The Tribulation Circle completely tripled in size as it prepared for its second strike, drenching the World, Moon and Space in a red light. It’s new size even forced Eridel to expand the barrier, wasting even more Primordial Essence so that the Tribulation wasn’t found by others.
At the very least it was still in the Red Grade. Still, Eridel feared that going by the course of events, there was a slim chance of the next one being in the Rainbow Grade. And if that happened, he would not survive it. His soul and the rest of the planet would be obliterated.
A resident on his planet experiencing a Rainbow Grade Tribulation compared to him, the World itself experiencing a Rainbow Grade Tribulation, was utterly incomparable. The former was indeed unquestionably dangerous and had the power to turn whatever part of the World it landed on to be a Dead Magic Zone for hundreds of millennia, but if a Rainbow Tribulation designed for a Mid Grade World with the power of a High Grade World was to land, the World would vanish without resistance.
He knew of its power scaling and wasn't about to be deluded into thinking any sort of plan would help him if a Rainbow Grade Tribulation truly came for him. Even getting rid of the barrier to attract a powerful expert who would save the planet for his or her own gain wouldn’t do anything. It would only make it worse. Anyone who received help during their Tribulation would only make the power of the Tribulation scale up to a Tribulation that took into consideration both of their powers combined.
Eridel had thoroughly checkmated himself.
Eridel sighed as he dispelled his shield, preserving as much Primordial Essence as possible.
*FLASH* The Tribulation Circle pulsed.
How could he have known that a Tribulation would ever feast it’s eyes on him? Nothing in his inheritance entailed that he could create a World’s Integral Laws with Runes. Not even all intelligence and mind power in the Universe would have helped him predict this situation if he didn’t even have an inkling of its possible existence. You needed to know or at least guess that something existed before you could even think of it, talk less of planning for it.
Eridel couldn’t help but feel frustrated.
*FLASH* The Tribulation Circle pulsed.
Could he have been too arrogant? Ever since the beginning of his new life as a Word, he had been performing all sorts of ground-breaking acts one after the other that went against the norms of life. A lot of the things he had done had out-right flipped reality on its head, creating unknown lifeforms, creating unknown cultivation systems, creating unprecedented Enlightened Transformations and even allowing for the birth of beings like the Abomination Of The North to exist.
He had been lucky enough in all this time that he had never suffered the consequences of his actions, and as a matter of fact, it was almost like he was rewarded for his oversights! Just look at Emperor Asura; Eridel had neglected the possibility of Asura taming all 4 of the Demon King Armaments and as a result, the Lord of all Monsters was born. Over in the North Continent, Eridel had overlooked the possibility of a Slime assimilating with the 2 Domicus Treasures, now there’s a Calamity Grade Abomination just waiting to enact unpredictable feats.
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So far, his oversights just seemed to be creating more talented and powerful existences. It was almost like he had been extremely… lucky?
‘...’
The World started ferociously trembling.
“HOW… HOW COULD I HAVE BEEN OBLIVIOUS TO THE FACT THAT I HAD BEEN USING SO MUCH FORTUNE?! FUUUUCK!!! HOW-... w-WO…WORLDS WILLLLLLL!!!” Eridel’s voice blasted out of the Planet and resounded throughout space, only stopping at the barrier that he had created before bouncing back, causing even the Moon to start shaking.
Eridel finally realised that his instincts as a World were far, FAR more troublesome than he had initially thought. It was the Will of a World to evolve no matter the costs, cool, he understood that. But it was to the point that it had been hijacking his mind?! Making him act irresponsibly reckless in his pursuit of evolution?!
“DOES THIS NEW BODY OF MINE NOT UNDERSTAND THE REPERCUSSIONS OF UTILISING SO MUCH FORTUNE?!” Eridel screamed, completely losing his cool in the face of possible slavery or death.
*FLASH* The Tribulation Circle pulsed.
“Now look at what I have to face.” Eridel said in a bleak voice that suddenly lacked emotions. “A demonic tax collector of Fate that has come in the form of a Tribulation.”
A second bolt of scarlet light even bigger than the first crashed into Eridel’s newly remade shield, nearly destroying it in an instant as cracks spread all over. It was obvious that Eridel had suffered a pain that was many times greater than before but he didn’t make a single sound.
Not, one, single, sound.
It was utterly uncanny. He had clearly groaned in pain from the last strike, unable to withstand the pain that flared across his soul, so what co-
‘I will not stand for this.’
The 6 words endlessly repeated themselves in Eridel’s mind as he suffered the horrible agony of a Counter-Attacking Red Grade Tribulation’s second strike. The pain was definitely worse than before, but unlike before, his mind was completely clear.
In the centre of Eridel’s mindscape that was filled with nothing but whiteness, a golden ball of fire was burning ferociously with the wrath of a sun. The ball of fire was increasing in size and as it did, various vague intents could be sensed from it.
Wrath, Nobility, Ruthlessness, Freedom, Dominance, Peerlessness, Dauntlessness, Defiance, Ambition and more…
This… this was the embodiment of Eridel’s Will. And it was growing.
On the outside, the Crimson glowing cracks that had been spreading over Eridel’s shield like a virus eventually lost power, ending his suffering. Immediately after the shield was dispersed as if it too had lost power. But still, Eridel’s will burned like never before as a new conviction was born in his mind.
Innumerable calculations sprang up within Eridel’s mind as he discarded and created new plans.
‘I refuse to be reduced to a mere tool by my own body and that is final. But first… I must rid myself of this pesky Tribulation.’