Summoned As A Mere Nobody-Yet Possesses An SSS-Rank Ability-Chapter 256: Time Bowed

Nolan did not answer immediately.

"So tell us," King Zul said quietly, "just how powerful are you?"

A long pause followed.

Then Nolan exhaled, leaning back slightly in his chair.

"Well," he said calmly, "in a sense... and in a way... I have already reached the pinnacle of strength."

The elders stiffened.

"And," Nolan added, his voice lowering, "I am a deity."

The room exploded.

"What?!" 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"A deity?!"

"That’s impossible!"

"He must be joking!"

Several High Elders stood abruptly.

"This has to be a lie!" one shouted.

"You are playing with us!" another said.

Even King Zul frowned, disbelief flashing across his face. "Are you serious? Or are you mocking us?"

Nolan sighed. "I’ve never told anyone this before."

The elders whispered furiously among themselves before one stepped forward.

"Then show us," he said. "If what you say is true—prove it."

King Zul hesitated... then nodded. "Alright."

Nolan stood.

"Very well."

He snapped his fingers.

Instantly—

Everything vanished.

No light.

No sound.

No ground beneath their feet.

No sky above.

It was pure, endless black.

The High Elders gasped in panic.

"W–Where are we?!"

"We were just in the chamber!"

"I can’t feel my body!"

"This," Nolan’s voice echoed calmly from everywhere and nowhere, "is a space outside time."

They froze.

"No time is passing here," Nolan continued. "You are not standing. You are not sitting. You simply exist."

Fear gripped them.

Then—

Snap.

They were back.

The council chamber reappeared as if nothing had happened. The table. The walls. The torches.

Several elders collapsed into their seats, breathing heavily.

"I–Is that enough?" Nolan asked.

"Yes!"

"Yes, it is!"

"That alone is—!"

"Wait," Nolan said. "One more."

Before anyone could react, he raised his hand toward one of the High Elders—the oldest among them.

Time twisted.

The elder gasped.

His hunched back straightened. His wrinkled skin smoothed. His long white beard darkened, turning jet black. His eyes widened in horror and awe as he looked at his own hands.

"I... I’m young..."

"I’m young again?!"

The chamber shook with disbelief.

"Time manipulation..." someone whispered in terror.

Then Nolan lowered his hand.

In an instant, the elder returned to his original form—aged, wrinkled, trembling.

Silence.

King Zul stepped forward.

Then—

He bowed.

Deeply.

The High Elders followed.

Every single elf in the chamber dropped to one knee.

"Forgive us," King Zul said, his voice shaking. "Deity."

"We were blind," an elder said.

"We spoke with arrogance," another added.

"In truth," King Zul continued, "if such a being wished it... we would not exist."

Nolan looked at them quietly.

"I didn’t show you this so you would worship me," he said. "I showed you so you would understand."

He turned toward Linda, then back to the king.

"I don’t want fear. I don’t want kneeling. I want trust."

King Zul raised his head slowly.

"...Then from this day forward," he said, "the Elf Tribe will stand beside you—not as servants, not as worshippers—"

"But as allies."

For the first time since Nolan entered the Elf Tribe—

They were no longer looking at a human.

Nolan remained standing.

For a moment, he said nothing.

The great hall—once loud, once filled with pride and hostility—had fallen into a reverent silence so deep that even breathing felt too loud. The torches lining the pillars flickered softly, their flames bending as if responding to Nolan’s presence.

Whispers spread again, but this time they were no longer filled with doubt or fear.

They were filled with awe.

King Zul took another step forward. His knees trembled slightly before he steadied himself, placing a hand over his chest in the traditional elven gesture of respect.

"If you insist, King..." Nolan repeated quietly.

His voice was calm. Too calm.

Yet the moment he spoke, the air itself seemed to listen.

The elders exchanged looks—ancient beings who had lived through centuries, wars, famines, and eras of humiliation. Their expressions were no longer those of rulers or advisors.

They were the expressions of witnesses.

"I ask once more," King Zul said, lowering his head further. "Forgive everything we have done. Every insult. Every test. Every act of arrogance."

He swallowed.

"We were blind."

A ripple of agreement moved through the elders.

"Yes... blind."

"We did not see it sooner."

