Reborn: Apocalypse Ready. War Goddess by My Side novel Chapter 2

Timothy couldn't understand how he'd been sent flying. All he felt was the burning sting spreading across his face.
At the same time, a crushing wave of humiliation surged through him.
How did this loser dodge me so easily? Before, I could beat the crap out of this guy whenever I wanted.
No!
This is impossible!
Steven just got lucky. I messed up, that's all!
Timothy slammed both palms against the floor, flipped himself over, and sprang back to his feet in one motion.
"Steven!!"
Timothy roared.
The stunned students around them finally snapped out of it.
What the hell just happened?
Wasn't Steven supposed to be the one sent flying? How did it become Timothy instead?
Combat skill ratings ranged from D to A, with each rank further divided into three ranks like A-, A, and A+.
Steven was only a B. Timothy was an A+. The gap between them was huge.
No matter how you looked at it, Steven should've been the one blasted away by Timothy.
But instead, Timothy had been thrown back so hard that his clothes were torn from scraping against the ground.
Timothy was furious.
Steven looked calm. "Yeah? What is it this time? Need me to buy you a bottle and a pacifier too?"
Everyone froze in shock.
"Steven's seriously screwed now. Timothy might've let that first hit slide, but after this..."
A lot of students shook their heads. If Steven didn't cough up blood today, this probably wasn't ending anytime soon.
Timothy's eyes turned red. "You wanna die?"
Steven sighed. "Seriously, stop already. You're just gonna embarrass yourself again. Besides, I'm done chasing Lilliana. She's all yours. Hurry up and take her home."
That instantly pissed Lilliana off in the back. What the hell does he mean, take me home?
Timothy froze for a second, his brain almost short-circuiting. He wasn't chasing her anymore? That was obviously a good thing. But after getting humiliated like this, there was no way he could let it go without payback.
His blood rushed to his head as he barked, "If you keep messing with Lilliana, I swear I'll beat the hell out of you!"
Steven rubbed his temple. What a headache. Forget it. Better end this quickly so I can go find Bianca. He let out a cold laugh. "That's a lot of tough talk coming from you."
The entire class was stunned. He's still provoking Timothy?
Timothy roared and stomped forward even more viciously this time.
"I'll beat your ass into the ground!"
Wind kicked up beneath his feet as he charged Steven with his fist raised.
Steven still looked completely unfazed.
A lot of students silently sighed. Steven has clearly given up at this point. He's finished. Timothy comes from a rich family, and he even has Awakened relatives backing him up. Hardly anyone dares mess with him.
Only one person in the room noticed something strange.
Lilliana. She actually knew Steven pretty well. Facing an A+ combat specialist like Timothy, Steven wasn't showing even a trace of panic.
That was completely unlike him.
And what happened next confirmed her suspicion.
Timothy attacked like a madman, every strike aimed straight for Steven's weak points.
The school allowed sparring, but serious injuries were forbidden. Students who hadn't awakened yet were considered precious assets. But Timothy clearly didn't care.
His family had money and influence. He wasn't afraid of consequences.
Steven had embarrassed him this badly. There was no way he'd let it slide.
Yet despite how fierce his attacks were, after an entire barrage, he still couldn't touch even the corner of Steven's clothes.
Instead, it felt like Steven was toying with him. Like an old expert messing around with a child.
"Look closely. Steven keeps retreating, but his footwork hasn't slipped once. Since when did he get this strong? Isn't he supposed to be a B-rank?"
A lot of people felt their hearts jolt.
Seeing that he still couldn't land a hit, Timothy exploded in rage.
"Are you done dodging like a coward? Got the guts to fight back or not?"
Steven sneered inwardly. Handling Timothy was ridiculously easy.
Fine. Time to teach him a lesson.
With Steven's current combat experience, playing with Timothy was effortless. Still, better wrap this up quickly.
A sharp glint flashed through Steven's eyes. He sidestepped Timothy's punch, spun around to his flank, and slammed a vicious elbow straight into the back of Timothy's neck. The exact same scene repeated itself. Timothy crashed face-first onto the ground again.
A wave of shocked cries erupted around them.
"What just happened?"
"How can Timothy not even touch Steven?"
"This is insane. Is Steven really only ranked B?"
Timothy lay sprawled on the floor, overwhelmed by humiliation and fury.
"I'm gonna kill you!"
Steven replied flatly, "Moron."
Right then, the homeroom teacher, who'd been standing in the back without intervening, finally frowned. What's wrong with Timothy?
At this rate, he's gonna end up the one suffering.
She hurriedly shouted, "Both of you, stop!"
Pretending to rush over in a panic, she strode toward them.
