Chains Of Heaven

Moving silently through the underground with all possible haste Enkidu could sense his own energy lowering bit by bit. He did not have an unlimited amount of energy and this running was not being easy on him. However, as he moved towards where the voice told him to go he could sense that many beasts were moving to around the area he passed by, as if they were making a natural barrier between his pursuers and himself.

Not knowing what to think or if he should even do anything regarding this he decided to do as asked. He felt that this must be the best option for him right now and it would be better not to hesitate now.

Amongst the information regarding the continent he had collected there was clear mentions of places where there was suspicion of having something special inside and the very top of the mountain he was climbing was one such place where there was suspicion.

Normally he would never dare to even think of entering this place but for whatever reason the beasts were not trying to stop him. He remembers that once a group of 20 people in the peak of the 10th stage of the Sovereign Profound Realm tried to reach this peak to see what exactly made so many profound beasts attracted to this place and so many beasts keep in this mountain range.

Everyone expected success from them, after all, they were the 20 strongest people in the continent and were kings and queens amongst men, above all others. However, not long after only one of them returned from the place. He had both legs blown off, his right was eaten, he lacked his left eye, and had many other injuries, internal and externally too.

However, Enkidu was already around the place all those powerhouses died and was facing no difficulty doing so.

He did not know for how long this would last, but it was welcome nonetheless.

After moving for hours on end he finally felt it safe to get out of the underground. Going out he could sense a strange aura around the whole place, the natural energy of the world was much more vibrant and in the sky he could see multiple thunder clouds forming and thunder descending somewhere a bit far away, not too much but a far distance.

Seeing this he took out some several herbs and went about putting them in the right way and with the Sky Poison Pearl he created several pills. Taking them in he waited a bit for the effects to take place, he did not make all the herbs he prepared into medicines just yet because he might need specific medicines for different things and many herbs could be used for different medicines.

As such, while he did prepare a stock of pills for general uses he would rather make the pills at the moment he needed them when not on moments of hurry, making pills more focused in what he needs.

Sitting with his back to a tree he rested for a while, after he recovered enough and was back to normal he moved ahead, he still had to reach the peak of this mountain. He knew that this might be a trap but if he tried to run away after having clearly been helped by whoever did so then the other party just had to stop helping him and many, many beasts would try and kill him.

Reaching the peak after five more days of climbing Enkidu could sense how something here was strange. Normally a peak so high up should have the air be much less present and be hard to breathe, but instead of that, the air here seemed almost heavy, as if there was so much air here that breathing became hard to do.

He looked around and could see something the honestly shocker him. It was like a gigantic temple up here, it was above the clouds and he could only see it when he got close so he assumed it was some sort of illusion array, but the array was not the important part. The important part was how the temple was huge and looked like a gigantic bull's head made of golden bone. It was terrifying to even see and between the horns of the gigantic structure, thunder could be seen passing between one horn to the other.

"Enter, I have something to talk with you." An ancient and strong voice said, its sheer pressure was enough to make Enkidu's bone quake a little. It was far from comfortable an experience, but Enkidu's body was tough.

Extremely tough.

He withstood the pressure and moved along, going inside the temple as he was bid to do so.

Inside it the wind and thunder pressure raised many times over, it was more than anyone normally would be able to bear but the pressure was not hurting Enkidu at all. As he walked forward he was surprised with how simple this place looked, it did not have the splendor and shine he expected of a place like this, instead it was quite baren and simplistic.

Walking forward Enkidu saw huge gates in front of himself and he was beacomed to come inside. Not having any way to escape Enkidu was ready to, at least, try and blow himself up while activating the three Heavenly Treasures inside himself, or at least die trying.

Pushing the doors open Enkidu's surrounding changed quickly. He no longer was inside a temple of any sort. Instead he was on what looked like platform in the middle of the air. There was nowhere to go and he was forced to stay there without any way forward or backwards. He wondered why exactly he was locked in somewhere like this when a heavy pressure appeared around him.

Looking around he saw in the distance clouds. Those clouds were slowly forming into a figure.

It was a bull. But not just any bull, what Enkidu could see from here was only what looked like a life-like golden statue of a bull's head with the interior made of thunder clouds. It's sheer size being so great that Enkidu could only measure it using mountains, not kilometers. It's eyes shined in bright blue as it looked at Enkidu and it began to speak.

"You, you has no idea what you might have done to us all." The bull said in a low tone but for Enkidu it was still too loud. It was like the beast's entire being was too great for the current Enkidu to even try to interact.

However, Enkidu understood his words and, from what this being said, he must have done something truly bad. The only thing that comes to mind that could be 'truly bad' that he has done is-

"Are you talking of me taking Tiamat's egg?" Enkidu asked, already imagining it must be it.

Only that could have brought the attention of a being like this, his other secrets were just that, secrets. No one would have any idea about him even having them.

"Yes. This is the egg of a great and very dangerous God Beast, one I would much rather keep sealed for all eternity." The bull said honestly before continuing. "However, that was neither here nor there. You took it and now we can't do anything about it, no one in the current God's Realm can even hope of recreating this seal you invertedly broke. And with how you bonded with it, it became inevitable that, as long as you are alive, it is sure to resurge again in time."

As Enkidu heard this he could sense some trepidation, he could well imagine that one of the ways to solve this 'problem' was to simply kill him. If there was no more Enkidu then there would be no problem, or at least this is what most likely many would think.

"... Will you kill me?" Enkidu asked, wondering if this is how he died. He honestly hoped not but if he sensed that he was going to die he would throw his soul inside the Magic Cube, this way there would at least be a chance of him being reborn in the future.

"... It depends." the bull said. "On one side killing you and keeping the egg close to me might be the easier and faster option, simply making sure that it will not be influenced by the evil mind of man. However, that would leave its personality to develop in any way it may depending on how it grows, which could be dangerous as well. In the other hand, should you be of good enough heart and strong enough to survive then Tiamat would become a benevolent beast that would certainly not try and eradicate all of the current life of the universe, perhaps even be able to help protect the world for when the time comes."

Enkidu was now confused. Time, what time? What could he or this egg do to help?

However, the next few words made his doubts be forgotten and instead something different took it's place.

"After all, you are a member of the Heaven Smiting Devil Clan."

Sensing the anger in Enkidu the bull felt that this may not be a good idea, but he would not judge Enkidu just like that. He needed to test him, to see his resolve and see if he could trust Enkidu with what was to come in the future.

"Regardless, right now you have two paths in front of you. You can either die now, I will make this quick and painless, or you can try and pass some trials I have prepared long ago. The trials for my inheritance, for my power, and my approval. If you pass the trials I will ensure you safe passage out of these mountains and will let you keep the egg as well as will give you some of my Blood Essence and let you study the Heavenly Punishment Arts I developed, a set of Thunder and Wind Laws that can imitate the powers of a Heavenly Tribulation and use it to attack or empower your body. I will also let you bathe in the 1.000.000 beasts blood pool I have prepared long ago, making your body evolve to a much higher level. I will let you enjoy this and perhaps even more if you survive my tests, but only if you manage it.

"So, what do you say? Death or will try your luck?"