"How could we not recognize him?"

Linda looked around, her heart pounding. She had always known Nolan was extraordinary—but this? This was something far beyond strength.

One of the High Elders stepped forward, leaning heavily on his staff. His eyes, sharp despite his age, locked onto Nolan’s face.

"Wait," the elder said, his voice trembling but firm. "King Zul... explain yourself clearly."

The king nodded slowly.

"Very well."

He turned, facing both Nolan and the assembled elders.

"Three to four hundred years ago," King Zul began, "during the era when Akende departed this world... when the other great deities vanished one by one..."

The name alone sent a chill through the hall.

"There was one deity who remained longer than the rest."

The elder’s grip tightened on his staff.

"A being who could bend time itself."

The hall stirred.

"He could stop it completely. Accelerate it. Reverse it. Age the old and restore the young."

King Zul’s eyes darkened.

"But he never abused that power."

Nolan’s fingers twitched slightly.

"He told us such acts violated the rules of existence. That even gods must obey something greater."

The elder nodded slowly.

"I remember," he whispered. "I remember him."

Gasps echoed.

"He appeared when the elves were at their lowest," King Zul continued. "When we were hunted. Enslaved. Treated as tools by humans and other races."

King Zul clenched his jaw.

"He did not rule us. He did not command us."

Instead, the king said, "he taught us."

Scenes seemed to come alive in the elders’ minds—training grounds, bloodied hands, lessons carved into bone and soul.

"He taught us how to fight without relying on brute strength. How to think. How to survive."

The king raised his head proudly.

"He taught us how to stand on our own."

The elder’s voice cracked.

"And because of him... elves were no longer prey."

King Zul turned his gaze back to Nolan.

"He said something before he left."

The room held its breath.

"He said that when the elves had grown strong enough—when we no longer needed saving—he would return."

Linda felt her chest tighten.

"But not as himself."

A murmur spread.

"He said he would come back in another body," King Zul said slowly, deliberately, "with another life... and another set of memories."

Silence.

Heavy.

Absolute.

The elder’s staff slipped slightly as his knees weakened.

"That power..." the elder whispered. "Time without flow. Youth without decay."

His eyes widened.

"It is him."

The High Elders dropped to one knee.

Then two.

Then all of them.

King Zul followed, kneeling before Nolan—his crown nearly touching the floor.

"You are the one who left us," the king said, his voice shaking with reverence.

"And the one who has returned."

The air itself seemed to hum.

Nolan closed his eyes for a brief moment.

Fragments stirred—feelings without images, weight without memory. A sense of responsibility he could not explain.

When he opened his eyes again, they were calm.

"...So that’s how it is," Nolan said quietly.

The elves did not cheer.

They did not shout.

They simply bowed deeper.

Because in that moment, they were no longer standing before a human—

They were standing before a past they had never forgotten.

Linda stepped closer, her eyes shining—not with fear, but with pure admiration.

"Master... I always knew you were amazing," she said softly. "But you never taught us this. You never told us something like this."

Nolan let out a small chuckle and rubbed the back of his head, looking almost embarrassed.

"I did tell you once," he said calmly. "I mentioned that I was a chrono god."

Linda blinked.

"You said it so lightly," she replied. "Like it wasn’t important. I didn’t even understand what it meant back then."

She clenched her fists, her emotions overflowing.

"But now I do. Master... you’re truly great. No—amazing."

Celia stepped forward and bowed her head slightly, her voice filled with certainty.

"Yes, Master. You are truly outstanding. I always knew it. Even when you never showed your power, even when you held back—I felt it."

She smiled faintly.

"It was like time itself moved differently around you."

Linda turned back to Nolan, disbelief still clear in her eyes.

"But still... Master, how?"

"How can someone be this strong?"

"How is this even possible?"

The hall fell silent.

Nolan looked down at his hands—the same hands that had bent time, defeated kings, and terrified an entire race.

"I honestly don’t know," he said quietly. "That’s the truth."

He raised his gaze.

"And even if everyone keeps calling me a deity... I don’t see myself that way."

"I still feel human," Nolan continued. "Completely human. I eat, sleep, get tired, get annoyed, and get angry when people I care about are threatened."

"One hundred percent human."