Chapter 135: A Moment of Peace

“So the lord is finally awake?” Anna let out a soft sigh. “You were injured this badly and still acted like nothing happened. I honestly can’t tell whether you’re stubborn or just strong.”

Nolan instantly woke up completely. Only then did he realize he was bare-chested, and he hurriedly yanked the blanket higher. “So… you already know.”

Anna could not help laughing at his reaction. “What are you covering up for? Someone slept like a dead pig the whole time. Who do you think changed your bandages?” She lightly poked his forehead. “And that little act you and Vivi put on in the courtyard? Anyone with eyes could see through it. I was just curious how long the two of you planned to keep performing.”

Nolan’s face immediately reddened in embarrassment, and he scratched his head awkwardly. “Well… I just didn’t want everyone worrying.” He sighed too. “You were right before. A lord can’t let others see weakness, especially now. Coldsteel City has only just found hope again, and we’re already standing on the edge of a massive crisis.”

He expected Anna to scold him further, but instead, she nodded seriously. “Yes. You handled that part well.” Her voice softened, carrying both concern and relief. “But around people you can trust, you don’t have to force yourself so hard. We’ll all be there to support you. Maybe we can’t fight on the battlefield like you can, but at the very least, we can help treat your injuries.”

Her voice grew quieter as her gaze drifted toward his wound.

“I just hope you’ll take better care of yourself. I… all of us… place our hopes in you. If something happened to you, wouldn’t that hope collapse all over again?”

Warmth spread through Nolan’s chest. Looking into Anna’s sincere eyes, he spoke solemnly, “Anna, thank you. You and Uncle Hank were the ones who believed in me from the very beginning, even when all I had was some impossible-sounding dream…”

Anna’s gaze drifted toward the window. “To be honest, I still don’t know what I was thinking back then. Father came home that day looking twenty years younger and suddenly declared he’d rediscovered his old passion. Somehow, before I even realized it, I’d boarded this ‘pirate ship’ with you too.” She looked back at Nolan with a faint smile. “But the more things I experience, the more grateful I am to the impulsive version of myself who made that choice.”

As she spoke, Anna picked up a wooden bowl from the bedside table. The rich aroma of meat stew instantly filled the air.

“Here, try this. Rehanna made it, and she added some of Master Leus’ healing potion ingredients. Vivi helped too.”

She scooped up a spoonful of steaming soup and gently blew on it before bringing it closer. The tenderness and care in that small gesture made Nolan’s heartbeat skip.

Wait… she’s feeding me?

Anna leaned slightly closer, and Nolan accidentally caught sight of the deep curve beneath the neckline of her dress, along with the black inner layer beneath it.

His mind blanked instantly. Forcing himself to look away, he fixed his eyes straight ahead in panic. Just as the spoon was about to reach his mouth, he hurriedly snatched the bowl from her hands.

“How could I possibly trouble the honorable chief steward personally? If Hank found out about this, he’d probably come charging back from the training grounds with a sword in hand!”

Anna’s hand froze in midair for a moment, a trace of disappointment flickering through her eyes. Then she glared at him lightly. “Honestly. You’ve already become a lord, yet you still joke around like this.”

Nolan laughed awkwardly, trying to hide his embarrassment. “Well, it’s only around close companions like you all that I can relax a little and put down the burden.” He glanced at the soup in the bowl, quickly trying to change the subject. “By the way, I know Rehanna’s always good at taking care of Renee, but Vivi can cook too?”

As he spoke, he eagerly scooped up a large spoonful and dumped it straight into his mouth.

“Ah! Hot, hot, hot! Hiss… wait, this is actually really good!”

Nolan gasped from the heat while trying to comment at the same time.

“Close companions…”

The moment Anna heard those words, her heartbeat inexplicably quickened, and warmth rose to her cheeks.

Then she saw Nolan grimacing from the burn, and finally burst out laughing, covering her mouth with one hand. Watching him cough and sputter from the heat, she rose with a helpless smile and gently patted his back.

Outside this room, he was the decisive lord who carried the weight of everything upon his shoulders. Yet here, he looked no different from an ordinary young man next door.

