Chapter 63: Wait a Moment

Supported on either side by Hank and Vivi, Nolan felt as though his legs no longer belonged to him. Fighting a famous Gold-rank expert while vastly outclassed had truly not been a joke. If he had been even slightly less exceptional, the corpse lying on the ground today would have been his. Still, he felt no psychological burden over it. 

At the far end stood the luxurious doors to Baron Haus’ master bedroom. 

“I’ll do it,” Hank said in a low voice. Though injured himself, he was in far better condition than Nolan. 

“Wait.” Nolan stopped him. 

Gently pushing Vivi’s hand aside, he took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the weakness wracking his body. Then, step by step, he walked toward the doors on his own. 

This was his foothold in this world. He had to finish it personally. 

“Nolan…” Vivi moved to follow him, worry written across her face, but Hank reached out and stopped her. 

The old soldier shook his head as he watched Nolan’s back. He understood. This young man was using this moment to declare his resolve to everyone present. 

Nolan drew his sword. 

Inside the room, the naked woman on the bed had long since cried herself dry. Baron Haus, meanwhile, admired his “masterpiece” with complete indifference to the commotion outside. With Yuri guarding the manor, no one could possibly interrupt him. The last peasant who had desperately tried to ransom someone back had ended up splattering blood across Haus’ beloved carpet, making him sick for days. Even slaughtering the man’s entire family afterward had failed to fully vent his disgust. That carpet had been an expensive import from the Rus Empire. Far more valuable than the lives of peasants. 

By now, Baron Haus had already licked every inch of the bound woman’s body. It was his favorite pastime, one that perfectly satisfied his possessive urges. He was just about to remove his trousers. 

Suddenly, the door hinges exploded apart under a tremendous impact. A thunderous crash followed as both doors slammed inward onto the floor, scattering splinters and dust through the air. 

“Fuck! Yuri, are you trying to die?!” Haus jumped violently at the noise, his hands freezing mid-motion. He spun around furiously. The moment he saw the blood-covered “private soldier” standing in the doorway with shattered armor, he froze for a second before erupting into rage. “You worthless bastard, who the hell are you?! Who allowed you in here?! Where’s Yuri? Where the fuck did that useless dog go?!” Pointing at Nolan, he roared at the top of his lungs, “Yuri! Yuri! Get your ass over here and drag this idiot out to feed the dogs!” 

Nolan merely looked at him quietly, like one would look at an actual dog. 

Outside the room, there was only deathly silence. The fury on Baron Haus’ face slowly turned into confusion, then unease. Something was wrong. 

Where were the personal guards? Where was Yuri? Why was there no sound at all? 

“You calling him?” Nolan finally asked as he slowly walked into the room, each step leaving black footprints across the expensive carpet. 

As his words fell, he flicked his arm casually. A dark object spun through the air and landed neatly beside Haus’ soft bed. 

Haus’ gaze instinctively followed it. Then he saw a pair of gray eyes still frozen with shock and unwillingness. 

Baron Haus’ entire body stiffened in overwhelming terror. That face… He knew it too well. It was the man he relied on most. The guarantee of his power and status. The protector personally sent by Archduke Demont, Yuri the Executioner. 

Except now, there was only a head. 

“AHHHHH—!!!” Baron Haus tumbled off the bed and scrambled backward on all fours, knocking over a table covered in various “toys.” Every trace of color drained from his face. “You… you… Yuri… he… That’s impossible…”

Yuri was dead? Yuri the Gold-rank Executioner, who butchered people like livestock, had died? And at the hands of this “private soldier”? 

“N-no… don’t come closer…” Haus crawled backward frantically, leaving a pathetic smear across the carpet. “Don’t kill me! What do you want? Money? Women? Right! I can make you captain of the personal guard! No—vice lord! I’ll make you my right-hand man!” His words tumbled out incoherently, tears and snot running down his face. Not even a trace remained of the arrogant lord he had been moments ago. 

