It took a while, but Meghana finally managed to kill the Scorpion by tearing it in half.
Normally, it wouldn't even take a Dragon a sneeze to eradicate a Nitah Desert Scorpion, however, something seemed entirely wrong with this scorpion.
Its abilities were much more powerful than they should have been, and its toughness and strength were off the chart.
Even worse, when Meghana had finally bested it, it suddenly stabbed itself and injected its venom into itself. The saying 'A scorpion's venom can't harm it' was put to shame at this point, when the Scorpion suddenly got a powerful amp.
This alone, made Meghana understand that the scorpion was subject to heavy mutations, which made it something different from a simple Nitah Desert Scorpion.
It was after this realisation that Meghana remembered about Ultio.
She immediately studied the tracks left by him and the beetles, then discovered the tunnel they went through, which was already being swallowed by the endless sand.
She followed the tunnel as quickly as possible, before finally arriving in the large cave.
Her eyes immediately took in the destruction and chaos in the cave, and her natural Dragon senses could pick up the heavy blanket of death. The beast instincts that made up a minute part of her mind were screaming for her to run away from this cave, as a certain being in there was radiating a very oppressive aura.
A gaze which was so void of emotion it would only be referred to as 'empty' suddenly locked on to her.
Although she recognised the owner of the gaze, her fear still didn't diminish in the slightest as she turned slowly to face this threat.
Sitting on a large pile of spider corpses in a leisurely but arrogant pose was Ultio V.
An arrogant smirk sat comfortably on his face as he titled his head to one side. "Hello, Miss Meghana."
Meghana almost shivered in fear after setting her eyes on Ultio. Not because of anything stated above, but because he was drenched entirely in dark, spider blood. Only his eyes shone through the darkness, cold and empty as usual.
"Uh... Hey. I need to tell you something about the scorpion." Meghana responded.
"Yes?"
Meghana cleared her throat and stared at Ultio's forehead, as looking into his eyes distracted her too often and intimidated her. "The beast was mutated, which implies that there's something here underground which can trigger magical mutations."
If he was surprised by this discovery, Ultio didn't show any reaction, as usual, although his smirk grew even wider.
"When you see it."
Meghana's eyes widened when she realised that the largest spider, which seemed to be the last addition to the pile of corpses, had red skin instead of black, as well as light blue eyes instead of red.
"Another mutant." She muttered in a surprised tone.
Ultio nodded and placed a hand on the spider's head. "Indeed it is. And as such, it is confirmed that there is indeed something which is causing a mutation in these creatures,"
"And fortunately," He said as the entire pile beneath him crumbled away into nonexistence. "I seem to have discovered where this 'thing' is."
To punctuate his words, Ultio rose his index finger and pointed in the direction of one of the tunnels dug into the cave. A bright blue light shone from somewhere within the tunnel, illuminating the path.
***
On the surface, meanwhile, Eric and Pyro kept walking towards the direction chosen by the former.
They had walked for what seemed like an eternity before they stumbled upon on a very small town.
It was made up of only a few dozen poorly made buildings. At the centre of the city sat a large, wondrous temple made of pure marble, which was a direct contrast to the other buildings which were built from either mud or stone.
"This town has 'suspicious' written all over it." Pyro said while his eyes took in every detail.
Eric nodded in agreement, even though he had no intention to stop or go around the town.
Pyro sighed and followed him closely into the town.
By the time they arrived at the town's entrance, the sun had already set once more, marking the second sundown they had witnessed in the desert.
Immediately they stepped into the town, six individuals hurriedly surrounded them in a tight circle with their weapons aimed directly at the two men.
These six individuals wore the signature dark Legionnaire armour of the Church of the West, which bore a little similarity to the armour worn by a certain member of Guild Ouranous.
"Very suspicious indeed," Eric muttered to Pyro, before raising his voice to address the six individuals surrounding them. "Ah, evening, gentlemen."
"'Gentlemen'?" Pyro asked in a hushed tone, struggling to hold back his laughter.
Eric shushed him hurriedly with a brief explanation. "I'm just taking some things from Ultio's book."
Pyro held back his laughter and let Eric handle the talking. Though he had already begun to make battle plans in his head, as he knew the situation would eventually escalate into an all-out fight.
"Who are you? State your business here!" One of the armoured men said loudly, his large Corinthian Helmet causing his voice to echo slightly.
His Muscle Cuirass featured white Pteruges hanging from beneath it, as well as various patterns carved onto it, which seemed to distinguish him from his peers. And if that was not convincing enough, he literally stood a head taller than the others, and was at least three times more muscular.
"I am Daviin and this is my friend, Lorr. We are travellers who had gotten lost in the desert, and we happened to find this town, hence we came here." Eric said with a faint smile.
Beside him, Pyro smiled along with Eric as the guards' turned their attention to him.
The guard with the seemingly higher status narrowed his eyes, but lowered his weapon slightly. "How in The Goddess's name do two grown up men get into a desert on foot and expect not to get lost?"
Eric shrugged in response.
The guard sighed and shook his head. "I am Leiron Tirm, the leader of the Sixteenth Squad under Lieutenant Sono of The Church of the West, and I will be monitoring your every move in this settlement."
"So... Does that mean you're letting us in?"
Leiron just sighed and kept his sword, before walking away with his squad in tow.
As Leiron went out of sight, Eric's smile faded and his expression became stoic.
"Why did you lie about our names, Daviin?" Pyro asked and crossed his arms over his chest as he awaited an answer.
Eric smirked slightly and turned to face Pyro, and even though he was blind, Pyro could've sworn that his gaze was locked on to him. "Those guards are under the Western Theocracy. You're not fully human, and neither am I."
Pyro didn't seem all that much surprised by the fact that Eric could tell he wasn't fully human, however, he was slightly surprised by the fact that Eric wasn't a full human.
"Don't ask." Eric said and marched straight into the town.
Pyro shrugged and followed after him, pushing the matter aside and focusing on survival.
***
Ultio and Meghana finally found the source of the blue light after a few minutes.
They arrived at a smaller cave, at the centre of which was a small body of water, from which the blue light shone brightly.
Meghana's eyes widened and she took a step forward. "Is that...?"
"Purified liquid mana," Ultio said plainly, lacking the surprise that Meghana was expressing.
"That's impossible. There isn't even enough mana in the human realm for this much liquid mana to form." She said and kept walking towards the liquid mana, however she was quickly stopped by Ultio.
A black shadow blurred past Meghana and swiftly scanned the perimeter, before returning to Ultio's side and bowing humbly.
Of course, this shadow was none other Hermes, Ultio's first shadow.
The shadow had improved greatly since the last time he was called upon, which was evident from the change in his appearance.
His armour covered more of his body and his scarf had become pure black. The only traces of blue on him were simply outlines of his armour.
However, the most startling thing was, his body had become more than just a shadow, as his pale, almost translucent skin signified.
"The coast is clear, boss." He said in the voice of the original Ultio, which was natural as he bore the young man's handsome face and more importantly, was an altered version of his soul called upon by Ultio V.
Ultio nodded, pleased by Hermes' new abilities and form. "Your new form comes with more responsibility, Hermes. You'll have to act less like an insubstantial shadow when you fight."
The shadow- no, the man nodded respectfully and got to his feet after Ultio's prompting.
"Now..." Ultio began and walked forward until he was knee deep in the liquid mana, revealing that the pool was much deeper than it seemed. "Let's see where this leads."
***************
From the author;
Sorry for the late upload