been running it through some tests and I now had a better understanding of what it could do like the tanks and pads in the storage room. I learnt that the tanks were somehow able to lure fish into them and trap them before the pads would show what type of fish they were and if they were edible among other things and the tank in the kitchen was the same. Then there's the wrappings around Tephra's horns which I learnt were a weapon that could be launched and pierce through solid rock like it was nothing while reforming on her horns. With all this along with my automatons, I've been able to loot so many more shipwrecks and I was even able to go down into the darker parts of the ocean since lights would shine from the glass, illuminating the dark areas.
Besides that I had to say the biggest change in my life was I officially knew I was just as in love with Hadasa as I was with Astrid and Blanca and my feeling for her were as real as the bond I have with Toothless. Because of this, with the permission of my wives I proposed to her and a month later we were married in an Arabian wedding ceremony, hosted by the sultan and then honeymooned in the Mayan jungles. We didn't spend much time in the city though since Hadasa preferred to be surrounded by the jungles plant life and using her powers to form a giant pod of sorts made from leaf's, vines and branches. I wasn't complaining though since it was pretty comfortable with the moss that we covered with blankets being incredibly comfortable, the light shining through the cracks being a nice sight in the morning and Hadasa being able to bring in fresh fruit with her powers. Because of this, we didn't have to leave too often but then again, we barely left it at all since Hadasa wanted to make up for all the time we missed while she was trapped as a flower but I was nor complaining since she made sure the time in the pod was enjoyable. She did this by performing some dances, feeding me fruit she slices up, telling me about her life, asking me about my adventures, letting me nap with her cuddled up to me and of course, giving me repeat performances of what we did in Arabia when I was being controlled but now I was able to fully enjoy it. When we got back though, we did run into some issues in the bedroom with the bed being too small, but it didn't matter since I had already been thinking about getting a bigger bed, so it was quick fix.
Of course, there have been occasional problems popping up these past few weeks like when the twins got their hands on my wind bag when I was eating lunch in the great hall and talking with my dad and Alvin who came by hoping to hear about when the next bazaar would be. They got their hands on it by promising Chara a treat if she took it while I wasn't looking and claimed it to be a game, so she went along with it. Unfortunately, the twins didn't know what they had in their hands and assumed it to just hold something cool, so they opened it in the great hall, releasing all the wind within it and causing a tornado to form that destroyed the entire interior of the great hall. To say my father wasn't happy about this would be an understatement since I had never in my life seen him so mad and neither had Alvin and he'd known my father since they were kids but then again, my father did get a face full of hot soup followed by a barrel of mead being smashed into him.
I on the other hand came out unscathed since I'd been training with Wind and his style of ninjutsu involves training against very strong winds, blindfolded while avoiding various projectiles that were thrown at me. Compared to that, avoiding the flying food, furniture and occasional Viking while making my way to the bag to close it was a piece of cake but I that doesn't mean I wasn't beyond angry with the twins. The reason for my anger is they messed with one my gifts from the gods and endangered a lot of people by doing so but above all, they got their hands on it by using my little girl and I was not going to let them get away with it. After discussing it with my father it was decided that the twins would be cleaning up the great hall alone and then spend the following three weeks on manure duty with their bare hands. As for Chara, I sat down with her and had a long talk about not taking things that don't belong to her and how dangerous my gifts to the gods were.
Besides that the only other interesting thing to happen to me is I'd been able to bump up my ninja training another level so I was able to take on the tougher training but it was nothing compared to training under the ancient one. Still despite my training's difficulty being increased, I still found time to spend with my and just try to be a good husband to my wives and father to my children. This brings us to now, with me and my family in the Celtic fields enjoying a quiet little picnic while toothless continued his attempts to woo the female furies who had decided to join us on this lovely day. Right now, Chara was playing with hide and seek with Yamanu and Twilight while Brant was playing with Electra and Pele by tossing up pieces of bark and seeing who could hit them with their blast first. As for me, I was laying on the blanket, head in Blanca's lap Astrid laying down next to me and Hadasa preparing the food so everything was pretty peaceful for us, but I couldn't shake this uneasy feeling. There was just one thing that was ruining my peace and that was the feeling that something was coming and no matter how much I tried to shake it off and this worried me since whenever I got this feeling and couldn't shake it off, it meant trouble. It was then all of a sudden, my dragons began growling and were quick to surround us in their defensive stances and when I sat up I saw why as a red cloaked figure was making his way towards us from the cliff as he said in a deep voice.
"Such a lovely little sight, I'm almost sorry I had to ruin it." I glared at the figure while signaling my wives to be ready to get the kids back to the house at a moment notice while walking up next to Toothless and releasing my star sword.
