Ex-Rank Awakening: My Attacks Make Me Stronger - Chapter 313

Chapter 313: EX 313. End Of Meeting
Eragon’s golden eyes narrowed, a sharp gleam flashing behind them as his aura rippled faintly. “Are you accusing me of something, boy?” His tone was calm, but the undertone was laced with quiet threat, a warning from one predator to another.

Leon didn’t flinch. “I never accused you,” he said evenly. “I only asked if you had seen any of the people I’m looking for.”

The air in the chamber thickened instantly. The silence turned heavy, taut like a pulled bowstring. Even the faint hum of mana wards along the walls seemed to dim.

Alexander’s expression hardened. “Eragon,” he said slowly, his eyes narrowing, “what are you up to now?”

Elaine’s blindfolded face turned toward the dragon lord, and Francis’s gaze narrowed, his sharp gaze cutting through the tension. Both wore looks that spoke of suspicion more than trust.

Eragon let out a soft, incredulous scoff. “You’re not serious,” he said, but the scrutiny didn’t fade. The other rulers continued watching him, silent and waiting.

A low, humorless laugh escaped him. “Are you all brain-dead?” he said at last, his fangs glinting faintly beneath his smirk. “What would I be doing with any of these people when this is the first time I’ve met the boy? You think I went out of my way to capture strangers I’ve never even heard of?”

His tone was biting, but beneath the sarcasm was genuine irritation.

The rulers exchanged glances. What he said made sense, at least, in its own way. They all knew Eragon’s temperament well enough to understand that subtle schemes weren’t his style. He was blunt, territorial, and proud. But that didn’t mean he was harmless.

They also knew the way he’d been studying Leon since the meeting began, eyes sharp, curious and almost predatory. Like a researcher observing something extraordinary. And that, more than anything, was what unsettled them.

Yet, no one could move against him. The dragons were too important, too vital to Pandora’s balance. To antagonize their ruler without proof would be reckless. And besides, as far as logic went, Eragon’s point stood: This was indeed his first meeting with Leon. Unless he possesses the ability to see the future, there is no way he would know of Leon’s colleagues, much less have captured them.

Leon studied him for a few seconds longer, searching for cracks in his calm exterior. There were none. Eragon’s expression was perfectly composed, almost too composed.

Finally, Leon exhaled softly. “That’s alright,” he said. “But if you see any of them… please inform me.”

Eragon’s lips pulled into a wide, toothy grin. “No problem.”

The tension loosened at last. The weight pressing on the room eased, and everyone seemed to breathe again. The atmosphere returned, at least on the surface.to normal.

Inside Leon’s mind, Originus’s voice rumbled, deep and suspicious. ‘Boy… what are you planning?’

Leon’s gaze lingered on Eragon, unreadable. ‘He’s hiding something,’ he thought. ‘And we both know it.’

Then, a faint glint sparked in his eyes as he leaned back slightly, his expression unreadable. ‘Just watch,’ he thought. ‘I have a plan.’

****

Alexander remained silent for a long moment after Leon spoke, his gaze lingering on Eragon. The dragon lord’s smug grin hadn’t faded, and though the tension in the chamber had thinned, Alexander’s instincts told him the matter was far from settled.

He knew Leon well enough now to sense that the boy hadn’t dropped the issue completely, he was simply playing the long game. Still, seeing Leon let it go for now, Alexander decided to do the same. ‘But if that lizard tries anything stupid,’ he thought coldly, ‘I’ll be the one to rip out his heart myself.’

His expression returned to its usual calm as he rose from his seat. “Since that is all,” Alexander said, his voice echoing through the vast chamber, “this council is officially over.”

The round table at the center of the room flared to life, its engraved runes pulsing in intricate patterns of blue and silver. Beams of light danced along its surface, swirling toward each ruler.

One by one, they began to vanish. First Francis, his towering form dissolving into golden motes; then Elaine, her blindfold faintly glowing as she disappeared into a veil of white light. Eragon was next, his grin the last thing to fade.

Alexander lingered for a heartbeat longer, his gaze shifting to Leon. The boy stood calm and steady, hands at his sides, the faint glint of determination in his eyes, a faint smile tugging at emperors lips before his figure dissolved into light as well.

Leon was the last one left in the chamber. For a moment, the silence returned, thick, ancient, and deep. Then the light beneath his feet flared, and his form vanished from the room entirely.

It didn’t take long for the effects of the council’s decisions to ripple through Pandora.

By the next cycle, the entire realm buzzed with the news. Every tavern, every fortress, every academy hummed with the same three revelations.

The first, the long-awaited tournament, to be held in the Dragon Mountains the very next day, where the strongest of each race would compete for the right to enter the Hallow.

The second, the declaration that, in five days, the united forces of Pandora would tackle the Hallow itself, the cursed cluster that had consumed countless lives.

And the third, the one that set every heart ablaze and every rumor mill spinning, the news of a warrior capable of destroying corruption.

They whispered of his exploits in Harlot’s Paradise, of the monstrous cluster that fell by his hand, of the impossible, eleven clusters shattered, one after another. Some spoke in awe, others in disbelief.

Across guild halls and sanctums, across temples and citadels, countless powerful professionals debated and speculated. Some wondered if he would appear in the upcoming tournament; others simply wanted to see him, to confirm with their own eyes that such a being truly existed.

But of all the rumors that swept through Pandora that night, one thing remained perfectly clear.

It wasn’t his face.

It wasn’t his talent.

It wasn’t even the weapon that tore through corruption itself.

It was just his name, spoken with awe, fear, and curiosity across every corner of the realm.

Leon Kael.