She wore a white blouse up top, with the outline of her bra faintly visible beneath it. Her tight pencil skirt hugged her hips closely, outlining a subtly seductive curve.
Black-rimmed glasses rested on her face.
And she looked furious.
The moment Steven saw her, he paused slightly.
So it's this old witch.
Cassandra Chapman, Steven and Timothy's homeroom teacher. She was a level 10 beginner Awakened who'd hit her ceiling long ago and ended up teaching at this high school instead.
Just an old hag with a temper worse than a warlord and a disgusting obsession with status.
Steven didn't like talking about women that way, but she genuinely made his skin crawl. She looked down on poor students with zero shame, constantly preaching self-righteous lectures while insulting them, yet spent all day fawning over rich kids. She was revolting. Someone like her didn't deserve to be a teacher. And with her stepping in, it became inconvenient for Steven to keep fighting.
Looks like there wouldn't be a chance to teach Timothy another lesson today. Steven dropped the thought.
Cassandra turned toward Steven and snapped, "Steven, what the hell are you doing? School's over, so go on home! If you want to spar, do it during combat class. Don't cause trouble here!"
Steven looked at her coldly. He'd known this old hag would act exactly like this.
"Uh, old hag... I mean, Ms. Chapman, he started it first..."
Before he could even finish, Cassandra exploded. Old hag?
"Steven! How dare you insult a teacher? Shut your mouth! I'll deal with you in a minute!"
Steven curled his lip. So she knows she's an old hag, after all?
Can't even stand hearing it out loud? What a joke.
The old hag immediately turned and walked over to Timothy.
"Timothy, are you alright?"
Timothy was humiliated beyond belief and didn't even want to answer.
Cassandra noticed the injuries on his body.
She immediately whipped around and glared at Steven furiously.
"Look what you did! You're classmates. Did you really have to hit him that hard? He's bleeding! Go home and write me a 10,000-word essay to reflect on your mistakes!"
Damn, this old hag is really asking for it.
"Old hag, maybe open your damn eyes and see who started this. Someone like you shouldn't be teaching anybody."
Cassandra was both shocked and furious, her chest rising violently with anger. "This is outrageous! Come with me to the disciplinary office!"
The surrounding students were stunned speechless. What the hell is wrong with Steven today? He's openly going against the homeroom teacher. Who the hell says stuff like that? That's insane.
Nobody even dared make a sound anymore.
Steven glanced around casually. "I've got things to do. Maybe next time. Later."
Right now, Steven honestly wanted to slap the hell out of this old hag. She really disgusts me. Why the hell should I care about her? After my Divine Awakening, she'll be nothing anyway.
Better leave fast.
Some of the students from ordinary families in Cassandra's class felt unbelievably satisfied watching this unfold. They'd wanted someone to curse this old hag out for ages. Poor kids were humans too. She always sided with rich students without caring who was right or wrong. She didn't even bother pretending to be fair. And this whole thing obviously wasn't Steven's fault.
Timothy felt like his face was burning.
Cassandra seemed to notice something off as well.
"Everyone disperse! Don't you all have homes to go to?" Cassandra barked at the surrounding students.
The crowd immediately started scattering.
Cassandra shot Steven another glare. "Come with me to the disciplinary office. I expect to see your self-reflection essay tomorrow!"
Steven rolled his eyes. "Already told you I'm not going. As for that stupid self-reflection essay, whoever wants to write it can write it. I sure won't."
Inside, he cursed, Like hell I'm writing that shit.
Then he turned and walked off immediately. No point arguing with this old hag any longer.
Cassandra's face turned pale, then red with rage.
"Steven!!!"
But Steven had already vanished.
Lilliana stayed silent for a moment as she stared at Steven's retreating figure. Something felt seriously wrong with him today.
Then she left too.
Timothy panicked a little.
"Ms. Chapman, thank you, but I'm fine. I should get going."
He hurried after Lilliana.
Cassandra still wanted to comfort Timothy, but she didn't get the chance.
"Lilliana, I'll walk you home."
Unfortunately, no matter how enthusiastic Timothy acted, Lilliana's expression stayed ice-cold.
"No, thanks," Lilliana replied flatly.
Timothy laughed awkwardly. "Alright. But don't worry. If Steven keeps bothering you, I'll definitely get him off your back."
Lilliana ignored that completely.
Her mind was still replaying everything Steven had just said. The more she thought about it, the more irritated she became.
Steven, you're definitely going to regret this. Stopped liking me? Yeah, right. I don't believe that for a second.
"Lilliana, wanna come train at my family's combat arena tonight? Divine Awakening's almost here."
"Not today." Lilliana's tone remained cold.
Timothy forced another smile. "Okay, then maybe tomorrow."
