Swamp Dragon had a True Sin Aura.
Nobody thought that Swamp Dragon, of all people, would condense a True Sin Aura.
He had been well on his way to condensing a True Hero Aura. He had put so much work into improving his Karmic Luck, and now... all his Karmic Luck was gone.
Sebastian walked to the side, not looking at Swamp Dragon. Kyle could tell something between the two of them was wrong, but he was preoccupied with Swamp Dragon's True Sin Aura.
Swamp Dragon looked at everyone for a moment before focusing on Kyle. "I've taken your advice, Bang," he said neutrally.
"I didn't mean for this to happen," Kyle answered with an uncomfortable expression.
"I don't blame you," Swamp Dragon said. "This is what I chose. I realized that I have focused on my Karmic Luck too much. It distracted me from my purpose and conviction."
"I didn't expect you to accept," Kyle said after a bit of silence.
"I also didn't expect to accept," Swamp Dragon answered. "But things change."
"What changed?" Kyle asked.
"Nothing and a lot," Swamp Dragon answered. "My thoughts have not changed. The Cult is the enemy, and I will do everything in my power to stop them."
"Then, why are you here?" Sebastian asked from the side in an annoyed voice. "Everyone is here now. You said you would tell us."
Swamp Dragon didn't look at Sebastian. It seemed like these two weren't the biggest fans of each other.
Swamp Dragon crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "You all want to use the unknown world as a safe haven and ascend back to the Supreme World, is that correct?"
"That's the plan, yes," Star Genesis said, not looking at Swamp Dragon.
In fact, Star Genesis had been convinced that Swamp Dragon wouldn't come, and unless Swamp Dragon gave an explanation, she still wouldn't believe it. In her mind, there was a bigger chance that Swamp Dragon used himself as some form of bait to lead the Array of Stars to their base, fully intending to die while doing the right thing. She admired Swamp Dragon for his conviction, but she also didn't want to die to him.
"The payment for this trip is to tell the Cult of Final Fate about the world, correct?" Swamp Dragon asked.
"Yes, I already told you," Sebastian commented with annoyance. "Can you finally get to the point?"
Swamp Dragon didn't seem annoyed or disturbed by Sebastian's hostile attitude.
Swamp Dragon opened his eyes and looked at Kyle. "I will give you something you haven't given me."
"Honesty."
The next moment, Swamp Dragon summoned an object. It was a small emblem from the Array of Stars.
When Swamp Dragon summoned it, he also activated his Momentum, making it impossible for everyone to teleport. The world around everyone seemingly stopped moving, but at the same time, everything seemed to jitter in place.
As for the object, everyone recognized it.
"You're insane!" Sebastian shouted, but he didn't dare to move or do anything.
The others looked at Swamp Dragon in terror, except for Manny.
They knew, right now...
Their lives were no longer in their hands.
The object Swamp Dragon had summoned was something called a Last Light. A Last Light was an object containing the Complex Law of a powerful Seeker. They were hard and costly to produce, and barely anyone offered them.
If Swamp Dragon crushed this object, the powerful Complex Law would be freed, and it would use the user's existence as an Energy Source to launch one attack.
In short, Swamp Dragon would die to unleash an attack with the insights of a Level Seven, Eight, Nine, or even Ten Complex Law.
Everyone on this Planet would die.
"I can not trust you, Bang," Swamp Dragon said neutrally. He didn't even seem nervous or afraid. "I can't trust any of your words. I trust the others, but the source of their trust is you. If you have lied to them, they will unwittingly help the Cult."
"Is this it?" Kyle asked with narrowed eyes. "Are you just going to kill everyone?"
"That depends entirely on everyone's compliance," Swamp Dragon said. "I will not help the Cult, but I also can't help anyone else anymore. I have a True Sin Aura. The world has declared me an irredeemable sinner, even though I have done nothing but good."
"So what?" Sebastian asked with a snort. "Are you going to blow yourself up because the world is unfair? You hate the world, but you also hate the Cult. Everything's horrible. Might as well go out in a blaze of glory. Is that it?"
Swamp Dragon ignored Sebastian and kept looking at Kyle. "I am willing to come to the unknown world with you, but I'm done trusting you. I need assurance."
"I need an oath, and I don't want a simple one on your Karmic Luck. I want you to swear on your life and everything that's important to you."
Kyle took a deep breath as he felt a pit forming in his stomach.
Back then, he had foolishly offered to swear an oath out of impulse, but that would make it impossible to stay friends. There would be a tremendous power imbalance. This would not be a friendship.
The fact that Swamp Dragon demanded an oath meant that there was no friendship left between them.
It was unsalvageable.
Kyle looked at the Last Light in Swamp Dragon's hand. In a way, this represented their new dynamic.
'I shouldn't have invited him,' Kyle thought. 'But he also deserves a choice. Yet, can giving the person who hates you the most a weapon be considered a choice?'
Kyle glared at Swamp Dragon with hatred. He didn't want to make an oath, but he didn't have a choice. It was not just his life that was in danger.
"What oath?" Kyle asked coldly.
"First, I want you to swear that everything in your letter was honest. I want you to swear that there was no deceit in this letter," Swamp Dragon said.
"I need to read it again," Kyle said.
Swamp Dragon summoned the letter, and Kyle read through it.
"I left some parts out, but it can't be considered deceptive," Kyle said. "I couldn't put too much information into the letter since it might implicate others. I am willing to share more information with you now and change my oath accordingly."
Swamp Dragon nodded, and Kyle gave some more background information. He said what he thought of the Cult, why he was here, and why he had invited everyone.
"Swear that you have not been deceptive," Swamp Dragon stated coldly.
By now, the others looked at Swamp Dragon with narrowed eyes. Even Star Genesis felt a deep sense of betrayal.
Swamp Dragon had gone too far.
"I swear on my life that I have not tried to deceive you in any way. Not with the letter and not with my words today," Kyle said.
As soon as Kyle spoke the oath, he felt like something important had broken.
All the trust was gone.
All the emotion was gone.
He just hated Swamp Dragon.
"Next..." Swamp Dragon said.
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