Ex-Rank Awakening: My Attacks Make Me Stronger - Chapter 373

Chapter 373: EX 373. Still Young
Everywhere along the border, tension pulled the air tight. Francis had been the first to break the silence, his rumbling voice steady despite the storm gathering behind his eyes.

He looked toward Alexander and asked what everyone else was thinking.

“So what do we do now?”

Alexander drew in a breath, shoulders lifting as he prepared to give the only order that made sense.

“It’s simple. We go to assist th—”

He never finished.

As a wave of corruption tore across Pandora like a rotten tide, it was a sign of the infinite barrier being breached.

It was not only thick, but also profane and ancient.

The kind of presence that made every soul, regardless of strength, feel as if cold metal had snapped around their spine.

From the rulers to the divine-ranked armada, down to the simplest citizen in every domain, the entire world froze under that suffocating weight.

Then, just as suddenly it vanished.

Cold sweat streaked down Elaine’s cheek.

As Her voice came out quietly, almost swallowed by the wind.

“The power is more than we estimated.”

Alexander and Francis exchanged the same grim realization.

Even Francis’ mother, stared wordlessly toward the Hallow as if seeing something no one else could.

Genevieve’s ears twitched, her gaze locked onto Alexander.

“Brother… are we still going?”

Alexander didn’t answer right away. Every bit of preparation, every soldier, every strategy had been built on an assumption, an assumption that the Hallow’s accumulated power would be immense, yes, but not impossible.

The blast that just swept through Pandora tore that belief apart.

Doubt crawled into his thoughts, cold and persistent.

But then an image of his mother flashed into his mind, her expectations, her standards, the weight of her sacrifice.

And he straightened.

“No matter what,” Alexander said, voice firming, “we stick to the plan. We assist Leon and destroy the Hallow.”

Elaine nodded.

Francis followed suit, the invigoration in Alexander’s tone spreading through both of them.

Genevieve’s tail swayed, relief softening her expression as she smiled.

“I thought as much, brother.”

Alexander gave a short nod and turned toward the assembled forces, ready to give the order to march.

But before a single command left his lips, a calm voice drifted from behind the three rulers.

“That won’t be necessary.”

They spun around instinctively. Alexander’s eyes flew wide, breath catching in his throat.

“Leon?”

****

They stared at the newcomer in stunned confusion at first, unsure how Leon could be standing behind them when he was supposed to be inside the Hallow.

It was Genevieve who recovered quickest.

Her wolf ears twitched as she leaned forward and said quietly,

“It’s a clone.”

Realization settled over Alexander, Elaine and Francis at the same time, but it didn’t stop Alexander from narrowing his eyes at the clone.

“Why did your master go without us? Did something happen?”

The other rulers waited, just as curious.

The clone looked at them for a long moment, letting the tension stretch, before he exhaled and said, almost reluctantly,

“He forgot.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

Silence swallowed the border camp.

Then Alexander let out a short, disbelieving laugh.

“I think I misheard you. It sounded like you said he forgot.”

Francis rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“It seems I heard the same thing.”

Elaine tilted her head toward the clone, her blindfolded gaze paradoxically sharp.

“As did I. And there is no possible way he would forget after all the preparation we carried out. Correct?”

The clone didn’t speak. He didn’t need to. His silence was confirmation enough.

Alexander was the first to regain his composure coming up with every possible reason in his mind for Leon forgetting the preparations and heading straight to the Hallow.

After all He’d always believed in Leon more fiercely than anyone.

“Fine. Then tell us what you meant earlier, when you said we shouldn’t bother assisting him.”

Elaine and Francis steadied themselves as well. No matter how strong Leon was, the corrupt wave that had washed over Pandora had surpassed anything he had ever showcased.

They had all felt that overwhelming pressure.

It was impossible to imagine Leon facing it alone.

The clone waited a moment before lifting an orb from no where.

It resembled the emperor’s scrying spheres, but the moment they sensed its aura, everyone realized this one sat on a different level entirely, crafted by a Lord-rank talent.

“My master said,” the clone began, “that if you weren’t convinced, I should show you this.”

Every ruler turned their attention to the orb, Alexander, Elaine, Francis, Francis’ mother, even Genevieve and the moment the image inside sharpened, their eyes all widened.

Alexander was the first to speak, breath caught in his throat.

“How is this possible…”

Even Elaine, blindfolded and relying solely on her divine senses, flinched at what she perceived.

Francis’ mother was frozen, mouth slightly open.

Genevieve was the one who found her voice.

“They’re all monsters…”

Inside the orb, the truth unfolded clearly, impossibly:

Six combatants were facing the Hallow alone.

And against all logic, against every calculation made by the three domains,

It looked like they were winning.

****

A low hush settled over the edge of the Arman border the moment the scene inside the orb snapped into its first frame, but before that moment ever arrived, the truth behind Leon’s early arrival at the Hallow had already begun taking shape.

When Leon finished elevating his squad into Lords, the rush in his chest had been impossible to ignore.

The ascension to the divine stage, the new talents and the raw authority radiating from each of them… it felt like staring at five new suns being born at once.

That thrill overpowered everything else, even the carefully built campaign that had taken days of planning.

And it wasn’t just him.

Elizabeth, Nikko, Rachel, Adrian, Eden, each of them had been swept up in the same wave.

Even Malachi, had forgotten the looming operation.

So when the clone told the rulers Leon forgot, he genuinely had.

The real Leon stood before the Infinite Barrier sealing the Hallow with his squad arrayed at his sides, their excitement barely contained.

Originus murmured in his mind, a dry, rumbling voice that always seemed amused at Leon’s expense.

‘You really fumbled there, boy. Acting like some teenager itching to play with a new toy.’

Leon didn’t bother to argue.

He was technically still nineteen, and the dragon spirit wasn’t exactly wrong.

****

-Authors Note-

While writing this chapter, I contemplated making Leon’s reason for going to the Hollow instead of meeting up with the rest a simple case of forgetfulness.

​However, I later decided to go ahead with this idea. Although Leon is powerful and already an expert at the Divine Stage, he is still a teenager, and at heart, still a kid. And what kid wouldn’t be excited by the situation he found himself in?

​Still, if this reason doesn’t feel sufficient, a better one will be given in the future.