Strongest Hammer God

Chapter 1158: True Faces

Kyle watched as the Red Witch "forced" him to commit one atrocity after the other.

With his newfound knowledge and experience, he felt conflicting emotions.

'As a Mortal, I couldn't have known what actions the Red Witch would ask me to take, but at the same time, I was an adult, and I've agreed to the contract. Even more...'

'I don't think she would have killed me if I had refused.'

'If I had vehemently refused, she would have tortured me for a while, but not for a long time. Every second she spends in this world is a second she can't spend in another world. Even more, she has a double identity. By telling me to do such extreme things, she's maximizing her efficiency for both of her identities.'

'If I did everything as told, the Tertiary World would become a perfect place to foster Transcendents, and the Array of Stars would've been happy. If I decided to sacrifice the world to the Cult, she would have destroyed a world and given a Parasite to the Cult. In both cases, she would have pleased one of her two superiors.'

'Yet, even if I had refused, she would have still repaired a world for the Array of Stars. Most likely, she would have conceded, giving me easier tasks. The world would still be repaired, but it would've taken a couple of centuries.'

Kyle sighed. 'In the end, I had a choice. I had a gun to my chest. Many people wouldn't say that they had a choice when someone puts a gun to their chest, but I actually did. That's because I'm not the only one making a choice. If I refuse, the Red Witch would be forced to make a choice. After all, she's not forced to fire her gun.'

'It seemed inescapable back then, but there was actually a way out. Even more, she lied about some things. She said that I would be killed if I ascended, but that's not true at all. I doubt that the Array of Stars sends a list of all subservient Overseers to the Overseer of a Secondary World so that they could execute new ascenders. I could've just called her bluff and ascended.'

Kyle shook his head.

'But can I really blame myself? I was like 150 years old or so. She's millions of years old. She can read me like I can read Mortals. She could see through my entire existence, which allowed her to choose just the right words to get me to do what she wanted.'

As he saw how much his younger self suffered, Kyle felt a feeling of disconnect. He knew that this had once been him, but it didn't feel like it. The Kyle in front of him felt like a stranger.

'It's been so long. I feel like I should still be angry, but I'm just not. Even more, I'm glad that it happened. If I hadn't gone through so much shit, I wouldn't have gone to the Cult, and I wouldn't have joined the Array of Stars as a Parasite. If I had chosen differently back then, I wouldn't be who I am today. Chances are that I wouldn't have become an Immortal.'

'But I still don't like her, and I still don't forgive her. However, I also don't feel like I'm supposed to look for her to kill her. Revenge just doesn't seem important enough to warrant such effort. All of this simply feels like a quarrel between children.'

'She's also the reason why I met Sebastian again, and she even saved us from the Array of Stars and the Contrast Empire.'

'Honestly, let bygones be bygones. Yes, she did some fucked up stuff to me, but it's been so long, and she's also helped me. Let her be a regular stranger to me.'

Kyle's surroundings shifted, and he found himself on Orchis.

As he saw the members of the Cult, he could see two kinds of people, broken and unbroken.

Most of the members were broken people. They had been betrayed, abandoned, or hunted, and that's how they had ended up here. They found companionship and a purpose in the Cult, which was why they followed their commands.

The unbroken people were not here for companionship or a home. They had a goal, and they were here to achieve that goal. They were like soldiers who had been sent into a combat zone. They had a war to win, and they would do anything to achieve victory.

Some of the people had malformed or incomplete Karmic Lines. These were the people who had partially fused with Death. The world was trying to incorporate them, but the Death inside of them messed with the rules and Laws. They were only partially under the influence of Karmic Luck, and since they were not truly subject to the rules, they were exceptionally hard to analyze or track.

No matter how powerful a Demigod was, they still existed within the rules. That was why they couldn't track these members of the Cult.

'Predator and prey,' Kyle thought. 'All of us are killing people and amassing resources to grow more powerful. This is just how life works. The Cult isn't doing anything wrong. They're doing the same thing, but on a more fundamental scale. On Earth, single-celled organisms consume other single-celled organisms. That's like Seekers killing each other. Multi-celled organisms consume other multi-celled organisms. That's like the Cult attacking the Cosmos.'

Eventually, Kyle saw the Lord again.

'As expected, I can't see through him. His Karmic Lines are nonexistent. He's not hiding them. He just doesn't have any. I also can't read his power at all. I have no idea about how strong he is.'

Then, he saw Lady Arrowstrife.

'She's just a Two-Infused Ascendant, and her aura isn't even intense. She's not even an average Ascendant.'

Finally, after watching for a while longer, Kyle saw another face that would play a big role in his life.

Swamp Dragon.

'His true self is identical to the image I had of him back then,' Kyle thought. 'His morals are rigid but quite pure. He's very honest and straightforward. He tries to do what he thinks is right.'

'No wonder I admired him back then. In fact, I still admire this version of him. He was as much of a good guy as you can reasonably expect.'

Kyle saw the Investigator of the Star Seeking, and once more, he couldn't read through him. This was another Lord.

When Kyle saw Swamp Dragon's Karmic Lines after the past Kyle had come clean about his status as a Parasite, he sighed.

'Swamp Dragon felt deep pain. According to his ideology, he was supposed to condemn me.'

'But he talked himself out of it. He tried to find a reason to forgive me and deluded himself into thinking that forgiveness is something important. I hurt him so much, but he still genuinely forgave me.'

Kyle thought of the current iteration of Swamp Dragon.

'How have you changed so much?'

Some time later, Kyle saw the Chief Overseer of the local branch.

'He's not weak but also not strong,' Kyle thought as he furrowed his brows. 'I think he's a Beginner or Adept Immortal. In fact...'

'I'm pretty sure I could beat him after my advancement has finished.'

Then, Kyle saw another important person.

As he saw Manny, Kyle's eyes narrowed.

His aura...

It was very similar to the aura Kyle saw when he had looked at Swamp Dragon during the discussions following his battle with Fox.

Even though Manny acted like a chaotic maniac, he had always just played a character.

Deep inside, he was determined, driven, convinced, disciplined, and exceptionally selfless in the most extreme sense. He would do anything to improve the Cosmos. He would sacrifice himself, his friends, his family, and his home.

The greater collective was the most important thing in existence.

And yet, he was also suffering.

He had emotions and wants like everyone else. However, to do what was right, he was willing to live a life of regret and pain.

He didn't enjoy putting on an act. He didn't like viewing everyone else as resources. He wanted to relax and find companionship, but he didn't allow himself to feel any of these pleasures.

Everyone wanted to improve the world in one way or another, and this desire had been pushed to the utmost extremes, in his case.

'It's simultaneously tragic, enraging, admirable, and deplorable.'

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