I WAS The Rank–1 Hero-Chapter 60: They Called Me Hope [1]

The moment I activated my skill, a purple transparent window appeared in front of me.

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★〘Ruler〙[S-Rank]

«The user exerts immediate dominance over their surroundings, making the weak willed individuals submit»

«The user can enter in absolute state of calm, this allows split second decision to be made with perfect accuracy»

«The user gets restricted to mental interference, illusion, or fear based attack»

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My Ruler skill keeps my mind perfectly calm, no amount of pain, fear, interference, or illusion works on me.

As expected of an S-rank skill.

Another perk of being an Authority holder is that my skills no longer have any side effects.

All my thought processes accelerated, and my mind entered an absolute state of calmness.

The overwhelming pressure that I felt vanished.

The first thing I did was to take the Aegis out around my neck, and carefully studied the hand movement on it.

Hmm?

The golden hand didn’t move. It was frozen at the 13th hour.

This doesn’t make sense.

There are total of five Authority holders in this forest—that’s what both Sera and I sensed.

But now—

This artifact, which was created by the God of Time himself was unable to detect them.

’Is it broken?’

No, it’s not. That much is certain.

Then why?

I pondered for a moment, racing my mind at its top gear, I analyzed over ten thousands possible explanations before reaching a conclusion.

"It’s due to an external influence."

Probably that Authority Holder’s skill.

I’m hundred percent sure.

After confirming my deduction, I turned toward Envy.

"Mast—!"

And what I saw left me speechless—

She was frozen, no movement, no blinking nothing.

And not just her, the others were the same, as if the time itself had stopped for them.

’Then why am I the only one?’

’What is all this? Sera’s voice echoed in my mind. At least she wasn’t frozen, may be her form existed only within my consciousness.

My voice remained calm.

"That Authority Holder’s skill."

’How come?’

Was she serious?

"Just read my mind."

I didn’t have time for explaining all this.

With the overwhelming Essence radiating from the north, I can tell—we stand no chance against that Authority holder.

"Goddess Ylthea was right. I am far too weak compared to other Authority holders."

’What?! Goddess Ylthea? D-Did you really met her?’

"…"

’Then that means… your Authority is unlocked?’

Didn’t she have the ability to read my mind. Then why was she asking all these questions?

"Sigh… Just read my memories."

’It doesn’t works that way…’ Sera muttered, squinting her eyes.

’Seriously?’

’Yeah.’

"…"

’All right I will fill you up in later.’

Sera nodded.

Now is not the time for all this.

I needed to figure out what to do with all of them first, I looked towards Ruby, Envy, and the trio— they all frozen in their place like statues.

Thinking hard, I came to conclusion, and asked Sera.

"Is it a Time Authority?"

Sera shook her head.

’I don’t think so.’

’Hmm? Why is that?’

’Because the holder of Time Authority is someone who doesn’t get herself involved with the world.’

"…"

’What an intelligent person!’

But seeing all of them unmoving made my chest tighten.

I slowly moved towards Ruby, who was kneeling to the ground, her whole body frozen in time.

I crouched down infront of her, my gaze met hers. The natural glow of crimson red on her eyes had vanished. Her face was twisted in struggling expression, and that alone pained me.

I traced my fingers through her hair, gently brushing it away from one of her eyes, tucking it behind her ear.

"Alright, first, let get them to safe—"

As if the universe had listened to my problems, the world around me rippled.

The time resumed.

The world returned to normal.

The sound of rustling leaves filled my ears.

Their frozen body now shifted to its natural static state.

I didn’t even get the chance to react.

My fingers were still over Ruby’s ears.

Over eyes met.

Blink. Blink.

She blinked.

I said nothing—I was at a loss for words.

"Ahehh!" A soft voice escaped Ruby’s lips.

I noticed her face turning red.

But I didn’t react. My mind was still in absolute calmness.

’From this moment on. The Ruler skill is one of my favorite.’

"Wh—! What are you doing?!"

She hurriedly distanced herself, but in her attempt to cover her face with her hands, she stumbled and fell onto her back.

"Ugh!"

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I, on the other hand, simply watched all this.

"Headmistress," I finally spoke, "the time was frozen."

My voice remained calm, sensing the seriousness in my tone, she didn’t say anything further.

"What?"

I turned towards Envy and the others.

They were just like Ruby blinked in confusion, struggling to stand up.

"Mother…?" Aria’s face went pale as she called to her mother.

But Envy said nothing.

She must have sensed it too—after all, her ability to perceive Essence surpassed even mine.

She must have felt the sheer power behind that overwhelming Essence.

For the first time, I noticed her hands trembling.

She turned toward me, locking eyes, searching for answers.

"What—What was that?" Her voice was as low as ever, laced with fear of that unknown entity.

She genuinely felt fear. That’s the downfall of being the only master of Essence Control. She can sense even the minute change of Essence in the nature.

And she probably noticed it herself—that she was nothing infront of that thing.

Sigh…

A long breath escaped my lips, capturing both Ruby and Envy’s attention.

I moved to the front, facing them, I declared.

"None of you move."

Then, I turned my gaze toward Ruby.

"I will take care of it."

And with that, I dashed to the north from where the overwhelming pressure came from.

My speed tore through the forest, leaving a clear trail behind me.

It took me nearly fifteen seconds to reach the source.

"!"

And what I saw—

Made my whole body tense up.

End of Chapter.