That Is Swearing Allegiance to the Beloved

Then, Rhine woke up.

He felt as though he was lying on a pillow with an exquisite texture.

It had to be someone's thigh.

And judging by the softness and size... it wasn't Constance's.

Then, Rhine faintly overheard Constance and Hela's conversation.

Hela: "This sword is really interesting. It doesn't absorb elements, nor does it react to magic, and it only unleashes its power in your hands. Shia, do you know its origin?"

Constance: "I don't."

Hela: "Really?"

Constance: "Mhm."

Hela: "But Prince Rhine should be very familiar with this sword. After all, he specifically prepared this sword for you."

Hela: "I see now. Prince Rhine's intention to hunt the ancient dragon wasn't at the Evil Dragon's command, nor was it to bribe me. It was simply because I had just taken away your only gold weapon at the time..."

Constance: "No..."

Hela: "Hm?"

Constance: "My relationship with His Highness isn't that close. He wouldn't give me such a valuable gift. I think he's just temporarily lending me the sword so I can help him eliminate the ancient dragon."

Hela's voice turned sour: "...Shia, are you showing off to me?"

Constance: "I'm not."

Hela: "You two, you give each other the cold shoulder every day. You might not say ten words to each other in ten meetings, but when something happens, you spoil each other rotten... Are you two just flirting?"

Constance: "Hela..."

Hela: "Hmph~ Did I say something wrong?"

Constance: "Why are you suddenly so concerned about Prince Rhine's affairs?"

Hela: "Ahem, ahem... Of course, it's because I took His Highness's money, so I have to care more about my boss... Ah, His Highness is awake."

Hela looked down at Rhine, who was resting on her thigh, and asked with a smile, "Did you sleep well, Your Highness?"

"It was alright..."

Rhine saw the nameless golden sword placed beside his hand.

Rhine asked, confused, "Constance, why isn't the sword put away?"

Constance replied calmly, "It belongs to His Highness."

"No, it doesn't."

Rhine thanked Hela, then got up and handed the golden sword to Constance:

"Put it away. This is a weapon exclusively for you. You are the only one who suits it."

"Your Highness..."

Constance's gaze was complex. If this was truly a sword given to her by Rhine, then it meant... just as Hela had said, Rhine had left the Imperial Capital, ventured into Leta, and risked his life to challenge the ancient dragon, all to obtain this weapon for her.

Constance said softly, "Thank you, Your Highness."

Rhine nodded, unconcerned. "Oh, and one more thing. The creator of this sword didn't have time to name it. Such a divine artifact deserves a meaningful true name. Just give it any name you like."

Constance: "Any name is fine?"

Rhine: "Mhm."

"Then..."

Constance gently wiped the blade of the golden sword:

Constance didn't need to say anything. The golden sword sensed its owner's thoughts, and a two-character inscription immediately appeared on its blade.

Having crossed countless ages, the creation of the primordial Gods finally obtained its true name.

[Rhine]

.

Allow me to explain. This book is not set in a game world. The "New Single-Handed Sword 01" I mentioned earlier was meant to convey the idea of a creation race leaving behind an unfinished design, one they hadn't even bothered to name, before they fled. The ancient dragon enshrined it as a holy artifact, mistaking "New Single-Handed Sword" for some sacred true name. Essentially, the author couldn't think of a cool name, so they came up with this on the spot. There's no deeper meaning to it.

Thank you to Li Huahua for the reward, you're too generous!

0: Mithril Skull

After confirming that this was indeed a gift from Rhine, Constance carefully put away the golden sword.

"This sword is yours, but remember, there's a limit to how many times you can use it. Don't use it unless absolutely necessary."

Constance nodded obediently, "I understand."

Rhine: "..."

Constance: "..."

Rhine: "You could have asked me why."

Constance: "Why?"

Rhine: "Because the resources this sword consumes when activated aren't energy, but gold."

Just like how casting magic consumes mana, When the Golden Sword is activated, it automatically vaporizes nearby gold.

Hela, standing nearby, was stunned: "...Gold?"

No wonder when the automatons were tallying the spoils earlier, they told me they hadn't found a single Gold Coin...

Obadiah's collection primarily consisted of rare treasures with exquisite taste and powerful performance, but he had also accumulated some worldly possessions like gold and gems.

