A/N: Hiccup is about to kill the last of Drago's aspiring champions, which will lead to a brief moment of respite, and then the final battle between these two men will begin. I'm already working on the final chapters when I can, especially Hiccup and Drago's fight, which will be brutal, gritty, and emotional. That chapter is one you won't want to miss, I promise you! But until then, let's move on to the next chapter.

(Normal pov— Tail Nation)

Among the sweltering deserts of Tail, a sizeable force of Drago's personal warriors was attacking the various nomadic tribes that lived along the desert plains. Leading these attacks was Olga, the Opportunist, she earned her title because she'd risen far above her station in a fraction of her time than any common soldier with the ranks of the Northern Alliance. They called her Opportunist because she grasped for everything she could not have.

Like many in Drago's ranks, she was of mixed blood, she had both Rus and Meditteranean blood flowing through her veins, which was not a problem among those in the junta. However, she was looked down upon because before being enlisted in Drago's ranks, she was nothing but a slave girl who craved to be free and be more. She fulfilled her desires by killing her former master and going out into the world to seek new opportunities and perhaps make a name for herself. Again, she fulfilled this desire when she stumbled upon the Northern Alliance during one of their earlier campaigns in the Steppes of Rus, it was during this campaign that the now late Griselda the Grievous her Slavic hordes aided Drago in obtaining victory. Once a slave and now soldier under the command of Drago, Olga craved to rise above her station as a common soldier, but her commanding officer would ruthlessly remind her to know her place and stop trying to take the food of advancement from Drago's table, figuratively and literally speaking. Her former commanding officer was uncreative, small-minded, and insufferable. Like many in the junta, he looked down upon her and believed her to be a pathetic weakling because she was a former slave. So she killed her commanding officer and poached the best fighters of her unit, those who also looked down upon her and were determined to see she would not advance within the junta.

Although openly murdering those without properly challenging them was punishable by death, despite this law within his junta, Drago was impressed by Olga's determination to kill anyone standing in her way of obtaining what she believed was rightfully hers. Though skeptical of her ambitious quality, the war master could see that Olga only wished to rise above her station so that she could serve him.

They called her the Opportunist because her ambition was limitless.

And now, Olga jumped at the opportunity to become one of Drago's new warlords and stand by her master's side in world domination. But to obtain what she craved, she needed to complete her task, and that was to destroy the Tail Nation dam and flood one of their largest tribes. Because Olga was one of Drago's best, he had given her a group of dragons the Dragon Flyers had retaken. Among these dragons were armored Catastrophic Quakens, they would aid in the demolition of the dam and see the nomadic village of Mga Kumakain ng Buhangin, or Sand Eaters become a distant memory.

The men under Olga's command had "trained" the Quakens to react to the vibrations of their hammers when they strike the ground. Using this to their advantage, Olga's men soon got to work and had the Quakens begin the demolition of the dam, meanwhile, Olga and the troops as well as the dragons accompanying her were currently engaged with the Sand Eaters warriors. Despite having the advantage of having dragons, Olga knew that as long as her men used the Quakens to destroy the dam, victory was assured, but speed was of the essence.

While personally leading the slaughter of the Sand Eaters tribe, Olga ordered that those who couldn't fight were rounded up in the center of the village and bound against a statue of Sisudatu. As the villagers were rounded up, the dragons were forced to reduce the village to glass, much to the people's horror.

"Have mercy!"

"Please, do not do this!"

"You call yourselves warriors? Where is your honor?"

Ignoring the jeers of their victims, Olga's men carried on and looked for any stragglers or any remaining villagers in hiding while the armored dragons under their control continued to raze the Sand Eaters home to the ground.

Suddenly, one of Olga's men was struck with an arrow, through the throat, killing them. Looking to the horizon to see who was responsible for this, the rest of the men saw a large, furry pillbug in its ball form move towards them with two riders on its back. Before they could react, Olga's men were knocked down by Tuk Tuk, Hiccup narrowed his eyes as Raya steered her furry companion straight at Olga, who was perched on an armored dragon that Hiccup recognized upon getting closer to her.

"Hookfang!"

