Lewd System: Every Scream and Moan is EXP

Chapter 245: Chapter 245: The Payback

Jax knew she was a Celestial.

Both he and Jennifer had been surprised when her memories revealed it. A genuine Celestial hiding behind the title of Paladin.

From the knowledge he had gathered during his time at the academy, Jax understood what that word meant. Celestials were once very common in the world.

They weren’t some special race or divine beings walking among mortals. They were simply people. Ordinary people who were chosen and blessed by the gods themselves.

The gods selected them based on whatever caught their fancy. A trait. A quality. A moment of brilliance or defiance or beauty that made a deity look down and say, ”That one.”

And in return, they were granted powers so absurd that entire wars were decided by their presence alone.

In ancient times, it was said that each kingdom had at least ten Celestials walking among its population.

But then the numbers dwindled. Generation after generation, fewer appeared. Until there were none.

The world concluded that those gods who granted such power had abandoned them entirely. Left humanity to fend for itself.

Yet here was Cleenah. Chosen by a goddess. Told to conceal the true title she held from every living soul.

Which meant there could be others out there. Hiding in plain sight. Disguising their blessing as something lesser. Just like her.

But the questions about Celestials and gods and divine politics could wait. They could wait a very, very long time.

Because right in front of him was a Celestial who would soon be laid down and violated in ways that would make both her holes scream at the mere silhouette of him walking in their direction.

Priorities.

Cleenah coughed and looked up at Jax. Her eyes were hollow. Emptied of everything except one singular plea that her mouth couldn’t form anymore.

Just kill me. End this.

Jax crouched to meet her gaze. His voice carried the warmth of a freshly sharpened blade.

”If you ever think of killing yourself and getting relief from all the suffering and pain that’s about to follow, then I’m sorry.”

He grinned. ”You’re a fool.”

Confusion broke through her emptiness.

”Because a friend of mine has already blessed you with divine protection. Blessed Shielding.”

A pause that stretched like a noose tightening.

”And you know exactly who I’m talking about. And what it does.”

Horror flooded her face.

She knew. The Saintess possessed a power that could make a single person immortal. She had demonstrated it publicly on multiple occasions throughout her service. The chosen individual was literally unkillable.

No matter how many times they were slain, no matter how many limbs were hacked away, they simply revived. Resurrection on an infinite, merciless loop.

And that godly power was now bound to Cleenah. The same blessing that kings would have waged wars to obtain had become her personal hell.

An eternity of not being allowed to escape through death.

Jax had learned about Jennifer’s ability from conversations with other people. But he knew better than to accept the surface explanation.

There was no way a supreme-tier skill of this caliber existed in those standard skill cards that they were given by the goddess.

And if it did, it made absolutely no sense that Jennifer had kept it hidden from him, kept her other skill a secret from him while everyone else apparently knew.

She was concealing something about this power. That much was certain.

But she had promised Jax it would work flawlessly for this exact scenario. Cleenah would not die until Jennifer personally lifted the binding.

That was enough for now.

Cleenah collapsed to her knees. Hands clasped. Voice disintegrating.

”Please. I beg you. Don’t—”

Jax’s boot crashed into the center of her chest plate.

She slammed backward onto the stone floor. The impact emptied her lungs of every molecule of air.

Then he was on top of her. Knees planted on either side of her torso. Looking down at the woman who had slaughtered a mother and her infant in an alley and convinced herself it was righteousness.

His assault began.

The first fist landed on her jaw. The second on her left cheekbone. Both hands working in devastating sync. Alternating. Relentless.

Each impact caving in something that her healing would fix only for the next blow to destroy again.

Each punch carried words between the sounds of breaking bone.

”The whole time, you were the monster.”

Another punch.

”You were the evil that needed to be erased from existence.”

Another.

”And this is just the beginning.”

She took everything. Every blow. Every curse. Her arms stayed at her sides. She didn’t resist. Didn’t shield her face. Didn’t even close her eyes.

Because she had already accepted this as the price for her sins.

After sixty-eight continuous strikes, Jax’s fist rose for the sixty-ninth.

And stopped.

Not because he was finished.

Because a voice had spoken beside him.

”Professor. Please stop this.”

Lilith stood there. Her body was a ruin. Barely upright. Voice shattered. Frame held together by nothing but willpower and whatever remained of her dignity.

Jax’s raised fist hung in the air. He turned slowly. ”What did you just say?”

She swallowed her fear. ”I said stop. Please.”

The silence that followed was the kind that preceded catastrophes.

