Krogan had trapped both Ragnar and Heather and was now forcing them to kill one another.
"Now have at it," said Krogan. "The winner gets to live."
'My mind, it feels like it's fading away,' said Ragnar.
'No, I won't hurt Ragnar,' said Heather but her body moved against her will and water began forming around her fist. 'I don't want to, but—'
Ragnar was in the same position as the ice began to form around his fist. 'I can't focus, I'm losing control.'
The two of them then clashed striking each other with incredible force knocking them both backwards. Ragnar then punched Heather and she retaliated with a powerful water kick, but then Ragnar grabbed her and tossed it to the ground.
Krogan just stood there watching and enjoying the show. 'Ragnar will win this fight just as I predicted, killing his dear friend with his own two hands will unleash the darkness within him creating the apex warrior who shall kill Hiccup.'
Krogan then started to remember the first time he had heard of the prophecy back before the war even started.
"Your Majesty I cannot understand why you fear a child?" said Krogan.
"That child is destined to kill me so the prophecy foretold," said Drago.
Back in the present, Krogan continued to watch Ragnar and Heather's struggle.
'His Majesty will vanquish Acnologia then the world will truly be his, but to fully realise this goal Hiccup must die,' he said.
'Why am I trying to kill the man I love?' said Heather. 'It goes against everything I believe, I would surely rather die than see him suffer. Even if Ragnar does kill me he will just blame himself and his heart would be broken, it is clear what I must do. I have no other choice, I have to take my own life.' She then raised her hand and water began forming around it like a sword. 'I must do it now before I lose what little control I have left.'
"Don't bother resisting," said Krogan looking at Heather. "My Ice Lock magic imprisons your mind, it's cold shackles confined your free will. To earn release you must kill the one before you."
"My feelings will never be confined!" Heather yelled at the top of her voice. "But if my body is trying to imprison them then I must destroy it!"
Krogan and Ragnar's eyes widened when they realise what Heather intended to do.
Heather smiled at Ragnar. "I love you."
She then plunged her water blade right through her stomach with as much power as she could muster.
"That's absurd!" Krogan yelled. "Choosing self-destruction?"
Heather then noticed for the first time that Ragnar had already pierced himself with an ice sword of his own. Clearly, the two of them had the same idea, not wanting to kill the other unfortunately they did almost the exact same time.
"Heather… you didn't have to," said Ragnar as he spat some blood.
Heather was absolutely horrified.
Krogan just stared at the two of them in bewilderment. 'They both rather end their lives?'
"I'm sorry, I thought…" said Ragnar looking at Heather.
"You shouldn't have Ragnar," Heather cried.
"There was no other choice, I couldn't bring myself to hurt you, Heather," Ragnar smiled. "You mean so much to me."
"I feel the same," said Heather.
"I just wanted… to protect you. But now I—"
"You're so kind… my very last moment is a happy one."
Krogan couldn't believe his eyes. 'What the hell is going on here? I never saw this coming.'
'Dammit,' said Ragnar as he began to topple over. 'It wasn't supposed to turn out this way. Hiccup please… don't let has to die in vain. Avenge us.'
Both Ragnar and Heather tried to reach out to one another, but then they collapsed on their hands were inches away from one another.
Krogan just stated their bodies as they began to bleed out. 'They couldn't live with the guilt of killing a friend so instead, they killed themselves? It's absolutely mind-boggling, I'll have to think of another strategy.'
With that, he removed the chain around their next, turned his back on them and then walked off.
'But as things stand now it would seem as if the only option left is to deal with Hiccup myself,' he said and the blizzard began to subside as he walked off.
Ragnar then slowly opened his eyes. 'What's going on? I'm still alive, but how? I mean I know what I did.' He then started to sit up. 'So strange the blood inside of me… somehow it doesn't feel like my own.'
He then looked at Heather's body and then saw some sort of water tube connecting from her onto his. He then realised that Heather was pumping her own blood into him.
'Water-Make: Blood,' said Heather telepathically. 'I was worried that something would happen to you so I secretly master the blood transfusion spell that would let me care for you. I made a promise to your mother to keep you safe and I intend to fulfil their promise. I will always be alive inside of you so don't cry because we will always be together.'
"No, you can't die!" Ragnar cried as he cradled her body and tears formed in his eyes. "Heather…"
'My life is yours now, we're inseparable,' said Heather.
Ragnar then cried in frustration and he began to remember all those times that they had spent with one another.
"Oh, Heather," Ragnar cried. "I'm sorry that I never told you of my feelings… just please wake up! Heather!"
Krogan continued to walk through the ruins in search of Brandish.
"I believe that Brandish was headed in this direction," he said.
