Ex-Rank Awakening: My Attacks Make Me Stronger-Chapter 127: EX . Final Stretch

The moment the cross carved through her body, Eleanor’s scream never came. Her mouth opened, but the agony was too vast and raw, for sound. It was pain that tore past flesh and into the soul. And in that sliver of dying consciousness, as blood spilled from her lips, something deeper cracked.

The bloodline suppression had done something.

Because the grip her master had on her, the twisted thing buried inside her, had loosened. And the shadow clinging to her thoughts, always whispering, always steering, suddenly recoiled.

And what filled the void wasn’t peace. It was clarity.

Clarity enough to feel everything.

Meanwhile her master’s thoughts trembled. Shocked didn’t cover how they really felt. Because when Elizabeth unleashed Dragon Might, something ancient stirred. Only pure-blood dragons could wield such authority, such overwhelming presence. For a hybrid to awaken it?

It was Impossible.

But it was real.

And the moment that divine pressure rolled out, the master’s composure shattered. Even as it began twisting itself into its monstrous basilisk form, it hesitated, just for a breath. And by the time it realized the truth, the Cross Impact had already been launched.

It never felt the blow.

But Eleanor did.

The force crushed her ribs, ruptured organs, and threw her across the battlefield like a broken doll. The pain was apocalyptic, and in that torment, her mind was hurled back, farther than fear could reach.

---

Eleven years ago.

There was blood on the wooden floor. It was ticky, warm, and still spreading.

Eleanor knelt in it, trembling, her eyes locked on the nightmare before her. Her father lay gasping for breath, a wound in his gut leaking crimson. Her brother wasn’t moving at all. His head... was wrong. Bent and Lifeless. And her mother,

Her scream wouldn’t come.

Two men held her mother down, their faces twisted with pleasure and cruelty. Her mother fought, cursed, and cried, but it was like no one could hear her.

And beside Eleanor stood a man in noble garb. Gold trim. A family crest she would never forget. A cigarette rested between his lips, the smoke curling upward like it belonged there.

He didn’t look angry. Or disgusted.

Just... entertained.

"Next time," he muttered, voice cold, "make sure to pay what you owe."

A gurgled voice rose from the floor. It was Her father’s.

"P-please..."

The nobleman’s eyes dropped to him with disdain.

He took another drag, then kicked. Again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again.

"It’s too late to beg," he growled, each boot crashing down harder. "Your family’s debt... your sins... they don’t vanish just because you do."

Eleanor lunged forward, trying to crawl to her father, but the nobleman turned and slapped her. Hard. The crack of it rang louder than her mother’s screams.

He crouched beside her, lifting her chin.

"Your brother’s dead," he whispered, eyes glinting. "And now you’re all that’s left to pay what he couldn’t."

Eleanor let out a scream as his hand reached toward her,

"Noooooo!!!!!"

---

Back in the present.

The cave trembled.

Leon froze mid-step as the body in front of him, the one he thought was broken, and barely breathing, suddenly pulsed with a new, terrible power.

Dark, unfiltered demonic might erupted from Eleanor’s form, rising in waves that warped the air and cracked the stone beneath her. Her eyes, once dull, now glowed with a blinding red light. Her body twisted unnaturally, and the heat rising from her skin turned the nearby stone molten.

Leon’s pupils narrowed.

"Shit... she’s about to self-detonate."

He shot forward without hesitation.

Elizabeth reacted the same instant, lips parting to invoke the Draconic Tongue, but her power hadn’t yet returned. She wasn’t fast enough.

The ground split.

And then,

BOOOOOOM!!

A blinding explosion tore through the cave, the shockwave roaring like a monster unchained. Fire and darkness surged together, swallowing everything in its path.

****

Back on the main battlefield, the air had thickened with malice.

Nikko Yakomoto, Rebecca Sky, and Raven Stone stood at the edge of a deep crater, facing something that should not exist, an amalgamation of twisted flesh and demonic fury. The creature before them pulsed like a festering wound in reality, born from the merging of the demoness and the three demonified combatants. Its body was a mountainous mass of black, tar-like muscle. Eight arms twitched and spasmed across its frame, each tipped with claws as long as broadswords. Its face was a grotesque blur, four slitted eyes blinked out of sync above a maw split open by a dragging, serpentine tongue.

The pressure it gave off was suffocating. Each breath it took radiated a sickly demonic heat that cracked the rocks around it.

Nikko clicked her tongue, her golden eyes narrowing beneath her visor. "This just got more annoying."

Hovering beside her, Raven’s expression was filled with tension. Her hand clenched on the handle of her hammer, but she didn’t swing, not yet. "That thing’s power... it’s well beyond the demoness. Even more than the the separate power of the four combined."

It was true. The monstrosity radiated a unified presence, not chaotic or wild, but focused. Intelligent and Predatory.

Nikko was silent for a moment. She didn’t blink. Her mind was turning, fast.

"I’ve got a plan," she said quietly. "But it’s going to need all of you. No hesitation."

Before either woman could respond, a new voice rang out from behind.

"Hope I’m not too late."

Vanguard Taco landed on a broken ridge above them, dust and wind kicking up around his boots. His coat was stained with blood that wasn’t his, but his posture held strong. Below, the battlefield was littered with demon corpses, he’d already carved through the tide, leaving the stragglers for the remaining squads to mop up.

Nikko turned her head slightly, a small smile tugging at her lips. "The more, the better."

The monstrosity finally moved.

With a shudder, its back split open with twitching spines. Then it let out a roar that cracked the sky and churned the clouds. Soldiers across the battlefield stopped for a breath, their gazes snapping toward the sound.

The final stretch of the battle had begun.