Strongest Hammer God

The vegetation Kyle saw was mixed. There were a couple of gigantic trees, but most of all, there were thorny vines. The thorny vines grew along the floor, and some of them also wrapped around the trees.

As he looked around, Kyle also noticed several Demons passing through the vegetation. Naturally, most of them were flying, but some of them were also running. Yet, no matter at what altitude they traveled, there was one thing that always happened.

Whenever a Demon passed the vine border, one or more of the vines stretched towards the Demon, drawing a bit of blood. A moment later, the vines retreated, returning to their usual location.

'The vines do not feel that powerful, but that doesn't reflect reality. They can even draw blood from Sage and Spirit Lord Beasts.'

"Well, here we go," Kyle uttered as he ordered the Demon Car to travel to the vines.

The vines didn't react as the Demon Car approached.

The three people inside the Demon Car took deep breaths as the moment of truth arrived. It was more than clear that the vines were inspecting everyone who passed. If the Demon Car failed its inspection, it would die.

It all hinged on how Manny had created the Demon Car. They didn't even know what criteria the vines based their judgment on.

When the Demon Car flew over the vines, one of the vines stretched towards it with incredible speed. The vine wrapped around one of the legs of the Demon Car.

The Demon Car's will reactivated, blocking Kyle from sensing the surroundings.

For just a moment, Kyle became worried, but after just a single second, he regained control over the Demon Car, and he could finally sense his surroundings again.

Next, the Demon Car sent the things it had experienced within the last second to Kyle.

Kyle felt how something thin and frail had grabbed the Demon Car's legs. If it had chosen to, it could have destroyed it with ease.

But then, a burst of Energy and force arrived in the vine, increasing its power severalfold.

CRKSH!

One of the legs of the Demon Car was penetrated by the vines, drawing blood. The blood was absorbed by the vines within an instant, and then...

The vines retreated and returned to their original position.

The Demon Car continued traveling towards the east. None of the other vines reacted. That was when Kyle had regained control over the Demon Car.

Several seconds of silence passed as Kyle watched the surroundings. None of the other plants seemingly reacted to their presence.

"I think we got through," Kyle said to the others as he inspected the Demon Car.

"You think or you know?" Sebastian asked.

"How am I supposed to know?" Kyle asked back. "I can only see that the plants are basically ignoring us now. That probably means we passed the inspection, but it could also be that they sent an alarm and are waiting for backup."

"Do you know what they tested?" Star Genesis asked.

Kyle's brows furrowed. "I'm not entirely sure, but I have a suspicion. The vines drew some blood from the Demon Car, but I didn't feel any special Energy waves when they absorbed it. If they had analyzed the blood, there would have been some signs. That probably means that they're not analyzing the blood but something else."

"I think they're analyzing Karma," Kyle said.

"How?" Sebastian asked with a raised brow.

"I think the blood is payment for something else," Kyle explained. "The blood the plants consumed was for their personal use. What they actually inspected wasn't the blood but the Karma generated by causing an injury. I think the vines are separate entities that work as one unit."

"An individual vine is pretty weak. I could tell that it was weak when it touched me, but just mere moments later, the vine suddenly became powerful enough to easily break through the Demon Car's armor. I think the vines can pull Energy from other plants and use it, increasing their power tremendously."

"I think there is something connected to these vines that can form Karmic Lines. If that thing gives an order to injure someone, a Karmic Line will be created, but only if the other party can have Karmic Lines. If they injure a Demon, nothing will happen. If they injure a human, a Karmic Line is formed, and they know it's a human."

"That makes sense," Star Genesis said. "Karma is the most fundamental difference between humans and Demons. You can fake many things, but you can't fake Karma."

"That's also probably why I lost control of the Demon Car for a second," Kyle said.

"Wait, you lost control?" Sebastian asked.

Kyle nodded. "Yeah, it isolated my perception for just a second. I got a bit nervous when that happened, but now I'm thankful. If I had controlled the Demon Car, assuming I'm right with my suspicion, a Karmic Line would have formed. Well, there probably still is a Karmic Line, but it's so weak that nobody can sense it."

"I just don't know how or why it made that decision," Kyle added. "I have access to the Demon Car's will, and yet, it made an autonomous decision. Even more, I didn't even think about the Karma thing when it happened, but the Demon Car did."

"It's strange. On one hand, the Demon Car seems stupid, slow, weak, and simple, but on the other hand, it just made an important and intelligent decision. It makes no sense. I have full control of its will. I can even see what it knows, including its instincts. There's nothing in its mind that would make it resist in such a scenario. This action just came out of nowhere without any reason."

"Did Manny do something?" Sebastian asked. "If anything's weird and fishy, it's probably him."

"I don't know," Kyle answered. "I can't see anything strange, but at this point, I've given up trying to predict Manny's abilities. His powers get stranger and stranger as time passes."

"I'm of the same opinion," Star Genesis said, "but that's a good thing. Manny is on our side, and the more powerful he is, the better."

Kyle nodded.

"I'm not so sure," Sebastian said.

"About what?" Kyle asked.

"I'm not so sure about Manny," Sebastian replied. "Yes, he is on our side. I can believe that, but it doesn't feel... right."

"How does it not feel right?" Star Genesis asked with furrowed brows. "He made all of this possible. He sacrificed his own gains to support us, and right now, he's the Demons' biggest target by his own choice. I can't see how he could reasonably commit more."

"Yes, I know, and I agree," Sebastian said. "It's just that it doesn't feel like he's truly on our side."

Star Genesis glanced with annoyance at Sebastian. "You need to be a bit more specific."

"Wait," Kyle said. "I think I know what he means, and I know where this comes from."

Kyle remembered the Karmic Lines he had seen on Manny. They had been yellow, representing support, but the yellow had been pretty weak.

"I think Sebastian means that Manny is helping us as much as he can. He is doing his absolute best to support us, but at the same time, it seems like his heart isn't really in it."

"Yes, exactly!" Sebastian shouted. "That's what I meant! He helps us a lot, but it feels like he's not truly invested. It's like asking a friend for some money. The friend gives you more money than you asked for, but at the same time, they also end the conversation very quickly so that they can focus on something else. This is a huge deal for you, but even though your friend helped you, you still feel like they don't really care."

"And that's bad?" Star Genesis asked.

Sebastian scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "No, not really. It's just... weird. He's done so much, but I just don't feel like he's invested. That makes me a bit nervous."

"I trust Manny," Kyle said. "I see where you're coming from, but I don't think that's something to be worried about. I don't think there's a deeper purpose behind this."

"I think he just doesn't feel very strongly. Maybe he thinks he cares about some things, but deep inside, he feels like an onlooker. He sees himself doing things and caring about things, but it's far away. It's reality, but in terms of emotions, reality might seem like a movie or game on a screen."

"That might be why he doesn't seem invested."

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