Ex-Rank Awakening: My Attacks Make Me Stronger - Chapter 353

Chapter 353: EX 353. Monkey Man
Elizabeth leaned closer, her voice low enough to stay drowned beneath the roar of the crowd.

“How did you know she’d be here?”

Leon didn’t look away from the arena. His eyes stayed locked on the lone figure standing with the green gem still in hand.

“I just had a hunch.”

Elizabeth studied him for a moment, searching for more behind the answer. Leon didn’t offer any. Eventually, she exhaled and turned back to the arena.

“You have a very good hunch.”

A small smile tugged at Leon’s mouth.

“Seems like she wasn’t idle while we were apart.”

Elizabeth nodded.

“So what now? Do we let her compete, or do you want to intervene?”

Leon leaned back in his seat, gaze steady.

“Let’s just watch. I want to see how far she’s come.”

Down on the stage, Nikko Yamamoto stood alone, the green gem catching the arena light as it rested against her palm.

The earlier rush of combat had faded, leaving her expression thoughtful.

“I knew that old woman was up to no good,” she murmured.

Her thoughts drifted back to the moment she arrived in Pandora. She and the squad had been separated on entry, scattered across different regions of Pandora.

She’d searched as soon as she landed, hoping to find Leon or anyone from Unit One but the land she stepped into was the Beast Islands. Information traveled fast there, carried by caravans of beastmen and wandering mercenaries.

Word of a grand tournament reached her during her search.

Word of the real prize came even quicker: the winners would join the upcoming campaign.

And Leon’s name was listed among the campaign leaders.

That was all the reason she needed.

On the day she tried to register, an old woman intercepted her.

The stranger spoke about her “purest primal energy,” eyes shining as though she’d discovered treasure.

Nikko ignored odd people often, but the woman’s grip wasn’t something she could shake off. That was how the gem ended up in her hands. And the moment she stepped into the tournament grounds, she was ambushed.

Nikko looked down at the gem again, rolling it gently across her palm.

“Should I get rid of it?” she muttered.

She dismissed the thought, slipping the gem back into her inventory.

“It better be worth all this trouble.”

Her gaze lifted toward the center of the arena. The noise of the crowd, the clatter of clashing mana, the shattered stone and swirling colors—they all reminded her why she came.

She hadn’t forgotten her purpose: join the campaign. Stand beside Leon again.

“I’ll have to give it everything I’ve got.”

Her figure blurred, then vanished from the spot as she darted deeper into the battlefield, ready for the next round.

****

Some contestants had slipped into the shadows the moment the royal rumble began, hiding among shattered stone or behind collapsed pillars.

The idea wasn’t foolish. With more than a thousand divine-stage fighters on the arena, staying out of sight for a while seemed like a safe path toward the final hundred.

For a short time, it worked.

But that illusion shattered when the goat man lifted the microphone again, voice rolling across the coliseum like a bell.

“An hour has passed. Those who haven’t eliminated a single contestant will now be removed.”

A wave of shock rippled across the battlefield. Those hiding tensed, preparing to step out and argue. Before a word could rise from their throats, the goat man’s aura swept across the arena in a crushing wave.

Even the divine-stage experts flinched under the weight of it.

When he spoke again, his tone had lost its earlier cheer.

“The campaign needs warriors ready to risk it all in the Hallow. Not those looking for an easy path.”

The hidden fighters felt the sting immediately.

A few glanced at each other, realizing just how badly they’d misjudged the situation.

The goat man continued, voice steady and cold.

“If you look for an easy way out here by hiding, what will stop you from doing the same in the Hallow? Backstabbing your allies. Deserting them.”

Recognition dawned on the faces of the concealed contestants. Some lowered their heads. Some clenched their fists.

A few gritted their teeth, not at him, but at themselves.

The goat-man, having finished what he wanted to say, snapped his fingers.

All those who’d been hiding vanished from the arena, removed cleanly and without spectacle. The remaining fighters, mid-duel or catching their breath, cast a brief look toward the announcer.

Relief washed across their faces. They silently thanked every star in the sky that they hadn’t chosen the same path.

On the battlefield, Nikko narrowed her eyes. No hesitation touched her movements as she immediately searched for another opponent, her focus sharpened to a dangerous edge.

The entire arena shifted. It was as if someone had poured fire into everyone’s veins. Fighters lunged for the nearest foe. Mana blasted outward. The stage, already scarred, grew more chaotic by the second.

Up in the stands, Elizabeth let out a breath.

“It doesn’t seem fair to eliminate them like that. They should’ve at least given a warning.”

Leon didn’t look away from the fight.

“In the Hallow, there won’t be warnings. And for divine-stage experts to miss something this obvious shows they lack foresight. That alone is reason enough for elimination.”

Elizabeth studied his profile for a moment, the set of his jaw and the calm certainty in his eyes.

“I always wonder why you’re so smart for your age.”

Leon’s lips curved, eyes still on the battle.

“Don’t forget I’m also too powerful for my age.”

Elizabeth “….”

“…You can’t accept a compliment like a normal person?”

She shook her head, though her hand slid into his.

Leon didn’t comment, only letting the faint smile linger as they turned their attention back to the roaring arena.

****

Nikko cut through the arena like a streak of silver light. Every fighter who stepped into her path vanished in the next heartbeat, their bodies removed from the stage before they even hit the ground.

Her claws shimmered with condensed primal energy, each swipe sharp enough to break through layered divine-stage defenses.

Spectators leaned forward as they realized what they were seeing.

A rank 7 shouldn’t have been doing this.

Rank 7s were newcomers to the divine stage. Their control, their foundation, their understanding of divine power, everything should’ve been in its early form.

But nothing about Nikko resembled a novice.

She moved with the composure of someone who’d grown up breathing power.

Her strikes were clean, efficient and lethal.

A supreme talent bearer wasn’t supposed to be comparable to others at her stage—they were supposed to overshadow them.

And Nikko was proving it with every elimination.

Yet her momentum came to a pause.

A monkey-like beast man landed ahead of her, staff spinning in effortless circles.