Strongest Hammer God

Chapter 1169: What to Choose

"I don't know what that is," Kyle answered.

"It's a service Auspicious Karma offers," the Protector answered. "They will look at your Karmic Luck and find the inactive Karmic Lines from before you underwent your Fusion. If you have undisclosed loyalties, they will find out."

'That's... not good,' Kyle thought. 'If shit goes wrong, they might even find out that I have a history with the Cult.'

As Kyle went through all of the possibilities, he grew more nervous. 'Fuck, I also can't just reject! I mean, I can, but that might only make things worse. This is not Earth. I can't just deny a search and sue them. This is the Wargod's Peak, and they can kill me without a reason. There's no rule that says that they can't do that. Survival in the Wargod's Peak is a privilege, not a right.'

"Can't I just swear some confirmation oaths?" Kyle asked.

"Your loyalties and your identity are important," the Protector answered. "If it weren't for your aura, I would be fine with it. However, we both know that I have a duty to make sure that letting you grow won't endanger the Wargod's Peak. You can also swear oaths, but they have to be permanent oaths."

Kyle grimaced as he went through all the ways this could go.

He had to prove that he wasn't planning on hurting the Wargod's Peak, and the proof had to have sufficient weight.

Confirmation oaths were oaths that only worked for one instant. If someone swore that they had killed a Divine Beast, for example, the oath would only be active for a short moment. After all, it simply confirmed someone's words.

Permanent oaths represented swearing on the future. For example, if someone swore that they would never kill a Divine Beast, the oath would remain active. After all, if they killed a Divine Beast in the future, they would have broken their oath.

Kyle could swear that he had no issues with the Wargod's Peak and that he didn't plan on going against them. Since he would be swearing on the past and the present, the oath would count as a confirmation oath. The past was unchangeable, and the present would become the past very soon.

However, if he swore that he would never go against the Wargod's Peak, he would forever limit his future choices. If things got really bad, the Wargod's Peak could even take advantage of the oath and indirectly enslave him.

Naturally, the Protector's goal wasn't to dig up Kyle's secrets. She essentially didn't care where he came from or what he had done. After all, Kyle was just a Beginner Immortal. Any Ascending Immortal could kill him with ease. He was not currently a danger.

Her goal was the prevention of danger. Someone with Kyle's talent might become a danger in the future, and she wanted to get rid of that eventuality.

'This is more problematic than I had thought,' Kyle thought as his mind tried to find a solution. 'As long as I'm careful with my oath, the Wargod's Peak won't be able to take advantage of it. I could swear a long oath that basically states that I won't antagonize the Wargod's Peak as long as they don't antagonize me. That would be the smartest way.'

Yet, almost everything inside of Kyle refused that option. 'But I really hate permanent oaths! I'm finally free of oaths! All of my oaths vanished ever since I underwent my Fusion, and I haven't taken on any new oaths since then. I don't want to create new oaths. I've got my one chance at a new start. I won't get a second one.'

'Another option would be to request a private meeting with a Demigod. Demigods aren't stupid. If I can see how everything will develop if the Wargod's Peak decides to fully foster me, they can see that as well. There's a chance that they will keep my true power a secret, even from the Wargod's Peak.'

'But things will still become difficult, and in a way, I will also be bound to the Wargod's Peak.'

'What to do... '

Kyle remained silent for a while.

'You know what? Fuck it! If I die, only Red's team will be killed. I've literally tried my best to be as covert and unassuming as possible. I didn't antagonize anybody. I advanced in secret. I didn't join anyone. I just want to live my life in peace.'

'If my secret gets out, and if these guys really want to suppress or kill me...'

'I'll actually join the Cult with black's team. Like, for real. With that, I mean that I will actually try to get rid of this Cosmos. It's kill or be killed. It's not like this Cosmos gets destroyed for no reason. It would be eaten, and its Energy would be absorbed by a different Cosmos. It's not different from a lion eating a wildebeest.'

'But I shouldn't jump to conclusions just yet. This will only happen if the Wargod's Peak actually tries to fuck with me. For now, they're just talking and trying to make sure that I'm not trying to destroy them. Let's give them a chance.'

"I consent to the Karmic Origin Search," Kyle answered.

The Protector's brows furrowed.

She hadn't expected that.

Usually, people were more scared of their dirty secrets coming to light than simply swearing on something that might never become relevant. Kyle could design his oath in such a way that it would only become relevant if he actually had the power to threaten the Wargod's Peak, and to have that power, he needed to become a Demigod first.

Using Earth as a comparison, deciding between a Karmic Origin Search and swearing such an oath would be the equivalent of deciding between granting someone access to all of one's digital history and swearing that one wouldn't try to suppress a company if one ever became a billionaire. Most people would choose the latter. After all, the chance that they would become a billionaire was pretty small.

The Protector had used the Karmic Origin Search as an initial offer before negotiations. She made a low offer so that her medium offer looked better.

Yet, Kyle had agreed to the Karmic Origin Search.

"Are you sure you want to agree to a Karmic Origin Search?" the Protector asked. "Auspicious Karma is very thorough. Your Law of Karmic Causality also won't protect you from them."

Kyle wasn't surprised that she knew about his Law of Karmic Causality. To her, it had to be the most obvious thing in the world. After all, she was the only one who noticed Kyle's intense aura. If he didn't know the Law of Karmic Causality, everyone in Wild's Summit would be looking at him.

"I agree," Kyle said. "I might've been a bit deceptive here and there, but I don't need to tell you. I'm sure that Karmic Origin Search will tell you all about my past."

The Protector looked at Kyle for a short moment with an unamused expression.

"Very well," she transmitted while looking at her Communicator.

Her Communicator had many more functionalities than Kyle's Communicator. One of these functions was to buy services from other Organizations using Wild's Summit's budget.

She requested a Karmic Origin Search and chose a couple of options, which changed the price.

"The Karmic Detective will arrive within a couple of minutes," she transmitted calmly.

"Sure, I'll wait," Kyle answered, not knowing that he had cost the city over 150,000 Grade Nine Energy Stones.

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