Ex-Rank Awakening: My Attacks Make Me Stronger - Chapter 280

Chapter 280: EX 280. ORIGINUS
Leon replayed the voice’s words in his head, but it wasn’t the mention of ancients that caught him, it was that one word.

Stars.

He lingered on it, rolling the sound in his mind as if understanding hid in its rhythm. ‘Stars? What could that mean?’ Dragons were a long-lived race, their wisdom spanning ages beyond record, so for one to speak of stars as if they were alive couldn’t be random.

Leon’s brows drew together as his mind shifted through memory. According to cosmic studies… It was one of those electives most nobles avoided, calling it useless theory. Leon had taken it anyway, not because of Elizabeth, or at least not just because of her. He’d always been drawn to it. The idea of the cosmos, the mystery of creation, it fascinated him.

Back then, he’d thought all that talk about “The Stars being the oldest creatures in the universe” was poetic nonsense. After all, stars were balls of flame and gas, not creatures. But the Academy had been a narrow place; they never taught about other races beyond humans and demons.

Now, after everything he’d seen, Leon was beginning to realize how much lay beyond what they knew. If other races existed across the universe, maybe the claim that stars were living beings wasn’t poetic. Maybe it was literal.

And if they were alive, if they were the oldest creatures in the universe, then there was only one possibility.

Leon’s eyes widened. “The Primordials…” he whispered.

The void shivered at his words. Then, that vast, layered voice answered, rumbling through existence itself.

“You have figured out your origin. That is good.”

Leon froze. ‘My… origin?’ The thought didn’t sit right. He’d already learned this year that he wasn’t a Kael by blood, but to say he wasn’t even human, that was absurd. He clenched his fists. ‘That can’t be. My system has always shown my race as Human.’

But then he paused. ‘No. The system only shows what’s on the surface.’

Elizabeth’s case flashed in his mind, how her true race didn’t appear until it awakened. ‘Could it be the same for me?’

He felt his chest tighten. ‘Is that why I became a void spawn?’

Elizabeth once told him that all known races originated from the Primordials, that everything alive was a fragment of them in some form. So if that were true, his transformation into a void spawn… could that be a new branch forming? A new race?

But even as the idea formed, a deeper instinct in him whispered otherwise. ‘No… it’s something more.’

The voice stirred again, almost thoughtful.

“Hm. It seems the scent was there before—but now something else has taken its place.”

Leon’s eyes widened slightly. ‘So I was right,’ he thought.

Then, the tone of the voice shifted, no longer observing, but proclaiming.

“Enough of that. It seems the vessel made the right choice, choosing you as its master. After all, only one as unique as you could be worthy.”

The void vibrated as if reality itself bent around the words.

“For I… am the Primordial Dragon Originus.”

The name echoed through Leon’s being like a tremor through stone, deep enough that even his nonexistent marrow seemed to quiver.

****

“Primordial dragon?” Leon echoed the thought before realizing he’d spoken aloud. His voice seemed to disappear into the endless dark, swallowed whole by the presence around him. His mind raced. “How could the ore owned by the emperor, house such an ancient creature?”

A deep, rumbling laugh rolled through the void.

“Krakrakrakra! How can the great I be housed, boy?” the voice thundered, each syllable vibrating through Leon’s bones. “The ore you speak of did not contain me. No… due to it being an accumulation of countless dragons’ blood, it serves as a link, a gate.to the souls of dragons long perished. And it is the soul of the one who wields it that determines which of us answers the call.”

Leon blinked, then nodded slowly as understanding settled in. In simpler terms, it meant he was so remarkable that he’d drawn a Primordial Dragon instead of a lesser one. He almost smiled at the thought, a flash of pride surfacing. ‘Guess I’m just that good,’ he thought dryly, though the humor barely masked his awe.

Then another question formed in his mind. “Why would dragons a race known for their pride allow their blood to be used by others?”

It hadn’t seemed strange at first, but now that he knew a dragon soul would inhabit his weapon, the question burned more deeply.

Originus’ tone rumbled like shifting mountains. “That is because those ores are nothing but empty husks.”

Leon tilted his head, confused. “Empty husks?”

“This,” the dragon continued, “is not a normal occurrence. To summon a dragon’s soul beyond death requires something extraordinary. Otherwise, what you mortals forge from our blood is merely a shell, that is soulless and unworthy. Only when the wielder is exceptional does one of us awaken.”

Leon rubbed the back of his neck, forcing a small, awkward laugh. “Ah… so that’s why the emperor didn’t tell me about it.” He could already imagine Alexander’s expression if he ever found out that the ore he revered so much was considered by dragons to be a pile of empty husks. Leon had to stifle a grin.

Before he could dwell on it, Originus’ tone shifted,commanding now, like the crack of thunder. “Everything is set.”

Leon suddenly felt a pull in his chest, a sharp tug deep within his soul, as though something ancient was asking for permission to enter.

“Let the fusion begin.”

The words were the last thing Leon heard before the void exploded into white.

Agony struck him like a storm. Every nerve, every thread of his existence burned and tore and rewove itself. He tried to scream, but there was no sound, no breath. Just pain so pure and consuming it eclipsed everything else.

Then, all at once, there was nothing.

****

A/N: Thank you for reading ^^