The Monstrous Nightmare let out a joyous roar at the sight of Hiccup, he then knew that now was the time to rise against his oppressor. While igniting himself on fire, Olga cried out in pain as Hookfang's flames burned her, she was then bucked off by the stubborn, hot-headed dragon. Now off of Hookfang's back, Olga cried out while diving away from Tuk Tuk, who nearly ran over her.

Raya looked to the Sand Eaters dam and gasped in horror at the sight of enemy troops using Quakens to demolish it and wash them all away. Looking over her head, the princess barked out. "Hiccup, take care of Olga! I'm going to stop those lunatics from destroying that dam," nodding in understanding, Hiccup leaped off of Tuk Tuk so that he could deal with Olga. Steering Tuk Tuk towards the dam, Raya narrowed her eyes. "You're not going to destroy the Sand Eaters, not if I can help it."

While Raya dealt with the men tasked with destroying the dam, Hiccup sprinted toward Olga, who was now on her feet and ordering her men to kill him. Even though most of the men that were under Olga's command were at the dam, a sizable force remained with their commander to aid in the destruction of the tribe and those who lived there. Hiccup hated to admit it, but he was outnumbered, but not for long. A jet of magnesium fire cut down a group of men charging Hiccup, causing the Viking to look up and grin.

"Stormfly!"

The Deadly Nadder had armor along her body, like all the dragons involved in this operation, seeing Astrid's dragon covered in that armor made Hiccup's blood burn, and he was ready to unleash that fire on Olga and her men. Quickly raising his shield to stop a spear from making contact with his chest, Hiccup reached for Valkyrie's Fury and ignited the axe while also dispursing Monstrous Nightmare gel on several men poised to kill him. The gel was then ignited once one of the flaming blades made contact with it, engulfing his challengers in fire, burning them alive. 

A line of gas soon stopped Olga's men in their tracks, before they could pull back, the gas was ignited and the explosion that followed sent hardened sand to fling up and shred anyone in the blast radius. Hiccup protected himself from the sand and then quickly turned around to see a large enemy warrior behind him, ready to cut him down, but a lava blast struck that warrior directly in the face, killing them instantly.

"Barf, Belch, Meatlug!"

Each of his friend's dragons was here and were now rising against their oppressors, although the Dragon Riders were dead and gone, Hiccup felt strengthened, they were here in spirit to back him up while their dragons were here in person to help thin the herd of enemy troops. Returning his attention back to the fight, Hiccup saw Olga advance and he soon locked blades with the last of Drago's aspiring champions.

"Drago will reward me when I not only succeed in destroying this dung heap of a tribe but deliver your head to him."

Sneering at his opponent, Hiccup broke the blade lock and bashed his shield directly into her stomach, sending her back. "I wouldn't count on that," he said before smirking. "Besides, all the other champions thought they could kill me, yet here I am. Your head will soon roll like the rest of them." He then patted the tied sack around his torso, which contained the heads of the three champions he had already killed. Olga snarled before letting out a battle cry and lashing out at Hiccup once again, the clash of their weapons rang along with the dying cries of her men as the dragons they had brought along were now rising against them.

With her own axe, Olga tried to hook her blade around Hiccup's and yank it out of his hands, however, Hiccup's grip was strong and he bashed his head against her face, knocking her helmet off of her head. Pressing his advantage, Hiccup moved to remove his opponent's head, but Olga quickly raised her axe to halt the flaming blades, she then pushed Hiccup back while landing a vicious left hook across his face. Backing away from her, the Viking spat on the ground before barking out to Hookfang and Barf, and Belch. "You guys go and help Raya stop them from destroying the dam!" Pointing to his companion while she was on the back of her pillbug, Hiccup cried out in surprise when Olga swung her axe at his neck, causing him to stumble. Quickly raising Valkyrie's Fury to halt his opponent from splitting his head open with her axe, Hiccup turned to the two dragons. "Go on you two! Help Raya!" Reluctant at first, the two dragons obeyed and rushed off to aid Raya.

