[Greek Mythology] The Demons Under My Command - Chapter 24

Hera’s divine artifact was named the Judge’s Path . Li Jia had only read descriptions of it in books, but the concept was too abstract, making it impossible to imagine what the Judge’s Path actually looked like.

She never expected it would turn out to be such an awesome sword.

Seeing it was far better than hearing about it—it was incredibly imposing.

Li Jia had also imagined what Hera’s artifact might be: Zeus’s Thunder Spear, Athena’s Shield, Artemis’s Silver Feather Bow, Poseidon’s Trident, and so on. The artifacts of the other eleven divine sovereigns all had distinct physical forms.

Only Hera’s was described with just four short lines:

Three thousand ghosts subdued, the Judge’s Path at the nether spring. Reincarnation is severed, a new stupa is built.

At the time, Li Jia didn’t understand what this meant and thought the description was too exaggerated. Now she saw that it was perfectly apt.

Cool, very cool, super cool.

That’s right.

A queen should be matched with a divine sword.

Compared to Li Jia’s current little yellow chick body, the Judge’s Path was far too big for her; it looked as tall as a TV tower.

But why would this divine sword suddenly protect her? After blocking the attack of the bone spur for her, it quietly stood by her side.

Li Jia thought the sword was a bit like a Doberman—handsome, protective of its owner, and silent.

She didn’t mean the sword looked like a dog, but it gave her a feeling—a very reliable feeling.

The little yellow chick “cheep-cheeped” twice, and the Judge’s Path was sensible enough to cut her bracelet open. It was strange; the flame on the blade, which could instantly carbonize everything, wasn’t hot when Li Jia approached it. On the contrary, it felt a little warm.

It was like a candle; the boiling point was at the top, and the area below wasn’t hot.

The little yellow chick was thrilled to be free again. It happily flapped its tiny wings, fluttered twice, then hugged the Judge’s Path, which had unburdened her, and pecked (kissed) it a couple of times to show her gratitude.

Hera glanced at the Judge’s Path out of the corner of her eye, and the Judge’s Path trembled slightly.

“Bring her back now.”

The Judge’s Path obediently crouched down, and Li Jia stepped onto its hilt. The scene looked very bizarre.

A flaming sword with a little yellow chick standing on it.

A bit… abstract.

The Judge’s Path dutifully delivered the little yellow chick back to its owner. Hera pinched her little chicken wing and tucked her back into her chest.

Mission accomplished, the Judge’s Path reverted to its original form.

It turned out its original form was the ring Hera wore on her hand.

It could transform into a weapon when needed and be used as a decoration when not. This was too amazing.

Did that mean the ring on her own hand could also…

The little yellow chick looked at her chicken wing, which had a small ring on it.

Damn it, why did it change size along with her? No wonder Hera said she couldn’t take it off. She had never seen this kind of self-adjusting high-tech gear.

She was a country bumpkin.

Li Jia nudged Hera’s neck. The fluffy wings tickled her. Hera looked down and saw the little yellow chick stretch out its wing to point at its own small ring, then at the ring on Hera’s hand, which was the same style.

Hera tapped her little head and used an inner voice command, which only Li Jia could hear.

Li Jia: Will it also turn into a sword?

Hera: Yes. Essentially, my ring is the master ring, and yours is the subordinate ring. You possess half of the Judge’s Path’s spirit, which is equivalent to half of the power being in your hands.

Li Jia: Then why don’t you divide a few more little rings? That way, we can each have a sword. Going out with a sword for each of us would be so pretentious.

Hera: “…What is ‘pretentious’?”

Li Jia thought for two seconds and calmly replied, “It means very awesome.”

Hera: “Then you are not pretentious at all.”

Li Jia really wanted to sew her mouth shut. Hera ignored the good things but was quick to pick up on the bad ones.

Hera: “There are only two rings, no more. The subordinate ring is forged with my blood and will take half of my divine power. In the future, if I am not by your side, the Judge’s Path will protect you.”

Hera spoke these words very calmly, as if she were talking about someone else’s business.

A divine sovereign had given half of her divine power to her, a mere mortal.

Li Jia suddenly felt a little teary-eyed. What did her words mean?

Although she would leave this world once the mission was complete, at least for this moment, she didn’t want to leave here.

No reason, no cause. Her body didn’t want to, her heart didn’t want to, she didn’t want to.

“Your Majesty, you won’t leave my side. If you do, I will come looking for you until I find you.” The little yellow chick nestled on her chest, acting spoiled: “I am Your Majesty’s attendant. Your Majesty is destined to look after me for a lifetime.”

