Ex-Rank Awakening: My Attacks Make Me Stronger - Chapter 372

Chapter 372: EX 372. UnEXpected
Further back stood the generals, the rank 9 titans who answered only to the human emperor.

Their presence twisted the air into silent storms. They were legends given shape, rarely seen outside the darkest hours.

Today, all of them were here.

The elves had formed their own formation to the east, a long sea of silver armor and glowing sigils. Their divine archers held bows that hummed with living mana, each shot ready to fracture space itself.

The beast clans had taken the western ridge, a forest of towering figures draped in thick fur and armor of bone and obsidian.

Their roars rolled like distant thunder.

And then there were the Ninety-Eight Champions, standing apart from the armies with hard expressions.

Without Malachi and Nikko among them, they didn’t carry the full weight they originally would have, but they were still wild cards strong enough to change the course of a war.

Their battle aura made the ground shiver.

At the back of the armada, the rulers of each domain watched the horizon, waiting for the moment Leon and his squad would join them. Tension coiled through the air, thick enough to choke.

The silence stretched on until even the wind felt impatient.

Francis, the Beast Chief, finally exhaled a slow growl and crossed his arms. His amber eyes narrowed at the empty sky.

“What is taking them so long?” he muttered.

The question drifted over the assembled armies like a spark in a powder field.

Everyone felt the same thing.

Leon and his squad were the keystone of this entire campaign.

And Pandora needed its keystone now.

****

Everywhere along the front line, tension hung like a blade held against the throat of the world. Divine auras pressed against one another across the border of the Arman Empire, a reminder that this gathering wasn’t just a campaign.

It was the second great war in Pandora’s history, and everyone standing here understood what that meant.

Alexander held his ground among the rulers as the human emperor, the silver of his robes brushing softly in the wind as he watched the beast chief.

He wondered the same thing Francis had voiced, but he kept the thought tight behind his teeth. Instead, he offered what little calm he could.

“He’ll be here,” he said. “Don’t worry.”

Francis turned, and the wide grin that split across his bear-like face carried more excitement than concern.

His massive hands clenched as a faint ripple of primal energy stirred the dust at his feet.

“Worried? Hardly,” he said.

“My fists are just itching to pummel some corrupt monsters.”

Alexander couldn’t help a small smile.

The man was impossible to read, unless the subject was combat, in which case he became painfully simple.

Before he could reply, an older voice slid through the air like a needle threading through cloth.

“You always think with your fists. When will you think with your head and give me a grandchild already?”

Francis froze.

Alexander and Elaine shifted away an inch the moment they heard the voice.

It was enough to signal they wanted no part in whatever came next.

Francis swallowed hard as he slowly turned.

His amber eyes landed on an elderly woman with skin the same warm tone as his, though age had taken the color from her hair.

Her gaze, however, was sharp enough to cut steel.

“M–Mother, it’s not like that,” Francis said, voice suddenly a fraction too high.

She waved him off.

“I’m not here to argue about your brutish nature. That ship sailed decades ago.” Her eyes brightened with triumph.

“Besides, I’ve already found you a perfect wife.”

A beat of stunned silence followed.

Francis’ expression faltered.

Behind him, Alexander and Elaine wore identical looks of regret for their companion, because they knew his nature.

The old woman continued, completely undeterred.

“I even gave her the primal gem. The synchrony was unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”

Francis’ face drained of color.

“You did what!?” he shouted, voice echoing across the divine assembly.

****

Francis heart thudded heavily, once at his mother’s action.

The primal gem was the heritage of every beast chief that ever lived, a reservoir of primal energy unmatched in Pandora.

A treasure tribes had gone to war over.

And Francis’ mother had handed it out like a wedding gift.

“Mother,” Francis tried again, voice trembling around the respectful tone he struggled to maintain, “who did you give it to? We have to find that person and get the gem back.”

His mother tilted her head, thoughtfully.

Then: “I’ve forgotten.”

Francis just… stopped.

Elaine stood there in total silence.

Alexander felt his mind go blank.

Francis stared into the distance, dead inside.

‘My ancestors are going to kill me.’

Before the weight of that could settle, hurried footsteps raced over the stone.

Genevieve darted between them, her wolf ears standing upright, tail whipping behind her.

She skidded to a halt in front of Alexander.

“Sister? What is it?” Alexander asked, grateful for the distraction from the impending beast-tribe apocalypse.

Genevieve caught her breath.

“It’s Leon and his squad,” she said. “They’ve already gone to the Hallow.”

Everything stopped again.

Francis, momentarily freed from his family disaster, jerked his head toward her.

Elaine’s ear twitched as she turned her covered eyes to the empress.

Alexander just stared at her, disbelief hitting him like a cold slap.

All three spoke at once.

“WHAT!”

****

Alexander breathed out slowly, forcing himself to keep his voice steady.

“Genevieve… explain everything. From the start.”

The wolf-eared empress nodded, still catching her breath.

Her ears twitched sharply as she replayed the events in her mind.

“While I was preparing the breach spell for the barrier, Leon— or what felt like a clone of him— approached. He asked for the sequence and anchor points. I didn’t understand why he needed it, but I still gave him the details, before He disappeared a moment later.”

She paused, her brows tightening.

“The more I thought about it, the stranger it felt. So I went to check if he and his squad had finished their meeting. When I looked into the hall… there was nothing. No presence. No barrier masking them either.” Her tail flicked with rising tension.

“I searched the palace next, every corridor, every courtyard. Nothing. But I did pick up traces of them, it was faint, but clear.”

Alexander felt the weight settle in his chest. “Where?”

“In the direction of the Hallow,” she said, voice dropping into a low, worried whisper.

Silence wrapped around the rulers like a tightening snare.

Even the wind seemed to stop moving.

Elaine’s blindfolded gaze shifted toward the empress, her tone a thin thread of disbelief.

“Why would he head out alone… at a time like this?”

Alexander had no answer. His mouth opened, then closed, as if his mind refused to settle on any explanation.

Leon wasn’t reckless. And he wasn’t arrogant. He wouldn’t make a move like this without a reason. But the truth gnawed at him all the same.