Ex-Rank Awakening: My Attacks Make Me Stronger

Chapter 430: EX 430. Old Allies

Leon crossed the final stretch of the hall, his steps steady as every divine-stage presence watched him in silence.

The pressure in the air was heavy, layered with restrained power, yet none of it slowed him.

Behind him, Selena, Darian, and Luke took their seats among the SS ranks, blending into a sea of disciplined stillness. Ignatius and Akira moved to the twelve seats beneath the elevated throne, their expressions tight, alert.

Leon alone stopped at the very front, directly before the highest seat.

His gaze lifted.

The leader sat there.

She was an elf, but nothing about her fit the fragile image the race was known for. Her head was completely shaven, pale skin marked by a long scar running down the right side of her face, hidden partially beneath a dark eyepatch.

Her posture was relaxed, almost casual, yet it carried a weight that demanded attention. She looked like someone who had survived too much to bother pretending otherwise.

Leon studied her carefully.

Her raw aura was not overwhelming. In fact, compared to several SSS-ranked figures in the hall, it was almost unremarkable.

And yet, something about her presence gnawed at him. It wasn’t strength in the usual sense. It was control. Precision. The kind that came from a talent honed through loss rather than power.

’So that’s it,’ Leon thought. ’A leader forged by ability, not force.’

Before the silence could stretch further, the elf leaned forward slightly. Her uncovered eye locked onto Leon with a sharp, measuring calm, as her voice cut cleanly through the hall.

"Are you truly Leon?"

Silence held for a heartbeat before Leon finally answered, "Yes, it’s me." Then, the chamber erupted.

"I thought he died in a trial!"

"He looks nothing like the reports."

"That’s impossible."

Voices overlapped, divine experts abandoning composure as disbelief spread like wildfire.

It was understandable. On the Blue Planet, few names carried the weight Leon’s did. Even among refugees from shattered worlds, his legend had spread.

A trial cadet whose rise mocked common sense. A genius so extreme it made other prodigies feel ordinary. When news of his death arrived, many had refused to believe it. Stars like that did not simply fade. Some burned fast and vanished, but Leon’s recorded feats said otherwise. He was not a star meant to burn out.

As the noise continued, Leon stood unmoving at the front, his gaze calm.

Below the leader, seated beside Akira, two aged figures watched him in silence. Their eyes held different emotions. One measured him with sharp curiosity. The other carried something heavier, a mix of awe and unease, as if looking at a truth they were not yet ready to accept.

They were the last surviving Golden Arbiters of the Federation.

Sarah and George Franklin.

The other two Golden Arbiters, Abraham, Sarah’s husband, and Christopher Benjamin, had already fallen during the full-scale demon assault that shattered the Federation. Their absence weighed heavily, like empty thrones no one dared acknowledge.

George’s gaze never left Leon.

The first time he had seen the boy was during the clash with the Supreme Heir, Sakura. Back then, Leon had already been abnormal, a Trial Cadet standing where he had no right to stand. Later, George learned that the governor had intended to make him his successor. Then came the news of Leon’s death, abrupt and cruel, and George had accepted it with quiet regret.

But now, standing here, surrounded by countless divine-stage experts, Leon looked exactly how George remembered him, no, more than that.

Unshaken. Dominating.

George’s aged features slowly softened, lines of battle and command easing into something rare. A smile.

He didn’t need confirmation. He didn’t need explanations.

No one else could stand in the midst of so many divine existences and still feel like the center of the room.

’I have no doubt,’ George thought, warmth blooming in his chest. ’This is him.’

He didn’t care what had happened. He didn’t care how Leon survived. The simple fact that the boy was alive felt like a victory in itself.

Beside him, Sarah said nothing.

She stared at Leon in complete silence, her expression unreadable, eyes sharp and searching, as if trying to reconcile the man before her with the boy she remembered, and the future that had been stolen from them all.

Meanwhile, among the S-rank seats, two divine experts had fallen utterly quiet.

They did not speak.

They did not whisper.

They simply stared at Leon, shock etched deep into their faces, as the weight of his presence settled over the hall like an unspoken truth.

The two S-ranks sitting in the high-tier seats, frozen in place, were Rebecca Sky and Raven Stone.

They were the two Black Vanguards once assigned to the base Leon had chosen during his military posting. Back then, he had been a prodigy. Dangerous. Promising. But still a boy.

Now he stood at the center of a hall filled with divine-stage monsters, and the room bent around him.

Raven was the first to breathe. "Blue whale," she muttered. "The kid is actually alive."

Rebecca didn’t answer right away. Her sharp eyes stayed locked on Leon, measuring, recalibrating.

"It seems so."

Silence stretched between them.

Then Raven spoke again, slower this time. "It hasn’t even been a year. And he’s already S-rank." She shook her head faintly.

"I’ve seen people rise fast. This isn’t growth. It’s ascension. Like he skipped every step and arrived complete."

Rebecca couldn’t argue. She felt it too. That pressure. That certainty.

"The fact that he’s here," Rebecca said quietly, "means this war isn’t lost yet."

Raven nodded once, firmly.

They had seen Leon turn hopeless battles inside out before. If anyone could do it again, it was the man now standing before the gathered gods of Zion.

The leader held Leon in her gaze with her one good eye. For a moment she said nothing, then a smile crept across her scarred face, sharp and unapologetic. A laugh followed, rough and unsoothing, the kind that belonged to someone who had survived too much to soften herself for others.

"It’s good to have you back, boy," she said. "I’ve heard a lot about you. But seeing you in person... I can tell they were clearly underselling you."

Leon smiled in return. There was no arrogance in it, just quiet confidence. He studied her briefly and felt an unexpected spark of approval rise in his chest.

’I like her,’ he thought. Aloud, he said, "I was just doing my duty. The same way you do yours, leading Zion and keeping these people alive."

The leader nodded, accepting that without argument.

"Fair enough."

She leaned back slightly in her seat, her presence settling over the hall like a weight. "So," she continued, "what exactly did you gather us all here for?"