Blue Tribulation

"ROOOOOOOOOARRR!!!" The Slime Abomination let out a loud eldritch roar that sounded like it had come from all kinds of nightmarish creatures that had clawed their way out of the abyss. And it was such a terrifying sound that even the Undead above that rarely ever experienced fear began to either flee in random directions or collapse to the ground in varying states of paralysis. But perhaps that was because they knew EXACTLY who was screaming.

Eridel on the other hand was grinning widely with glee. Clearly he was enjoying himself. However when he noticed that the Abomination that was seemingly trying to grow in size was being suppressed by the golden chains wrapped around it, his eyes narrowed. The reason that the chains were still there was because of 2 reasons. He found the fact that it was suppressing the Abomination's aura useful, after all, if left uncontrolled, it had the capability to corrupt surrounding Magical Energy and turn it into something else, something that he suspected could cause complications. So although the corruption took a while, Eridel had been of the mind of destroying all possible factors that could cause failure. But looking at the state of things, it was best to just let things run its course.

'Well, no matter. If it fails, it fails.' Eridel thought with a slightly dampened mood.

With a single click of his fingers, the chains shattered into tiny motes of light before disappearing altogether. And as expected, the Slime Abomination's power which had been restricted for 45 whole years, burst out with unrestrained desperation like an apocalyptic volcano.

The aura completely filled the space, adding its multi-shaded grey colours into the golden mist and radiating a powerful sense of death that even made Eridel's eyebrows rise. But others were not as calm. Those that yet to leave the Abominations direct domain of influence collapsed on the spot, and those that had fallen immobile above the Abomination's cave, completely lost consciousness. It was quite the terrifying sight.

But the truth of the matter was that, technically, the Slime Abomination wasn't actually the 2nd strongest being on the Continent. After all, it had been sealed for 45 years and hadn't even been able to enter the 4th Realm yet, unlike the other hegemons of that time that had immediately entered the 4th Realm as soon as the barrier to the realm had been removed.

The Abomination had been sealed before it could enjoy the unlocked 4th Realm. Its current cultivation at the moment, even though that was bound to change at any second, was at the 9th Stage of the 3rd Realm. So how could it be that with just its peak 3rd Realm aura alone, it was sending everybody including the Original Undead, fleeing or unconscious? Well, that was all accountable to 1 thing.

Bloodline suppression.

The Slime Abomination was the progenitor of all Undead in Eridius, and coupled with the fact that it had assimilated countless other bloodlines into its own, that gave it an overwhelming advantage over those that were tied to its Bloodline, and it was not something that could be easily circumvented.

Be that as it may, the Original Undead who were all around the 4th or 5th Stages of the 4th Realm and the Wraith King who had been boosted to Stage 6 were still capable of easily beating the 3rd Realm Slime Abomination silly, but that was only if they could overcome their innate fear.

As it stands, they, with the exception of the Wraith King, were more than comfortable with running away. And soon, it was looking like the great chance that the Wraith King had over his Sire, was about to slip away.

The Anomaly Transformation, along with the White Tribulations Circle that was beginning to form in the sky, would more than assure that.

Gold, White, Blue, Red, Rainbow. These were the 5 Grades that a Tribulation could use and each one was more fatal than the last. Eridel had previously predicted that the Slime Abomination would suffer a single White Tribulation Light and then 2 Blue ones. But now, with the Anomaly Transformation added into the fray, things were likely to be different. That was the 2nd reason why he hadn't wanted to remove the chains but it didn't matter anymore.

"ROOOOOOOOOARRR!!!" The Slime Abomination continued to roar as its body endlessly soaked up the ambient Magical Energy and continuously grew. In fact, Eridel could even see what looked like golden liquid swirling beneath the Abomination's outer layer. He had no doubt that it would eventually fade away, but he couldn't help but shake his head as something that he had already guessed before was finally confirmed.

No other living being, undead or not, would be able to do what the Slime Abomination was doing. They would simply implode. Even if they had special techniques or physiques that enabled them to endlessly devour Essence like Jörma's Sky Devouring Bloodline or indomitable bodies that could withstand large amounts of stress, none of them could close to the Slime Abomination's aberrant constitution. Their bodies just simply wouldn't be able to take the extremely rapid amount of changes.

Eridel's eyes narrowed. He really wanted this once in a lifetime opportunity to succeed.

WHUUUUM! A loud sound came from up above.

Eridel's eyes narrowed even further.

"As expected…" He mumbled as he let out a sigh and looked up to the sky, his peerless eyesight piercing through the ceilings of the cave network and zoning into the Slime Abomination's Tribulation Circle which had just turned blue in colour.

'3 guaranteed Blue Tribulations…' Eridel thought as his brows furrowed. 'And there's even a chance of the last one being red. How miraculous.'

But it was also dangerous. Very dangerous. And if Eridel didn't want to turn that blue colour red, or God forbid rainbow; he dared not intervene. Although helping someone else in their Tribulation was possible, the requirements for doing so no matter how strong you were were very strict. And the consequences for 'unauthorised' assistance were at best, very, very painful… but it was most likely for all parties involved to die.

Eridel did not meet these 'helping requirements' and as such, the Slime Abomination was completely on its own.

"...Good luck." He whispered.