Chapter 192 192 What do you want?

[OP: ]

Cary possessed the ability to manipulate shadows, darkness, space, and even the fundamental essence of reality itself. Despite his weakened state and several imposed limitations, he harnessed his spatial manipulation powers to partition a specific portion of space, creating isolation between distinct sections.

So, upon Lucy's request, Cary isolated the space encompassing the dining table, creating a separation between Rex and Lucy on one side and El and Cathy on the other.

To fortify this separation and block the usage of any unwanted skills, Anna used her superior time and truth-manipulating powers to create a powerful barrier that blocked any kind of outside interference such as the spectators watching Rex and Cathy right now.

They were separated into a unique personal space that was truly theirs alone for the time being.

"Prince Morexis.. is it alright if I call you Rex during the duration of this conversation?"

And, since Lucy intended to finish the conversation quickly so that he could go out and pick up El's first queen, he wasn't going to beat around the bush.

"Princess Cathy~! It's so nice to finally have you all for myself~!"

But El on the other hand had some different plans of her own.

"W-what did you just do?! What.."

Cathy was confused, and Rex was as well but he was observing the thing that had appeared all around him out of nowhere at the moment instead of being in a surprised or shocked state like Cathy.

"What is this..? This is certainly not Mana or Aura or Spirit power.. this thing similar to the darkness attribute?"

"It's called [Shadow energy]. A unique power no one in this world knows about."

Rex was fascinated by the black wall that was created around him and Lucy.

It was covering them from all sides. And, even though it was a translucent wall and he could see that there was someone beyond this wall, he could neither see them clearly nor hear anything.

In fact, he couldn't even hear the strange voices that he usually hears all the time he is awake.

"Fascinating.."

There was a strange quiet present all around him and, he couldn't exactly put a name to this calmness but, he was feeling something very unique for the first time in his life.

"The voices are gone, aren't they? And, you also feel like you have been freed from the heavy chains you didn't know were binding you?" Lucy spoke up with a smile on his face while looking at him and, Rex jolted his head back towards him as soon as he heard that.

"How did you..?"

The voices, the strange heaviness that he felt all the time, his heart that was feeling lighter than it had ever been in here, and the way his whole mind was functioning better than ever was something he thought was unique only to him.

He had asked many of his close colleagues about the voices, the heaviness, the strangeness of the reality, and such abnormal things that he could perceive clearly however, all the ones he had asked about these things previously had no idea what he was talking about.

He had accepted this was something only he could perceive and since he knew whatever these things were, were in fact real and not a construction of his mind, he knew if the person before him who had created this special place knew of these things as well, then he must have a deeper understanding of what these things actually are.

And Lucy didn't even try to deny his doubts.

"I know you are curious.

Curious about the questions only you can understand, curious about the strange things you can see, curious about the things you see in your dreams, and curious about the things that suddenly pop up into your head out of nowhere.

I can understand what you might be going through each and every day because of your unique skills and 'nature', but, let me tell you one very important thing before we begin our conversation.."

He looked up at him with a serious gaze and Rex knew this wasn't going to be anything simple. The initial posting of this chapter occurred via n(0))vel(b)(j)(n).

"The things you see, feel, and perceive.. it's not necessary that they will be true every single time." He paused after saying that and looked around himself.

"As you already know, there exists higher realms and in these higher realms resides beings that aren't bound by limits like us mortals.

They aren't just gods, demons, and divinities, but, also beings who once used to be just like us: mortals bound by worldly constraints.

And, some of those higher powers would always want to possess what you have, or, more precisely, what 'you' are.

They will play elaborate games, create illusions that are fake yet seem too close to real, or, when the time comes, interfere directly to get what they want.

Some will employ every single resource at their disposal to achieve their objective, to obtain you, with your own consent, specifically.

There will be times you will have to distinguish between the true reality and the reality created by them. However.. when you get past them, you will feel greater freedom than what you feel in this small, confined space."

Lucy gave him a clue about something he should have only found out after facing those higher beings' interference a few times...

