The world held its breath.
Behemoth's chest expanded, shadows coiling around him like serpents as his throat glowed faintly with a color that wasn't fire—wasn't even light. It was darkness itself, burning in reverse. The villagers screamed, scattering as the King of Dragons lowered his head, maw yawning open to unleash annihilation.
Toothless moved first.
With a guttural snarl, the Night Fury fired. The blast of blue plasma streaked upward, searing the air as it slammed into Behemoth's jaw. The explosion lit the sky, rattling windows, shaking huts. For a heartbeat, hope sparked in the villagers' eyes.
And then Behemoth turned his head back, completely unscathed. His golden eye narrowed.
"…Bold."
His massive claw moved before anyone could blink. The talon slammed down where Toothless had been, gouging a crater into the earth, splintering wood and stone. Hiccup pulled hard on the reins, and Toothless dove to the side just in time, the shockwave hurling them across the square.
Hiccup barely held on, his heart hammering in his throat. "Toothless—stay fast, stay fast!"
Toothless recovered mid-air, wings snapping wide, but Behemoth was already watching, amused. The colossal dragon's voice rolled like thunder through the chaos.
"Small. Quick. Irritatingly persistent. You remind me of gnats that bit at my wings long ago."
Toothless hissed, firing another volley of plasma. This time, Behemoth didn't even flinch. The blasts struck his scales, exploding uselessly against the black-gold armor of his body. With deliberate slowness, he raised his head, towering over Berk like a second mountain.
Then he breathed.
It wasn't fire. It was something worse.
The world bent inward as Behemoth unleashed his flame—Amaterasu, black fire laced with violet tongues of void. It poured forth like liquid night, coating the ground, devouring torches, huts, even stone. Where it touched, matter didn't just burn—it ceased. Wood vanished. Rock melted. Screams cut short.
The villagers ran. Some stumbled into the shadows, their bodies dissolving into ash before their mouths could form prayers. Hiccup's stomach turned to ice. He'd seen dragon fire before—every kind, every shape. But this? This wasn't fire. It was erasure.
"Toothless, go!" Hiccup yelled. The Night Fury bolted upward, wings snapping as the tide of black flame scorched the earth below.
Behemoth's laugh followed them, booming, cruel.
"Run, little gnats! Run faster. Make it fun for me."
Stormfly darted from the side, Astrid clinging tight. The Deadly Nadder loosed a barrage of razor spines, each one striking Behemoth's side with sharp cracks. Not a single one pierced his scales.
Behemoth turned his head toward her slowly, grinning.
"…Cute."
His tail lashed. The force of it tore through the air like a hurricane. Stormfly barely twisted aside, but even the passing shockwave hurled her and Astrid tumbling end over end. They crashed into a collapsed hut, dazed.
Hiccup's vision blurred with rage. He looked down at Toothless.
"Alright, bud. He bleeds, somehow. Let's make him show it."
Toothless growled, eyes burning green as he climbed high into the clouds. Behemoth tilted his head, watching their ascent with mild amusement, wings folding against his sides.
Then Toothless folded his wings.
He dropped like a meteor, plasma charging at his throat, building brighter than ever before. His body cut through the clouds, a comet of fury. Behemoth's eye gleamed with approval, of all things.
"Finally," he rumbled. "Show me your teeth."
Toothless fired at point-blank. The plasma struck Behemoth's eye. The explosion tore the air apart, shaking Berk to its foundations. Behemoth's head snapped back, smoke and fire washing over his snout. For the first time since awakening, the King of Dragons let out a sound that wasn't laughter.
A growl. Deep. Low. Dangerous.
Hiccup's hope surged. "Yes! We can—"
Behemoth's head whipped back, his massive eye still glowing, furious and burning with golden fire where the plasma had struck. A jagged scar smoked across the scales near his brow, a shallow wound—but a wound nonetheless.
The King of Dragons grinned, a terrible expression full of hunger.
"…You dare."
His wings snapped open, blotting out the sun. The winds knocked Vikings off their feet, tore roofs from houses. His voice was thunder and hunger combined.
"Then you will see the flame that gods themselves fear."
Behemoth reared back, his entire body glowing with cracks of purple and gold. The air warped. The shadows of Berk stretched unnaturally, as though clawing toward him. His chest swelled, his maw gaped wide, and the black flame gathered—a storm of night, ready to erase the world.
And Toothless was right in its path.