*Divine Realm, Sumerian Pantheon*

Located on one of the seven major floating islands, a huge mountain, reaching tens of thousands of meters into sky stood proudly. Dancing around the mountaintop were thousands of lighting strikes and dozens of storms, creating a majestic but fearsome scenery.

As one of the seven major deities and one of the three sky gods, Ishkur's abode was obviously one of finest in the Sumerian Pantheon, and as the god of storms and rain, Ishkur's divine temple naturally represented these concepts, therefore giving it the fearsome and violent appearance it had.

Despite Ishkur being the god of storms and rain, he also had a minor divinity representing oracles and divinations, a divinity he shared with Utu, the god of the sun.

Now, on highest point of Ishkur's divine temple, he and Utu were gathered, seeking answers through divination as they regularly did.

Standing around a bronze-colored basin filled with blood, the two gods observed the liver extracted from a semi-divine beast, that now bathed in the blood-filled basin.

Why only the liver was placed in basin was due to it being the center of though and feelings in all beings.

Although divination could be practiced through many methods, this, alongside the observation of stars, was the preferred method of these gods.

"∂ΛòΣψ-δȲιℵ, çìζ..." Mumbling in a distorted and ancient language, the two major gods continued with their divination, observing the liver as their chanting progressed.

During this type of divination, answers were usually found by observing physical changes in the extracted liver, most commonly atrophy and hypertrophy, but it would seem as if the gods were in for a huge surprise this time around.

*Spurt*

*Cough*

Before Ishkur and Utu could even finish their chanting, both them experienced intense bleeding from all of their orifices as an unending amount of divine blood continued to flow, resulting in both of them collapsing onto the ground, desperately trying to stop the heavy bleeding.

Utilizing their divinities the fullest whilst controlling their bodies to the maximum, they finally managed to stop the bleeding, just before any more serious damage could occur.

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*Ahheem* Clearing his throat to try and remove the last bit of blood stuck in his throat, Ishkur stood up, only to fall back down again due to immense shock he had just received as he looked at liver.

"T-t-t-t-this i-is....?"

What was once a healthy organ glistening with semi-divine golden light, had now turned into a rapidly disintegrating liver that only left dust behind.

As the disintegration continued, more and more dust began to fill the basin, replacing the blood that now also had begun turning into dust.

Witnessing this bizarre phenomenon, Ishkur and Utu realized that the disintegration would only continue to spread, eventually erasing the entire floating island, should they not quarantine it in time.

"Ishkur, I think we need to cut of the highest few meters, just to make sure this doesn't spreads any further." Speaking in a worried tone, the god of the sun proposed a solution, despite knowing what it would entail.

Although divine temples were the abodes of the gods, they were also crucial parts of their godhood, which meant that any damage to a temple would directly injure and weaken the associated god.

Removing a part of the mountain would therefore weaken Ishkur, the god of storms once again. And recovering from that weakness by natural means could take hundreds of years.

"Sigh, You're right, although the damage will be great, quarantining this omen will do the least damage overall." Sighing due to circumstances, the god of storms agreed to the proposed plan, realizing that nothing else would stop the spreading disintegration as it had already begun turning bits of the divine mountain rock into the contagious dust.

Taking to the skies to get a better angle, the two gods now levitated alongside the mountain, observing how to dust began replacing what was once divine materials.

Whilst Ishkur summoned a saber that crackled with lightning bolts, Utu summoned what seemed to be a pearl filled with sand.

"Is that what I think it is?" Seeing the pearl held in Utu's hand, an exited remark was made by Ishkur, as he knew that this was an artifact that could solve their current predicament.

"Yes, The Pearl of Sealing, known for its ability to seal anything of the High-God realm and below." As he spoke of the artifact's ability, a proud smile could not help but appear on his face, signaling that this was a treasure of great rarity.

Although The Pearl of Sealing could not seal everything, beings and items above the High-God realm were extremely rare, effectively making this treasure one of strongest expect for the ones possessed by the God Monarchs and the Primordials.

After bringing out their artifacts, Ishkur quickly slashed out with his saber, instantly severing ten meters from the top of the mountain whilst Utu was quick to activate the Pearl of Sealing.

*Cough* Coughing up another round of blood as a result of the damage to his temple, Ishkur's pale face quickly went from bad to worse, clearly showing that he had a long road of recovery ahead of him.

"Despite your serious injuries, the spreading seems to have stopped and the contaminated area has been contai...

*CRAAACK!!!*

Interrupting his words of comfort, a loud sound, similar to a shattering crystal echoed through the entire Sumerian Pantheon, alerting all beings regardless of their power and stature.