That Was a Vow of Loyalty to My Dear

"Constance, where is your sword?"

Tools of the Evil God, Delivering Equipment Online

"I made a deal with Hela."

The Sanctuary fell silent.

Facing Rhine's question, Constance's answer was exceedingly brief.

"Is that so."

Having gotten his answer, Rhine did not press further.

After that simple exchange of pleasantries, neither of them spoke again.

Rhine raised his head and looked once more at the magnificent statue of the goddess.

The goddess Order, her long hair flowing, held a Crystal Spear. Magical crystal dust drifted around her as she solemnly looked down upon all living things, valiant and dignified, sacred and extraordinary.

Even as a mere statue, it possessed such holiness that heretics would bow and convert after just one glance...

Behind the Crystal Goddess stood another monument.

The Crystal Stele automatically recessed, forming words—the names of Hain's Imperial Guards throughout the ages.

All Imperial Guards were Order's daughters, children of the goddess she had sent into the mortal world to protect Hain's dynasty.

Heh...

Rhine chuckled.

This idol of Order, naturally grown from Silver White Crystal, was an unparalleled national treasure of the Hain Empire.

It had been placed within the Sanctuary of the Imperial Palace, accepting worship only from the imperial family and the Imperial Guards.

To the people and nobles of Hain, the goddess statue was the supreme ruler who protected Hain, the flawless goddess worthy of their devotion and even their lives.

But Rhine could no longer see a goddess.

All he saw was a remnant of an old era, turned into a pitiful tumor upon the beings of the new age, dreaming of resurrection.

Other than hostility, all Rhine felt toward it was pity.

After lingering in the Sanctuary for only a moment, Rhine turned and left.

Hela's actions had not exceeded Rhine's expectations.

Imperial Guard Hela represented an exceptionally standard image of an Imperial Guard.

She was greedy by nature, cruel and tyrannical without realizing it. She held nothing but contempt for mortals and never understood how to respect those ants—just like the gods.

But unlike the gods, she was at least very affectionate toward her sisters.

If Rhine had gone alone to meet the evil dragon, then whether he survived or not would have been a fifty-fifty gamble.

But if Constance had also been dragged into the matter, then in order to protect Constance, Hela would even take the initiative to help Rhine cover it up.

When she met Rhine, Hela had been so flustered by Olivia's blessing that she had even forgotten the important matter at hand.

But that woman would never accept a loss.

So she went to extort another party involved—her good sister, Thea Constance.

As an Imperial Guard, Constance was not wealthy.

She was aloof and free of worldly desires, lived a secluded life, had no additional source of income, and all her equipment was standard-issue gear provided by Hain.

If she lost that one golden primary weapon,

it would be nearly impossible for her to obtain another piece of equipment of the same grade on her own.

But it was not a big problem.

Rhine had long since made arrangements for Constance's equipment.

Because he understood the nature of that bunch in the Imperial Palace far too well, from the moment Rhine decided to go to Dreamland, he had already calculated all the chain reactions that would follow.

And according to Rhine's script,

the story had now reached the part where the tool dragon Olivia came knocking to deliver some warmth.

Just then,

a dark rift suddenly appeared in Rhine's vision.

An incredibly tiny Nether Realm Gate slowly opened over Rhine's eye.

"O prince of the empire, Rhine Hain."

Olivia's cheerful voice came from the other side of the rift.

"Is the Blessed Dragon Pupil your dear Lady Olivia bestowed upon you useful?"

No Male Dragon Princess!!

Ancient Dragon Princess Olivia appeared from Rhine's eye in the most literal sense.

Rhine's eyes had received Olivia's blessing, and it was the highest-grade blessing. Thus, these eyes had also become miniature divine realms under Olivia's control.

Now, the Dragon Princess could contact Rhine through his eyes at any time, and could even use them to manifest in the mortal world.

Through the rift in his eye, Rhine saw the verdant forest that stood utterly out of place amidst the chaotic, filthy Nether Realm.

