CHAPTER 77: THE ULTIMATE TEST BEGINS

Alex lingered in the hallway, his mind still rattled from the awkward moment with Linda. He tried to steady his breathing, but then... like velvet laced with venom... Lilith’s voice unfurled inside his head.

"She’s very beautiful, isn’t she?" she teased, her tone dripping with devilish amusement.

"Shut up," Alex hissed, heat rushing to his face.

"Your eyes were glued on her," Lilith purred. "Don’t bother denying it. Even that tiny spark was enough."

"No," Alex snapped. "That was nothing. I was just shocked... caught off guard by the situation."

Her laugh shimmered like silk over steel, low and intoxicating.

"Ohh, Alex..." she purred, drawing out his name as though savoring it.

"You said you wanted power quickly, didn’t you? Well... here it is."

A sudden flare of blue light cut the air, the system window blooming before his eyes.

[NEW TASK UNLOCKED]

[SEDUCE LINDA MORRISON AND MAKE HER YOUR WOMAN]

[REWARDS: .... ]

Alex’s stomach lurched. His hand shot up, swiping at the glow like it was poison.

"NO! Shut up! What the fuck are you doing?!" His voice cracked as he closed the window before even seeing all of it.

"You didn’t even look at the rewards," Lilith’s voice coiled around him, amused and patient.

"Fuck the rewards!" Alex shouted in his mind, teeth gritted. "I won’t complete this. I won’t even look at it again, no matter what the system dangles in front of me!"

For a moment, there was silence.

Then Lilith’s voice sank low, smooth as smoke.

"We’ll see, darling. We’ll see."

Before he could dwell on it, Linda’s voice carried from upstairs.

"Alex? Come here, I’m ready."

Relieved for the excuse, he stepped up the hall. In the entryway, Linda stood with two suitcases set neatly by her side.

She’d tied her hair back, her face calmer now, though traces of earlier embarrassment lingered in the faint flush on her cheeks.

"Everything packed?" Alex asked, his tone cautious.

Linda glanced at him, and for a heartbeat her eyes softened. Then she let out a quiet laugh, shaking her head.

"You look so nervous. Relax, I’m not going to beat you up. It was just a mistake, Alex. I’m not angry... see?" She spread her arms lightly, her voice teasing but warm.

His shoulders loosened a fraction, though his ears still burned.

"Come on," she said, gesturing to the bags. "Grab that one and let’s go. Emma should’ve been waiting at the hospital already."

Alex nodded, picking up the suitcase without a word. He followed her out.

This time Linda checked every lock twice... the back door, the windows, the front bolt... before finally clicking the main gate shut.

Only when everything was secured did they slide into the car. Linda in the passenger seat, Alex behind the wheel.

The engine hummed to life, headlights cutting a path through the growing darkness as they pulled away toward the hospital.

***

Lilith’s presence stirred like a predator, watching all of this unfold, a smile curling on her lips like a blade.

’So righteous. So stubborn. They always start this way.’

’Let’s see if you remain true to yourself in the face of ultimate temptation, my dear Alex. Power... Control... Lust... these are the things that reveal a person’s true nature.’

Her mind drifted back through centuries, across countless worlds, through hosts who had risen... and fallen... under her watch.

Each one had started just like Alex.... Self-righteous, determined, convinced of their own moral superiority.

Constantine Doukas – A Byzantine Crown prince, a man who carried honor like armor, devoted to duty above all else. His test had involved his brother’s wife, Helena... one of the most beautiful woman in the empire.

The task: seduce her while his brother was away at war.

Constantine had sworn he would never betray his brother. He would rather die than break the sacred bond of family.

And for weeks, he clung to that vow. Helena leaned on him, confided in him, sought comfort and protection, and he resisted, guiding her with care, reminding himself of his honor.

But grief is a sly enemy. When news of his brother’s "death" arrived, Constantine’s resolve wavered.

Helena, trembling and vulnerable, fell into his arms.

That night, in the bed that had once symbolized loyalty, he surrendered... telling himself he was comforting her, easing her pain.

Desire, long denied, overwhelmed reason.

The next day shattered him entirely. Helena accused him... loudly, mercilessly... of rape and betrayal.

