Ex-Rank Awakening: My Attacks Make Me Stronger-Chapter 119: EX . Trust

Leon’s eyes stayed locked on the glowing slate in his hand, the signal from his squadmates blinking steady and strong.

"Hope I’m not too late," he muttered, voice tight with urgency.

Without another word, he took off. Boots pounding against cracked stone and scorched earth, Leon dashed across the battlefield like a streak of lightning. The fight had thinned, thanks to Vanguard Taco’s bloody storm and Leon’s own earlier rampage, the number of demons had dropped sharply. There were still clusters of resistance, but nothing that could slow him down. Not now.

Soldiers flinched as he flew past, startled by the blur of motion and the sheer pressure in his wake. A few turned, weapons halfway drawn, only to lower them with wide eyes when they recognized him.

"Leon Kael..."

"Let him go. If he’s running, there’s a reason."

There was no question in their voices. Just awe.

Everyone had seen what he’d done, ripping demons apart with raw power, carving through their front lines like a force of nature. Desertion? Not a chance. If anything, he was chasing something worse.

And he was.

The signal led him to the edge of the eastern ridge, to a place that shouldn’t have existed, A cave.

Half-covered by jagged boulders and blackened roots, it looked like a wound in the earth. It didn’t belong there. Not that close to a battlefield. Not where the terrain had been scouted and cleared a dozen times.

Leon slowed to a stop, eyes narrowing as he stared into the cave’s mouth. It breathed cold air. Not natural cold, but the kind that came from death, Old, heavy and wrong.

"This is obviously a trap," he said flatly, stepping forward.

He exhaled, rolled his shoulders, and smirked faintly. "Whatever these demons have laid out... I’ll crush every single bit of it."

His body pulsed.

Leon was in peak condition. His Attack Points were maxed out. His body practically hummed with raw, physical power. Dozens of arts sat quietly in his memory, unused. Waiting. His Force Affinity twisted around his limbs like a living storm, eager to be unleashed.

They wanted a trap?

Good.

He’d give them a massacre.

With a surge of energy, Leon dashed into the cave, his silhouette swallowed by the shadows. The moment his boots hit the stone floor, a grinding sound echoed behind him, then a crash.

The tunnel collapsed. The exit sealed.

Darkness closed in.

But Leon didn’t stop.

He didn’t slow down.

His eyes gleamed with cold fire.

"Let’s see what you bastards are hiding in here."

****

The air inside the tunnel was thick, the scent of sulfur and damp stone clinging to each breath. Faint echoes of Leon’s footsteps rumbled in the distance, but within the dark chamber, time felt frozen.

Eleanor stood before the scrying pool, its glassy surface reflecting a blur of blue and silver as Leon charged through the cave. Her arms were folded, her eyes sharp. Eden stood silently at her side, his gaze fixed on nothing in particular.

Behind them, Adrian strained against the chains bolted to the jagged stone wall. The dark magic circle burned dimly behind him, pulsing with a sickly glow. The paralysis toxin had long faded, but the anti-resonance chains clamped down on his strength like a vice. His breathing was harsh and angry.

"Eleanor!" Adrian barked, his voice echoing off the tunnel walls. "Why would you betray us? Why would you betray our trust?"

She didn’t flinch. Didn’t even turn to look at him.

"Spare me the guilt-tripping," she said coldly. "Trust? There was never trust. Only revenge." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Adrian’s brows furrowed, confusion cutting through his anger. "Revenge...? For what? What did we do?"

Eleanor’s voice rose then, layered in something bitter and long-held. "It’s not you but the system. All of it."

Adrian stared. Words lodged in his throat.

She continued, voice sharper now. "This whole damn system that celebrates the strong and forgets the rest. That raises nobles up as saviors while the Grounders, dig through the dirt for scraps. A system where the ones meant to protect us learn first how to step on us."

Adrian looked away, jaw clenched. He didn’t know the whole story, what pain Eleanor had buried beneath the surface, but still...

"That doesn’t justify this," he said, voice low but fierce. "No matter how broken the system is, cooperating with demons never ends in anything but death."

Eleanor turned toward him slowly, her gaze sharp as a blade.

"And who decided that?" she asked.

Adrian had no answer.

"The nobles," she continued. "The ones who benefit most from the balance staying exactly where it is. They’re afraid. Afraid someone will knock them off their pedestals. That someone like me will rise."

Her eyes glinted, fierce and resolute.

"And for that to happen... your captain’s life is a small price to pay."

Adrian’s eyes widened. Blood surged behind them, red creeping into the whites.

"You can’t—!"

Crack.

Eden stepped forward in a blur and drove his fist into Adrian’s gut. The boy slumped, unconscious, the chains clinking dully.

Eleanor didn’t look at him. Her eyes had already returned to the pool, where Leon was a streak of light, closing in fast.

"Fucking blabbermouth," she muttered.

She took a slow breath. Her fingers flexed at her side. Her voice was calm and cold, like steel before the strike.

"Now it’s time to deal with you, Leon."

****

The air inside the tunnel shifted.

Leon dashed through the stone corridor like a blue streak of vengeance, each step echoing with sharp intent.

Here, it was quieter. Too quiet.

Suddenly, a low groan vibrated through the stone ahead. Leon’s pace didn’t slow. His grip on his sword tightened, and his lips curled into a half-smirk.

"I was wondering when you guys would show up."

He slid to a halt just as the tunnel widened, and twenty demons stepped out of the shadows like they’d been waiting for him. Each one pulsed with A-rank power, thick and oppressive. Their eyes gleamed with bloodlust, bodies grotesque and warped, brimming with energy leagues beyond the swarm outside. But none of them... not a single one, gave Leon pause.

Still, something felt off.

He burst forward, vanishing and reappearing in front of the closest demon, a hulking beast with a belly that sagged grotesquely. Leon’s sword swung, slamming down on the demon’s gut like a hammer from the heavens.

But—

Wumppff.

The demon’s belly jiggled... then absorbed the blow entirely.

Leon’s eyes sharpened. "Huh?"

He kicked off the ground, retreating a step just as a clawed hand slashed through the space he’d occupied. The stone floor cracked where the strike landed, dust and gravel flying.

He didn’t speak, but his gaze narrowed.