I WAS The Rank–1 Hero-Chapter 170: Act 1: Where It All Began

"Nyth Valeshade?"

This name rang some bells.

Where did I hear that name?

I was certain I had heard it somewhere.

Nevertheless, this Nyth was probably someone powerful enough to lock a literal god.

But even so, I didn’t put much effort into recalling it. Because Agroth said,

"Do you want to see what happened to me?"

I really did want to know how his Apostle did that, and more importantly, the reason behind it.

Nodding my head, I prepared myself.

"Yes."

As I nodded, a smile formed on his lips, as if telling me he already knew I would agree.

Agroth, from his black coat, took out a transparent, prism-shaped necklace.

Placing it to his red eyes, his pupils gazed at me through it.

As it happened, my mind started to enter a vivid state.

Agroth snapped his fingers, and a lavish cushion appeared behind me.

Seeing it, my body slammed on it.

And as soon as my body touched the surface, my vision blurred, and I saw a glimpse of Agroth’s memory.

It wasn’t just a memory. It was the beginning.

I watched Agroth from above, or beside him—I couldn’t really tell.

The world around him stood at the brink of chaos.

The skies were red-shaded, flickering with unstable energy, like hell and earth were merging.

It looked like this place was unbalanced.

I felt the sense of raw Essence clashing with the life force.

There was a core. A highly unstable core, which I saw deep beneath the Earth’s ground.

This was the Earth before balance.

Agroth saw all of this happening. He didn’t speak.

Alone in this broken land, a calm expression loomed over his face.

I tried to reach out to him, but he moved forward. To the center of it all.

And unlike before, his figure was that of a normal human body, not the huge godly one.

There were no other gods—only him.

At first, I wondered why the world was behaving like this. What was Agroth doing here?

Was this my world?

That’s what I wanted to know. But for some reason, I was certain that this world was mine.

It was before the time when the world became balanced.

I saw Agroth raise both arms, and with a single breath, he gave himself to that unstable core beneath the ground.

His Authority didn’t burst out—it unraveled with it.

His body didn’t explode or vanish. It sank to the core, as if he was handling it directly.

The unstable core slowly calmed down, and cracks began to appear on it.

As the cracks widened, the Earth itself shook with it.

Agroth surged his divinity into it, controlling it so that it wouldn’t shatter.

He succeeded, but the energy was too much to handle, even for him.

He cursed, calling out to a single name.

"Asmodeus, what have you done!"

The Demon King Asmodeus?

This was all his doing?

From Agroth’s words, it looked that way.

Then he whispered,

"The rest of the gods won’t care… Pfft—" he sneered. "They were all fighting for territory after all."

I didn’t see any other gods except him here.

Did they not come? Or did they not care?

Where was Goddess Ylthea? Or Eris? Or Karton?

I want to know…

Crack—

The core in Agroth’s hand cracked even more.

"Tsk," Agroth clicked his tongue. "I have no other choice."

He poured all his divinity into the core, but somehow, the gaps between the cracks widened—and the core shattered.

It shattered into five pieces, all emitting different Essence forms.

Red, blue, white, yellow, and green. Five cores separated from the one.

They spun rapidly, their structure unstable.

Agroth tried to let go of one of the cores, but as soon as he did, the core started to shatter even further.

"No…" he murmured.

He caught it again.

And this time, he didn’t let go of any of them.

I understood now.

My eyes widened as I realized that it was the beginning of the world I currently live in.

The time around me moved rapidly, but Agroth didn’t let go of any of the cores.

Centuries passed, as Agroth’s body blurred deep beneath the ground, and a small town settled on top of it.

People roamed around, wearing old-fashioned clothes.

Millennia passed, and now I saw some weird four-wheeled car running over the road constructed on top of Agroth’s body, which was buried thousands of kilometers beneath.

And right in front of my eyes, I saw my current world taking shape.

Where Agroth was buried, a colossal building with ancient architecture was created. Several humans, both male and female, wandered there, wearing the same clothes.

At first, I thought it was another historical place, because the buildings in that region were old-fashioned.

But for some reason, it was familiar.

Hold on…

My gaze shifted to one of the students, and towards a logo on their uniform.

Nova Academy?!

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

Is this for real?!

Does that mean Nova was constructed above where Agroth’s body was, while he was holding those Elemental cores?

Holy shit!!

This answered so many questions.

Why was the world in perfect balance?

Why are there five Elementals?

And why is Nova the only place where laws of balance don’t apply?

I got the answers to them all.

Answers that the whole of humanity has strived to search for.

Looking at the grand palace of Nova, the scene shifted again.