Sensing the little one’s happiness, Hera’s normally cold eyes subtly trembled. She lightly tapped the little chick’s head again: “Then you have to give me some compensation.”

She then tilted her face.

Li Jia was instantly speechless. Is a divine sovereign a primary school student? Getting jealous of a sword.

She saw through it but didn’t say anything. When you’re under someone’s roof, you have to bow your head.

The little yellow chick pursed its beak and fiercely pecked the cheek that had been offered up several times, getting her saliva all over Hera’s face.

Li Jia couldn’t be blamed; no matter how many times she saw Hera’s face, she would still be stunned by her beauty. How could a person look like this?

Seeing the little yellow chick staring blankly at her, Hera lowered her head and kissed the top of her head. The setting sun slanted across her profile, casting a faint shadow under her eyelashes. When she raised her hand to brush away the stray feathers from the chick’s forehead, her fingertips were moist with tenderness.

“Whether I am alive or dead, no one will be able to harm you.”

A divine being does not swear an oath lightly; once an oath is sworn, it becomes a vow.

May the divine favor and bless the believer.

She hadn’t lied to Li Jia. There was originally only one ring. She drew out half of her divine power and placed it into the subordinate ring, thus creating two rings and two Judge’s Paths. Only when Li Jia was by her side could the Judge’s Path exert its full power.

There was nothing left in the world that could threaten her, except for Li Jia. Her power was a part of herself. If Li Jia were to kill her, she would be completely defenseless.

Hera willingly revealed her vulnerability to Li Jia. She had no secrets left. Her heart had been utterly numb since the moment Li Jia said she loved her.

She knew those were deceitful words, but it was like missing a step on a staircase—there was panic, but also an inexplicable sweetness hidden within.

Hera was the Goddess of Marriage; she hadn’t eaten pork, but she had certainly seen the pigs run.

But the little one still didn’t understand. It didn’t matter. She was staying by her side, and only by her side would Hera feel happy.

“Li Jia, I am so lucky. You appeared in my world like a gift.”

Li Jia was confused. What was Hera doing? Confessing her love? Was this the time for a confession?

They had serious things to do!

The little yellow chick pecked her hard. Hera’s eyelid twitched. What an unromantic little thing.

Hera had used a barrier-of-speech command, so only the two of them knew what they had been doing. The surrounding air had been sealed and static, but now she released the barrier.

The scene that came into sight for Doreen was: a tightly bound, tearful princess, a desperate dragon planning to kill herself, a little yellow chick arguing on Hera’s shoulder, and Winslow sitting by, taking out his dried apples to watch the show.

What was going on? Was there no normal person here?

Doreen was highly efficient. She single-handedly picked up Lorelai and threw her next to the Evil Dragon. Two knives clattered onto the floor in front of them.

“Kill her, and you can regain your freedom and be a princess again.”

“You can also kill her and erase the marriage history between a dragon and a human woman.”

“It was just a casual fling; there’s no need to care.”

Dorin spoke with a businesslike, cold expression, watching the two of them. The little yellow chick was displeased again. They needed to be reasoned with! Just as she was about to cheep-cheep her arguments, Winslow casually picked her up and plugged her mouth with a piece of dried apple.

“Quiet down. Her Majesty and Dorin have their own judgment.”

Alright then. From Winslow’s tone, it seemed he was prepared. Why should she worry? A lazy fish should just lie down comfortably.

She began munching on the dried apple. Winslow’s craftsmanship was genuinely good. It was perfectly baked—soft and sweet. Li Jia loved sweets. Life was already bitter enough; eating something sweet could release some dopamine.

Winslow took the opportunity to stroke her feathers a couple of times. They were soft and warm. No wonder Her Majesty was always reluctant to let go.

However, Li Jia felt that Winslow’s technique was not as good as Hera’s; it wasn’t as comfortable to be touched by him.

After a while, the drama was finally coming to an end.

Lorelai and the Evil Dragon were unwilling to kill each other. They chose to die together and begged Doreen to do the deed.

Doreen’s face was expressionless. She untied Lorelai, stepped back a few paces, and offered no comment on this outcome.

The woman with golden hair and red pupils revealed her true form. Her power spread throughout the castle, and her expression was severe: “In that case, I have a method.”

“Lorelai Bochart, are you willing to give up the glory and protection of Bochart and just be yourself?”

Lorelai understood Hera’s meaning. Tears of joy streamed down her face. She knelt before Hera, biting her lower lip nervously, and asked expectantly, “I am willing. This is what I have dreamed of since childhood.”

“Then I will exempt you from the Bochart surname. From this day forward, you are only Lorelai. Have you thought it through? To cast aside everything of the Bochart Dynasty and become a commoner.”

