Reborn: Apocalypse Ready. War Goddess by My Side novel Chapter 28

Chapter 28 Half to Death

All he wanted now was to break Steven

part

The Divine Sigil light surged at his right leg, and his Speed spiked instantly.

He closed the distance in a blink, knife slashing in a fast, vicious arc.

To Steven, every single movement unfolded like something caught in amber, drawn out and achingly slow

This guy was barely a threat.

A cold, focused light sharpened in Steven’s eyes.

He dropped into a half–crouch and let the blade’s edge pass clean over him.

Then he threw every last point of his Strength into a single straight punch.

All 16 points of them, released at once.

It connected with the young man’s chest.

The impact rang out through the narrow alley, deep

and final.

The young man’s eyes bulged like something had seized him from the inside.

A sharp, dry crack followed, the sound of his sternum giving way beneath the force.

The terror hit him before the pain fully did.

The blow launched him backward and drove him hard into the alley wall.

Steven stood where he was and let the understanding settle over him quietly.

Five points of additional Strength, and now he was matching a low–tier One–Sigil Awakened blow for blow.

Which meant if he’d gone up against Cassandra today instead of two days ago, it would’ve been even easier.

The young man in front of him was nothing more than street–level muscle.

He carried a C–rank Speed–type Divine Sigil, the lowest possible tier, and his combat value matched it.

His face had crumpled into something barely recognizable.

The pain in his chest kept his body from catching up to what was happening.

Steven didn’t give it time to.

He knocked the knife clean out of the man’s grip.

Then he grabbed him one–handed, lifted him, and brought him straight down into the ground.

Another heavy impact shook the alley floor.

100

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11:19 Wed, Jun 10

Chapter 28 Half to Death

Finished

The young man screamed.

Steven was already throwing punches.

One after another, each one landing with clean, merciless precision.

The young man stopped fighting back almost immediately.

His face became something Steven preferred not to look at too closely.

His cries grew thinner and farther apart.

Steven straightened up and let out a cold breath through his nose.

“You tried to mug me?” He looked down at the crumpled figure. “Look at yourself. You’re completely outclassed.”

Outside the alley, the two who had stayed back and watched through the projected feed from Timothy’s high–tech smartwatch were trembling.

Chris could barely get the words out. “Timothy. This guy is a monster. He just beat an Awakened half to death. Where is all that strength coming from?”

Timothy’s expression wasn’t doing well either.

What if this person doesn’t make it out of this alley?

10. 10.

11:20 Wed, Jun 10

They arrived at her place shortly after.

The apartment looked much the same as before. Worn down in places. Nothing repaired, nothing replaced.

The world in this era still carried the same deep divides it always had. The wealthy lived in towers of glass and polished steel, and people like Bianca’s family lived in neighborhoods like this one.

The government kept the floor from giving out entirely, made sure nobody starved, but it was a long way from comfortable.

Two women scraping by on their own, after years under the same roof as a man who’d wasted everything on drinking and gambling and never once contributed anything useful, naturally had less than most.

Rowenville had several neighborhoods like this one, quiet and worn at the edges, sitting in the long shadow cast by the wealthier parts of the city.

“Mom, we’re home.”

Vanessa appeared from the kitchen almost immediately.

“Hey, Mrs. White,” Steven said.

Vanessa’s face broke into a warm smile. “You didn’t have to bring anything. You being here is already more than enough.”

“It’s just a small gesture,” Steven said. “Please don’t worry about it.”

He looked at her quietly as he said it.

She still carried that worn, hollowed quality around her eyes, but the constant, grinding anxiety that had lived in her expression before was gone.

Maybe the end of that chapter in her life, as ugly as it had been, had given her something back.

Still, the weight of it didn’t lift overnight.

Vanessa had set up a small memorial in the corner, sticks of candles burning around a photo, simple and unadorned.

10

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11:20 Wed, Jun 10

Chapter 28 Half to Death

That was how things were done now, in this age. Everything had been stripped down to what mattered, the long ceremonial traditions quietly set aside.