Ex-Rank Awakening: My Attacks Make Me Stronger-Chapter 120: EX . Brute Force

Eleanor’s smile was a slow, curling thing, sharp at the edges, and full of quiet satisfaction.

She stood before a circular pool of black liquid, its surface still and mirror-like, reflecting the live feed of Leon’s clash in the cavern. She watched as his strike bounced harmlessly off the bloated demon’s stomach, saw the moment he flinched, not in fear, but surprise, and she let out a breathless chuckle.

"Heheheheheh..." Her fingers laced behind her back, eyes glinting with something between admiration and contempt. "This place was built to counter you, Leon."

She leaned forward slightly, speaking to the pool like it was an old friend.

"All that power you think you have... all those overwhelming attacks, those brute force solutions, all of them are worthless here." Her tone turned mocking, her voice velvet-slick. "I’ve seen you fight. Again and again. You solve everything with strength. Smash it, burn it, break it. But after the fight with the A-rank demon, all the data we needed was collected."

She tilted her head, grin widening.

"After collecting its data, I created the perfect counter for you. This is your cage, Leon Kael. A world where your attacks mean nothing."

Her laughter started to rise again, low and growing, but then it stopped. Abruptly. Like her breath had been snatched away.

Her eyes locked onto the pool, and widened. No, snapped open.

"What...?" she whispered.

The feed shimmered, showing Leon, still calm, still deadly, his stance changing. His energy pulsing. And then,

"No," she breathed. "How is this possible?!"

She staggered forward, eyes flicking over the readings embedded around the pool. The force values were spiking.

She gripped the edge of the pool, knuckles white, staring down as if her glare alone could change what she was seeing.

"This can’t be right," she whispered. "It’s impossible."

But the truth was staring right back at her.

Leon Kael wasn’t breaking the rules.

He was rewriting them.

****

Leon’s eyes narrowed slightly as his sword slashed at the demon’s gut, and didn’t do a damn thing.

The impact dispersed into the creature’s bloated frame, not with a bang, but a dull thud that vanished into silence. The beast didn’t even flinch.

Leon blinked.

"Huh," he muttered, tilting his head a little. "Absorbed?"

It wasn’t shock, not really. More like mild annoyance. A hiccup in the rhythm.

He took a step back, eyes tracing the demon’s form. Its rubbery skin, the strange hum in the air around it, and the way his attack had been swallowed whole.

Then he laughed.

"The person who set this up really did their assignment," he said, rolling his shoulders. "Three days ago? Yeah, this would’ve worked. Might’ve even had me sweating."

He tapped his foot lightly, causing a faint tremor in the ground beneath.

"But now?" He grinned. "It’s just useless."

Leon could feel it clearly now. The affinity woven into the demon’s flesh, kinetic absorption. A nightmare for someone like him, someone who fought with overwhelming, physical force. They’d built this thing to be his perfect counter.

Too bad they were late.

A violent surge of pressure exploded outward from his body. The ground cracked beneath his boots. Dust burst from the floor. A sound like thunder snapped across the cavern as the very air pushed back.

"If my attacks are too easy to swallow," Leon said, his voice carrying weight now, "then I’ll just make them too much to handle."

His affinity pulsed outward in a steady wave, like gravity folding in on itself. The demons stumbled as the air warped around him.

And the moment he took a step, the demon in front of him flinched.

"My squadmates are in danger," Leon muttered, . "So let’s make this quick."

He launched forward, nothing elegant, just raw velocity, his body wrapped in the full, merciless force of his affinity. His fist met the demon’s gut this time and it did not vanish. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

As the power spread through the demon.

A ripple of force danced over its skin before the creature was launched off its feet, hurled like a ragdoll across the chamber, slamming into the wall with a deafening boom that split stone.

The other demons froze for half a second.

Then they moved.

Ten, twelve, eighteen of them roared and charged.

Leon grinned and ran straight into them.

The first demon attacked from his right, a thick arm swinging like a club. Leon slipped under it, boots skidding, then drove his sword up in a sharp, clean thrust through the creature’s neck. The blade met resistance, but he didn’t let up. He pressed harder, overwhelming the barrier, and the blade slid through. The creature twitched, then went limp.

Another demon swung. Leon backflipped, and the fist crashed through the corpse of its dead kin, sending flesh and black blood flying. As the demon’s arm completed its swing, Leon landed lightly on its shoulder, one foot balanced, his sword already raised before descending. He drove the blade through the top of its skull.

Again, there was resistance. And again, he crushed it.

The demon collapsed beneath him, head bursting as Leon landed clean on the floor.

Two down.

Eighteen left.

The first demon, the one he’d sent flying, was already back, eyes glowing with hate as it rejoined the pack.

Leon didn’t wait.

Neither did they.

And then, like a dam breaking blood flowed.

And it wasn’t his.

****

Eleanor’s hands slammed on the edge of the scrying pool, water splashing from the impact as her face twisted in disbelief.

"No—how is this possible!?" she shrieked, voice echoing off the cold chamber walls.

On the surface of the pool, Leon stood tall, sword dripping with black blood, the corpses of twenty A-rank demons strewn behind him like discarded puppets. He didn’t even look winded.

She had watched it all. Every strike. Every movement. The monstrous presence he unleashed. That shouldn’t have been possible. He wasn’t supposed to adapt so quickly.

"I’m so close," Eleanor growled through clenched teeth, her voice trembling with fury. "I won’t let you ruin this. Not now."

Her hand dove into her inventory, fingers curling around a small black bead no larger than a marble. She brought it to eye level, breathing in sharply. "This one has to work."

With a sharp twist of her fingers, she crushed the bead.

At that same moment, Leon paused mid-step, his gaze narrowing. He glanced up, eyes locking on a ripple in the air before him.

"...What is it now?" he muttered.

The tunnel walls around him rippled like disturbed water. Reality itself bent inward, twisting in a way that made his stomach lurch. A wave of dizziness hit him hard and fast, and he staggered slightly, boots grinding against the cracked stone floor.

"—Tch." Leon clicked his tongue, annoyed. "A debuff ability?"

A squat figure emerged from the wavering space ahead, barely five feet tall, with blood-red eyes glowing beneath a crown of jagged horns. Its skin was pale gray and marked with runes that pulsed like open wounds. The demon’s presence didn’t radiate raw power, it radiated distortion and corruption. The air around it shimmered with chaos.

As it stepped forward, a translucent screen flickered into existence before Leon’s eyes.

---

[WARNING: CURSE FIELD ACTIVATED]

All Stats Reduced by 1000%

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Leon’s jaw clenched. "Shit."