At the same time, Hera addressed Murphy: “Murphy, she has lost the Bochart surname and is no longer a high-born princess. Are you still willing to take her as your wife?”

The red-haired woman knelt beside her wife. She took off her sun-shielding gloves and held Lorelai’s hand, their fingers intertwined: “I did not marry her because she was a princess. What she is has no bearing on me. All I know is that I want to care for her and share all her sorrows.”

“I will wash away all the blood in her body and need your heart’s blood as the source of her new bloodline. Are you willing?”

Exchanging heart’s blood was the equivalent of soul-searing pain.

“I am willing.”

Murphy did not hesitate for a moment. This was already the best possible outcome.

From the day she and Lorelai established their connection and entered the marriage history records, she had prepared for the worst—to die with her.

The little yellow chick was moved to tears. Since ancient times, in all fairy tales, the male character played the hero, defeated the evil dragon, and rescued the clinging vine that was supposed to depend on him, achieving a ‘happily ever after’ ending.

But Li Jia felt that the princess was never saved by a knight or a prince, but by the princess’s own courage, which was called love.

And the Evil Dragon didn’t harm the princess after taking her back to her lair, did she? The princess gained the freedom she desired.

If this wasn’t true love, what was it? This was absolutely true love!

Hera wielded the Judge’s Path and slit the princess’s wrist. Murphy’s chest was also nicked open with the sword. Hera used divine power to connect their blood and perform the exchange.

The pain in Murphy’s chest was like a wildfire, spreading from the wound to all her limbs and bones. She bit her teeth and tried to support herself, but a tearing pain suddenly shot through her ribs, as if something had snapped. Every breath was accompanied by a saw-like sharp pain, forcing a muffled groan from her.

Lorelai was no better off. Cold sweat streamed down her jawline and into her collar, splattering on the ground to form a shallow pool of blood, spreading a small crimson ripple.

All of Lorelai’s red blood was replaced by Murphy’s green blood.

After the blood-exchange ritual was complete, both women collapsed onto the ground, sweating profusely and unable to move.

“From now on, the Bochart family will no longer have a princess named Lorelai. You are only Murphy’s wife.”

Hera brought out the marriage history record and used divine power to erase her surname.

Lorelai was henceforth free from any entanglement or connection with the Bochart family.

“Murphy, you deceived the Covenant Vessel. My punishment for you is that you may not leave the Eternal Rift for the next hundred years.”

Murphy took a breath, struggled to her feet, and, supporting her wife, thanked the Goddess of Marriage. She knew this was Hera’s grace granted to them.

Without the restriction of the Bochart name, no outsiders would ever again be able to submit a Fate Knot application for Lorelai.

Formal business was concluded.

The matter was dealt with, the problem solved, and the Fate Knot naturally dissipated. This was akin to closing a case in modern society.

Bochart II never expected Lorelai to voluntarily renounce her surname to become the wife of an Evil Dragon. In a fit of rage, he revoked Lorelai’s royal status, declaring she was no longer of Bochart blood.

Word somehow leaked out that the Grand Princess was not his biological daughter but the result of the Queen cheating on him. The King immediately announced that the wedding would proceed as scheduled, but the princess for the alliance would be the Grand Princess, and the Queen would be sent along as a dowry. The Queen’s adulterer, a palace priest, was sentenced to execution by the King, to be hanged on a cross and exposed on the streets.

Just before returning, Li Jia remembered the two little goldfish Hera had caught in the glass bottle. At this point, Li Jia had recovered her human form from the demonic lair.

Li Jia: “Your Majesty, let’s put the little goldfish back. These belong to someone else, and the little goldfish’s parents will be sad if they can’t find them.”

Hera thought for a moment: “They will be sad if they can’t find them? That makes a little sense.”

Then she disappeared for a few minutes and returned with two full bottles of little goldfish.

Hera: “I packed up their entire family and brought them all back to the Hot Spring Stream. This way, they won’t be sad.”

Li Jia couldn’t understand if the structure of a divine being’s brain was different from a human’s. She had told Hera to return the things, but instead, Hera had captured the entire family.

Being imprisoned alone was one thing, but she had directly implicated the entire family.

Li Jia: “But these little goldfish were raised by Princess Lorelai… Wouldn’t this be inappropriate for us?”

Hera: “I asked Lorelai. She said that except for Murphy, we could take anything else.”

Li Jia: “…”

Fine, fine. You’re awesome, you’re magnificent. It’s different when you have a powerful backer.

So, the entire family of little goldfish was then raised in the reservoir of the Hot Spring Stream, where they reproduced and multiplied. Dorin had to expand the reservoir to accommodate them.

Li Jia: Well, you guys are living a good life now.

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