Ex-Rank Awakening: My Attacks Make Me Stronger - Chapter 274

Chapter 274: EX 274. Living Tether
Leon raised an eyebrow. “Tether?”

Alexander nodded. “Yes. Corruption isn’t native to our world. It’s foreign. And Pandora, rejects anything that doesn’t belong to it. So, in order to remain here, corruption needs an anchor… something to bind it to our reality.”

The Emperor’s expression darkened slightly as he went on, voice lowering as if the walls themselves shouldn’t hear. “That anchor, that connection, is what we call a tether. It’s the first sign that corruption has chosen a place or a person.”

Leon leaned back in his chair, thoughtful. The term lingered in his mind, heavy and unfamiliar, yet it felt like something he should’ve known all along.

“A tether,” he murmured under his breath. “Something foreign forcing itself to stay…”

Alexander watched him carefully, measuring every flicker in his expression. “Exactly. Without a tether, corruption cannot sustain itself here. It will wither away — rejected by the world’s natural order.”

He let that hang in the air for a moment before adding, almost solemnly, “But when it does find a tether… what follows is devastation.”

****

Leon’s thoughts flickered back to Shantel, the ruined city, the cursed soil, the madness that had crept through its people like a whisper from hell. ‘The gem under Shantel could it have been the tether of that corruption?”

He didn’t know. But he didn’t waste time dwelling on it. “How do these tethers look?” he asked instead, his tone even, though his mind was already running through possibilities.

The Emperor straightened slightly, his emerald eyes reflecting the faint gold glow of the lamps. “Tethers come in two forms,” he said.

Leon didn’t interrupt. He just waited, silent and patient.

“The first,” Alexander began, “is what we call the Environmental Tether.”

He gestured with his hand, as if tracing invisible lines through the air. “This type is formed in a location, a cursed ground, a corrupted lake, a ruin that refuses to die. When it manifests, it designates a guardian… a being twisted by the corruption itself. That guardian brings ruin to the area in whatever way it can, through blight, curses, or by commanding followers to spread its influence.”

Leon’s eyes widened slightly, realization hitting him like a pulse of static. So the tether in Shantel was of this type.

He could almost see it now. The “tyrant” everyone had blamed was only a puppet, the true rot had been the city lord, Pius. The guardian. The emissary of that tether.

Alexander continued, voice steady but grave. “The next type of tether is the Living Tether. Unlike the environmental one, this doesn’t stay in one place. It forms inside a person, binding to their very being, and from there, it spreads. Like a plague.”

Leon felt a chill crawl up his spine. “It spreads?” he asked, his voice lower.

The Emperor nodded. “Yes. It can move from one host to another, consuming body and mind. This is the worst form imaginable because, unlike a location, you can’t isolate it. It’s alive. And it wants to multiply.”

Leon leaned forward, his expression darkening. “Then how do you deal with it?”

He knew how powerful corruption was, he’d seen what it could do. It could bring down entire cities, even shatter the minds of high-rank professionals. And if it could spread from person to person…

Alexander’s expression hardened, and his next words made Leon’s body still.

“There is no way to handle it.”

The room went quiet.

Alexander let the silence stretch before continuing. “Whenever such a tether appears, it must be avoided at all costs. We do not fight it. We do not approach it. Because nothing, nothing—can stop the spread once it begins.”

Leon stared at him, the weight of those words sinking deep. For the first time in a while, the word hopeless crossed his mind.

****

Leon sat there, stunned for a heartbeat. The Emperor’s words echoed in his mind like a slow, rolling thunder.

‘There is no way to handle it.’

He exhaled softly, leaning back against the chair, eyes unfocused. ‘So this is an SSS-rank trial,’he thought.

It was the only comparison that made sense to him. Something that spread like a disease, consuming everything it touched, yet couldn’t be fought head-on—it was far beyond any danger he’d faced before. Monsters could be slain and even death could be reversed with enough power or luck. But this… this was different.

For the first time, corruption had taken shape in his mind.

Before, it had always felt like an idea, an abstract threat whispered through rumors and records. Like how people on Earth watched distant wars through glowing screens, shaking their heads but never feeling the blood that soaked the soil. That was how corruption had been to him: something terrifying, yes, but unreal.

Yes, he knew about and had experienced corruption, but he never took it as an actual threat.

But now? Hearing the Emperor describe it as a contagion that jumped from person to person, devouring life itself? That made it real. Tangible.

And yet, Leon didn’t feel fear. He hardly did.

What stirred inside him wasn’t dread but something sharper, more dangerous, a quiet thrill. A challenge.

He looked up, and that faint, crooked smirk tugged at his lips.

‘Now this… this is what I call a real trial.’

Across from him, Emperor Alexander studied the boy in silence. The smirk unsettled him, not because it was arrogant, but because it was sincere. Most men, after hearing about the true nature of corruption, would pale or tremble. Yet this one smiled.

‘He doesn’t seem afraid,’ the Emperor thought, narrowing his eyes. Then, slowly, his expression softened. ‘Good.’

Because if there truly was no way to handle such tethers, if humanity had reached the end of what it could fight, then perhaps… this was the moment things would change.

After all, that was before he appeared.

****

The Emperor’s voice grew quieter as he continued, the weight of his words filling the room like a heavy fog.

“As for the Living Tether,” he said, his tone careful, and deliberate, “only three have ever been created—” He paused, his eyes dimming. “Well, only three have ever been found.”

Leon noticed the faint change instantly, the tightening of the Emperor’s jaw, the flicker of grief that crossed his otherwise composed face. It wasn’t just a statement of fact; there was memory behind it. Something personal.

The silence stretched between them, deep and uneasy. He leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on his knees, his gaze steady on the man before him.

‘It seems,’ Leon thought, his voice calm but probing, ‘like there’s a story behind that.’