Ex-Rank Awakening: My Attacks Make Me Stronger

Chapter 433: EX 433. The Three Families

The task ahead was anything but simple.

Leon understood that the moment he committed to this path.

The diversion missions were risky and burned time he did not have. He could not afford to repeat this twice, which meant everyone who mattered had to be present from the start.

Orders were sent out across the fractured network of the resistance. Divine stage experts operating beyond Zion’s borders were recalled immediately. No explanations were given. Only one word accompanied the summons: emergency.

It was intentional. Among the scattered units, spies were not just a possibility but an expectation.

Demons had always been clever, and corruption thrived on leaks. The less information that traveled, the safer Zion remained.

Units returned in waves.

Some arrived battered, others cautious, all confused.

Among those recalled was Diana.

Elizabeth’s mother had been stationed in a region crawling with high-lord activity, a place most commanders avoided unless desperate.

She had volunteered for it herself. Guilt weighed heavily on her shoulders, heavy enough to drive her into danger again and again.

Valeria’s death was not her fault, but Diana had never been good at accepting that.

Her role had been simple and brutal. Draw attention. Stir chaos. Pull demon forces away from Zion and keep them there.

Now, an emergency recall had torn her away from that front.

Zion shifted into controlled chaos as the personnel returned. Patrol routes changed by the minute.

Demons stirred at the sudden movement, probing and testing but Leon dealt with it personally when needed, and when he did not, his corrupt legion filled the gaps. Entire demon scouting parties vanished without ever realizing they had been seen. Zion’s position remained untouched.

By the time the final unit returned, the bastion sealed itself once more.

Everyone was gathered.

Not in the council hall where Leon had addressed the divine experts earlier, but in a massive chamber carved deep into the structure of Zion.

It resembled a hangar more than a meeting room. Wide. Open. Built to hold armies rather than discussions.

That was when the voice broke the hum of tension.

"Leon is alive?"

Diana stood frozen mid-step, eyes wide, disbelief cracking through her composure. She was facing Darian and Selena, with Luke nearby, flanked by his wives, Rebecca and Sandra.

It was a strange sight.

The Ferans.

The Kaels.

The Queen family.

Once, such a gathering would have been unthinkable. Blood feuds, vendettas, and political hatred had defined their interactions.

The Ferans had once sought nothing less than the annihilation of the Kaels and their ally the Queens.

Now they stood together, speaking quietly, standing on the edge of extinction.

The world had a way of changing priorities.

Diana’s gaze trembled as it searched their faces, afraid of the answer even as she begged for it.

Selena was the one who responded.

Her voice was calm, steady, and unmistakably real.

"Yes," she said. "He is."

For a moment, Diana could only stare.

Then her breath shook.

Diana had been shaken to her core the day the shutdown came.

In those first hours, when the Trial World went dark and the sky itself seemed to recoil, she had assumed the worst. Leon. Elizabeth. The rest of the squad. All gone. Lost somewhere beyond reach. She had mourned Elizabeth like a dead daughter, the way Selena mourned Leon, and grief had hollowed her out until it felt like breathing was optional.

Then came the second blow.

A lord had found their hideout. Valeria had died in that chaos, torn away before anyone strong enough could stop it. Diana remembered the sound of it most.

The way battle went silent afterward, like the world itself was ashamed. From that moment on, guilt became something she wore like a second skin.

She told herself it was her fault.

No matter how many times Selena and Darian tried to tell her otherwise, no matter how calmly they explained that she had not been strong enough to change the outcome, Diana refused to let it go. Logic had no weight against grief. Elizabeth was gone. Valeria was gone. A daughter and a daughter she should have protected. The math in her heart was simple and cruel.

So she chose punishment.

She volunteered for a region crawling with high lords, not because it was necessary, but because it hurt. Because if she survived long enough in hell, maybe it would balance the scales.

Even Ignatius had been called in, as he tried to pull her back from that edge. It hadn’t mattered. She had gone anyway.

And now.

Now she was standing in Zion, alive, breathing, and hearing words she had never expected to hear again.

Leon is alive.

The noise of the hangar faded around her. Diana turned slowly toward Selena, her movements stiff, like she was afraid the moment would shatter if she moved too fast. Selena’s face wasn’t grieving. It wasn’t hollow. It was steady. Certain.

"Yes," Selena said softly. "He is."

Something broke in Diana’s chest. Not loudly. Not all at once. Just a quiet fracture, like ice finally giving way under pressure it could no longer hold.

She swallowed, eyes burning, then took a shaky breath and forced herself to speak. "Tell me everything."

Selena explained everything, slowly and without skipping a single painful detail. She spoke of the trial, of timelines splitting, of Elizabeth being alive yet unreachable, of Leon returning alone. Diana listened without interrupting, but the expression on her face fractured with every sentence.

Joy tried to surface and failed. Shock followed, then grief all over again, twisted into a new shape. Her daughter was alive. Her daughter should have died. Her daughter was alive somewhere she could never reach.

Each truth collided with the next until none of them settled. Diana did not know which emotion deserved to stay.

Then Leon entered the hangar.

The noise died instantly. Conversations cut off mid breath. Hundreds of eyes locked onto him as he walked in, calm and unhurried. He looked older somehow. Not in years, but in weight.

Leon’s gaze swept the room and softened when it found his parents. Then it landed on Diana.

He walked toward her.

"It’s good to see you again, Aunty."

Diana froze.

She had been told Leon looked different. Stronger. Changed. None of that prepared her for the presence standing in front of her now.

For a brief moment she forgot how to breathe. Then she steadied herself, forcing her voice to obey.

"It’s good to see you too, Leon," she said quietly.

"And... thank you. For everything."

Sandra stepped forward next, gratitude clear in her eyes as she thanked Leon as well. Eden had been part of Leon’s squad. Whatever had happened in that trial, her son had lived because of him.

Leon inclined his head.

"I was only doing my duty."

He turned back to his parents. "We’ll talk later," he said, a faint smile touching his lips. Then, glancing at the gathered elites, "Maybe by then you’ll be strong enough to put up a fight."

Silence followed as Leon walked away, a calm smile on his face. Selena finally exhaled and shook her head.

"He’s still a rascal." The others couldn’t help but agree.

Leon moved to the front of the hangar, the space parting for him without anyone realizing they had stepped aside. Every divine expert present watched him now. This was no longer curiosity. It was expectation.

Leon stopped, hands relaxed at his sides, eyes steady.

Everything was in place. Every variable accounted for as much as it could be.

’Just hope nothing goes wrong.’ Then he lifted his gaze, ready to begin.