That vivid crimson, dancing in the dim flickering light, was blindingly bright.
The twisted yet precise ancient symbols, bearing the warmth of her blood and the weight of her life, were branded onto the cold, filthy ground—and seemed etched onto Lucifer's very retinas.
Equality.
Exchange.
These two words, like stones tossed into stagnant waters, stirred unprecedented waves of turmoil within his soul. After the shock came a near-consuming tide of absurdity and fury.
"Equality?" Lucifer's deep voice echoed through the dungeon, a dangerously calm composure tinged with profound offense. His crimson pupils fixed intently on the figure crouched yet standing tall behind the iron bars, as if seeing her truly for the first time. "A sacrificial offering who can barely save herself, whose life hangs by my whim—what right does she have to speak of 'equality' with me?"
He lifted his foot, the metal tip of his boot mercilessly crushing the blood-drawn symbol beneath it, defiling and smearing it like the delusion of an ant being crushed.
"Your life, every secret within you, belongs to me by right," he declared, towering over her like a god pronouncing law. "Why need any 'exchange'?"
Lin Xi regarded the shattered symbol on the ground, her expression utterly still, as if she had anticipated this outcome. She lifted her eyes, flames dancing in her clear pupils, reflecting a near-cruel rationality.
"So, Your Majesty... have you obtained the 'willingness' you desired?" Her voice was hoarse, yet like the sharpest ice pick, it pierced precisely into the crack of his pride once more. "Does destroying it conceal the fact that you cannot make me willingly submit?"
Lucifer's jawline tensed abruptly, his chest constricting as her words blocked his breath. That familiar, uncontrollable sensation—one she alone could stir—surged within him once more. He loathed this feeling, utterly loathed it!
"Provoking me," he stepped forward, his shadow completely engulfing her, his voice low and thick with a blood-tinged threat, "will do you no good. The punishment in the dungeon will make you regret every word spoken here."
"Punishment?" Lin Xi suddenly laughed softly, her broken laughter carrying an oddly piercing quality. "Could it be more terrifying than having my soul scattered to the winds... right now?"
She raised her chained hand, her fingertips gently tracing the already-fleshed-over bite mark on her shoulder, the motion carrying a self-abusing tenderness.
"Your Majesty, you have left your mark upon me," she said, her gaze intense. "But what does this mark truly signify? Beyond proving your brutality and... momentary impulse, what else? Can it make me willingly crawl at your feet? Can it make me, like those Omegas, offer you loyalty and... everything?"
She leaned forward slightly. Though separated by iron bars, her crisp breath stubbornly pierced the stale air, lingering at his nostrils.
"If what you desire is merely an obedient plaything, easily dominated by your pheromones, then it's simple. Kill me, or torture me until my mind shatters, until I become what you want."
"But if what you desire..." She paused, her voice a whisper yet carrying thunderous force, "...is an 'adversary' who makes you feel 'out of control,' who makes conquest feel challenging, who confounds even you, this mighty Alpha wolf, and makes you crave complete possession..."
"...then, Your Majesty, we must 'exchange'."
Lucifer fell silent, the dungeon filled only by the crackling of burning torches. Storms brewed deep within his crimson pupils. Her words were poison, each syllable corroding his ingrained beliefs and principles. He knew clearly she was manipulating his mind, weaving a trap with her words.
Yet he was damned... shamefully shaken.
As she said, destroying her would be easy. But what after destruction? That icy flame—the one that made him lose control, that stirred his restlessness, that ignited an unprecedented possessiveness—would also be extinguished. That felt more unbearable to him than killing her.
"Speak." His voice finally broke through, hoarse beyond recognition, tinged with a compromise he hadn't even sensed within himself.
Lin Xi's heart lurched violently, knowing the crucial moment had arrived.
"My freedom, and my... 'willingness'." She spoke clearly, "In exchange for one promise from you."
"Before I fulfill your 'marking' with this body—" she deliberately emphasized the word "marking," her gaze sweeping over him without flinching—"you must not use any coercive means to force my submission. No pheromone suppression, no torture, no threats to my life or the lives of others."
Lucifer's pupils contracted slightly. She was demanding a fair... game of conquest.
"Arrogant!" he sneered coldly.
"It is confidence," Lin Xi met his gaze. "Confidence that I alone am sufficient to make you 'willingly' complete the Marking, without resorting to those... base methods."
Silence spread once more.
[Time Remaining: 1 hour 47 minutes]
Time ticked away.
After a long while, Lucifer slowly straightened his body, surveying her from above as if appraising the danger and value of a priceless treasure.
Suddenly, he raised his hand with a jerk. His fingertip sliced across his wrist, revealing a deep gash down to the bone. Scorching Alpha blood, brimming with colossal power, surged forth.
Ignoring the flowing blood, he slammed his bleeding wrist against the cold iron bars!
"Blood as oath, soul as bond." His crimson pupils locked onto her as the ancient wolf clan oath chanted like a spell, "Between us, the law of 'compulsion' is temporarily bound."
He withdrew his hand. The wound on his wrist healed visibly before his eyes. Yet the scorched patch of blood on the bars glowed faintly, as if alive, forming a temporary totem resembling the symbol erased from the ground before vanishing.
The pact was sealed.
He had staked his temporary "power" as collateral.
"Now," Lucifer's gaze returned to her, churning with deeper, more dangerous desire—like a hunter finally setting aside the bait after locking onto its prey—"Prove your 'worth' to me, sacrifice."
"Prove that you... are worth this price I've paid."