Chapter 370: Not a Vigilante

“I-I didn’t know Lilia was your girlfriend.” Arin stumbled back. “Had I known, I would have never—”

Xavier’s punch hit Arin so fast he didn’t see it coming. His body flew back and slammed into the ground with a crack. He tried crawling away, but Xavier grabbed him by the ankle and dragged him back like he was nothing more than trash.

“Stop—stop—please—” Arin begged, kicking helplessly.

Xavier stomped on his hand, crushing the fingers against the dirt until Arin’s scream echoed through the empty lot.

“You touched students,” Xavier said. “You followed them home. You blackmailed them.”

“I-I didn’t—!”

Another stomp. This time on his ribs.

Arin choked on his breath, curling up in agony.

Xavier grabbed him by the collar and punched him again. And again. And again. The sound of bone cracking under repeated impact filled the air.

“You disgust me,” Xavier said. “You’re the kind of parasite this city keeps protecting.”

Arin sobbed, blood dripping from his mouth. “P-please… mercy… please…”

Xavier dragged him across the dirt and threw him against a broken pillar. Arin slumped, limp, wheezing, barely conscious.

“No mercy,” Xavier said. “Not for you.”

He lifted Arin by the throat with one hand, pinning him against the pillar. Arin clawed desperately at Xavier’s wrist, tears and blood mixing on his face.

“P-please… I-I can stop… I’ll leave the city… I’ll never go near Lilia—I’ll never—”

“You won’t go anywhere,” Xavier said.

He reached behind him, grabbed a rusted steel rod from the ground, and without hesitation drove it through Arin’s abdomen, pinning him to the broken column like a piece of meat on a hook.

Arin’s scream cut short into a choked wheeze as the metal pierced through flesh and bone, holding him upright.

His legs spasmed helplessly. His eyes rolled wildly with shock.

Xavier leaned closer to his ear. “This is the justice your system never delivers.”

Arin tried speaking, but nothing came out except blood.

“Goodbye,” Xavier said.

He twisted the rod, slow and brutal, and Arin’s body finally went limp.

There was no dramatic collapse. The life drained out of him quietly, pathetically, the same way he had lived — weak, disgusting, insignificant.

Xavier stepped back and wiped his hands against his pants, looking down at the corpse with no emotion.

Then he walked back to the taxi, started the engine, and left the body behind.

Xavier had barely merged onto the main road when a faint shimmer flickered across his vision. A translucent window expanded in the corner of his sight, the system’s quiet voice brushing past his ears.

[QUEST COMPLETED — DELIVER JUSTICE]

[Reward: 1 Justice Point]

[Justice Points Available: 1]

Xavier dismissed the notification with a small exhale, almost amused at how casually the system approved of murder. He didn’t think too deeply about it. He had no regrets. Arin deserved worse.

He parked the taxi on a random street, wiped the handles, locked it, and walked a few blocks until he found his bike where he’d left it earlier. The engine hummed to life, and he rode back toward Nexus Tower.

When he entered the apartment, Lilia was on the couch, reading something on her tablet. She smiled the moment she saw him. Lyra, sitting beside her, looked up at Xavier as if she could smell the blood through his clothes.

And she could.

Her nose twitched faintly, her pupils tightening for a split second before she turned back toward Lilia, pretending nothing was unusual. Lilia greeted Xavier normally, talking about some show she and Lyra watched, unaware of the faint metallic scent clinging to his jacket.

Xavier listened, played along, dropped his keys on the table. Lyra’s gaze flicked to him every few seconds — subtle, quick, like a secret she wasn’t allowed to say out loud.

Later, when Lilia went to her room to change, Lyra moved closer, leaning near Xavier as if she was checking something on his phone.

Her voice dropped to a soft whisper only he could hear.

“Did you have fun?”

Xavier didn’t look at her. “I can never get tired of that.”

Lyra’s tail curled in quiet satisfaction. “Good.”

They didn’t need to say more.

When Lilia returned, Lyra acted like nothing happened, smiling and fussing over some nonsense about what to eat later. Xavier headed to his room, showered, changed, and finally relaxed on the bed.

Meanwhile, across the city, the police scanners erupted one after another as calls flooded in. A body had been found in an abandoned construction zone — impaled, bloodied, brutalized beyond recognition until ID chips confirmed the identity.

Professor Arin Velmore.

News outlets exploded across every holo-screen in the city within minutes. Headlines burst like fireworks.

“Released Professor Found Dead — Gruesome Scene Shocks City”

“Vigilante Killing Raises Questions About Indulgence System”

“Who Took Revenge on Arin Velmore?”

The Celestial Enforcement held a press briefing soon after. Commander Althea Ravel stood in front of a wall of reporters, her posture straight, her expression firm. Cameras flashed, microphones pointed toward her face.

“Commander Ravel, is this connected to the indulgence system?”

“Do you believe this was a revenge killing?”

“Are there suspects?”

“Is the city safe?”

Althea lifted a hand to quiet the room.

“Professor Arin Velmore was granted legal indulgence earlier today and released,” she said, her tone steady. “However, someone appears to have disagreed with that decision. He was murdered within the hour of his release.”

Reporters leaned forward, feeding on every word.

“Do you condemn this act?” someone shouted.

“As an officer of the law,” Althea replied, “I condemn vigilantism. But as a human being…” She hesitated just long enough for everyone to notice. “Let’s just say some people believe justice comes in… different forms.”

A few reporters exchanged glances, picking up the nuance immediately.

“Do you have any leads?”

“Any evidence?”

“Any suspects?”

“We are investigating all angles,” Althea said. She didn’t smile, but something in her eyes softened for half a heartbeat. “But one thing is clear: whoever did this wasn’t sloppy. They knew exactly what they were doing.”

She stepped away from the podium, ignoring the flood of follow-up questions.

Back in the Nexus Tower, Xavier watched the press conference on his holo-screen while drying his hair. Lyra peeked into the room, pretending to ask about breakfast plans for tomorrow, even though they hadn’t had their dinner yet.

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