I WAS The Rank–1 Hero

Justice held the scythe with both hands, gripping it tightly.

A strong radiating energy pulsed out of the scythe. Justice didn’t hesitate. He gripped it even more tightly.

He took the scythe over his head.

Wheeeep! Wheeeep!

The air whistled as he spun the scythe over his head. A sharp vibration generated by it.

He pulsed his Essence through the weapon.

Water Essence.

Justice had cyan hair, he was born in Aquadore. A high class nobel with highest status in the Kingdom.

A dim purple glow spread across the edge of the blade.

A faint hum vibrating sound echoed. The weapon resonated with his Essence.

The air around the forest shifted.

The moisture in the surroundings stilled. No wind. No movement. Everything froze under his control.

Faceless Nathalia hovered above him, she was not moving.

Hope stopped all of his attacks. He backed away from Nathalia, sensing the overwhelming Water Essence beneath him.

Justice tightened his grip. The resonance between his scythe and his Essence grew even stronger.

"Ugh!" He held it tightly.

The water around him didn’t flow like liquid anymore. It vibrated in the air.

Each molecule trembled violently, spinning at its high speed. Faster and faster.

Until…

Breaking apart.

Hydrogen, and Oxygen.

They separated.

This wasn’t just water manipulation.

This was molecular disassembly.

By splitting the molecules at an atomic level, Justice had turned the water into something far beyond ordinary water control.

Hydrogen, the most flammable element, filled the air.

The air turned dangerous. A single spark could set off an explosion strong enough to wipe out everything in its range.

Justice smirked.

Justice’s scythe pulsed with more power.

The ground beneath them rumbled.

The students felt it too. It was a suffocating pressure.

But before they could react, Hope moved.

In an instant, an ice dome formed over them— it was a massive, crystal-clear sphere.

Perfectly transparent.

They could see everything from the inside. Every movement and every attack of Justice which he was about to perform.

They all felt that something great was about to befall.

They didn’t flinch, after all Hope was guarding them.

But they were safe.

A sly grin formed on Justice’s face.

He had it enough. He endured all of it.

Now, he would show all of them why he was ranked-2.

He lifted his scythe high in the air, pointing straight to the Faceless winged figure.

WEEEZZZZZ!

A sharp slash cut through the air.

"Hydrostatic Cataclysm."

The moment he uttered those words, everything changed.

This was his strongest technique.

And with his scythe amplifying it, the effect tripled.

No matter where he was, no matter the kingdom, his Water Essence would never weaken.

Not even in a land overflowing with Fire Essence.

His technique would work at full potential. Full capacity.

And now, it would defy the very laws of elemental balance.

Rumble! Rumble!

The earth trembled. The ground cracked.

The temperature dropped.

Then—

A monstrous surge of water erupted from beneath the ground.

It wasn’t ordinary water.

Justice had been controlling it all along. The groundwater beneath them.

He compressed it. Spun it. Increased the pressure to an unbearable level.

The result—

A force that could crush mountains.

A spiraling column of water, it was dense.

It roared like a beast when it fully formed—a literal beat, its speed surpassed the sound itself.

Justice’s hands trembled under the sheer force as he directed it forward.

Straight toward Faceless Nathalia.

Then—it impacted her.

An ear deafening explosion tore through the whole forest.

It felt as if the entire ocean had crushed onto a single point.

The pressure it generated was too much to bear.

The air was torn.

All the trees bent backward, some of them even uprooted by the force of the wind alone.

Hope watched from inside the ice dome. His expression was hidden beneath his mask.

The students gasped.

Even Greed clenched his fists.

The sky was now loomed with nothing but a swirling mass of water and mist.

All students present, their vision blurred.

They couldn’t see the end result.

They went desperate.

They wanted to know.

But they can’t. Not until the sky was cleared.

Thirty seconds passed.

Then a sound struck their ears.

CLANG!

A metallic sound of something dropping on the ground.

Their eyes snapped forward.

The water mist was gone now.

They say Justice.

He was on his knees.

His scythe lay in front of him, no longer in his grip.

His head was tilted back, staring at something above.

Everyone followed his gaze.

The Faceless Figure which was once hovering, which was once regenerating continuously—was gone.

Only her tattered robe remained, slowly drifting down to the ground.

It landed gently on the cracked ground.

Relief flooded all of their faces.

Their breaths matched the rhythm with each other.

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The Faceless Nathalia—an entity even the strongest human to mankind was struggling to defeat—was now eliminated.

And not by the Rank-1 Hope.

It was done by the Rank-2 hero.

By Justice.

And with a single attack.

Silence followed for a few seconds.

Justice threw his head back and laughed.

"Hehahahahahahahaha! Hahahhahaaha!"

His laughter was so maniacally that it was echoing off the trees, piercing everyone’s ear..

He stared at the tattered cloth on the ground.

He couldn’t believe it.

He did that.

He actually did that.

Slowly, he turned his gaze behind him.

To the students.

To Hope.

To everyone else.

Their expressions said it all.

He had finally done it.

He had overthrown Hope.

They would all praise him now.

What a feat to achieve.

A smug grin stretched across his face as he looked at Hope.

"Now drop your damn ice dome," he sneered. "The threat is gone."

But Hope didn’t move.

Didn’t respond.

Justice frowned at him.

He straightened up, turning fully toward the ice dome.

"Hey, did you not—"

Then—

He froze.

A chill crawled up his spine.

Something was wrong.

Very, very wrong.

An unimaginable pressure weighed down on him from behind.

His body refused to turn around.

But he didn’t need to turn around to know what had happened.

The students’ faces told him everything.

Their expressions—

Fear.

Raw. Unfiltered.

Pure fear.

Crack! Crack!

A sound came.

Bone cracking sound.

From behind him.

End of Chapter.