Kyle took a deep breath.
Hearing these words hurt, but he could also see where Swamp Dragon was coming from.
Kyle was not a normal person. He had always been a bit strange due to his childhood and past.
It had never been easy for him to put himself in someone else's shoes, but he had learned quite a lot over his life.
He couldn't really feel what Swamp Dragon was feeling, but he could simulate a scenario.
For example, Kyle just had to imagine a similar situation.
Hypothetically, Sebastian and Kyle had been ambushed by a powerful Transcending Beast back in the Tertiary World. The fight seemed almost unwinnable, and they planned on retreating before coming up with a new way to counterattack.
Now, assuming Sebastian said that he had a plan and charged at the beast while telling Kyle to escape and he believed him, how would Kyle feel if Sebastian died?
Betrayed.
They were supposed to be in this together! They were one unit! One group!
The most important part was that the battle seemed ALMOST unwinnable. It was not completely unwinnable.
As long as there was still a chance, Kyle would want to fight the enemy together with Sebastian.
Another important aspect was the wording, or more precisely, the lie.
Technically, it wasn't a lie. After all, Sebastian had a plan, which was to die, but human relationships weren't like rules or trade agreements.
Even if it was not technically a lie, it very much had the properties and the emotional impact of one.
Of course, Sebastian knew that Kyle wouldn't want him to sacrifice himself for him, which was why he had been deceitful in this hypothetical scenario. If Kyle ran after him, his sacrifice would have been pointless.
Naturally, there might also be a difference in opinion regarding the battle.
Returning to the actual scenario, what were the chances of escape?
If the team had fought together, it wouldn't have been impossible to survive until a Dimensional Collapse happened, but at that point, they would have been confronted with the dreaded coinflip.
Swamp Dragon would have been fine with that coinflip. The chances were still high enough for him. For Kyle, he was willing to take the chance.
But Kyle had taken the choice from Swamp Dragon by lying to him.
Another hypothetical scenario with a different relationship and emotional severity, but similar circumstances.
A child's heart had a defect. There was a 50% chance of survival during surgery. Alternatively, the father of the child could donate his heart for a 95% chance of survival.
Most likely, there would be a disagreement.
The child would want to take the chance, while the father would want to ensure his child's survival.
Kyle and Swamp Dragon had had a similar disagreement during their retreat.
Swamp Dragon wanted to take the chance, but Kyle didn't want him to take the chance and made the decision for him.
By going through these simulations, Kyle could see where Swamp Dragon was coming from.
"I didn't want you to die," Kyle said.
"And I didn't want you to die," Swamp Dragon answered coldly. "We could have survived until the Dimensional Collapse. If you had just trusted us more, things would have been different."
"Yes, you would be dead," Kyle answered. "I survived until the Dimensional Collapse, and I just barely survived. The biggest reason why I'm alive is the power of my body. Just 5% less power, and I would be dead."
"Do I feel bad for lying to you? Yes."
"Do I want to lie to you? No, absolutely not."
"Do I view you as a friend? Absolutely!"
"Do I regret lying to you? No!" Kyle said with conviction. "Because of my lie, you are still alive. Yes, we might have survived until the Dimensional Collapse, but the Dimensional Collapse would have killed you."
"You didn't know that back then," Swamp Dragon answered with furrowed brows.
"No, I didn't," Kyle said. "At the time, yes, I can concede that I made the wrong choice. I shouldn't have lied to you. We could have still survived, but in retrospect, it was the right choice."
"It was a wrong choice that proved to be the right one later."
"I went with all our life savings to the casino and bet everything on black. Yes, it was dumb, but I won, and now we can buy a house! Not sure if that metaphor makes sense without context, but it's the first one I could come up with," Kyle said.
"Will I do that again? Fuck no! I know that it was fucking dumb, but it worked out!"
Swamp Dragon wasn't from Earth, and casinos were not a big thing here, but he could understand what Kyle meant.
"I'm willing to make an oath," Kyle said. "I took your agency away. I took your choice from you and forced my choice on you. The fact that I took your agency away from you while having agency is literally my goal in life makes me the biggest fucking hypocrite."
"I'm willing to make an oath that I will never force my choices upon you on purpose. Can't help it if it happens by accident like provoking some Crusher or something, and we are suddenly in a battle or something similar, but I won't do it purposefully anymore."
Swamp Dragon gritted his teeth, which was rare.
He rarely showed a lot of emotion.
Right now, there was a battle of ideals in Swamp Dragon's mind.
Yes, Kyle had taken Swamp Dragon's agency, but he had done it for one of the most selfless reasons imaginable.
There were not many acts that were considered more selfless than sacrificing oneself to save someone else.
In that way, Swamp Dragon partially admired Kyle.
But at the same time, Kyle had lied to him and made a sacrifice he didn't want him to make.
He was his friend, for Karma's sake!
Yes, he wanted to continue being friends with Kyle, but what if the same thing happened again?
Swamp Dragon didn't want to be the reason for Kyle's death.
At the same time, the oath was also problematic.
Swamp Dragon didn't want to have power over Kyle. He didn't want to force him into taking such an oath.
An oath was a huge deal.
But at the same time, it would stop such a situation from occurring again.
Making a choice on this wasn't easy.
Several seconds of silence passed.
"Why?" Swamp Dragon asked. "Yes, we are friends, but why go to such lengths? Such an oath would follow you for the remainder of your life. Why would you even offer something like that?"
These oaths were enforced by the Laws governing the Cosmos. The world itself would force the person to lose whatever they swore on if they ever broke the oath.
Making such an oath was like giving one's closest friend full access to one's bank account to prove that they would never steal money from them again. It was way too extreme.
Was Kyle this desperate for friends?
Why this crazy need to keep him by his side?
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