Lewd System: Every Scream and Moan is EXP Chapter 291 : Who The Fuck Tells A Story By Punching?

Zharina pressed on. "I objected to his choice. Urged him to rethink his actions. Questioned if another path existed from this mess. Pleaded for him to flee. Abandon this spot. Settle far away where they couldn’t track him."

Her tone grew firm. "But no. No such path lay open. Not for him. Nor for me."

She gazed at her gauntlets.

"His face lingers in my memory. The agony masked by that forced smile meant to bolster my resolve. He assured me Celestials never truly perish. Their souls return to the primordial gods. And if mercy from the gods came, reincarnation would follow."

A brief silence fell.

"Yet I believe no such mercy arrived. Seven years have elapsed. Had reincarnation claimed him, the power bound to these gauntlets would have returned to his side."

Jax absorbed her tale when she lunged anew. Swiftly bridging the space between them.

"Allow me to reveal why I became a professor over claiming the riches offered to me."

She soared airborne. Fist cocked back. Golden aura erupting fiercely.

Jax veered aside while yelling. "Your master was clearly insane! Who the hell teaches storytelling by pounding someone halfway to death?!"

She simply grinned. Golden aura poured from her frame as she plummeted with force enough to warp the terrain. Jax hurled himself into her descent path, calculating the drop's arc, and tumbled smoothly beyond the crash site.

Zharina couldn't halt her strike midway. Her fist smashed into the arena floor, shaking the whole platform. Even stands' viewers sensed a faint tremor, thanks to the potent barrier spells encasing the arena's limits.

Jax dropped to his knees right after rolling clear. He wouldn't squander the flaw she'd exposed. Her fist sank deep into the newborn crater. Wedged firmly in the earth. With him positioned directly at her rear.

He surged toward her open flank, sword thrusting at her belly. But Zharina felt the danger. She ignored freeing her fist. Instead, she channeled strength into her legs and fired a vicious side kick straight for his neck.

Yet Jax foresaw that move before it crossed her mind. He ensured she'd rely on her feet. By placing himself where her stance lacked solid purchase and her free arm couldn't swing over fast enough.

He dodged her kick's arc. Then deliberately stationed himself behind her lifted leg. Tricking Zharina into thinking she could snap her knee back and pulverize his wide-open neck from the rear.

And she took the bait.

She executed precisely as he desired. Jax evaded once more with ease. Now fully ensnared. One hand trapped below ground. The other awkwardly angled without return leverage. One foot braced for stability. The other thrust out from the missed kick, unable to withdraw in time.

She'd been outplayed. Locked in a stance devoid of simple defense.

Jax smirked and sliced at her exposed midriff while declaring. "Guess the story's remainder waits for our charming date."

His sword struck her stomach. Yet rather than cleaving through, it met bizarre resistance. Some inner shield guarding her beneath the skin. Stunned, he realized he'd swung at full power. Her dragon physique was hardy, but this exceeded all bounds.

Then Zharina's smirk emerged. She leisurely yanked her fist free from the dirt. Set both feet solid again. And before Jax could pull away, her knee rammed his gut in revenge.

The blow doubled him over.

"Still blind to the divide separating us?" she taunted, peering down. "You can't even graze me. Forget about winning."

Jax gripped his innards and reeled back, forcing every inch of separation his legs could manage.

Zharina refrained from chasing. She resumed her account as though she hadn't just jumbled his organs.

"My master, Hercules, descended to the mortal realm aware of the dire repercussions from the Empyrean Realm's laws. He picked this academy. Vowed its defense. To instruct its disciples. To pour his whole existence into it."

She eyed the arena walls encircling them.

"Why? This academy appeared in the world's destiny. His stepmother, Themis—Zeus's consort—had foreseen a savage fate through her visionary might. She beheld the tainted upper realm spiraling into greater barbarity. Endless battles for supremacy. And amid it all, the mortal world would endure the agony together."

Her voice settled into a tone evoking less a warrior and more a pupil voicing her master's final words.

"Through her power, she had glimpsed countless possibilities. One among them showed this academy as the ultimate cure. Astryx Academy taking a pivotal role there. This very land either spawning someone who could alter everything, or becoming the force to humble and dominate the upper realm itself."

Her fists tightened.

"That’s why I chose this path. Not for charity. Not for the world. I wanted to walk in my master’s footsteps. To make sure nothing corrupts what he protected. That no politics ruins the students here. That I can do whatever it takes to make them stronger."

Her voice lowered.

"Because by fulfilling his last wish, maybe, just maybe, the person this academy is destined to produce will have the power to do what I couldn’t, to save him. And who knows, maybe that person can bring my fath—"

She halted herself. "My master. Back to life."

Jax had regained enough strength to rise. He queried in his mind. ’Hey, witch. Can you confirm what she’s saying? Is any of this real?’

Echidna’s voice answered lazily. ’Hercules, huh. He was a nice guy actually. But I didn’t know he was stupid enough to throw his life away like that. That poor man suffered more than most beings in existence. So maybe he just wanted it to end. Or maybe he knew something we aren’t seeing.’

She paused.

’Anyways, I can confirm the story she told. Zeus is the ambitious Celestial. Similar to Odin and Ravana and the others. They all want the same thing. To rule the upper realm. The politics up there make your little academy drama look like a children’s tea party.’

-x-X-x-

[A/N: Second Chapter for the day drops in a few hours! Also an important note on the new additions — I’ve brought in Greek gods, Norse gods and a few other beings but their stories won’t follow the actual mythology. Also don’t compare these celestials to beings like Cleenah, they are on a whole different level and the next Chapter will explain the hierarchy of gods properly!]