The blond hair of the young man flashed in the sunlight. There it was again, that almost perfect face. Lux sighed quietly and knew that this was going to be annoying, but what came next was something Lux had not expected even in his worst dreams.
The prince sat down on the bed one over. The golden armor he was wearing looked good, certainly much better than Lux's, but then Lux heard what the young man had to say.
"Okay, so how should I say this..."
The prince spoke. Lux had a strange feeling. How should he say what? Huh? Lux did not understand.
"Uh, what?"
Then the prince sighed and spoke calmly at first.
"Call me Deil. I, well... also come from your world..."
Lux nodded and listened, not really paying full attention, but then... Lux flinched. W-what? Our world? What did he mean by that? Lux got goosebumps and a cold shiver ran down his back. Then Lux spoke quietly.
"W-what? I don't understand!"
Then Deil nodded.
"It's okay, but unfortunately I have bad, well, very bad news."
Deil stopped and waited for Lux's response.
"W-what, whaat? How am I supposed to trust you, t-that you are not some manipulatable monster?"
Deil's eyes darkened and he spoke sadly.
"You are in the first chain trial, right?"
Lux's breath stopped. It was true. That actually meant this world had existed for much longer? W-what the... A human who had already been living here? For how long had Deil been here?
After a short pause, Deil saw Lux's expression and assumed he could continue.
"Then I came here with my two best friends. We reached the castle without problems, but then my friends went insane and struck the crystal day and night. It seems as if..."
Deil spoke quietly.
"It seems as if the crystal can drive you mad, so you must offer something to the crystal every day, understood?"
Lux choked. He was supposed to do what? And this crystal could drive him insane? Lux understood nothing. He understood absolutely nothing, but Lux nodded.
"O-okay... and why don't you destroy it?"
Lux asked and tried to hide his panic. Lux had clearly failed at that. When Deil noticed Lux's panic, he spoke in a reassuring tone.
"Hey. It's all fine. As long as you offer the crystal something every day. It can be a flower, a drop of blood, everything, well, any object."
So no humans? Lux did not ask that question, because he would never sacrifice a human.
But the prince continued.
"I now live with these people. I think, well, I know that they were created. You... you don't know what kind of feeling it is to be the only human, well, the only real human in the entire world."
Lux might have been mistaken, but a small tear rolled down Deil's cheek. Lux could not blame him. Then Deil continued without a pause.
"Destroying the crystal? Impossible. That bastard is invincible."
Lux repeated quietly.
"invincible?"
"Yes, my friends struck the crystal with all their strength the whole time, sometimes for several hours!"
Lux thought. No, there had to be a way. The crystal could not be invincible. There had to be a way. Lux thought again. Maybe Deil's friends had been too weak or something. Maybe there was a trick. Lux was pulled out of his thoughts.
"So, I hope you understood everything. We are stuck here together!"
Lux had understood it, just not processed it yet.
"Okay, and your girlfriend? Should we tell her?"
Lux interrupted.
"Oh, girlfriend? We are just friends!"
Deil stopped.
"Forgive me."
Deil smiled and scratched the back of his head. Lux continued speaking.
"Yes, we should tell her everything! Are her injuries bad?"
Lux looked at the injured girl. Her white armor lay on the floor next to her. She wore the tunic a bit loosely and had a scratched-up back and two bite marks on her left arm. Those damn night hounds. They had ambushed her. Lux thought. With the slime monster they could fight a bit better now. After all, Lux knew how strong those monsters were. Lux smiled.
"I am glad that you saved us, Deil!"
Lux decided inwardly to accept Deil. Maybe the two of them could become friends as well. Maybe take it slowly... very... slowly...
Deil smiled.
"No need! If I hadn't found you, I think I would have gone insane with the offerings!"
Lux did not say anything to that and leaned on the bed, then slowly stood up. His legs wobbled a little. His shoulder was already healed?
"The bite marks from the dogs are healed?" Lux asked.
Deil answered with a smile.
"Yes, that pill took care of it! Quite useful. One of the good things this world has to offer!"
Deil smiled. Lux nodded and dared to take a few steps. It actually worked. He could move. Lux smiled and took a few steps back.
"It works, I can move!"
Deil smiled back.
"Alright, I think since you are new you can survive a few days without an offering, but you shouldn't overdo it. Make your first offering within three days at most, okay?"
Lux nodded.
"Yes, I will do that. First I will wait until Fie wakes up!"
Lux looked at Fie sleeping on the bed. Deil repeated the name.
"Fie, so that's her name? Okay!"
Then Deil added.
"Hey, what is it with the blindfold anyway? Can you even see anything?"
Deil looked at Lux with astonished eyes. He was probably wondering if Lux could see him. Deil raised a hand and waved it back and forth in front of Lux. Lux had to hold back his laughter.
"I can see you!"
Immediately Deil stopped waving his hand and sat back down on the bed.
"Oh, a-and what is it all about then?"
Well, if Lux himself knew. Lux held a hand to the blindfold and said.
"I wish I knew myself!"
The conversation was interrupted by a yawn. Both of them immediately looked at Fie. She was awake. Lux spoke right away with a smile.
"Fie, you are awake. Are you okay?"
Fie realized what had happened and scanned her surroundings.
"I-I think so. And you?"