[Greek Mythology] The Demons Under My Command - Chapter 42

Midnight Mission

It was the dead of night, the moon was bright, and the starlight, like crushed silver foil, illuminated the bare rose garden under the night sky.

The moonlight cast a long, long shadow of the young woman.

Li Jia ran her hand over the bare branches, a fleeting sense of guilt washing over her, but it quickly disappeared.

She would compensate her for the rose garden later.

She had sneaked out under the pretense of using the restroom.

Time was tight and the mission was urgent.

Li Jia picked up the Ting and sent a text message to Linai. She wondered why she hadn’t noticed how convenient this thing was before; it was quite similar to an old-school mobile phone, allowing both calls and texts.

Li Jia roughly reiterated the system’s message to Linai, who replied with six dots.

A few seconds later.

Linai: Seriously? Do we have to sacrifice ourselves for this?

Li Jia: There’s no other way. A good deed started must be seen through to the end.

Linai: So what do you need me to do? Just say it.

Li Jia: Help me stall Hera and report her location.

Linai: …?

Linai: Me? Are you sure?

Li Jia: The organization believes in you, and I believe in you. You can definitely do it!

Linai: When?

Li Jia: Three days from now, at Poseidon’s banquet.

The data provided by the system unfolded in Li Jia’s mind: Poseidon, the Sea God’s birthday, was in three days. The Sea God’s banquet was never a simple celebration, but a grand social event where all the gods would gather on the Euboea Island coast.

Every year on that day, the entire coast of Euboea Island would be bustling.

The Sea God’s palace was located deep beneath the sea, where Poseidon, his wife Amphitrite, their offspring, and a host of sea monster servants resided.

Stalling her for half an hour would be enough.

Li Jia added a line to her final text message, tapping her fingertip on the raised buttons before adding, “But don’t try to be a hero.”

Linai’s text message popped up almost instantly: “Do I look like someone who’d try to be a hero?”

Li Jia couldn’t help but curve her lips into a smile. The moonlight fell just right in her eyes, scattering tiny fragments of laughter. Luckily, this era didn’t have emojis; she could already imagine the frantic expression on the face of the Ting’s owner.

“Don’t worry.”

Li Jia replied: “I’ve prepared a gift for you—Hera’s favorite pot marigold essential oil from Mount Olympus. As long as she accepts it, you’ll have an excuse to keep her talking.”

The Ting vibrated with Linai’s reply, a few short words: “Get me a bottle too.”

“Acknowledged.”

All twelve chief gods would be invited to Poseidon’s birthday banquet, with no reason to refuse.

Although Hera was cold, she had no existing feuds with the other gods. Li Jia figured she still had to maintain some superficial civility and wouldn’t refuse to attend.

“Huh? Your Majesty, you’re not going?”

The morning of the third day.

Li Jia pretended the news came from Linai, casually asking Hera when she planned to attend the banquet.

To her surprise, Hera frowned: “I’m not going.”

Poseidon had sent her an invitation, but she had no intention of attending.

“Why not?”

“Your Majesty, we have no grudges with the Sea God. As one of the twelve chief gods, this isn’t appropriate.”

Li Jia used reason and emotion to persuade her: surface-level camaraderie among colleagues should still be maintained.

“Not appropriate?”

Hera repeated the two words, her voice as cold as tempered ice, the tail end of her tone infused with a chill. She raised her hand and gently caressed Li Jia’s tender cheek, her fingertip cool to the touch: “Li Jia, he hurt you.”

“You were nearly killed there.”

Yet, the chill concealed an almost imperceptible tremble.

“The thought of losing you…”

Hera’s voice dropped, her fingers unconsciously tightening, nearly digging into Li Jia’s skin, as if she wanted to melt her into her own flesh and blood.

Then, she abruptly released her, as if afraid of shattering a precious treasure.

“My heart was wrung with pain, and I couldn’t sleep at night.”

Her profile was even paler, her usually stern features now possessing a hint of vulnerability.

Li Jia’s throat tightened. It turned out Hera still resented the fire in her heart.

She had only intended to use the banquet to complete the system’s mission and had never considered that the fire had left such a deep scar on Hera’s heart.

Winslow had told her afterward that Li Jia didn’t feel afraid; instead, she had gained the pity of her Queen as a blessing in disguise.

“Your Majesty, I’m fine.”

Li Jia raised her hand to cover Hera’s hand, her warm palm resting against the Queen’s cool skin, and offered a light kiss.

“It’s all in the past. I’m perfectly fine now, better than ever.”

Li Jia deliberately straightened her back, trying to appear relaxed, and smiled.

Hera gazed at her, silent for a long moment, before slowly speaking, her tone carrying an unshakeable conviction: “You are my wife. If you wish to go, I will accompany you.”

Li Jia was stunned: “But…”

“I won’t give him a good look.”

Hera interrupted her, her fingertips gently brushing aside the wisps of hair behind Li Jia’s ear. “Besides, with me there, no one can harm you again.”