Olivia still sat upon her thorny divine throne, smiling at Rhine.

She was waiting for Rhine to praise her.

"Your blessing is extremely effective, Princess Your Highness. Those Demigod Imperial Guards only need to meet my gaze for their minds to become a mess and their words to turn incoherent."

"Ho ho ho~"

Olivia laughed happily. "I told you, didn't I, Rhine Hain? Defecting to me was absolutely the right choice. Rest assured, as long as you can please me, I will grant you even more powerful blessings beyond anything you can imagine."

Olivia then asked impatiently,

"So, when are you planning to take down an Imperial Guard?"

Rhine said, "Making a demigod develop desire is only the beginning of taming her. We have to take it slowly."

Olivia smiled. "If the prey is caught too easily, then there will be no pleasure in enjoying it. Go ahead and make those Imperial Guards sink into depravity in your own way."

Rhine said, "But aside from that, something else happened today."

Olivia said, "What was it?"

Rhine said, "Hela caught hold of my weakness and used it to threaten me into handing over Constance's sword."

"A sword?"

Olivia smiled, completely unconcerned. "Then let her take it. Dragon souls and mithril are decent materials, but they do not suit her at all. If you want swords, I can give you another two."

Although golden weapons were rare and precious in the mortal world,

to an evil god, they were not particularly valuable.

Considering Rhine was one of her important contractors, picking out two golden weapons for him was nothing much.

Yet Olivia had not expected

Rhine to reject her without a second thought.

"A golden weapon is not worthy of her."

To Rhine, if it were merely golden weapons, he could take Constance for a casual stroll through the mortal world and pick up cartloads of them.

What Rhine had chosen for Constance was a transcendent holy relic that surpassed golden weapons.

Through the rift in his eye, Rhine looked at Olivia. "Honored Dragon Princess, how about I do you a favor?"

"Hahaha..."

Olivia covered her mouth and chuckled. "Your words are quite interesting. Tiny mortal, do you intend to ease a god's worries?"

Rhine nodded, his expression serious and calm. "I can help you get rid of one of your haters."

"I have plenty of haters."

Olivia shrugged, unconcerned.

Rhine said, "Then I will give you a name."

Olivia said, "Mm-hm."

Rhine fell silent for a moment before speaking that sacred, ancient name. "Obadiah."

"!!!"

Upon hearing that name,

Olivia's eyes instantly lit up.

Although Olivia had many haters,

some of them

were especially detestable to dragons.

Like that guy...

Olivia was a little touched. Prince Rhine, she did not know where he had gotten this intelligence, but honestly, this young man understood dragons far too well!

"Isn't that my cousin's great-grandson's nephew's son-in-law? You want to deal with him? Hurry up and do it!"

Obadiah was the name of an ancient dragon.

And though the blood relation was distant, he was still, more or less, a relative of the Ancient Dragon Princess.

If he had merely been some distant relative from her family, Olivia naturally would not have cared much about him.

However, this ancient dragon junior, who was quite young compared to the Dragon Princess, possessed another exceedingly rebellious identity.

His other identity

was that of the new Ancient Dragon Princess who was about to complete the great ritual.

That was right!

The current Olivia was actually facing the risk of having her power stripped away.

And her opponent

was a male princess!

Make Miss Hela Kneel Down and Call Me Daddy

Ancient dragons,

due to historical issues left behind by their existence, currently had "princess" as the highest-ranking position of authority within their race.

Olivia was the acknowledged Ancient Dragon Princess. Even though she had fallen into an evil god, she had retained the authority of the ancient dragon king.

But of course,

voices of dissatisfaction certainly existed.

Not every ancient dragon was willing to be ruled by an evil god.

Thus,

naturally, many challengers who sought to steal Olivia's authority emerged.

And Obadiah was one of them.

Rhine's reason for seeking trouble with Obadiah was exceedingly simple and straightforward.