”Do you even realize what this woman has done?”

”I do.”

Jax’s voice shifted into something that pressed against the walls like a physical force. The kind of tone that made people regret ever learning to speak.

”Then what the hell are you doing?”

Lilith flinched. Her legs gave out beneath her. The strength she had been forcing into her broken body abandoned her in a single breath.

Before she hit the ground, Seris caught her. Arms wrapping around her frame. Holding her upright when her own bones refused to.

Lilith steadied herself against Seris’s support. Drew a breath that cost her everything.

”I’m asking you to spare her life.”

Jax’s fury hit a height that made the mana around him crackle.

But then a grin surfaced. He turned and looked at Cleenah’s face. Swollen beyond recognition. Destroyed. And already healing as her holy powers reconstructed what he had shattered.

He pressed his boot into her stomach.

”Don’t worry. I don’t intend to kill her right away.”

His eyes returned to Lilith.

”So rest assured. We’re sparing her life. For quite some time.”

Lilith shook her head. ”No. That’s not what I mean.”

Her eyes locked onto his without retreating.

”I want you to show her mercy.”

The word detonated in Jax’s mind. His body moved before his thoughts could intervene. He closed the distance. Grabbed Lilith by her collar. Pulled her face close to his.

”Mercy? Come back to your senses.”

Seris moved forward instinctively. ”Professor, don’t—”

He raised his free hand without sparing her a glance. ”I’m talking to her right now. And if you want to be helpful, take her away from here. She needs rest.”

Lilith didn’t waver. Even with his fist bunching her collar. Even with his breath hot on her face.

”Please, Professor. Just this once. Accept my request.”

Jax released her. Turned his back. Walked several steps away. When he spoke again, his voice had dropped to something dangerously quiet. The kind of quiet that lived one degree away from explosion.

”Then explain.”

He stood facing the dungeon wall.

”Explain to me how sparing the woman who butchered your family makes any kind of sense.”

”Because she’s not a monster.”

Lilith’s voice cracked but refused to fall. ”She’s a victim who became a monster.”

Nothing. No reaction from Jax. No shift in his stance. The words hit a wall and slid off.

Lilith realized they weren’t enough. So she reached deeper. Into the very arsenal he had built for her.

”Professor, remember when you talked about villains and heroes? When you told me that villains are just broken heroes?”

His shoulders tightened.

”When you said the world doesn’t have pure evil? That every villain is the hero of their own story?”

He turned. His eyes carried something between fury and warning.

”Don’t.” The word came out like a blade leaving its sheath. ”Don’t use my words against me.”

”I’m not using them against you.” Lilith didn’t step back. ”I’m asking you to remember them. You said people become villains because they’re fighting for something they believe in. Even when they’re wrong.”

She forced another breath past her broken ribs.

”She thought she was protecting people. Just like you’re trying to protect me right now.”

Jax’s voice descended to its lowest register. ”I am nothing like her.”

”Yes, you are.” Lilith didn’t blink. Didn’t flinch. ”You killed people today and called it justice. Don’t you think your actions were evil? Don’t you think killing that professor who fought to avenge his dead friend was justified in his own eyes?”

Every word found its mark. Jax’s mind acknowledged the logic. Some buried, rational part of him recognized the truth in what she was saying.

But his ego rose to meet it. A wall taller than reason. Thicker than guilt.

’They all deserved to die for trying to kill you.’

Lilith pressed forward as if reading that exact thought on his face. ”You two are the same. The same villains you once described to me. The only difference is that your rage didn’t birth an inevitable cycle, cycle of pain, revenge and regret. You didn’t got hurt just like her for your actions. Well, at least for now.”

Jax walked toward her. Each step slower than the last. His expression caught somewhere between fury and something he refused to name.

”You are the same pathetically weak girl.”

Lilith smiled.

Not broken. Not forced. Not trembling at the edges.

A genuine smile. Carrying a strength that none of her punches, none of her demonic power, none of her rage had ever possessed.

”No. I am stronger than ever because of you. And that’s exactly why I’m taking a stand for her.”

Her voice steadied into something unshakable.

”Because I know the cycle of hatred won’t bring back the people I lost. It will only breed more hatred. And more regrets.”

Then a slap cracked across her face.

The sound exploded through the dungeon. Ricocheting off every stone wall. Reaching every corner. Filling every silence.

-x-X-x-

[A/N: Shoutout to Hugo_Pizza for the crazy 41 Golden Tickets! Your support means a lot! 🔥]