Ex-Rank Awakening: My Attacks Make Me Stronger - Chapter 375

Chapter 375: EX 375. Dowager
Leon held the woman’s gaze without flinching.

Her presence pressed against the air like a tidal wave, dense enough to crush even seasoned divine Professionals.

The fog bent around her, coiling like a living thing that recognized its master.

Yet the pressure slid off him like rain on steel.

It slid off each of his squadmates too, and that was what finally pushed a flicker of surprise across the woman’s refined features.

Her stare drifted toward Nikko first.

‘A rank-eight resisting me… impressive. But rank-sevens?’

A faint crease tightened her brow.

‘Have I lost my edge?’

She shifted her attention to Malachi next.

The beast man stood straight, though he wasn’t completely unaffected.

Her eyes narrowed.

‘So much primal energy, more than any chief has ever held. Yet even he bends. That much at least makes sense. But these five, their resistance is strange. No technique, no barrier. Just raw defiance.’

The woman’s gaze sharpened as she glanced back to Nikko.

“You must be the leader,” she said, her tone no longer commanding but cautious.

“Explain to me what is going on here.”

Leon almost chuckled.

‘Cute’

Leon found it amusing watching how quickly her posture changed once she realized she couldn’t crush them under her pressure.

He sensed no hostility, only confusion; yet the sudden shift in her demeanor still amused him.

Originus’ voice suddenly slid into his mind, it was dry and irritatingly smug.

‘Don’t tell me you’re planning to flirt with the emperor’s mother too.’

Leon’s jaw almost twitched.

He had to force his expression to stay neutral. Originus burst into laughter that echoed like thunder inside his head.

At this point Leon genuinely wished he could materialize the soul-bound dragon, grab him by the scales, and throw him headfirst into a mountain.

‘Yes, yes, you wish,’ Originus cackled, and Leon immediately tuned him out before the dragon could get another word in.

Nikko stepped forward and bowed her head calmly.

“I’m not the leader,” she said. Then she turned toward him and added with a smile,

“He is.”

The woman followed her gaze and finally focused on Leon fully.

Silence stretched for a moment.

Before Leon gave her a small, relaxed smile and dipped his chin.

“Yes. I’m the captain of this squad. Leon Kael.”

Her amber eyes widened just a fraction.

“…”

****

The moment her eyes truly settled on Leon, the woman froze.

She had noticed him earlier, just a blur at the edge of her awareness, but the chaos of the situation had pulled her attention everywhere except where it now mattered.

It wasn’t until Nikko’s subtle shift, the way her posture angled toward Leon, that she really looked.

And when she did, her breath caught.

Something in her ancient, battle-sharpened instincts that had kept her alive across centuries, lurched in warning.

She wasn’t sure which part of him struck first. Maybe it was his appearance, impossibly calm and almost unreal, the kind of beauty that made divine figures seem plain by comparison.

Or maybe it was the unmistakable trace of power rolling off him, divine in nature despite a bone age that hadn’t even reached twenty.

But that wasn’t what rattled her.

No, the thing that unsettled her, genuinely unsettled her, was the corruption threaded through him.

Flowing through his being as naturally as breath.

A force she had locked herself away to contain, a monster she had sacrificed everything to keep sealed.

Yet here it wrapped around this boy as if it belonged to him.

Instinct screamed louder than aura ever could.

A primal sense honed from countless duels, near-death moments, wars she shouldn’t have survived.

And all of it whispered the same thing:

‘He is the most dangerous person here.’

She didn’t understand why.

She only knew that every fiber of her ancient body believed it.

Then she realized Leon was looking at her, with a steady, respectful and patient expression.

Not judging, simply waiting.

A moment of confusion flickered through her until it clicked.

He had introduced himself.

She straightened, controlling the shake in her breath.

“Pardon my improper manners… Leon Kael,” she said softly, dipping her head with practiced grace.

“I am Luna the Fifth, Dowager Empress of the Arman Empire.”

The air itself seemed to shift, as though the title carried weight that settled across the infinite fog.

Leon didn’t flinch.

He had already pieced together who she was, between her earlier question and her mention during his time at the Racial Council, the identity hadn’t come as a surprise.

But Malachi’s reaction was immediate.

The beastman dropped to one knee, fist pressed over his chest.

His voice was steady but thick with awe.

“Your Grace.”

Malachi had grown up in the Arman Empire.

He knew the stories.

Before corruption swept across the world, she would personally inspect the Imperial Guard headquarters.

Back then, he only ever saw her from a distance, an untouchable figure of legend.

He never imagined he would stand before her.

“Rise,” Luna said, her tone softened but still carrying a quiet authority.

Malachi stood with reverence woven into every movement.

Her gaze shifted to the rest of Leon’s squad.

They remained upright without hesitation, Adrian, Eden, Rachel, Elizabeth, Nikko.

They were respectful, but unmoved.

It was Rachel who broke the silence. Her voice was polite but firm, almost reflexive.

“Forgive the lack of courtesy,” she said.

“But we only bow to Leon.”

Luna stared at her.

“…”

****

For three long years inside the corruption-soaked Hallow, the Dowager had seen horrors twist into new shapes.

Yet nothing compared to the confusion settling over her today.

She studied the unfamiliar group standing before her, trying to decide if she had ever faced a situation this baffling.

The answer came quietly.

No. Not even close.

She forced a slow breath and pushed the swirl of thoughts aside.

It was too early to let instinct drag her into conclusions.

She needed clarity.

“It’s alright,” she said, lifting her chin.

“But I have to know how you entered this place, and why.”

The first question mattered more than pride: if her barrier could be breached, even if it was by a spell created by her daughter, she needed to know why.

The second question mattered for survival.

Two of the visitors carried corruption as easily as air, but she refused to assume hostility.

Not until they gave her a reason.

****

-Authors Note-

Mass release if we reach top 60 of golden ticket ranking.