Nolan ignored his pleading entirely. Countless people had once begged Haus the very same way. Now it was finally his turn to taste despair. 

Nolan’s gaze shifted toward the woman bound on the bed and the dying man tied to the pillar nearby. 

At that moment, Vivi and Rehanna rushed into the room. 

Hearing the phrase “right of first night” was one thing. Seeing it with their own eyes was another. The horrific scene inside instantly shattered the bottom line of both women. 

“Animal!” Vivi darted forward and quickly removed her cloak, wrapping it tightly around the trembling woman. The woman flinched slightly when she saw Vivi’s beast ears, curling up instinctively, but Vivi acted as though she hadn’t noticed and gently comforted her. 

Meanwhile, Rehanna rushed to the pillar and cut through the ropes binding the man with a single slash. She recognized him. He was the finest blacksmith in the city, recently married to the woman he loved. 

“Mr. Nolan, he’s dying!” 

The thought that Renee might have suffered the same fate sent hot blood surging through Rehanna’s veins.

“Die!” 

Her sword came crashing down toward the trembling Baron Haus. 

Haus squeezed his eyes shut and let out a pig-like scream. But the expected spray of blood never came. 

Clang! A sharp metallic impact rang through the room. 

Trembling, Baron Haus cracked open one eye and saw something utterly unbelievable. That blood-soaked “private soldier” had blocked the furious strike effortlessly with his heavy black sword. And he had done it with only one hand. 

He… stopped her? 

Rehanna froze as well, staring at Nolan in disbelief. “Mr. Nolan! What are you doing?! Let me kill him!” She poured more force into her sword, trying to overpower Nolan’s blade. But Mountain’s Resonance did not move even slightly. No matter how hard she pushed, she could not advance a single inch further. 

Nolan simply shook his head. “We can’t kill him yet.” 

“Why?!” Rehanna could not understand. “Isn’t this monster your target too? After everything he’s done… after all his sins… doesn’t he deserve to die a thousand times over?!” She glanced toward the still-trembling woman on the bed, the murderous intent in her eyes growing even stronger. “Don’t tell me you—” 

Meanwhile, the terror-clouded thoughts in Baron Haus’ head finally began to function again. He saw Nolan stopping the woman who wanted to kill him. He saw Nolan’s tattered private soldier uniform. And instantly, a conclusion formed in his mind. 

This man… wanted credit. 

Yes! That had to be it! He killed Yuri because he wanted Yuri’s position! He stopped the woman because he wanted to monopolize the achievement and present it to him in exchange for greater status! 

Realizing this, Baron Haus felt as though he had grabbed hold of a lifeline. He scrambled over and nearly crawled to Nolan’s feet. “G-good! Very good! You’re stronger than Yuri. If he’s dead, then he’s dead!” As he spoke, he even tried to hug Nolan’s leg. “As long as you protect me, from today onward you’ll be the person I trust most! Starting now, you’re my new captain of the personal guard! No—I’ll hand over the entire military authority of Coldsteel City to you! A monthly salary of twenty gold—no, fifty! Every woman in this city I get tired of, I’ll reward to you! My collection of beauties is incredible! And this crazy bitch dared to assassinate the lord—she deserves death! Cripple her immediately and throw her into the dungeon!” 

Watching this piece of trash go from begging for mercy one second to making grand promises the next made Rehanna tremble with rage. She could not understand why Nolan was stopping her. Had he truly been swayed by this monster? 

“Nolan…” Her voice shook faintly. 

Not only her. Even Hank and Little Donnie, who had just entered the room, stared in confusion. 

Hank frowned deeply as he looked at Nolan’s back. He believed Nolan was not that kind of person, but he genuinely could not understand his reasoning. Hadn’t everything they had done been for this very moment? 

Little Donnie was even more direct. Pointing at Haus, he shouted, “You fat pig! You’re still spewing bullshit even now?! Brother Nolan would never—” 

“Everyone calm down,” Nolan finally spoke, cutting off the room. “Has Kayan arrived yet?”