Swear Fealty To Me, My Subjects!

She was one of the seven Forbidden Royal Armies of the Empire, and the one Rhine had once trusted the most.

The maid delivered Rhine's orders to the sanctuary.

And the only thing Rhine could do now was wait patiently.

According to the rules of the Hain Empire,

The Forbidden Army was only at the Emperor's disposal.

They possessed a high degree of independence, and even if the Emperor wished to meet with these Forbidden Soldiers, it ultimately depended on their mood at the time.

With Constance's character, she wouldn't have rejected Rhine's invitation.

But only after she finished her work.

And while he waited,

Rhine had the perfect opportunity to contemplate how this life might unfold.

With the system paused, Rhine no longer had the option to delete and restart the game.

What lay ahead was his final chance.

After a thousand rebirths, Rhine had long since devised countermeasures for every enemy and every difficulty he would face in the future.

Yet the one thing Rhine had never been able to overcome was his seven Forbidden Soldiers.

The Forbidden Army was the foundation of the Hain Empire and the most powerful individuals in this vast land.

In these times,

Aside from the extremely rare and special ancient mythological species, the only thing capable of stopping a demigod on the battlefield was another demigod.

The divine bloodline had never been severed in this land, and apart from the Hain Empire, other nations occasionally managed to recruit one or two demigods.

But the quality of these "wild" demigods was naturally incomparable to those formally bred and trained by the Hain Empire.

This superiority cemented the unshakable and absolute military dominance of the Hain Empire.

However, the invincible war machine had its drawbacks.

Due to the extraordinary success of the Sublimation Ceremony of the Holy State Church, the purity of the demigod bloodline had continued to increase with each generation. Today, there were even super-monsters whose goddess component exceeded 90%.

A high-purity bloodline brought greater combat strength, but it also introduced a significant problem:

A sense of identity.

The Forbidden Soldiers no longer saw themselves as human.

This wasn't a subjective thought but a deep-seated disdain for humans—ants in their eyes—rooted in the lineage of higher-dimensional beings.

They didn't regard themselves as human, let alone bound by human morality.

According to Rhine's research, in their minds, their relationship with humans could be likened to that of a player and an NPC.

They could get along with humans, but their nature prevented them from viewing humans as their own kind.

This was the fundamental reason the demigod Forbidden Armies were so driven by profit and prone to treat life like a game.

If this demigod force could be properly utilized, Rhine could easily sweep across the continent and achieve unification.

But relatively speaking, if the game went poorly, there were countless ways for this treacherous group to stab Rhine in the back.

It was probably around his two-hundredth rebirth

That Rhine gave up harboring any illusions about this group of Forbidden Soldiers.

After every rebirth, Rhine spared no effort to eradicate the demigod Forbidden Army until only one remained.

Every banner of the demigods was an officially certified product, born after a series of scientifically rigorous pedigree evaluations in the sanctuary to select the most compatible pair of bonded individuals. They underwent various spell ceremonies and were blessed by the gods.

But Shea Constance was the exception.

Her mother was a prostitute from a small town on the empire's border, while her father was an unidentified demigod whom the empire had yet to trace.

As a result, her bloodline purity was low—no more than 50% at best.

The downside of her inferior bloodline was that Constance ranked at the bottom among the Forbidden Army's combatants when she wasn't prepared.

But the upside was...

This girl was very human and prone to resentment.

Rhine recalled his first life, where he had made too many foolish mistakes and wasted time, oblivious to the dangers of the world.

Nineteen years of precious time had been squandered by that naïve and ignorant nerd in a haze of indulgence and debauchery.

But still.

The first life had its redeeming moment.

That was when, during a winter journey through that border town, he brought Shea Constance back from a damp basement.

As long as he had Constance, Rhine stood a chance—even if he killed the other six Forbidden Soldiers.

Even in his 999th rebirth, when Rhine had nearly conquered the world, just one step away from completing the final sacrificial ceremony…

However—

Right before taking that final step,

Constance betrayed Rhine.

The sharp pain in his chest had yet to fade, and Rhine could still clearly recall the scene of the girl, crying as she apologized, driving a blade straight into his heart.

Shea Constance…

Rhine whispered her name.

At that moment, a calm, emotionless voice suddenly broke the silence.

"Your Highness?"

Looking up, Rhine saw a beautiful, white-haired demigod.

Her exquisitely beautiful face was devoid of expression as she gazed quietly at Rhine, like a flawless porcelain doll.

As a descendant of the gods, the white-haired woman before him wasn't beautiful in the conventional sense. She was, quite literally, the perfect answer to the abstract concept of "beauty."

She wore a simple, fine white slip beneath a delicate silver armor of elven craftsmanship. Over her icy blue eyes, she wore a pair of dragon-crystal glasses. Naturally, as a demigod, she wasn't nearsighted—but those glasses served another purpose.

Shea Constance.

Standing directly before Rhine, she spoke in an even tone, "Your Highness, you called for me?"

Rhine: "You're early. Have the prayers ended?"

Constance: "No, but Hella has returned, and we're alternating."

Rhine nodded.

He looked at Constance without speaking.

A moment later, he spoke in the low voice he often used:

"Constance, I had a dream this morning."

Constance: "Yes."

Rhine: "It was a long, long dream—around 10,000 years. In the dream, I was surrounded by enemies, and the only person I could trust was you. You stayed by my side, walked with me toward victory, and died with me. And finally, after countless deaths and suffering, we reached the end of the story."

Rhine smiled, looking at Constance with tenderness. "We stood at the edge of the world, just one step away from bringing the story to its perfect conclusion. And then, guess what happened?"

Constance's demeanor shifted slightly, but she simply responded sincerely:

"I don't know, Your Highness. Please tell me."

Rhine's face suddenly contorted in mock outrage: "And then you killed me!"

Constance: "..."

Rhine gritted his teeth. "You said, 'Your Majesty, I love you,' and then twisted the blade so hard you crushed my heart! You crazy little witch!"

Constance: "..."

Though inexplicably scolded, Constance didn't appear offended.

She merely replied softly, "Your Highness, it was only a dream. You don't need to take it seriously."

"Was it? Well, I'll have to pretend it was just a dream…"

Rhine shrugged. "The past is the past. What matters is moving forward, right?"

Constance: "Yes, Your Highness."

Rhine: "Then…"

Rhine gazed at Constance, his mind racing with possibilities. After some internal deliberation, he finally made a decision.

Rhine: "Constance, would you like to accompany me into town?"

Constance: "I'd be delighted. Where do you plan to go?"

Rhine smiled. "We're about to start something so great it could change the world and bring happiness to everyone. And right now, we're taking the first step."

Rhine: "Come with me, Constance."

With a determined look, Rhine strode toward the palace's main gate. "We're going to buy ovens."

Constance: "...?"

Constance hesitated for a moment, then silently followed Rhine, clearly bewildered.