"You think you can stop me from completing my task, boy?" Laughing dryly, Olga glared at Hiccup. "All your constant interferences with my master's operations will end here. Your death by my hand won't even be a footnote."

Growling, Hiccup managed to bring Olga to her knees by landing a kick to her left kneecap. Pressing his attack, he then landed a ruthless kick to her face with his prosthetic leg, blood and spittle flew out of her mouth as she fell back on the sand.

Meanwhile, Raya steered Tuk Tuk toward the men forcing the Quakens to demolish the dam, thankfully the Sand Eaters had built a very durable dam, because despite the constant strikes of the Quakens, it had yet to crack. Raya, however, wasn't going to take any chances, she needed to prevent Olga's hammer wielders from using those Quakens to do their dirty work. Reaching down on the side of her saddle compartment, Raya pulled out a crossbow and strapped a quiver of bolts around her torso. Lifting the already loaded crossbow up, Raya closed her right eye as she aimed at one of the hammer wielders. As they raised their hammer high above their heads, Raya took her shot and the bolt struck that soldier through the back of their neck.

"It's Benja's girl! Deal with her!"

Raya quickly loaded another bolt in her crossbow but she made Tuk Tuk take a hard right when several of Olga's men hurled spears at her. Knowing that she wouldn't be able to focus on taking out the hammer wielders and the men protecting them, Raya was about to turn back, but she then let out a laugh when she saw an armored Monstrous Nightmare and Hideous Zippleback deal with the warriors pursing her. Knowing that these dragons once belonged to two of Hiccup's friends, Raya then barked out. "Hookfang, you deal with the men trying to stop us!" Roaring out in understanding, the hot-headed dragon pumped his wings, dispursing waves of fire in all directions, burning those in his sights. "Barf, Belch, help me deal with these hammer wielders!" The Zippleback flew overhead and breathed a precise cloud of gas at one of the men raising their hammers, when the gas was ignited, they were sent flying while being burned to a crisp.

With two remaining hammer wielders, they desperately tried to get the Quakens to finish the demolition, however, following the example of Hookfang, Barf and Belch, the massive Boulder Class dragons turned on their oppressors; one of them stood on their hind legs and proceeded to crush one of the hammer wielder's chest open, killing then instantly and the other oppressor was squashed like a bug thanks to the Quaken flying high and then come down on top of them while in ball form.

Looking up at the dam, Raya could see cracks that were starting to spread, large ones too. Fearing that the dam would burst, the princess let out a surprised gasp when several lava blasts struck the cracks, sealing them, and preventing the dam from cracking further. Smiling at the Gronckle responsible for preventing the near imminent catastrophe, Raya gave Meatlug a nod of thanks before urging the three dragons to follow her as she steered Tuk Tuk back to the Sand Eaters tribe.

Back in the tribe, Hiccup was having his way with Olga, he had managed to inflict a fatal wound to her femoral artery, and because this, she was losing blood at an alarming rate.

"You're beaten, Olga. Your men are all dead, your efforts have been for nothing..." Hiccup whirled Valkyrie's Fury while turning around and smirking. "...and it looks like Raya was able to stop your men from using those Quakens to destroy that dam. Now, all that remains is killing you."

Bearing her teeth at the Viking, Olga groaned out while clutching her heavily bleeding wound. "Y-You... may have stopped my efforts along with those who aspired to led the Northern Alliance alongside Drago, but you won't stop the entirety of the junta—"

"Woman, I've brought your master's army to its knees, by myself," he emphasized before lifting his flaming axe at her face. "Now shut up, and die." With one precise swing at her neck, Olga's head flew up into the air before crashing down on the blood soaked sand. While picking up his final victim's head and placing it in the sack with the others he had killed, he could hear Raya behind him.

"The remaining people here are now safe, I'm going to take them back to our war camp, along with the other dragons that accompanied the enemy," she then inquired. "So, now that all of Drago's champions are dead, what now?"

Summoning Stormfly, Hiccup removed the armor off of her and then proceeded to mount her before replying. "Now? I'm going pay Drago one last visit before I take his life," using the armor to catch the scent of those who placed it on her, Hiccup urged Stormfly to take off. "I'll be back soon!" Hiccup then steeped his nerves and readied himself to face his people's murderer for a third time.