"Who are you and what are you doing on my island." The figure bowed.
"I am called Hinote." He then stood up with a sinister grin. "As for my reason in coming here and ruining your little picnic" His robe then caught on fire and he slowly grew as he announced in a voice as loud as thunder. "I have come to end your miserable existence along with that of your dragons and the serpent that you call your wife."
It was then he reached a size comparable to that of the red death and I immediately began examining it to try and figure out what it was but with the traits it had, it wasn't hard. This creature was humanoid in appearance, with the head and wings of eagles and had red skin with red and gold feathers sprouting out of its back with long black hair tied up in a bun. On its body it wore maroon colored armor with gold lining and patterns along with a long light pink ribbon floating around its waist and arms. All these lead me to realize this creature was a Karura, a race of fearsome warriors who were known to mostly be noble and protect people from venomous snakes and dragons but there were also those who sought the thrill of battle and didn't care who they killed in the process and I'm guessing this one fell into the latter category. I glared at him but knew I couldn't let my guard down and mounted Toothless as I said.
"I will never allow you to lay a hand on any member of my family." I then nudged Toothless to signal him and we took off against this beast who dared to invade our home and threaten those we love.
Nobodies POV:
While Hiccup and Toothless charged into battle against the Karura, the girls were quickly getting the kids out of there by dragon but when they were out of the range of the fighting, the furies turned back to watch the fight and jump in if needed. The fight had already taken to the air with their foe sending a huge gust of wind that went across the entire field while echoing like thunder with a single flap of its wings while Hiccup and Toothless followed into the sky. Toothless let out three plasma blasts at Hinote who simply chuckled and blocked each with his hand as if they were nothing before, he slammed his hands together in a clap. The sound was powerful, as was the force of the wind that it created and succeeded in throwing Toothless back so fast he didn't have time to regain his balance and crashed into the ground but luckily the landing was soft so they weren't badly hurt. Sadly, Hinote decided to rub a little salt into the wound and said.
"Is this all the fight you have to offer me?" He laughed. "And here I was hoping that you'd be able to put up a bit more of a fight than my previous prey." Hiccup shook his head to recover and glared up at the Karura who gestured to his armor. "Nevertheless, I'm sure your beasts pelt will make a fine addition to my armor since this armor is made from the skins of every dragon I've slain." He then gave a feral grin. "And your dragon shall be no different." Hiccup glared up at him.
"Not if I have anything to say about it." He mounted Toothless again and pointed his sword at their foe. "Let's go bud." He growled and took off towards their foe again who just chuckled.
"I admire your fighting spirit but if you truly think you stand a chance than you are delusional."
Hiccup smirked and shattered the blade of his sword as he got close to Hinote's face before the floating shards turned into full sized blades that flew right towards Hinote's face. They barely scratched his skin though as he grunted in annoyance.
"Nice try!" He scratched the side of his face that was hit. "All that did was slightly annoy me though."
He then took in a deep breath and then breathed out a stream of fire that was so hot, even Hiccup could feel it with his fire immunity that allowed him to swim in lava. They were barely able to dodge the blaze with it slightly signing Hiccups hair showing how hot it was and Hiccup knew it would be lethal if they struck them. Hiccup knew then that this was not an ordinary enemy he was dealing with but a master of both wind and fire who was incredibly powerful and would not be an easy foe to deal with. Hiccup then smirked as he remembered an extra trick up his sleeve that may at the very least give his family a little more time to get to safety. He pulled his star sword back into his prosthetic and reached towards the weapons sash across his chest with both hands and brought out the swords that held Pirus the dragon and the Ventus the phoenix before tossing them up in the air and releasing them both. He didn't give them a chance to greet him though as he pointed towards Hinote and yelled out.
"KILL THAT THING!"
They both turned around to face the Karura and froze in recognition of the beast but not from recognizing what it was but recognizing it from their past. They were quick to shake out of their shock and let out blasts towards their newfound foe, but he simply swatted them away as if they were fly's. Hiccup growled and saw that Hinote was getting ready to let lose another stream of flames and he flashed back to the day he defeated the Red death by igniting the gasses within its mouth and an idea came to him which made him smile. He quickly placed his hands against his weapons sash and pulled out six crystal shuriken which he quickly filled them with his prosthetics explosive gas and threw them right at Hinote's mouth that was opening and shown to be filled with flames. The shuriken flew into his mouth and those that didn't make it in, shattered on either side of his mouth and the second they did, the gas ignited causing a huge explosion around his head while Pirus and Ventus returned to hover on either side of their master. When the smoke cleared it revealed a smiling Hinote who chuckled before he said.
