"And why would I accept? You're obviously weak." Ultio said plainly, causing Meghana's rage to spike.
"Are you fucking kidding me? I'm a DRAGON FOR FUCK'S SAKE! Did you really think I was SERIOUS?!" She exclaimed loudly, her voice creating a powerful shockwave which immediately destroyed Wyvern and blew all three men away.
Eric had a blank expression as he approached the ground at breakneck speed. "Well... Shit." He said with a shrug as he smashed into a large sand dune and immediately got buried underneath the golden sands.
Pyro simply sighed and shook his head as he also landed on a dune just a stone's throw away from Eric.
Meanwhile, Ultio was currently falling headfirst towards the ground quite some distance away from the others. He didn't seem bothered about the ground, which was just about to 'embrace' him.
His attention was set on the 'curse' that he was afflicted by. Things such as landing on the ground and potentially dying were currently unimportant.
Fortunately, a miracle happened at that moment.
Meghana suddenly swooped down from the sky and snatched Ultio up, before safely landing at an oasis which was nearby.
"My thanks." He muttered offhandedly with a wave of his hand as soon as his feet touched the ground.
His attention was fully placed on the curse, and he didn't even know when he had already walked waist-deep into the large pool of water in the oasis.
Meghana simply watched him with curious draconic eyes. She herself didn't know why she felt drawn to help him, but she couldn't deny the fact that she enjoyed watching him stare into space as he fell deep in thought.
Ultio suddenly laughed dryly and shook his head. "Things are getting out of hand." He said with a smirk, before realising where he was.
It took a second or two for his brain to get him up to speed.
He turned to face Meghana, and for a few seconds, the two individuals stared at each other in silence under the illumination of the moon.
"You're really handsome." Meghana said after a moment of silence. She was a Dragon that had nothing to fear from anyone or anything, so she was used to directly speaking her mind about everything.
Ultio didn't reply, but instead narrowed his eyes and slowly walked out of the water.
"You... Have ended the existence of another one of my shadows, Dragon. You will compensate me, or I will kill you." The white haired man said slowly, without the slightest bit of emotion.
A dark, suffocating aura suddenly burst out of his entirety, causing even a mighty Dragon like Meghana to take a step back instinctively.
Even as more cracks spread on his body, Ultio walked up to Meghana and stopped right in front of her.
"I-If it's just compensation, I can..." Meghana trailed off, wondering if Ultio would understand what she meant.
And surprisingly, for the first time, Ultio took the hint. He understood what she meant.
But that didn't mean he cared.
"While you might think that I crave such desires, I would like to dispel your misconception. I would like a compensation for my soldiers, not for my hormones." Ultio said plainly as his eyes turned red.
Meghana gasped softly as she seemed to recognise his eyes. She shut her eyes tightly and even covered them with both hands in fear.
'W-what... What is this?! I-is this... Fear?'
Even though she didn't want to believe it, Meghana couldn't deny the fact that she was truly afraid of Ultio.
"I am not unkind, yet I am not kind. I am cruel, but I am fair. Your idea might have worked, but you seem unwilling to sign a blood contra-"
Meghana quickly bowed her head slightly, even as her body and entire being fought against the gesture. "I... I concede! I will accept the contract."
A dark light shone in Ultio's eyes and he calmly took another step forward, then he grabbed Meghana by her neck and squeezed tightly.
"Do. Not. Interrupt. Me."
The aura of pure evil emanating from his body was so dense that even the trees, plants and water around him seemed to bend away from. Even the light from the moons seemed to dim a little.
It took a few seconds, but Ultio managed to calm down.
Simply getting angry now caused him to lose a bit of vitality and strength. By now, the cracks on his body had covered the entire bottom right part of his face, and had even spread from his shoulder to his elbow.
"The Blood Contract. Split your palm open." Ultio said without any further delay.
Meghana nodded and drew a line on her palm with one of her claws. She clenched her teeth as she stretched her hand towards Ultio.
As a Dragon, every part of her being rejected this process, however, she couldn't object. She knew with full certainty that Ultio would kill her if she didn't. And even though most Dragons would prefer death to humiliation, she, for some reason, couldn't just accept death.
It wasn't like her, but she didn't put much thought to it.
Ultio also split his palm and began to speak.
"Hear me, all of creation and destruction. As our blood mingles, so have our destinies. This Dragon vows to serve me, Ultio V, without any objection for the rest of her life. My words are commands which she cannot object to, however, she will retain her will and personality. Heard by all, I now sign this contract as the higher existence, the Ruler."
Ultio said his lines with such skill and smoothness that it would have left experts in awe had they witnessed him speaking.
"And I accept the contract as the one being ruled, the lower existence."
The words were blurted out of Meghana's mouth against her will, and it was at that moment that she realised that even though she had avoided Ultio's gaze, it was pointless.
As she had already been placed under an illusion before he even looked at her.