(Heart Nation)

With Kumandra's quintuple dragon champions in cages in the bowels of his warship, and as night had finally fallen on Kumandra, Drago was within his quarters, resting. However, sleep had evaded the tyrannical madman, instead, he found himself going over a plan of attack when the time came to personally lead the Northern Alliance into battle against the fools who believed they could stand in his way of world domination. Sighing heavily, Drago's eyes then landed on the Bewilderbeast on his desk, the egg showed signs of hatching soon, but since it was not in colder temperatures, the hatching progress was slowed. So long as it hatched, it was of no difference to Drago, the future alpha of his dragon army would be be forced to see him as master, and like his previous Bewilderbeast, he would use this one to take control of all the world's dragons.

Suddenly, an urgent knocking against his door caused Drago to growl softly and speak firmly. "Enter!"

The door opened, revealing one of his Hands. "Sir! You should see this," they then added. "It's Hiccup Haddock."

Following the soldier, the madman soon made it to the top deck of his warship and found the warriors stationed on his ship with weapons and the ready as well as bows and blow darts raised at the man who had crippled them single handed. Ordering his men to stand down, Drago crossed his arms across his chest while glaring at Stoick's boy.

"To what do I owe this... pleasurable visit?"

Hiccup placed a hand against Stormfly's neck, calming her as she raised her tail and ready shoot a volley of spines at a group of warriors with blow darts at the ready. Turning back to Drago, the young Viking reached for the sack around his torso and tossed the sack of heads at the madman's feet, their faces bloodied, blanched, or marred because of battle.

"I'm here to tell you that your lapdogs failed. Though they inflicted much suffering on Kumandra's people, your now dead champions have only made them stronger, bringing them closer together."

The madman sneered at the sight of the heads before looking back up at the man set on killing him. "This changes nothing, boy," Drago spat out. "You may have killed my aspiring champions, but now you've forced my hand. I, Drago Bludvist, War Master of the Northern Alliance will see to it personally that Kumandra burns and that all who live here are reduced to ash," he then added with a cruel grin. "Just like your people and those you loved."

Biting down on his tongue to hold back his curses, Hiccup narrowed his eyes at the smug, tyrannical murderer attempting to goad him into doing something foolish.

"And it's I, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, that will kill you, just like I killed all your warlords and champions, the best your junta had to offer," the grin on Drago's face vanished and was replaced with an irritated ire. Hiccup then snorted. "You were right, our time together is drawing to its inevitable end, and this war will end with you lying dead at my feet." Glaring at the war master, he then spoke in a cool tone. "Retribution is at hand, and make no mistake, I serve as a harbinger of vengeance on behalf of all you murdered, butchered, and raped to death. No matter what you do or how hard you fight, you will not escape the fate you deserve. You will die by my hand, and everything you've worked for will have been for nothing."

Beating his teeth at Hiccup, the madman sneered. "Bold words, boy," he then extended his arms out. "Why not come and face me now? Back your words with action."

Instead of replying, Hiccup reached for a well folded map of Tail Nation and tossed it at the madman. Catching the map, Drago then gave the Viking a curious look. "Kumandra's armies will face you and your army there, if you and your murderers have the balls to face warriors instead slaughtering the people of these lands, you'll find us there," shrugging, Hiccup added. "Fight us, or not. Either way, I will see to it that you and all who follow you are washed away in rivers of blood." With that said, Hiccup steered Stormfly away and they flew off.

Briefly looking over the map Hiccup had given him, Drago grunted before summoning his personal generals, Drago pointed a finger at them and spoke with gritted teeth. "Prepare the army, every man and every dragon at our disposal will partake in this," looking back at the fading silhouette of Hiccup and the dragon he was riding, he then added with a snarl. "It's time I finish what I started and end that boy, thus permanently killing off the Viking people."

A/N: The next chapter will be a calm-before-the-storm type of vibe; a brief celebration will be held, Hiccup will commune with Astrid and all his loved ones, and the Kumandran armies will then prepare to set out for war.