Reborn: Apocalypse Ready. War Goddess by My Side novel Chapter 543

Rebom Apocalypse Ready War Goddess by My Side

Chapter 543 Infection

Steven and the others sucked in a sharp breath.

Lola rolled her eyes.

“You flaming drama queen, as if! Go on, get out of here.”

Lola turned to Steven. “This is Dreyfus. You can just call him Drey.

“He’s in my year, another SSS-rank guy. Honestly… it’s complicated…”

Dreyfus caught that and rolled his eyes right back, all batting lashes and attitude.

Steven and the others were speechless.

Drey?

Really?

Really?

Dreyfus tucked away his compact mirror and sauntered up to Steven.

“Well hello there, cutie. You’re Steven, right? You’re all anyone talks about back at our academy.”

Steven felt a chill crawl down his spine.

He forced an awkward smile. “Nice to meet you too… Dreyfus.”

Dreyfus leaned in like he wanted to get friendlier.

The next second, a slender hand shot out and shoved his face clean away.

“Get lost, drama queen. I need to talk to him.”

Steven genuinely owed Lola one. Something about Drey set every nerve in his body on edge.

“Come on, let’s head in. I need to talk to you.”

Steven, naturally, had no objections.

The

group

moved together, Fiona’s arm looped lightly through someone’s, all of them keeping a careful ‘buffer zone between themselves and Dreyfus, who kept trying to close the gap.

Lola lowered her voice. “I’ve got some bad news for you.”

Steven turned to her. “What is it?”

“Tristan and Jacques have teamed up. They’re coming for you.”

Steven ler out a short laugh. “Didn’t you tell me your crowd wasn’t even competing this round?”

14:58 Wed, Aug 5 MOJ.

54 Infesten

Lola nodded. “Jacques tried to get himself in, but the higher ups shut him down. This tournament’s supposed to be a shot for the smaller cities’ Awakened. If people like us flooded the bracket, there’d be no point running it at all.

“And obviously, if you got in, nobody else would stand a chance either.

“Anyway, back to the point. Jacques can’t compete himself, but the Houstons got plenty of reach. Out of the hundred competitors Orroux is sending this round, more than 30 owe him a favor, or got coaching and backing from him at some point.

“Now that he’s asked, they’re more than happy to return the favor.

“Then there’s Tristan. He’s from the Gordons, younger brother of Kenneth himself. Plenty of people are willing to help him out too.

“My guess is over half the field.”

Steven let out a light, unbothered laugh. “And they’re not worried I’ll cripple them for it?”

Lola shook her head. “Based on what I’m hearing, none of them are stupid enough to come after you directly. My guess is they’ll go after the rest of your Rowenville team instead. Keep you all from placing.”

Bianca and Fiona both froze slightly at that. So the target wasn’t just Steven, it was all of them.

Frank’s expression turned grim.

Steven nodded. “Got it. Thanks for the heads up. If any of them cross my path, I’ll break every leg in the

group.

Dreyfus flicked his wrist dramatically. “Oh, sweetie, no need for all that violence. Skip the legs. Break their arms instead, maybe crack a rib or two. If you snap their legs and they run into a beast out there, that’s a real

mess.”

-Everyone said nothing.

You’re the scary one here, not me.

Lola looked at him, puzzled. “You’re really not worried at all?”

Steven shot back, “Worried about what? As long as they don’t come looking for trouble on my doorstep, they should be thanking their lucky stars.”

Lola had nothing to say to that.

By the time they finished talking, they’d already reached the tournament grounds.

Just outside the hunting ground itself, Orroux Academy had built a viewing platform.

At the center sat a raised arena, reserved for the final matches that would decide the top ten spots.

The stands around it were already packed shoulder to shoulder.

During the first round of beast hunts, everyone would be watching the action unfold on massive projection screens, with the same footage broadcasting live to every mid-sized city in the region.

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14:58 Wed, Aug 5 MOJ

Chat for els infection

The seats were filling in fast now, section by section.

It wouldn’t be long before every seat was taken.

Seeing that Steven wasn’t the least bit rattled, Lola gave up trying to convince him otherwise..

She asked, a little sheepishly, “I just handed you something pretty important. Would it kill you to do me a favor in return?”

Steven gave a short hum in response.

In truth, his attention was locked on the crowd filling the viewing platform.

He needed to know exactly how many of them had already sold themselves out to the enemy beyond the walls.

Lola pressed on, a little embarrassed. “My mentor says you’re seriously talented. Think you could spare some time to help me sharpen my Equinox Fist?”

She waited for an answer.

But Steven’s mind had gone somewhere far heavier.

Among the tens of thousands gathered here, just one sweep of his gaze had already picked out over a hundred people carrying that same strange power buried in their Divine Sigils.

Then his eyes landed on a smaller cluster.

Twenty some people, all marked with that same corrupted energy.

That was when his pupils snapped tight with shock.

He watched a man whose sigil had been completely clean a moment ago shake hands with a young man standing nearby.

And in that instant, the same twisted power bloomed across his sigil, out of nowhere.

Something cold and enormous rose up inside Steven’s chest.

It spreads through contact?

“Steven! I’m talking to you!

“Steven!”

Lola kept calling his name.

But Steven’s attention had already been pulled somewhere else entirely.

It went toward a young man standing in the crowd, wearing a gentle smile and a plain white athletic hoodie.

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Reborn Apocalypse Ready War Goddess by My Side