However, while Hela was resting Rhine's lap, and the automatons were inventorying Obadiah's legacy.

They discovered that despite the entire tower being magnificent, the gold items in Obadiah's treasury were zero.

Originally, Hela had simply attributed this to Obadiah's collecting habits.

But now, it seemed.

When Constance used the Golden Sword to kill the ancient dragon, any gold present near the battlefield had already been vaporized as energy.

In previous cycles, no matter what name Constance gave this sword, in Rhine's heart, it always had only one designation.

Pay-to-Win Sword.

Was killing the ancient dragon Obadiah in one blow impressive?

But once you knew the terrifying bill the Golden Sword presented Constance to kill this ancient dragon, you'd feel a pang of regret...

In fact, the Pay-to-Win Sword could not only vaporize nearby gold but also directly deduct gold from Constance's assets.

And even more outrageous—if after deducting Constance's gold savings, the sky-high bill still couldn't be paid, then the user's family would become the Golden Sword's next target.

This was simple equivalent exchange.

The life of an ancient dragon was undoubtedly extremely expensive.

Therefore, killing it also required an extremely high price.

The small amount of gold the ancient dragon Obadiah had stored as a gesture wasn't enough, and the savings of the ascetic Constance weren't enough either.

So, next in line would be Constance's close relations.

Theoretically, this money should have been paid by her Imperial Guard sisters.

But in reality...

Rhine reached for his wallet.

As expected, it was empty.

Rhine's assets had also been vaporized.

Of course, that still wasn't nearly enough.

Rhine, at nineteen, didn't have much money either. As a Prince, his days were spent studying, attending classes, eating, drinking, and having fun; he never had the habit of saving.

So the question is.

Who ultimately paid for the gold equivalent to the life of an ancient dragon?

Imperial Capital of Hain, Dreamland.

Since their new boss hadn't issued any orders, the Succubi could only continue their meaningless infiltration work as usual.

However, just now, they received some good news.

The Dragon Succubus, their leader, slammed the table and asked in shock: "What?! You're saying our backend Gold Coins are gone?"

"That's right!"

"Was it the Imperial Guard?"

"No! The Gold Coins vanished into thin air. I, I don't know what happened! They just... unbelievably evaporated!"

"So that means..."

"We finally have beds to sleep in!!"

"Hooray!"

"Long live!!!"

A third of the mountain of yellow scrap metal piled up in Dreamland had been cleared for unknown reasons, and they no longer had to occupy their rooms!

The Succubi shed tears of joy.

.

Leta, Ancient Dragon Barrier.

Rhine woke up at a very opportune moment, just as the ancient dragon barrier was about to dissipate and the Imperial Guard were preparing to leave.

Now, Rhine had one last thing to do in Leta.

With the barrier's dissipation in its final ten minutes, Rhine needed to find the second item he'd chosen.

Although, due to his immortality, Rhine had only had the chance to hunt Obadiah in the later stages of past campaigns.

However, Obadiah possessed so many treasures that Rhine, whenever he survived to the late stages of a campaign, would always bring Constance along to check on Obadiah's hoard.

As for what treasures Obadiah had at home and where they were specifically located, Rhine was quite clear, able to find them with his eyes closed.

Rhine didn't go to Obadiah's treasure pagoda, but instead came before an unremarkable graveyard piled high with corpses.

These corpses were of various creatures that had trespassed into Obadiah's dragon's lair for one reason or another and had been killed by Obadiah.

They weren't as powerful as Demigods, nor were they qualified to be hung at the entrance as scarecrows, so Obadiah simply tossed them aside, waiting to deal with them in bulk once enough had accumulated.

Therefore, calling it a graveyard wasn't entirely appropriate.

Despite the countless skeletons piled here, none were buried.

At best, it was... living refuse?

Having gone through the previous great battle, these skeletons were now unrecognizable.

The magma that splashed out when Obadiah broke through the ground had triggered a lava rain, and after that, the divine natures of the Grand Tutor and Histia, Mercy and Order, had fought ferociously in the abyss for hundreds of rounds.

This section of the Blazing Sun Deep Wall was now like it had been bombarded by City-Destroying Curses, leaving nothing alive.

But even so, Amidst the black carbon residue, there was one special holy artifact, completely intact.

Rhine took out a silvery-white skull from it.