1.25 minutes later
BOOM!
A wave of Gluttony Essence burst out of the Slime Abomination’s body as the Mark of Gluttony finally completed its fusion process. The Slime Abomination was now the Sin on Gluttony.
“OOOOOOOOOOEEER!” The Slime Abomination let out a roar of triumph, but unlike its previous roars which although dangerous to the Soul were almost completely ineffective against a physical body, this roar possessed a hair-raising effect that could cause a weaker listener’s brain to directly leak out of their skull.
But that’s not where the changes ended. As opposed to the sound of the Slime Abomination’s voice becoming more eldritch or abyssal in correspondence the increasing terror of its nature, the voice had actually becoming enchanting; kind of like sound of a whale underwater but a few times deeper and multiple times more beguiling.
It was such a deceptive sound.
But clearly, when the vicious nature of Chaos, the purity of the Tribulation Essence, the majesty of an Anomaly and the enthralment of a Sin, was combined into an evolution, the results were distinctly quite strange.
But understandably so.
47 seconds later
*FLASH!*
Eridel, who had long regained control of his emotions, was standing peacefully to the side with his muscles relaxed and his face serene. But the moment the red light shining down from the above experienced a brief flash, his fists clenched.
The time of reprieve granted to the Abomination had ended. The time to gather strength or marvel at what was already gained had ended. Now was the time to see if that strength would be kept.
The Slime Abomination fell silent.
2.5 minutes later
*FLASH*
3 minutes later
*FLASH*
‘This is it.’ Eridel thought, his Planetary Core pounding like an agitated heart beat. Sensing the imminent strike he decided to close his eyes. A mortal gesture. Closing one’s eyes would never prevent reality.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A red pillar of light descended from the Tribulation Circle and crashed into the Slime Abomination in the blink of an eye. The resulting effect was so terrific that the entire Continent and surrounding Sea felt it. The might of the Red Tribulation.
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As for the Slime Abomination?
Well…
3/4 of it was gone. A whole three quarters of the Slime Abomination’s Body and Soul had evaporated like smoke, and more of it was quickly joining.
Eridel’s eyes widened. His pupils’ constricted.
The entire World trembled.
“EiiIIaAIiiAiaIAIIAiAIiaiAIaiIIiaiIIIaIaAARGiIiacCHH!!!!”
The Slime Abomination let out a ghastly scream of pain as the Tribulation's hostile energies continued to ravage her insides. Eridel could also feel an echo of the pain through the Soulmate link, something that was also being eroded along with the Slime Abomination’s Soul.
But there was nothing he nor she could do about it, so like this, the Slime Abomination experienced torment of the likes she had never felt before for 12 more seconds. Helplessly allowing more of her Body and Soul to disappear. And now, her previous 150m domineering size had been reduced to a pitiful 25, half the size she had been when she was wrapped in the sealing chains.
But then something changed.
A black coloured smoke began to billow out of the Slime Abomination’s body. Gluttony Essence. The unique energy that the Slime Abomination had only just obtained. Without a doubt, the Slime Abomination was trying to save its life somehow… But contrary to expectations, not only did she not get any better, she actually got worse.
The elimination of her Body and Soul had picked up in speed by about 3 times!
For a half of a split second, Eridel was appalled and had the urge to order the seemingly suicidal Slime Abomination to cease her actions immediately. Something that definitely would have backfired if he was foolish enough to do so. But then he caught sight of something that made him instantly swallow back the words even without the threat of joining in on the Tribulation. And he began to grin.
“Good! Good! Who would have thought that in such a situation she would think of such a thing! Hahahaha!” Eridel burst out laughing.
Whether it was due to a stroke of luck or a spark of genius, the Slime Abomination had managed to bypass her fear of certain doom in order to perform a last ditch action that could have accelerated her demise if her guess was wrong. But it paid off.
Using her newfound powers of Gluttony, she had begun to [Devour] large amounts of her own body and Soul, including the unrefined Tribulation Essence inflicting those areas. So yes, whilst this was effectively tarnishing her cultivation since she had to release what was devoured back into the air (in the form of black smoke; Gluttony Essence), it was saving her life.
Perhaps if she had more control of her powers, she would have been able to use a technique that would allow her to devour harmful essence, release it back into her body, and repeat until the essence was more tame. But that was too much to ask for the new Sin of Gluttony.
Nevertheless, Eridel was ecstatic. His Soulmate’s chances for survival had just shot up!
To be honest, his desire for her survival was probably 98% for his own self-preservation. 1% of it was because he was interested in what a creature like her could become, and the last 1% out of curiosity for what they could be. What was the epitome of his desires? What would she become that she would so perfectly match him? Well, whatever. He needed her to survive and the semantics didn’t matter.
57 harrowing seconds later
Up above, the Tribulation Circle abruptly vanished and the Tribulation Cloud began to disperse. Eridel was gazing at it with pure eyes absent of any emotions when a sudden spark of enlightenment flashed through them.
“One can earn Power… but can they keep it? That is the essence of Tribulation. But if that is the essence of Tribulation then that must mean that it is a Law of Fortune and to some extent Fate. After all, those are the driving forces that steer these Tribulations. Ha…~ The ‘ever-so-imperceivable’ Laws of Fate.”
Eridel turned his attention back to the ground where something smaller than a metre was releasing so much smoke that it couldn’t be seen.