He then suddenly sensed a massive surge of power directly behind him, he then turned around and saw Ragnar approaching him. Ragnar's eyes were filled with an anger that would shape even the most bravest soul to their very core and frost was forming around his body. He had managed to seal the wound in his chest with ice, though he still looked pretty battered and bruised.
Meanwhile Brandish had finally come to a stop and then dropped Hiccup, Ruby and Toothless on the ground.
"Mind explaining why you're doing this?" Hiccup yelled.
"I'm sorry for what happened earlier, but Brandish I don't really think we need to find any more!" Ruby yelled.
Brandish then immediately reverted back to normal size. "Well, neither do I."
All of them just stared at her. "You guys help me out when you didn't have to so I decided to spare you."
"You'll spare us?" said Toothless.
"As I said before, I have no intention of betraying Alvarez, it is where I call home after all," she explained. "I'm gonna slaughter everyone last one of your friends and guildmates, but I promise that I will not harm you."
"Are you serious?" said Hiccup.
Unbeknownst to them watching from afar was Griselda.
"Randy," she said gritting her teeth furiously. "And to think I trusted you."
"It's inevitable, there's no doubt that Alvarez will be victorious," said Brandish. "Our sheer numbers, the power of the Drake Twelve and our heavyweights August and Irene and at this very moment his Majesty is reaping the Dragon Heart. Give up already, because you don't have a chance of winning."
"No way," said Hiccup. "Dragon Tail will never surrender."
"Doesn't matter all your friends are going to die. There's nothing you can do".
Chaghatai had created a massive sand golem and was now swinging its massive fist down on top of Snotlout and Spitelout. The two of them quickly blocked to the attack with all their strength.
"I have to say the two of you have a lot of fighting you, but it won't help," said Chaghatai.
He then started to create yet another sandstorm around them.
"Not more sand," Snotlout grunted.
Then he and his father fell to their knees.
"Shrivel up and die already, your bodies will blow away with my sand," said Chaghatai.
"Got to think fast, we can't lose," said Snotlout.
"Your weak."
"I will protect my family and the rest of the Guild!" Snotlout roared.
Adelaide was battling against Grimmel, who continued to have his eyes shut. Regardless of this disadvantage, he seemed to be able to avoid every single one of Adelaide blows and she was still recovering from her last battle.
"Your moves are brilliant, but you can't land them," said Grimmel as he struck Adelaide.
Adelaide looked up at him. 'How can I beat this guy?'
"It appears you have already burned through a lot of your magic power, that will make my job a little bit easier."
"Then bring it on," said Adelaide as she took up a fighting stance.
Wall had unleashed a massive surge of lightning down on top of Minerva and was laughing maniacally.
"I need to hurry this up and exterminate all your pests because the truth is I got a major bone to pick with that cocky lightning bastard!" he yelled.
Ragnar the Rock was also getting the upper hand with Rogue.
"Am I supposed to be afraid of your shadow?" he said as he struck her. "I have returned from beyond the grave and now the underworld is waiting to take your place from within it!"
Astrid was also still engaging with the rest of the enemy army which was slowly overwhelming her along with the rest of the Guild.
"So you think all our friends are going to die?" said Hiccup. "Not if we can help it!"
"We've been through more tough battles then I can count and we're still standing strong," said Ruby.
"If you think we're going to stand down you've got another thing coming!" said Toothless.
"This time is different, you have never faced an enemy as lethal as the Drake Twelve," said Brandish.
Hiccup looked at her. "Your cocky, but that is because you have never faced an enemy like Dragon Tail."
Krogan was still rather bewildered that Ragnar was still alive, but he wasn't too worried.
"To think you actually survived," he said looking somewhat impressed. "However, I imagine that you're still two injured for a proper fight."
Then suddenly Ragnar punched him completely out of nowhere smashing him into the ground. Ragnar then wasted no time and then dealt a devastating kick and then prepared to strike and get again with his fist.
Krogan just stared as Ragnar was now more powerful than before. 'Impossible…'
Ragnar then struck him sending him flying into a building, but he managed to recover and this time he was unleashed all his power.
'He has forced my hand, I have no choice but to take a drastic measure,' he said. His eyes then started to glow icy blue as the ice began to cover his entire body until he was wearing full body armour. "Absolute Ice Shroud!"
Ragnar wasn't going to stop and ice began to cover his fist as he swung it towards Krogan with all his strength.
"This netherworld ice freezes all that it touches," said Krogan just as Ragnar's attacks struck him. "You may think that your resistant, but any contact with this armour will freeze you to your core." Ragnar then noticed as the ice began to cover his right arm and then extended towards his face. "And then you'll shatter into pieces."
