Ex-Rank Awakening: My Attacks Make Me Stronger-Chapter 112: EX . Low Morale

The moment the gates of Base 01 fully opened, chaos swallowed the world.

Steel met flesh, as Skills erupted and screams rang out.

The soldiers of Base 01 surged forward like a crashing tide, colliding with the incoming demon horde in a symphony of death. It was no ordinary clash, it was slaughter. The battlefield instantly transformed into a storm of flickering lights and broken bodies.

Flames, ice spears, phantom blades, and sonic bursts tore through demon ranks. Magical shields bloomed to life, absorbing dark energy beams before retaliating with pulsing shockwaves. Every few seconds, another section of the field exploded in a different color, painting the ground with ash and gore.

Those with mage-type skills or long-range warrior skills held position behind the front lines, launching support spells and projectiles with lethal precision. Barrage after barrage softened the demon waves, breaking their rhythm.

But the vanguard; the real bloodbath, was at the front.

Close-combat warriors, battle-hardened mages with body-enhancing enchantments, and tanks with stone skin and blazing gauntlets carved into the demon ranks like executioners. Screeches filled the air as demon flesh was shredded apart, their black blood steaming against steel.

For a while... it looked like the Federation had this.

Demons fell like flies.

Morale surged.

Some even believed they might win without breaking formation.

High above the field, Rebecca Sky hovered like a sentinel, her medals glinting faintly under the rising sun. Her expression never changed, cold and calculating. As she scanned the battlefield with a sharp glint in her eyes, then muttered, "They haven’t brought out the A-rank demons yet."

The moment the words left her mouth, Everything changed.

A pulse of chaotic energy, thick and malicious, rippled across the battlefield. It was like reality itself shuddered. The ground cracked. The wind died. And then,

They appeared.

A sudden shimmer swept across the field, and dozens of demons materialized where none had stood before. They didn’t charge. They didn’t roar. They simply stepped into existence, their bodies crackling with volatile, brutal energy. It was as if someone had ripped off a veil of invisibility, exposing monsters that had been there the whole time.

The true battle had begun.

From her own station in the sky, not far from Rebecca but operating separately, Nikko Yakomoto narrowed her eyes. The calm in her face shattered for a moment, replaced by something darker.

"She’s here."

Then the A-rank demons charged.

Like blades through silk, they tore into the soldiers’ lines. Armor crumpled like paper. As skills meant for lower-ranked enemies shattered them on impact. Screams replaced the earlier confidence. With blood spraying high as dozens of soldiers fell in the seconds.

Only the Azure Colonels, Federation elites whose strength matched A-rank demons,.could stand against them. But they were too few. Every one of them was already engaged, buying time, bleeding to keep their formations from collapsing.

For a moment, it looked like the tide had turned. The Federation’s earlier dominance dissolved into panic.

But the S-ranks had not been idle.

With no hesitation, Rebecca raised her arm. Her badge lit up as her voice thundered across the skies,

"[Storm Control]."

Lightning spiraled from above, jagged bolts splitting clouds and striking the battlefield like divine judgment. The winds howled, gathering behind her like a hurricane leashed by sheer will. Every flap of her coat crackled with static as she began descending toward the chaos below.

Raven Stone was next.

Her voice, low and heavy, echoed one word:

"[Gravity]."

Reality seemed to buckle. As the air thickened like sludge. Soldiers and demons alike staggered as the weight of existence itself shifted, dragging everything down. The ground beneath her cracked, groaning under the pressure.

Finally,

Nikko’s unleashed her power.

As her eyes glowed with feral intensity, golden and beast-like, her pupils slitting as her figure shimmered with primal energy. Her fingers extended into talons, and her voice dropped into something that barely sounded human:

"[Primal Hunter]."

For one breathless second, the three of them, the Base’s trump cards, prepared to descend like wrath upon the battlefield.

But suddenly,

They froze.

Simultaneously, all three lifted their heads. Eyes sharpened. As their faces twisted, not in fear, but in pure frustration.

Without another word, they vanished, vanishing upward into the clouds in streaks of light.

And just like that,

They were gone.

The battlefield below stilled.

Dozens of soldiers, mid-fight, turned their eyes to the sky, confused and afraid. The S-ranks, those three monsters they believed untouchable, had vanished at the height of battle.

Panic crept in like poison.

"What now?" someone whispered.

A colonel barked orders, but his voice was drowned by the renewed howls of the A-rank demons.

One soldier dropped his blade. Another froze mid-spell.

They were supposed to be the pillars.

The last line of defense.

And now... they were gone.

****

The sky was empty.

As Rebecca Sky. Raven Stone. Nikko Yakomoto vanished, as the soldiers below felt it like a blade in the back.

At first, they kept fighting. Out of instinct. Out of discipline. Out of habit.

But morale...

Morale is a fragile thing.

And when the S-rankers vanished into the clouds without a word, it cracked.

The tide of war shifted.

All because the men and women of the Federation realized something cold and cruel:

They were still human.

And humans, above all, feared dying for nothing.

If they fell here, and the battle was lost, then what was the point of it all? What would be remembered of them, except that they died screaming in the mud while the monsters kept marching?

The fear didn’t shout. It whispered.

And it spread.

Swords slowed. Eyes flicked to the sky. Formations frayed.

And the demons, sensing it, pushed harder.

****

In the southern quadrant of the battlefield, Derrick and Stephanie stood side by side, bodies shaking from effort. Their two other squadmates had been torn apart minutes ago, right when the A-rank demons arrived. There hadn’t even been time to scream.

Derrick thrust his hands into the ground, casting a desperate [Earthen Quake] to stagger the incoming B-rank demons. The cracked terrain buckled, slowing their charge just enough.

For Stephanie to surge in like a blur, her spear gleaming with light. As she pierced through the staggering demons and carving a path.

Blood painted their uniforms. With their movements becoming sluggish. As they were only fighting on fumes.

Just then,

A massive shadow crashed down. As the ground sank beneath the force of impact.

"Derrick, watch out!"

Stephanie didn’t hesitate. She shoved Derrick with all her strength, pushing him out of harm’s way. But the moment he turned, his heart stopped.

A massive A-rank demon, grinning with rows of broken fangs, had landed where he’d been standing. Its clawed feet pinned Stephanie to the ground, one foot pressed hard against her spine.

"NO!"