His father, the king, enraged by scandal, ordered his immediate arrest.

Confusion, horror, and betrayal crashed over him as the truth finally surfaced: his brother had orchestrated everything.

Helena had been a willing participant in the scheme, a queen-to-be in his brother’s design, and Constantine had been nothing more than a pawn, his lust and loyalty turned against him.

In the grand courtyard, the proud crown prince... once the epitome of honor... was beheaded before the court.

His brother ascended as the sole heir, Helena positioned as queen. And he ended not as a prince, but as the empire’s disgrace.

Constantine’s fall became a dark legend, a cautionary tale of desire twisted, loyalty betrayed, and the ruthless games of ambition.

Another failure. Another broken man. Another piece discarded by the system.

Edmund Hawthorne - A Victorian gentleman, impeccable manners, devoted to his daughter.

The task had been similar: seduce his adopted ward, a beautiful young woman he’d raised like a daughter. He’d refused initially, just like Alex.

She remembered his breaking point vividly.

Three weeks of manipulation. Three weeks of watching the girl... Isabella... slowly fall under Lilith’s influence. The way she’d started looking at him with new eyes.

The way she’d begun seeking his touch, his attention, his approval in increasingly intimate ways.

When Isabella had finally come to his study that night, wearing nothing but a silk nightgown and tears in her eyes, begging him to "help her understand these feelings," Edmund had lasted exactly seventeen minutes before surrendering completely.

He’d rationalized it beautifully: "She’s not truly my daughter. She needs guidance. I’m helping her discover her womanhood."

The lies we tell ourselves, Lilith mused, are always the most convincing.

Within a week of the task’s initiation, Edmund had already completed it.

By the end, he was keeping Isabella as his mistress while maintaining the pretense of being her guardian.

The power had consumed him entirely. He no longer hesitated, no matter how brutal the task became.

For him, she was no longer a person... just a means, a tool for his own gain.

He measured every touch, every glance, every whisper against the currency of points, upgrades, and favor.

Her presence was no longer comfort; it was leverage. Her pleas, her hesitation, her very being became nothing more than fuel for his ambition and lust.

He demanded her obedience, twisted her trust into compulsion, and laughed as he watched her struggle in the arms of other men.

Every act of intimacy was stripped of care, reduced to calculation... what it could grant him next, how far he could push before the system demanded more.

Until the system finally claimed him, stripped him of what little humanity remained, and Lilith had no choice but to dispose of him like all the others...a puppet whose strings had been pulled too far, and who had forgotten entirely what it meant to be human.

And then there were the others...

So many others.

All of them had started with noble intentions.

All of them had sworn they would never cross that line.

All of them had crumbled. Some with shame. Some with eagerness. Some with excuses so elaborate they almost convinced themselves.

But in the end, each one revealed the same truth: power laced with temptation was a snare too perfect to resist.

Lilith’s eyes narrowed as she watched Alex drive, his face set in serious focus.

"But I’m not searching for just another pawn," she whispered into the dark. "I want the one who can walk through fire and not burn. Who can use lust and power as a weapon... control it, bend it, make others slaves to it... without becoming a slave himself."

Her memories pulsed again... the failures, the wasted potential, the endless parade of crumbling wills.

"Alex Hale..." she lingered on his name, savoring it. "The way you recoiled tonight... the fury in your vow... it almost made me believe. Almost. But belief is cheap. Conviction must be tested. Again, and again, and again."

The shadows twisted around her, taking the faint shape of Linda Morrison’s face. Beautiful. Vulnerable. Full of gratitude for Alex. Perfect.

"She will be the test," Lilith whispered. "Not because I need you to betray her... but because I need to know whether you are a man who falls into traps... or one who can rip them apart and turn them into weapons."

Her laughter slithered through the void, cold and merciless, leaving a trail of unease in its wake.

"Resist if you can. Resist if you dare. Every man before you swore the same oaths. And every one of them... broke."

***

Author’s Note:

Yes, the flashback is long... but I believe it’s necessary. It gives full context to the past, the stakes, and the patterns of those who came before.

It helps the reader understand the system, anticipate Alex’s next moves, and see just how easily power and temptation can corrupt even the strongest.