A thoughtful silence settled between them, broken only by the distant, fading echoes of battle. Rex's gaze was fixed on the pulsating gems now secured within the golden circle of his power.
"Let me see if I understand," he murmured so only he and Cleo could hear. "The very thing we need to secure our future is hidden inside those... those things?" The implication was a heavy weight in the air.
"If that's truly the case, then farming them with our current strength isn't just difficult; it's a straight path to annihilation."
Cleo offered only a single, solemn nod, her silence more confirming than any words could be. It was a grim truth they now had to bear.
Rex straightened his shoulders, and when he spoke again, his voice cut through the weary atmosphere like a sharpened blade, yet to the exhausted soldiers, it sounded sweeter than honey.