As Timothy stared in the direction Steven had disappeared, his face darkened. How dare you embarrass me in front of Lilliana! This isn't over. Tomorrow during combat class, let's see how many people you can beat. Just wait.
After leaving the field, Steven briefly recalled some things from his previous life.
Cassandra had desperately tried climbing the social ladder back then, but in the end, she'd only reached level 13 as a Two-Sigil Divine Envoy. Just looking at her disgusting face made him sick.
Later, she supposedly became the dean's mistress before eventually getting fired...
Steven quickly tossed the thought aside. Someone like her wasn't worth wasting time on.
After thinking it over, he realized that with his trash-tier talent in this life, surviving all the way to the end probably wouldn't be easy.
He needed to latch onto the Ember Eternal as tightly as possible.
She was a top-tier Awakened with an SSS-rank Divine Sigil!
A monster who cut down gods and beasts alike, all the way to the realm of Divine Eternal.
She became Draconia's fourth Divine Eternal, and the only female Divine Eternal.
In his previous life, she'd been like a brilliantly blooming flower that vanished too quickly. She'd only held the title of Divine Eternal for a short time before betrayal led to her death. It was honestly tragic.
But her achievements were terrifying.
Her life had been short and lonely. Even after creating her own Ember Celestial Army, she still kept everyone at arm's length.
There wasn't a single person truly close to her. Rumor had it she'd walked her entire path alone. Only after becoming the Ember Eternal had the other three Divine Eternals pressured her into forming the Celestial Army.
Even after reaching the top, she never indulged herself. Most of her life was spent fighting beasts.
She'd slaughtered countless level 8 and level 9 beasts, becoming the new symbol of Draconia itself.
All three Divine Eternals had once wanted to marry her, and every single one of them got rejected.
She should've continued shining.
But in the end, she was stabbed in the back by a traitor. An 80-plus-level Divine Saint marshal critically wounded her at the most important moment of battle.
Because of those injuries, during the final war, she'd been forced to self-destruct her Divine Sigils just to kill that level 10 beast.
Now that Steven had been reborn, he knew exactly how pathetic his own talent was. At best, he'd probably cap out as a Three-Sigil Divine Adept.
Might as well ride the Ember Eternal's coattails instead.
People capable of awakening a Divine Sigil were called the Awakened, but they were actually pretty rare. Maybe only three out of ten people could awaken one. And out of those three, two and a half only awakened the lowest-grade sigils with barely any future. People like the old hag, Cassandra.
The Awakened had ten sigil realms.
First Sigil, Awakened.
Second Sigil, Divine Envoy.
Third Sigil, Divine Adept.
Fourth Sigil, Divine Knight.
Fifth Sigil, Divine General.
Sixth Sigil, Divine King.
Seventh Sigil, Divine Lord.
Eighth Sigil, Divine Sovereign.
Ninth Sigil, Divine Saint.
Tenth Sigil, Divine Eternal!
Divine Sigils themselves were also ranked.
C, B, A, S, SS, and SSS. Six total grades.
Steven himself had only awakened a B-rank Divine Sigil. Pretty damn mediocre... Even if he spent his whole life struggling, becoming a Three-Sigil Divine Adept might already be his limit.
Back then, people mocked him nonstop. Combat skill B plus Divine Sigil B. Together, they called him the "Double B Idiot."
Honestly, he'd rather cling tightly to the future Ember Eternal and change both their destinies.
Right now, the future Ember Eternal was still just an ordinary girl who hadn't awakened yet.
Which meant he still had a chance.
The cold and ruthless Ember Eternal of the future never smiled or joked around with anyone. That icy personality had a lot to do with both her family and the things she experienced during her school years.
In other words, Bianca's life right now was bad. Really bad.
After the Ember Eternal became a legend, people dug up countless details about her past. Even this Divine Awakening High School ended up benefiting from it.
Their hometown of Rowenville had its status raised several levels because she'd been born there.
Steven thought carefully.
Back in his previous life, because they'd attended the same high school, he'd always admired Bianca from afar.
But there'd never been a world where they could meet as equals. One was the untouchable Ember Eternal. The other was a trash-tier Awakened at the bottom of society.
Still, he'd once thoroughly investigated and reviewed everything about their high school years.
He'd carefully recorded every detail related to Bianca.
And he remembered something: after his confession this time around, Bianca had apparently disappeared from school for over a week.
Did something happen today?
Steven thought for a moment before deciding he should go take a look. Maybe there's something I can help her with. Won't her affection for me skyrocket instantly then?
A faint smile tugged at Steven's lips.
Then he sprinted toward Bianca's house.
A bold idea slowly formed in his mind. Using the advantage of being reborn, he'd keep showing up like a savior whenever the Ember Eternal needed help. Operation Ember Eternal!