Cassandra stared at him for a long, agonizing moment. She searched his face behind the mask, her mind working at a frantic pace, trying to peel back the layers of his charisma to find the truth.
She was searching for the man beneath the god, trying to discern if this was a genuine vision of a new world order or simply the most sophisticated form of psychological warfare he had ever deployed.
"You'll tell me which it is eventually," she said, her voice a low, steady challenge. "Whether the mercy offer and the strategic arrangement are the same thing."
"Whether you intend to rule us... or simply use us."
"Yes," Rex said, his voice echoing back from the corridor, sounding both like a promise and a prophecy. "Eventually."
The silence that followed Rex's "Eventually" felt heavy, charged with the weight of the unknown. He remained in the archway for a moment; then, he stepped into the cell, the heavy thud of his boots on the stone floor resonating like the tolling of a funeral bell.