This time, it was a modern Nova—not as modern as now, maybe 40 or 50 years old based on the vehicles parked at its campus.

Soon, I found myself standing at a secluded hall inside one of Nova’s dormitories.

My face turned to the corner.

There, at the end of the corridor where light barely reached, four students carrying lavish swords on their waists surrounded a girl with black hair and red eyes.

She stood trembling, her head down, strands of her dark hair falling over her bruised face.

Her back hit the wall as the tallest boy from the four stepped forward.

He reached out his hand to her ear and yanked at her earring.

Drip— Drip—

Blood dripped from her earlobe. She clenched the spot.

"Oops," the tall boy said with a smirk, tossing the earring out the open window like trash.

This situation didn’t need explanation. It was clear what was about to unfold.

But what was this scene doing in Agroth’s memory?

Who is she?

One of the girls with silver hair walked forward.

"Nyth Valeshade, don’t jump too much just because Sir Brain praised you."

She was clearly annoyed.

Wait…

Nyth Valeshade?

Isn’t that the name of Agroth’s previous Apostle?

Then this black-haired girl was the Death Authority holder?

Why was she in that state?

Her face was full of bruises.

My gaze landed on her hands—she was missing one of her nails.

The silver-haired girl grabbed her by the jaw, forcing her chin up.

"Go on, say it."

Nyth’s lips trembled.

Slap—

"SAY IT," the girl hissed, slapping her across the cheek.

Her voice came out in a whisper.

"I’m a worthless rat… born from mud… only fit to serve beneath noble shoes…"

The others laughed.

"Hahahaha, look at her. I bet she’s a wh*re just like her mother!"

"Yeah, she’ll walk in her footsteps and then warm some rich noblemen’s beds."

"Geez, that’s so gross…"

"Hahahaha!"

Nyth swallowed. Her eyes glistened with tears, but they weren’t done.

"I eat scraps like a dog," one of the boys prompted, grinning.

Nyth obeyed, voice cracking. "I eat scraps… like a dog…"

But then, a white flash shimmered from one of the boys’ fingers.

Nyth’s uniform shimmered, then turned translucent.

"Ohhhh!" they all howled like brainless dogs.

My fists clenched.

Seeing it happen on Nova’s ground, my blood started boiling.

But before I could do anything, the scene shifted.

This time, all of it occurred fast—in a matter of seconds.

I saw how Nyth tried to jump off of Nova’s building, and how she survived after her broken body revived.

I saw her receiving the Authority of Death.

And I saw her using it to hurt others.

Agroth noticed the changes in her. He even tried to make her understand—he taught her.

But it didn’t end well for him.

After witnessing her descent, Agroth tried to take back his Authority.

But Nyth countered.

Agroth was in bad shape. If he let go of even one of the Elemental cores, the entire world would crumble.

So, he didn’t do anything.

Nyth used this opportunity to keep squeezing out Agroth’s divine energy to take revenge on all the noble houses.

Her plan was to completely destroy the higher classes in Frostvile Kingdom.

She even commissioned a terrorist organization to attack Nova.

And she succeeded.

She was found guilty and sentenced for execution.

But she managed to run.

What she didn’t know…

Agroth had already cornered her.

For the entire time of his helpless state, he was pretending.

When Nyth tried to link her Essence to Agroth’s divine power, he planted a <Death Granter> skill in her.

A curse that would slowly erode his physical form, while leaving her soul to wander off.

Agroth succeeded. But he couldn’t reclaim his Authority from her—

Because he needed to choose another Apostle.

And that’s where I come in.

Fifty years had passed, and Agroth was still caged beneath Nova.

His divine aura searched for an Apostle—

Only to find a half-dead boy, squeezed under some rocks.

He saw something in me.

And without hesitation, he chose his next Apostle.

…

I snapped back to my reality. To where I once glanced at the collosal form of Argoth, lavishly seating on the black throne.

This was the same god…

He was smiling before he requested.

"Would you do me a favor?"

I didn’t say, just nodded my head.

His expression softened.

"When you get back to your real timeline, could you please come find my body?"

His body was still beneath Nova, in my real timeline, and he wanted me to come look for him.

"Alright." I accepted.

Agroth for the final time looked at me, and then said before vanishing.

"It’s time for you to go, you will meet her when you revive back… but I request you. She’s just someone who’s lost. Treat her well."

And with that, Agroth’s fragmented figure vanished from the throne. And with him this white audience hall also vanished.

And so do I.

Once again, darkness consumed me.

And when I opened my eyes, I saw black smoke, and a figure of a blonde-haired girl approaching Ruby with a sword in her hand.

She reeks of death.

Without wasting any second. I activated my S-rank Authority skill.

"Death Domain."