Ex-Rank Awakening: My Attacks Make Me Stronger-Chapter 131: EX . Lost Time and Milk

The pain was unbearable.

Leon felt his body tear apart in slow motion, caught in the eruption of Eleanor’s suicidal explosion. It wasn’t just the physical agony, the searing of flesh, or the shattering of bone, it was the shame, the failure, and the regret that cut deeper.

In the eye of that dying storm, time stretched. Long enough for thoughts he hadn’t wanted to face.

’I hesitated.’

He hadn’t admitted it before, not even to himself. But when Eleanor emerged from the Basilisk, wild-eyed and trembling, he’d flinched. Somewhere inside him, he’d seen her not as an enemy, but as a broken comrade. A girl who had fought beside them. He didn’t know what pushed her to this, what she had suffered to fall so far. Maybe he never would.

But in that moment, he’d held back.

He’d tried to spare her.

And now Elizabeth was going to die.

’Some protector I turned out to be,’ he thought bitterly, as the light swallowed them both. ’What kind of boyfriend am I if I can’t even protect my woman?’

The guilt was suffocating.

’Her dad’s gonna kill me. Scratch that... he’ll come to the underworld just to scold me. Who knows what he is capable of.’

That final thought made him laugh, somewhere deep in the spiraling void. A dry, tired sound in the dark. He only wished for one thing now.

’If I had one more chance...’

And then,

Everything snapped.

The explosion collapsed in on itself like it had never happened. The light vanished. Time didn’t just stop, it spun backward, as the world unraveled.

And when Leon opened his eyes again, he was mid-air, his blade glowing as it delivered Cross Impact on the Basilisk. The beast reeled, Elizabeth still standing behind him, untouched by what never came.

He gasped for breath, alive again.

But he didn’t bask in it.

There was no time.

He didn’t know how time spun back, but it didn’t matter now since time was of the essence.

Eleanor’s form burst from the Basilisk, just like before, hurtling into the cave wall, body twitching, power boiling beneath her skin. But this time, Leon didn’t hesitate.

His voice was cold and low.

"Extreme Art."

A flare of white-blue aura burst from him, cracking the ground beneath his boots.

"Flicker Fang."

And in a blur of motion, he vanished, lightning incarnate, and reappeared inches from Eleanor’s crumpled form. His blade gleamed, already swinging toward her neck, a heartbeat away from ending it.

But then,

"It’s amazing you remembered what happened in the lost time."

Leon’s eyes widened.

His blade should’ve connected.

Instead, he was standing still, back at Elizabeth’s side.

"What—?"

Even Elizabeth was frozen, her mouth half open in shock.

And then they saw him.

A man stood before them. He was simple, composed, and entirely normal. He wore a golden robe with no markings, no flair, yet it radiated a quiet majesty that crushed the air from the lungs. His presence gave off no pressure. No aura.

And yet Leon felt like he was drowning.

His instincts howled. But they couldn’t move him. Couldn’t make him draw his blade. Because his soul knew, this man was not someone he could fight.

Floating beside him was Eleanor, suspended in air as if time itself obeyed the stranger’s will. The energy in her body was gone, no it was sealed.

Then the man spoke, tone soft but sharp as a blade hidden in silk.

"So tell me, Leon Kael... how were you able to remember what happened in the lost time?"

And in that moment, everything shifted again.

The game had changed.

And someone far above the board had just taken notice.

****

The air felt heavier than before, like the very world around them had held its breath.

The man stood calmly, golden robe fluttering in a wind that didn’t exist. He examined Leon as though he were a painting that finally started to move, his gaze unnerving, piercing straight through flesh, bone, soul. A middle-aged face, ordinary in structure, yet everything about him screamed unnatural. The way the world bent subtly around him. The way the sound died. The way even Elizabeth’s breathing grew quieter, like she instinctively feared being heard in his presence.

But it was his silence that disturbed Leon most.

Then finally, the man spoke, his voice calm and curious.

"...You remember what happened while time was reversing?"

Leon didn’t answer immediately. His heart thudded in his ears. He could still feel the heat of Eleanor’s explosion. Still recall the guilt, the regret, the shame of letting her detonate, letting Elizabeth die.

And now, here he was, back again, standing in the past. No, not just standing, reliving. And somehow, he was the only one who remembered.

The man stared harder. "Fascinating," he thought to himself. "This wasn’t a full temporal regression. I can’t reverse the entire world, only a local region, a single timeline, and a specific space. Even so, it should be powerful enough that an SSS-rank wouldn’t easily notice it. And yet, an E-rank could recall the erased time."

He shook his head slowly, then muttered, "I merely came to observe. But now... there’s no need for more testing. He’s the one I’ve been searching for all along."

Leon could feel it, he was being watched, no, dissected. That strange gaze peeled back his thoughts, his emotions, like a scalpel opening a mind. It wasn’t magical pressure, no aura being flared. Just pure, silent power, so absolute that it didn’t need to be flaunted.

And Leon?

He was calculating.

’How do I get away from a man who can rewind time itself?’

He glanced at Elizabeth. Her expression was blank, confused, untouched by the dread gripping him. She didn’t remember. Of course not. It made sense now, only he remembered.

’So... the regression didn’t affect her mind. Just mine.’

A thought bloomed, quiet and dangerous.

’Maybe I can use that.’

The man stepped closer, finally speaking again. "No more stalling. Tell me, boy. How did you remember what was lost?"

Leon swallowed his panic, buried the pounding in his chest. If he acted like prey, he’d be devoured.

So he raised his chin slightly, shrugged, and said in the most arrogant voice he could manage:

"It’s because I’m special."

The silence that followed was suffocating. Even Elizabeth gave him a look like we’re going to die now, aren’t we?

Leon held his breath, bracing for whatever came next.

Then, without warning,

"Pff... ha...HAHAHA!"

The man began to laugh. Not mockingly. Genuinely. Like he’d just been told the greatest joke of his life.

"You’re a funny kid," he said, still chuckling. "Special, huh? I’ll remember that one."

But then, something shifted. His eyes darted sideways. A faint pulse of awareness stirred the air.

"...Tch. Company," he muttered.

He turned away, robe fluttering. "We’ll talk again. Soon. I need to go get some milk."

Leon blinked.

"Wait, what?" Even Elizabeth’s face twisted.

"Did he just say... milk?"

But there was no answer. The man vanished, no flash, no sound, no ripple in space. Just... gone.

Leon stood there in stunned silence.

"Milk?" he muttered to himself. "That’s seriously what he said?"

Just then, hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor. Leon spun around, muscles tensing, only to pause.

Relief flickered in his eyes.

Someone familiar was finally here.