"You son of a... Gah! If you weren't so handsome, I would have torn your face into ribbons!" Meghana said angrily as soon as the illusion ended and she found herself shaking Ultio's hand.
She initially thought the contract hadn't been signed, but she felt a few drops of blood falling off their hands, and the sky above rumbled in response to the contract.
Ultio remained silent and simply retracted his hand, before staring at Meghana blankly. Then he turned and began to walk in a seemingly random direction.
"Where are you going?" Meghana asked Ultio as she hurried to follow him.
Although he remained silent for a while, Ultio still replied. "To fulfil a promise."
"... Oh." Meghana said, before hurrying after Ultio.
The two walked in silence for a while, before Meghana got bored and began to speak. She said a whole lot of unimportant things and facts, but when she realised that Ultio had no intention to speak anymore, she asked a question that managed to spark a reaction from him.
"So what are Blood Slaves supposed to do? Are we to fight or... Something else?" She asked and tried to form a 'sexy face' expression.
She failed.
Ultio, however, didn't mind her expression and instead gave her a quick reply. "They obey."
"Oh."
Meghana began to ponder what she could do to catch Ultio's attention. Due to this, she didn't notice when he suddenly stopped walking and tilted his head slightly, almost like he was trying to listen to something.
It took a few more steps for her to realise, and also stop.
"Why did we stop?"
Ultio pointed at the horizon, where a few dark silhouettes could be seen.
"Because we're under attack."
***
Elsewhere, Eric Midas finally got his head out of a sand dune after a little struggle.
He let out a sigh and turned to the side, where he discovered Pyro laying on the sand, staring into the sky, as the sun slowly rose.
"You good?"
Pyro chuckled and got to his feet. "Yes. And actually... I've never felt better." He said and looked around.
"Sand... Sand... Sand." He said.
"And more sand." Eric added helpfully.
All he got was an eyeful of sand.
"Now how are we supposed to get out of this desert?" Pyro asked with a huff of annoyance.
Eric shrugged. "Well, I can help. You know where we're supposed to be going, right?"
"Yes; to Reinbarrk, where my companions are right now."
"And where is Reinbarrk?"
Pyro stared at the sky briefly, before answering in a very mechanical tone, almost like he was remembering the contents of a textbook... Or a really annoying jingle.
"Fifty-eight degrees Northeast of Lont, and about a few hundred kilometres away from-"
Eric hurriedly interrupted him before he could continue. "I see. Northeast... Is that way," He said and pointed in a certain direction. "We should get moving in that general direction, I can feel some danger in the air."
Pyro seemed confused by some of the things Eric said, primarily, the fact that Eric could point out Northeast without his eyes. He also wondered what he meant by 'danger', however, he felt that he could trust Eric's words.
"Alright. But what of Mister V... I mean Ultio?"
Eric chuckled lightly as he began to walk in the direction he pointed at. "You're worried about Ultio leaving here? Ha! I'm worried about the unfortunate person who will dare to try to stop him."
***
A while after Ultio discovered the approaching danger, the dark figures disappeared from the horizon, and the two managed to walk in peace.
That was until Ultio slowed down, and the sand ahead of them erupted as six large beetles charged out of the earth.
Each beetle was about five feet long, and stood about three feet off the ground. Their bodies were black and shiny, which made them appear a little more majestic that a regular beetle.
The beetles clicked their mandibles together as they cheered excitedly after finding two creatures they deemed to be food.
They eagerly ran towards the two beings, but they seemed more interested in Meghana, as Ultio seemed a really sick while Meghana had a healthy, powerful aura surrounding her.
"What are these?" Meghana asked while walking forward to receive the beetles with her fists.
Ultio narrowed his eyes and analysed the beetle leading the charge, as it was the closest to his position. "They are Nitah Beetles... And you might want to take them a little more seriously, because their carapaces are much tougher than you think and they shoot acid that can melt High Steel."
Meghana appeared surprised, but not even a trace of worry could be seen on her face. She was a Dragon, after all, and Dragons had nothing to fear in the world of beasts.
When the beetles were about five metres away from Meghana, a blob of yellow acid suddenly shot through the air and sailed over her head, before landing right before Ultio.
"Oh, and did I mention that their acid has camouflage? It's a strange but very efficient ability they developed through evolution. Be careful," Ultio said, before taking a step back to avoid the fight.
An eye-roll was all Ultio got as a response from Meghana, who immediately pounced on the nearest beetle and tore it in half effortlessly.
"I thought you said they were tough?" Meghana said laughingly as she immediately stretched out her hand towards the next beetle.
In a casual tone, Ultio continued to speak. "I didn't, I just said they were tougher than you think. But do not worry, they aren't the real treat."
As soon as Ultio's words left his lips, the ground split open once more and a large, seven metre tall Scorpion crawled out of the fissure. Its tail was covered in large barbs which could no doubt inject a lethal venom. In fact, its whole body was covered in tiny barbs.
"Meet the Nitah Desert Scorpion. It will be a great addition to my army." Ultio said as a shadow of the dead Nitah Beetle which was much smaller came to life and began to attack the other beetles.
Although he didn't have much energy left to do wondrous things, Ultio could still restore a creature as a shadow, albeit with much less of its actual power.
Meghana immediately serious when the scorpion arrived.
The scorpion trampled on two of the beetles as it stabilised itself and began to attack Meghana.
Its tail immediately shot forward, intending to stab through Meghana in one attack.
The Dragon, however, simply covered her arms with her black scales and caught the Scorpion's tail.
Her eyes flashed for a brief second, and a frown immediately appeared on her face.
"Why can't I transform?"
"Because if you and the scorpion go all out, I might get injured, and the Blood Contract makes sure you never harm me, whether intentionally or not." Ultio explained while he carefully watched his new shadow nimbly weave through the relatively slower attacks of its previous companions.
A loud groan left Meghana's lips as she pondered how difficult the fight was going to be. But seeing as she had no other option, she sighed and tossed the Scorpion into the air.
Two large pairs of wings suddenly unfurled from her back, and she shot into the air as well.
"... I have to admit, that was a wide choice." Ultio said, as his new shadow finally brought down one of the Nitah Beetles.
However, a moment later, it got attacked by the last two beetles simultaneously, and Ultio had to let go of the soul to save energy.
Which meant, he was all alone against two angry beetles.
"Well, it seems like you two are enraged by my very presence," Ultio said, as the 'Seal' that was placed on him expanded and two of those tiny runes that comprised the it disappeared.
A dark and ominous aura that left the gods and the divines in fear slowly surrounded Ultio as he finally got his first bit of progress in breaking his seal.
He spread his arms to the side as a smirk appeared on his face and pieces of skin fell off like pieces of dried clay.
"So why don't you hit me with your best shot?"