"A valiant effort Hiccup Haddock but it was barely a small scratch to me." Hiccup growled.
"If he thinks we'll give up so easy then he's a bigger fool than I thought." Toothless growled in agreement as Hinote flew higher into the clouds and flapped his wings causing the sound of thunder to echo through the area as clouds began to gather while Hiccup and his team quickly followed.
"Do you truly believe you can defeat me mortal?" He held his hands out. "YOU ARE LESS THAN A BUG TO ME HUMAN!" Thunder echoed through the clouds. "I SHALL ENJOY KILLING BOTH YOU AND YOUR DRAGON BEFORE DESTROYING THIS ISLAND THAT YOU CALL HOME AND ENSLAVING YOUR LOVED ONES AND ONCE THAT IS DONE, I SHALL ENJOY THE SWEET TASTE OF YOUR DRAGONS!" He then smirked at Toothless. "And I think I shall start with those other realm nightfury's of yours since they should have an exotic taste." Toothless growled at the threat to his potential mates but what he said next made his blood boil to new heights. "and that baby nightfury of yours since they'd nice and chewy when they're young." Toothless growled and went into full alpha mode but this time the clouds began flashing with lightning around him which is something Hiccup noticed.
"What the-"
He was cut off when lightning shot out of the clouds and into Toothless' body but instead of harming him, he seemed to absorb it into his body right before Toothless let out a plasma blast stream that was loaded with lightning right at Hinote's head. The blast succeeded in striking him right in the forehead, piercing the skull and going right through his head and coming out the other end of it while Hinote screamed in pain. Then the blast ended and Hinote stared blankly at them before falling back down and into the ocean below, allowing his body to strike the water as it slowly turned to dust. While the body turned to dust Hiccup looked down at Toothless and said.
"I did not know you could do that." Toothless just looked back up and shook his head and growled. "I guess you didn't know you could either." They flew down onto the cliff and watched the body slowly turned to dust with the armor sinking below the waters. "Let's just hope he's gone for good so that both the people and the dragons he killed can rest in peace now that their killer is no more." It was then the armor began to glow brightly from its place in the water as the roars of multiple dragons echoed through the area. "What in the name of Odin?"
Hiccup dismounted Toothless and walked up to the edge of the cliff to get a better look before his eyes widened in shock just as the armor broke up into countless shining golden dragons of various species. They flew up towards the cliff making Hiccup back up and watched as the dragons flew up and then dived towards Toothless and began circling him, forming a giant golden dome that slowly began shrinking with the dragons. This made Hiccup worry as the dome slowly shrunk down to the point that Toothless wouldn't be able to move in it which is when the dragons that made up the dome merged together into one solid dome that then pulled in onto Toothless leaving him covered in golden goo. It was then this golden goo slowly pulled up off the face to reveal the confused face of Toothless while the rest of the goo slowly began to change in various places and then go solid.
When it finally ended Toothless was standing there, now wearing a new set of armor that looked not only well made but incredibly powerful since it seemed radiate power. This armor was full- body armor that was black in color with gold and silver engravings of different dragons from different lands giving it its own unique beauty. The helmet of the armor goes around his jaw and the back of his neck which but didn't cover his eyes, nose and mouth and went down between the eyes and stopped just above the nose, ending in a flat end. It was also being held together by chain-mail so the parts around the mouth were loose so Toothless could easily open up his mouth when he needs to shoot out a plasma and there was a trail of spines going down the middle of the head. As for the body armor which Hiccup could tell was a layer over layer kind of style went all over his body, including his underbelly but this part was loose enough for him to easily breath while the joints were flexible enough for him to move around with no issues. This armor also came with its own saddle, so Hiccup would have no trouble riding him with openings along the back that allowed Toothless' spines out with a piece of chain-mail between each one.
On his legs were leg guards that travel up to his knees on all fours which were linked by the same chain-mail but on the shoulders were these big, bulky hexagon shaped shoulder pads that had golden half orb in the middle while the pointy ends of the hexagons were silver and gold on each corner. The armor also covered the wings with what looked to be a black dragon scale like material that had silver spots that gave the impression of the night sky with gold and silver on the flaps. The front edges of the wings also had metal on them, but this material gave them sharp edge making the wings become similar to that of a razor whip. The same could be said for the wing flaps on the tail close to the hind legs and the tail fins. All in all, this armor looked strong and was no doubt going to come in handy in future battles but they'd need to figure out how it works first since if there's one thing Hiccup's learnt, it's that things like these are never normal. Toothless crooned in concern over his new look but Hiccup just smiled and rubbed his dragons head as he said.