If only it were not wartime… this kind of life would actually be rather wonderful.

Once Nolan had finished devouring the entire bowl of soup, Anna took the empty bowl from him and reminded him softly, “Your injuries still haven’t healed. Rest properly and stop worrying about everything outside for now.”

With that, she turned to leave.

“Anna!” Nolan suddenly called after her. “Well… seriously. Thank you.”

Anna turned back. Morning light happened to fall across the side of her face, tracing her features in a soft golden glow.

She smiled brightly, dazzling as the dawn itself. “The one you should thank is that brilliant version of yourself.”

The warm, ambiguous atmosphere faded as quickly as it had come.

Naturally, Nolan had no intention of actually staying in bed all day.

That morning, he rested briefly, feeling his injuries recover rapidly beneath the combined effects of medicine and his own constitution. By the afternoon, he had already summoned all the core officials to gather in the manor’s meeting room.

During his break, he carefully inspected one of the greatest treasures obtained from the ruins: the heavy armor.

With a thought, the pitch-black armor standing in the corner dissolved into countless metallic components that rapidly reassembled themselves across his body.

A status panel appeared before his eyes.

【Immovable Bulwark】

【Quality: Mythic】
【Defense: 175】

Special Effects:

【Unfallen Saint Statue】: A portion of all incoming attacks is diverted into a subdimension, reducing their effective power by half a power tier.

【Radiant Greatwall】: When the wearer remains standing still with both feet planted for more than 2.5 seconds, base defense doubles.

【Adamantine Smelting】: Heavy armor no longer interferes with spellcasting.

“Whether in sky or upon land, I shall be the final line of defense!”
— Hiss Carut, legendary commander of the Holy Whitewing Clan

This suit of armor had once been divine-grade equipment, but after countless wars and ten thousand years of guardianship, it had apparently degraded into Mythic quality.

On paper, 175 defense was only mediocre among heavy armors of the same level.

But Immovable Bulwark had never become legendary because of its raw stats. Its true power lay in those brutally straightforward special effects.

Each description was short and simple, yet perfectly embodied the design philosophy of the War of Heaven era: practicality above all else. Once something reached the extreme, quality itself mattered less.

Radiant Greatwall, which doubled defense after standing still, seemed somewhat impractical on a rapidly changing battlefield. Nolan himself was not the type to stand around taking hits. Still, having the effect was better than not. At a critical moment, it might allow him to withstand a killing blow and catch an enemy completely off guard.

As for Unfallen Saint Statue, there were only two words for it: utterly absurd. Its terrifying aspect was the percentage reduction based directly on “power tier.” This was the definition of stronger against the strong. Against weaker opponents, the effect was nearly meaningless. But against true experts, it forcibly reduced the power of their attacks by half a tier.

The higher one climbed, the harder each step became, and the greater the gap between realms. A typical high-ranked Gold could crush an early Gold almost effortlessly. Once someone stepped into the threshold of Origin, even barely, ordinary high Gold experts ceased to pose any real threat.

The main reason was the exponential improvement in resource usage and combat methods.

Yet Unfallen Saint Statue could drag the attack power of an Origin-level powerhouse all the way down to the level of a mid-ranked Gold. This was not ordinary defense. It was a forced weakening at the level of laws themselves, impossible to avoid. In high-level combat, it was nothing less than dimensional suppression.

Beyond that, the armor’s elbows, knees, and boots were fitted with sharp bladed spikes, allowing unexpected attacks during close-quarters grappling.

The true terror of a heavily armored warrior had never been passively tanking damage until the enemy collapsed from exhaustion. It was using overwhelming defense to completely ignore incoming attacks while launching reckless, life-for-life assaults without the slightest concern for defense. Nolan understood that principle better than anyone.

Looking at the formidable armor, identical to the one in his memories, heroic ambition surged through his chest. Satisfied, he flexed his body once before taking out the orb formed from the Fountain of Potential. 

Then he pushed open the door and strode toward the meeting room.

It was time for Coldsteel City to undergo a true transformation.