Li Jia shook her head and refused. It wasn’t entirely due to the system’s mission that she couldn’t attend, but because she didn’t want Hera to shoulder such a heavy burden. Hera, the Goddess of Marriage, married her own attendant, and a female attendant at that.

How would the world and the gods view Hera?

Societal norms were a giant cage of conformity.

Li Jia could ignore and not fear these worldly gazes, but she couldn’t bear for her Goddess to be subjected to strange looks and suffer even the slightest grievance.

She’d just be a coward for now.

Seeing her shrinking back, Hera suddenly let out a soft laugh, reaching out to pull her into a hug.

“Your Majesty, I don’t want to go, but you must, okay?”

“Then I won’t go either,” Hera replied, tightening her embrace and resting her chin on the crown of Li Jia’s head.

“No!” Li Jia hurriedly looked up, poking her chest with her fingertip: “All twelve chief gods are going. It would be very unsociable if you didn’t go.”

“Remember to bring back some good food for me. I want the oyster cake from Euboea Island, the one that’s straight out of the oven.”

Hera looked at her pitiful expression, gently scratching her nose: “You certainly know how to order me around.”

“That’s because you are the Queen I love the most.”

Li Jia leaned in and kissed her on the corner of her lips, her voice as soft as cotton.

“Alright.”

She whispered by Li Jia’s ear, her voice so gentle it could drip water: “When you’ve had enough fun and feel the time is right, we’ll hold our wedding ceremony and invite them all to visit the Hot Spring Grotto.”

Li Jia’s heart suddenly trembled, and her eyes instantly welled up. She buried herself in Hera’s embrace and muffled a soft “Mhm.”

Li Jia had thought simply: the life of a mortal is like a mayfly, ending with time; any sickness could take her away at any moment.

She had originally thought her bravest act in this life would be to gift herself and her beloved a fleeting romance.

She hadn’t expected that her Goddess had already planned a much more distant future.

Hera left in her peacock chariot. Doralynn and Winslow were supposed to be left behind to guard the house, but Li Jia persuaded her otherwise. It was a rare annual gathering, and for the Goddess of Marriage to go alone would be too poor a display for the Marriage Temple.

Winslow knew Li Jia had a feud with Poseidon and understood why she wasn’t going. He prepared many of Li Jia’s favorite dishes and baked small cookies, giving her lengthy instructions before the three finally left.

The peacock chariot had just departed when Li Jia messaged Linai, asking where she was.

Linai replied that she was en route. Li Jia figured the time was about right, gathered her things, and slipped out.

“Creak.”

The door to the Hot Spring Grotto was pushed open by the young woman, and a dark shadow slipped out. The door was gently closed again.

Li Jia possessed half of Hera’s divine power. She had pestered Hera until she learned how to use Shadow Meld.

“I can definitely do this.”

The young woman cheered herself on.

She would tear off Zeus’s mask of deceit and save Demeter. Whether Demeter would be grateful was unimportant to Li Jia. What mattered was that she had to let Demeter know the truth.

Girls helping girls was more than just a slogan.

It was mutual salvation among women.

Li Jia used Shadow Meld and arrived at the Euboea Island coast. She took the last remaining Water Repelling Pearl from her previous trip to Lan Capital and plunged into the sea.

The Sea God’s Palace was extremely extravagant and magnificent. Coral pillars, stacked high, were entwined with gilded vines, each leaf inlaid with tiny pearls. Schools of fish swam past the walls, reflecting a flowing, rosy light.

Li Jia restrained her aura and condensed a thin layer of divine power around her, avoiding the patrolling mermaids around the palace.

She swam deeper, following the location they had agreed upon with Linai via the Ting, and spotted a familiar figure in the corner of a courtyard filled with underwater water lilies in a side hall.

It was Linai!

Linai saw her and waved, signaling Li Jia to come over.

Li Jia immediately sped up. The faint glow condensed by the Water Repelling Pearl on her nose gently swayed with her movement.

“If you hadn’t come over now, I was going to come looking for you.”

Linai’s voice reached her through the water, still carrying her usual carefree tone.

She gave Li Jia the OK sign with her hand.

That was their agreed-upon safety signal, meaning there was nothing unusual around.

Only when Li Jia got closer did she notice a few strands of dark green seaweed clinging to the hem of Linai’s robe, and fine grains of sand still hung from her hair tips.

“I ran into the patrolling mermaids changing shifts on the way and had to take a detour,” Linai explained in a hushed voice, her gaze sweeping over the coral archway at the courtyard entrance. “I’ve already found out that Poseidon hired mortal dance and acrobatic troupes to perform for his birthday today.”

“The entire Sea God’s Palace is sealed tight with guards now. I spent a fortune to come up with this idea for you.”

As she spoke, Linai pulled a dancer’s dress out of her double-shouldered bag and handed it to Li Jia, glancing toward the coral archway again and pushing aside a strand of water lily that floated in front of her eyes.