He did not tell him about his specialness, about his mother, or about the truth of his Zero skill, but, what he told him, according to him, would be more than enough for him to get past many of the trials he will face in the near future.

"..what do you mean by that?"

"Well, you will figure it out soon. Just remember to call her name whenever you feel it's unbearable."

"Call whose name?"

Lucy didn't answer this last question of his and just smiled at him mysteriously which, Rex found very strange.

Lucy was talking about strange things and Rex had no idea what he was even talking about.

Many of the things he had just said were vague and to make them worse, they were strangely something he understood.

Even more strangely, they had made home in his mind for some reason and, even though he wanted to comprehend them completely, he could not do so at the moment.

"Alright, Rex. Let's talk about the important things like your father.. the emperor I mean, your hatred for him, how you want to take everything he has, and how you want to avenge your 'mother'."

He moved on to the important talk and Rex prepared himself for what was going to happen in the next moments.

"Tell me, Rex.

What do you want?"

Lucy looked straight into his red eyes which had a little lighter shade than El's blood-red eyes, with his fingers intertwined, his chin resting on top of them.

At the same time, after talking about the casual things about herself and her life, El also rested her chin on her interlocked fingers and looked straight into Cathy's light green eyes with her crimson red ones.

"You love your parents, your family, your grandma and, they love you back unconditionally. However, that same love has granted you many enemies, right?"

She enjoyed their sweet talk however, she had somewhere to go as well so she had to get to this question.

"There are people who want what you have, there are people who would do anything to you or your loved ones if it means they could possess what will soon be yours and yours alone...

The hunters hiding in the shadows, the demons who have their eyes on your treasures, the monsters wearing the mask of a caring close one..

I know you have encountered something that opened your eyes to these truths that had existed all around you since you were young, but, Cathy..

What do you want?

What do you want to do and what do you want from us?

Tell me."

They asked them a question that both of them had prepared themselves for since the previous night. However, now that they were facing the question themselves, along with the information about the two of them that they unexpectedly seemed to know in detail, they.. were left speechless for a moment.

Rex wanted them to be his subordinates so that they could help him take down the emperor, one of the absolutes of this world and, Cathy wanted to hire them to protect herself from the unknown dangers that were lurking around her all the time.

They knew about their strengths, their knowledge, uniqueness, and the strangeness they had.

They had seen more than enough to know what they were capable of.

They had seen their familiars that possessed abilities to talk and create places like the ones they were in at the moment.

They had seen how the food they made was better than anything they had ever tasted, and, they had seen the place they currently had all to themselves, a place that no other student was allowed into without their specific permission.

They were confident they could convince them to join them however, things had taken an unexpected turn now that they were in fact sitting before them.

This was the first time in their lives that they were feeling a kind of charisma they only felt from the people they looked up to, the absolutes like his father and her grandmother, from someone that was around the same age as them or were just students like them at least.

[ "Hehe, she is nervous now." ]

[ "And he is thinking, just like I thought he would." ]

[ "Lololololololol. You should just tell him we will help him if he helps us lol. Why make things complicated for him?" ]

[ "For the future dear love. For the future that all of us will share, even if it will be only for a short while." ]

They were thinking of the future that had yet to come since they knew what they wanted it to be, however, the two of them before them, the two royals who were facing a great mental crisis for the first time in their lives, were having difficulty in this very moment.

"Master Lucifer.."

However, even though Cathy was contemplating on what to say even after a few minutes, as they had guessed, Rex had reached his conclusion.

"Please accept me as your friend, or, at least.. a companion."

And, the conclusion was something neither of them had expected to hear from him.

[ "What what..?" ]

[ "The hack is up with this bastard now?" ]

[[ Tsk. He sure is smart I would say that much. ]]

[[ One would have asked for the same if one were in one's position. One has an unexpectedly sharp forthright.. or is it just a coincidence? An innocent request of an innocent young one? ]]

They couldn't understand it since it was just absurd to them, however, there was sincerity in his eyes, which made things worse.