The fleeting touch along Lucifer's jawline ignited a devastating reaction, like molten lava plunging into an icy lake.
"You—are—asking—for—death!"
A low, terrifying roar erupted from his throat—no longer the cold, commanding pressure of a ruler, but the primal instinct of a thoroughly enraged beast. His crimson pupils narrowed to vertical slits as overwhelming pheromones erupted around him with unprecedented ferocity. No longer a dense fog, they transformed into countless sharp icicles and searing flames, simultaneously piercing and scorching Lin Xi, who was engulfed within.
"Gah!"
Lin Xi grunted, feeling as if her internal organs were being gripped and torn apart by an invisible giant hand. Her bones groaned under the unbearable strain. This body was simply too frail. Facing the Alpha's fully unleashed fury, she could barely stand. Her knees buckled, threatening to send her crashing to the ground. The chains rattled violently with her tremors.
[WARNING! Host's vital signs rapidly declining! Mission time remaining: 2 hours 28 minutes!]
The system's alarm pierced her ears with its shrillness.
She couldn't kneel!
Lin Xi bit down hard on her tongue, the metallic, iron-rust taste spreading across her palate. The intense pain jolted her nerves, snapping her from the brink of unconsciousness. Gripping the chains wrapped around her arms, she forcibly halted her descent. She stubbornly lifted her head, her face as pale as paper, cold sweat soaking her bangs. Yet her eyes still burned with an unyielding flame.
"Your Majesty..." she gasped, each word tinged with blood-tinged breath, yet she managed a near-broken smile. "Is this... your interrogation? Using force... to silence a 'useless' one?"
Her defiance, in the face of such overwhelming power disparity, seemed utterly absurd, yet carried a hauntingly poignant beauty.
Lucifer's chest heaved violently. Rage made him want to crush this reckless creature before him into dust. But the instant he moved to strike, that crisp, moonlit night-blooming jasmine scent invaded his nostrils again—clearer than before, mingled with the metallic sweetness of her blood, forming a strange and alluring blend.
This did not belong to a male!
The realization struck like thunder within his chaotic, fury-filled mind. He lunged forward, his immense shadow completely engulfing Lin Xi. He abandoned the pheromone suppression, instead thrusting forward the hand that had just shed its glove—knuckles sharp and powerful—and violently seized the collar of Lin Xi's uniform (the standard attire for sacrifices)!
"Rip!"
The sound of tearing fabric pierced the silence of the throne room like a shrill screech.
The collar was torn open by brute force, revealing the white lining hugging a slender frame beneath, along with a small patch of flat yet smoothly contoured chest and clearly defined collarbones.
Not the soft, undulating curves of an Omega as expected.
Lucifer's crimson pupils fixed on the exposed skin, the fury in his gaze replaced by a deeper, more complex mix of astonishment and incredulous scrutiny. No, still not right! But that scent...
In that split second as his mind reeled from this bizarre discovery—
Lin Xi moved!
She had been waiting for this moment! For the instant his attention was drawn away, his guard lowered!
She channeled every ounce of remaining strength into her unrestrained right leg. Her knee shot upward with a whistling wind, not aiming for his vital points, but for his solid abdomen—a spot guaranteed to make any male buckle and lose his balance!
Lucifer grunted, and the grip on her collar indeed loosened.
Simultaneously, Lin Xi's chained hands shot out like snakes emerging from their holes—not to strike, but to coil! The cold chains wrapped around Lucifer's taut forearms once more. Using his slight forward lean from the pain, she pressed her entire body upward against him as if she had no bones!
Not to flee, but to strike!
Her pale face closed in on his crimson eyes, widened in shock and fury. Her warm breath, heavy with the scent of blood, slammed against his lips.
"It seems..." Her voice was ghostly, laced with death-throes gasps and a do-or-die resolve. "...Your Majesty finds this 'male' body of mine... quite intriguing?"
Before her words faded, she opened her mouth. With a savage, vengeful ferocity, her teeth slammed down on Lucifer's exposed Adam's apple, rolling just inches away!
Not a gentle touch, but a blood-drawing bite!
"Gah!"
Lucifer's body convulsed violently, a suppressed cry of pain erupting from his throat. A sharp, stabbing pain surged through him, accompanied by a shudder of utter violation and marking, like a tsunami crashing over every nerve ending!
He lashed out, seizing Lin Xi by the nape with a force that nearly crushed her vertebrae. He yanked her off him and slammed her onto the throne's wide, icy seat!
Lin Xi crashed into it like a rag doll, darkness swirling before her eyes. Her mouth filled with the taste of the Wolf King's blood—scorching hot and brimming with power.
Lying within the throne that symbolized the supreme power of the North, her clothes torn, lips stained with blood, wrists and ankles scarred from the grinding chains—she faced the tyrant clutching his throat, his gaze threatening to devour her alive. And she offered him a blood-stained, triumphant, utterly defiant smile.
[Time Remaining: 2 hours 25 minutes]
Within the throne room, only Lucifer's labored, bellows-like breathing remained, along with Lin Xi's stifled, broken coughs.