Ragnar just yelled with an uncontrollable rage and he kept on pushing with all his strength and then managed to break through Krogan's armour. Krogan had been knocked back as the arm over his right arm broke away on the right side of his face was now exposed.
"How could this be?" Krogan stared bewildered. Eyes then started to form around Ragnar's fists similar to his own magic. 'This Viking is able to duplicate the same properties as my netherworld ice?'
"Heather had a life ahead of her, a future, and you stole it from her!" Ragnar yelled furiously. "I'll going to make you pay!"
Krogan was now absolutely terrified as Ragnar kept on advancing towards him. Ragnar then began bombarding him with a barrage of fists with incredible speed and strength shattering his armour. "You're the one that's going to shatter! Ice Demon Zero Destruction Fist!"
Krogan then fell to the ground defeated and Ragnar's tears had turned to ice.
Meanwhile, Brandish was standing undeterred by Hiccup and Ruby.
"You remember what happened on Eos Island, don't you?" she said. "I could end your lives right now with a snap of my fingers."
"I would like to see you try," said Hiccup.
"Hiccup," Ruby warned.
"We're not looking for some kind of mercy, you guys came here for a fight and we'll give it to you."
Then they heard footsteps and watched as Neinhart approached them.
"Lady Astrid come out wherever you are," he said.
Brandish looked at him. "Neinhart…" Her eyes then widened. "Wait, you're eyes…"
"An effect of my lady's augmentation magic," said Neinhart as power flowed into his body. "Right now I'm practically bursting at the seams with power. You should step aside Brandish, these three are comrades of Lady Astrid that makes them enemies."
"Lady Astrid?" Toothless frowned.
"Leave us be, we're in the middle of negotiation here," said Brandish.
"Is that so?" said Neinhart narrowing his eyes. "Sounds suspicious to me…" He then unleashed a powerful burst of wind directly at Brandish. "You would dare betray Lady Irene and the Empire!"
"Holy crap," said Ruby as the wind struck them with incredible force.
"This wind is like a billion little razors," said Toothless.
'My magic can't even touch him,' Brandish panicked. 'How much did she power him up?'
Hiccup began pushing through the wind. "I don't know what you want with Astrid, but I won't let you lay a hand on her!"
"No, don't!" Brandish yelled. "You don't have a chance against him!"
Neinhart laughed and Hiccup flames covered his fist.
"I'll never know until I try!" Hiccup yelled.
Neinhart then slammed his palm against Hiccup, who swung his fist at the exact same time. However when their attacks collided it was Neinhart that had been overpowered. His attack did injure Hiccup's arm, creating deep cuts causing blood to spill out, but he didn't seem affected by it.
"I'm not running away!" Hiccup yelled.
Brandish just stared at him.
Hiccup then drew out Inferno and channelled his power into it. "Because every single step that I take is a victory!" Neinhart was still a little dazed when Hiccup struck him. "That is how we only get back to the Guild!"
Hiccup's attack sent Neinhart crashing into the wall and knocked him out cold.
'Wow, she's way stronger than I thought,' said Brandish in disbelief.
"Yes, way to go Hiccup!" Ruby cheered.
"I still wonder why he cold her Lady Astrid?" Toothless frowned.
Griselda just stood there and narrowed her eyes.
Meanwhile Heather began to stir, she sat up wondering why she was still alive. She then saw Merrill kneeling next to her healing her wound.
"Just hang on, don't get up until I've completely healed you," Merrill instructed.
"Merrill?" Heather stared.
"You're awfully lucky that she was able to find you in time," said Stormfly. "A moment late and you would have been gone."
"Actually, the reason we found so quickly was because of your Clairvoyance," Merrill reminded her.
"So I survived?" said Heather in disbelief. "It's a miracle… you ladies saved my life. From the bottom of my heart thank you."
"It's no problem, we're all supposed to help each other out you know," said Merrill. "I owe it to Shanyla to work twice as hard to keep everybody safe."
Heather then looked at them. "Do I either of know whether Ragnar is right now. I know I saved his life, but he thinks I'm dead!"
"He wasn't here when we showed up," said Merrill.
Ragnar was currently standing directly over Krogan battered body.
"I can keep on thrashing you and as good as that would feel, it still wouldn't bring her back," Ragnar spat.
"Like your mother, your master and her daughter right?" Krogan smirked.
"How do you know about all of that?" Ragnar demanded.
"Because it is your fate in this life… everyone you care about dies in order to protect you. No matter what you do with me, you will always feel alone."
"I'm never alone, I have friends."
Krogan laughed. "Not for much longer… I know that you long to kill Dragrach. However, what you don't know is that his Majesty has linked that demon with your best friend Hiccup. That means to kill your greatest adversarial, you'll have to kill your best friend.
Ragnar stared at him and he could tell that he wasn't lying.
