Reborn: Apocalypse Ready. War Goddess by My Side novel Chapter 53

Chapter 53 Arguing

Finished

“Bianca, don’t listen to him. Come straight to the military. You’ll rise faster than anyone in history, and every instructor assigned to you will carry at least an Eight–Sigil Divine Sovereign rank. The resources alone, would be limitless.”

Through every single word of it, Bianca never opened her mouth. She kept walking toward Steven with the quiet, unhesitating certainty of someone who’d already made every decision that mattered.

“Miss, please say something. There’s no reason to be nervous…”

“Nobody is forcing you into anything. The Celestial Army is simply the finest path available to someone like

you…”

Bianca still said nothing.

Every person on the field forgot entirely that the Divine Awakening ceremony was still ongoing. Every gaze locked onto Bianca and refused to let go.

A deeply unpleasant feeling crept through Lilliana’s chest.

Surely not.

Does she really have no ambition at all?

She’s SSS–rank now. Why would she still care about a B–rank like Steven?

She wouldn’t. She absolutely wouldn’t.

She’s probably coming to cut ties with him, just like I did.

Lilliana clung to that thought the way a drowning person clings to driftwood.

Because if things went any other way, she’d feel like someone Steven discarded. And she refused to be that.

Steven’s own chest was quietly knotting itself up.

Awakening SSS–rank was the kind of thing that reshaped a person from the inside out.

Would Bianca change?

The worry needled at him like a splinter he couldn’t quite reach.

This mattered more than almost anything else in the life stretched out ahead of him.

Of course, if Bianca wanted to put distance between them, he’d accept it. She was going to become Ember Eternal someday, and that kind of destiny didn’t come without a cost.

He just hoped she wouldn’t become another Lilliana.

Even just keeping him as a friend would be enough.

Every step Bianca took made Steven’s and Lilliana’s heart sink in equal measure.

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17:51 Thu, Jun 11 MA M

Chapter 53 Arguing

Finished

Then she arrived.

She looked at Steven, and Steven looked at her, and neither of them looked away.

A moment passed, and then Bianca’s eyes curved into soft crescents, bright with a joy she couldn’t have hidden even if she’d wanted to.

“Steven, I actually awakened SSS–rank!”

She only wanted to share this with him. Only him.

The knot in Steven’s chest dissolved entirely.

A quiet smile settled over his face. “Yeah. I’m really happy for you.”

Bianca smiled back and nodded. “Yeah!”

Lilliana felt something inside her lurch violently.

Why?

She looked like the loser in a game she hadn’t realized she was playing, and Steven was standing there as the undisputed victor.

“Bianca, the Academy is where you belong.”

“Bianca, the military is the right choice here!”

Bianca turned to look at the two officials for the first time.

It felt like she was making an announcement to the entire field at once.

“Wherever Steven goes, I go.”

Every student from her old class felt something curdle inside them at once.

He actually won her heart.

Goddammit!

How did we not see what was right in front of us?

That’s just how fate works sometimes.

Students who didn’t know the full story were even more baffled.

17:51 Thu, Jun 11 MAM

What does he have to offer? He’s just B–rank. What makes him worth the attention of an SSS–rank prodigy?

Is he actually trying to make the rest of the world combust from sheer jealousy?

This kid actually captured an SSS–rank girl’s heart.

“Alright then. We’ll go to the Awakened Academy.”

The words settled over the moment like a final verdict.

Bianca smiled softly in return. “The Awakened Academy it is.”

Frank looked like he was physically restraining himself from leaping into the air.

The students watching all lost their minds at once.

An SSS–rank Awakened just took a B–rank’s lead without a second though

What even is this?

Did he spend the last few days cultivating her loyalty like some kind of long game?

Where can we get a girl like that?

Elliot stood completely frozen.

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17:51 Thu, Jun 11 M M

Chapter 53 Arguing

Finished

I lost to a B–rank?

Lilliana felt something hollow and aching open up in the center of her chest.

This is why Steven never came crawling to me.

This would’ve been a good joke if it wasn’t unfunny. I’m the loser here.

The military official snapped out of his shock and immediately pivoted.

“Young man, I understand your rank isn’t exceptional right now, but for Bianca’s sake, I’m prepared to authorize a special exception and bring you into the military alongside her.

“The two of you together, full equal treatment across the board. Resources, weapons, anything you want, including S–rank armaments. Just say the word.”

The official had absolutely no intention of letting an SSS–rank talent walk away without a fight.

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