Linai had bought this golden dance dress for a huge sum from the head of the dance troupe. The troupe leader, seeing Linai’s exquisite attire, mistook her for a minor mistress from a godly palace and reluctantly spared a dress, thoroughly fleecing Linai in the process.

“After mulling it over for a long time, I figure this is the only way to sneak in. Most of the guards in the main hall have been reassigned to the front hall. Now, only two mermaid handmaidens are guarding the side door.”

Linai rattled the pot marigold essential oil in her bag, the glass bottle making a faint clinking sound.

A gift received meant the favor must be repaid.

“I just heard them complaining that if the Sea God hadn’t ordered them to keep an eye on the dance troupe, they would have gone to watch the performance already.”

“With over a hundred people in the dance troupe, who’s going to recognize whom?” Linai finished with a knowing smile.

Li Jia ran her fingers over the pearl tassels adorning the hem of the skirt, which echoed the palace’s underwater splendor. She looked up at Linai: “You mean… I should disguise myself as a dancer to sneak in?”

“Smart.”

Linai mouthed to her: “I’ll distract them in a bit. You put on the dance dress and seize the opportunity to slip inside.”

Good sister!

Loyal!

Li Jia nodded gratefully, quickly swapping her outerwear for the dance dress. The cool fabric of the dress against her skin made her feel more alert. She used Hera’s divine power to mask her appearance; now, she looked no different from an ordinary girl.

With everything ready, Linai straightened the folds of her gown, deliberately making a faint rustling sound as she stepped on the water lily pads, and leisurely walked towards the coral archway.

“Sisters, is the performance in the front hall starting soon?”

Her tone carried a deliberate envy, successfully catching the attention of the two mermaid handmaidens.

“It is, I heard the mortal acrobatic troupe is quite interesting,” one of the green-haired mermaids irritably flicked her fish tail: “We’re stuck guarding this rotten place.”

The other red-haired mermaid was about to respond when Linai pulled out the essential oil, her voice soft but clear: “Sisters, the supervisor of the front hall asked me to bring this pot marigold essential oil. He said it would help you refresh yourselves.”

The green-haired handmaiden’s eyes lit up. Just as she was about to take it, she suddenly frowned: “Which palace are you from? I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”

Li Jia, hiding behind the archway, felt her heart leap. Her fingers secretly urged her divine power; if the soft approach failed, they’d have to resort to force.

Linai quickly thought of a lie: “I’m new, and timid. The supervisor told me to take over your shift.”

Linai smoothly handed over the essential oil, her gaze quickly sweeping over the side door, where only a translucent pearl curtain hung, allowing a faint glimpse of the flashy figures inside.

The green-haired mermaid took the essential oil, opened the stopper, sniffed it, and smiled with satisfaction: “At least the supervisor has a conscience. You take over the duty then; don’t waste our time here.”

Though the red-haired mermaid was slightly confused, she reasoned that the dance troupe would be performing soon, and having an unfamiliar person guard for a short while wouldn’t cause any major issues.

Linai humbly agreed, replacing the mermaid to guard the side hall. The two mermaids, holding the essential oil, swaggered off.

Once she was certain they were gone, Linai gave her the signal. Li Jia wasted no time.

Li Jia held up her skirt and quickly walked through the pearl curtain. The light clinking of the curtain beads followed.

Seeing that she was inside, Linai left. She couldn’t be away from Artemis for too long and needed to return to her side as soon as possible. Most importantly, she had to send Hera’s location to Li Jia.

Many girls stood in the room, all dressed in identical outfits, looking indistinguishable.

Li Jia dared only to stand in the corner. Seeing that they were all wearing veils, Li Jia breathed a sigh of relief—Providence was truly on her side. She grabbed one from a nearby box and put it on.

Now, no one could possibly tell who she was.

Li Jia looked at the dancer in the mirror and smiled faintly. She was a dancer now.

The system informed Li Jia that after Demeter became pregnant, Zeus, unable to restrain his desires, had seduced a beautiful sea monster in the Sea God’s Palace and would use the Sea God’s birthday banquet today to engage in lewd behavior.

Her task today was to guide Demeter to catch Zeus in the act.

Just as Li Jia took her position, a brass bell suddenly sounded in the hall. The dance troupe leader entered, checking everyone’s attendance one by one.

She quickly joined the line, moving with the crowd toward the side corridor of the main hall. Her veiled eyes swiftly scanned her surroundings. The luminous pearls on the pillars cast a warm light, lengthening everyone’s shadows, which served as a natural cover.

“Hurry up! The Sea God and the honored guests are waiting!”

The supervisor’s harsh command traveled through the water. Li Jia instinctively clenched her skirt, the pearls under her fingertips cold and hard.

She suddenly recalled the system’s prompt: Zeus should be in the warm pavilion at the back of the main hall.

And Demeter…

According to Linai’s previous message, she might be in the front hall watching the performance.

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