"Don't worry bud, I think it's just the spirits of the dragons that Hinote killed thanking you for avenging them." It was then Pirus and Ventus came to land at Hiccups sides as Pirus said.
"The master is right Toothless, I can sense the great power from this new armor on you and although it will take time to master, I believe it shall be worth it." It was then Hiccup noticed that the female furies were now looking at Toothless with a different look than their usual look of annoyance and it was a look Hiccup had seen on the faces of many girls and it made Hiccup chuckle since although the girls who looked at him in such a way annoyed him, he's pretty sure it's going to be different for Toothless.
"I think I've just figured out one of its powers bud." He crooned and tilted his head before I pointed towards the females. "It increases your good looks to the point that the females are giving you the same look the human girls give me." He turned towards the female furies and puffed out his chest when he saw the looks, they were giving him, making Hiccup chuckle. "Okay lover boy, you can flirt with the females later since for now we need to figure out what this armor can do and how to use it." It was then Ventus said.
"I'm afraid this is something that Toothless might have to do on his own for an old foe may have returned master." Hiccup turned to him.
"What do you mean?" Pirus answered.
"That Karura is one we know from our past as our former master once served the same master as the Karura." Hiccups eyes widened as realization hit me.
"But that can't be, I saw him destroyed years ago." It was then a voice from behind them said.
"Something that we both made the mistake of believing." Hiccup immediately turned to see my old friend, the kitsune Asami.
"Asami, what are you doing here?"
"I came to warn you that Akuhei has returned but it would seem that his minions were faster."
"But how could he have returned when I destroyed his body by overloading it with the power of the Orochi."
"I believed the same thing but we forgot that in order to equip your prosthetic arm he would need to sever his own arm which one of his most loyal servants took it and used it in the ritual that revived his master." Hiccup raised an eyebrow.
"He was able to revive Akuhei with just an arm?" She shook her head.
"Not as far as I know, since there were other items used to create him a new body with the arm simply being what allowed him to take over it with no issues." Hiccup nodded.
"If Akuhei is back then it means big trouble for not only me but the rest of the world."
"More than you think Hiccup." Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "Akuhei isn't at his former strength yet but he has been regaining his power by draining the life from both the land and all living creatures within it whether it be plant, human, animal or yokai." Hiccup shivered at the thought.
"If that's the case then I better take off since it'll be easier to take him down before he's back to his full power." The kitsune nodded.
"I could not agree more."
"Just give me a chance to lock my god made weapons and equipment away since I don't want Akuhei to get his hands on them but my demonic weapons I can use against him and a chance to say goodbye to my family." She nodded.
"We will leave at nightfall." With that said she vanished while Hiccup turned to Toothless.
"Well bud, looks like you'll have to master your new armor on your own since I'm back on another solo adventure since Akuhei might send more of his minions while I'm away, so you'll need to take them on yourself." He growled and nodded while Pirus and Ventus returned to their sword forms with Hiccup taking them back and then taking off to let everyone know what's happened.
Nightfall
Hiccups POV:
It's been hours since we took on the karura and that time had been spent preparing for my new adventure by letting my family know what was happening, gathering what I'd need and of course, locking my god made weapons away since I didn't want Akuhei's minions to get them. For gear, I was taking only the weapons I got on my first trip to battle Akuhei, stored away in my weapons sash, my bottomless waterskin, a few days' worth of food and for clothing, I was wearing my ninja outfit that was given to me by the Ancient one. Now I was in the entrance hall of the house with the girls, the kids, Toothless and Twilight who was sitting next to Toothless and as expected, Chara was in tears over me leaving while being held in Astrids arms. We'd just finished our goodbyes and Asami was about to take me to the path that would lead me to Akuhei and hopefully, I'll be able to take him out before he fully recovers his power. I took one last look at my family before giving Asami a nod and then I blinked but when I opened my eyes again, I was in a bamboo forest and let out a sigh before I asked.
"Where is Akuhei?"
"To begin your journey, you must travel west and when you reach the land that has been drained of life, you shall know you have arrived at Akuhei's domain." I nodded before I began walking on the path of my journey to defeat an evil that I thought was destroyed.
AN: And so, begins another journey to defeat an old foe and like last time, Hiccup will get new gear that's either taken from his fallen foes or made from their bodies and now you all know that the hooded figure was doing all this to resurrect Akuhei. As for the armor Toothless now has, it's going to play some big parts in the future battles that are to come, especially the bigger problem battles that Hiccup can't handle himself. Also I've been getting some questions about when the Hidden world is coming up, I am sorry to say that Hiccups not ready to take on that adventure yet as I have a few more adventures I want to go through before he goes up against Grimmel. Now then, I ask that you review kindly and have a nice day.
