Reborn: Apocalypse Ready. War Goddess by My Side novel Chapter 557

Chapter 557 Rising Star

The kills piled up higher and higher.

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Finished

In between fights, Steven kept finding little moments to wipe the sweat from Bianca’s brow, hand her sips of water, or smooth a strand of hair back into place.

He was one gesture short of kissing her right there in front of everyone.

This isn’t part of the beast hunting round of a tournament.

At this point it had turned into their own private stage for showing off how much they adored each other.

Watching it made plenty of people grind their teeth in secondhand jealousy.

Still, the first phase of the hunt wrapped up right in the middle of all that lovestruck nonsense.

A strange, hollow feeling settled over everyone watching.

Wait, that was it? That was the whole thing?

It felt shockingly flat. Nothing like any Awakened tournament anyone remembered.

Robby and the other officials were at a loss too.

The real reason was simple. Steven had cleared out every last level 4 beast so early that nothing dramatic had been left for anyone else.

In a normal year, the strongest prodigies would’ve clashed against level 4 beasts in brutal, drawn out battles, with every major academy fighting tooth and nail over each kill.

But this year, Steven had thrown the entire structure of the tournament into chaos, all on his

own.

That was exactly why Lola and the other seeded competitors had been held back from entering in the first place.

And Robby had a feeling the ranking phase coming up next would turn out just as absurd.

This year’s Awakened tournament had lost a lot of its usual spark. All because one kid happened to be terrifyingly strong.

Robby found himself thinking that if a monster like Steven ever showed up again in future tournaments, maybe it would be smarter to just hand him a prize up front and ask him to sit the whole thing out, if only to keep the competition interesting for everyone else.

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Chapter 557 Rising Star

naked

But then a different thought crept in. There aren’t many people in the entire world are actually built like that.

At this point, Steven belonged in the same conversation as those monsters living in the imperial capital.

A faint shiver ran through Robby’s body.

Steven had gone from barely scratching Tier 3 to tearing through Tier 2 like it was nothing.

Did that mean the kid had a real shot at becoming one of the legendary Celestial Eight someday?

In that moment, Robby swore he could see a brand new star rising into the sky, one that hadn’t existed before.

A future among the Eight.

Every competitor filed out of the hunting grounds and made their way back to the main arena.

The instant they arrived, almost every single one of them tilted their heads up toward the scoreboard.

That was all anyone cared about right now.

Everyone wanted to know if they’d landed in the top twenty.

Only the top twenty would get a shot at fighting for the final prize. That was the only thing that actually mattered to them.

It didn’t take long before disappointment spread through the crowd.

Their scores had come up short.

A few competitors sitting right around twentieth place, missing the cutoff by only a few points, felt regret settle in their stomachs like a stone.

Falling short of the top twenty meant they didn’t even qualify to compete for anything more.

But then their eyes drifted up to first place.

Every single one of them froze in place, jaws hanging open.

No way. There was absolutely no way.

Chapter 557 Rising Star

Every competitor in that arena started questioning their own eyesight.

“Over twenty thousand points?!”

Every head in the crowd snapped toward Steven at once.

There was no way that number was real. Over twenty thousand?

This had to be some kind of joke.

Finishe

Most of the competitors standing there had scores in the low hundreds. Some had barely broken a hundred. A handful hadn’t even cleared fifty.

Even twentieth place only sat somewhere in the hundreds.

And this guy had over twenty thousand points, sitting there like it was nothing.

They counted the digits again, just to be sure. Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands.

The number held. It was real.

Steven and Bianca exchanged a quiet, satisfied smile.

With a score like that locked in, Rowenville had first place secured beyond any doubt.

Griffin and Fellaria both cast a long, searching look at Steven.

It was hard to wrap their heads around the idea that one person had racked up points completely alone.

Every eye in the stadium had locked onto Steven at this point.

Thunderous applause rolled through the crowd.

that

many

Only the Gordon family’s section stayed dark and silent, every last one of them glaring at Steven with pure venom in their eyes.

noked like they’d already carved his name onto a list of people who needed to die.

had noticed those stares a while ago. He simply chose to ignore them completely. Their on didn’t matter to him.

stared at that score, completely at a loss for words.

probably cleared out every last level 4 beast in the entire hunting ground. There was no other explanation that made sense.

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Chapter 557 Rising Star

Finishe

Frank could barely contain his joy. Back in Rowenville, the moment the results came through, wave after wave of cheering erupted across the town.

Rowenville had finally turned its fortunes around.

Steven glanced over the rankings.

First place was him, sitting at over twenty thousand.

Second place was Bianca, with just over three thousand points.

Both of them sat in a league entirely their own, far ahead of everyone else.

Third place went to Griffin, with just over two thousand points.

Fourth place belonged to a Four Sigil student from Orroux Academy, who’d landed exactly at two thousand.

Behind them came the elite competitors from every major academy, most sitting somewhere in the low thousands.

Fiona held eighth place, with just over sixteen hundred points.

None of that mattered much anymore, though.

The scoreboard shifted a moment later, switching over to display the academy rankings instead.

Rowenville Academy claimed first place, with a combined total of thirty two thousand five hundred and forty five points.

Orroux Academy took second, with a total of nineteen thousand three hundred and twenty points.

Oakridge Academy landed in third, with ten thousand six hundred and thirty six points.

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The rest of the academies filled out the list below them.

Frank felt tears threatening to spill from pure joy.

He never thought he’d live to see the day Rowenville Academy claimed first place at a Journament like this.

he feeling defied words.

11:52 Mon, Aug 10

Chapter 557 Rising Star

Finished

The rewards Rowenville earned from this tournament would shape the academy’s future for years to come, giving their students access to far better resources and equipment.

They truly owed Steven and the others an enormous debt of gratitude.

Robby stepped forward into view.

“Ahem. That concludes the first phase. Congratulations to everyone, and a special congratulations to Rowenville Academy for claiming the top spot. Well earned.”

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by My Side

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