[Greek Mythology] The Demons Under My Command - Chapter 5

“Enter the Divine Mountain, set foot upon the forbidden grounds of the Divine Temple.”

The soft voice of the blue-haired maid rang in her ear.

“Remember, your fears will materialize. Only those who truly surrender can reach the destination.”

Li Jia felt a surge of confusion. The Divine Lord should be in the Divine Temple, so why was she here?

This bore no relation to the plot that had flooded her mind.

According to the original book’s plot, no one would choose Hera. Hera was too proud to be chosen by anyone, and she had never had a retinue before marrying Zeus.

Could it be because of her appearance, the plot was beginning to deviate?

“System.”

Li Jia quietly called out to it and presented her question.

「Because you, my host, firmly chose the target of the conquest, the plot has begun to change. This is a good thing for our mission. As long as the Goddess of Spring is successfully born and the War of the Gods is stopped, everything will be settled.」

Then, can I see her favorability rating?

Li Jia had read many conquest novels and knew such a thing as a favorability rating existed.

She needed to know her standing and importance in the eyes of the person she was trying to conquer.

In this era where human life was cheap, she needed to cling to the goddess to survive.

She had to live.

She would live at any cost.

Li Jia touched her collarbone. The spot the woman had touched still carried a residual warmth, which stung a little.

「Of course, my host.」

「We are a Western conquest novel, and we have our own conquest progress tracking tool. We don’t have a progress bar, but we have a favorability hourglass!」

As the system finished speaking, a silver necklace appeared around Li Jia’s neck. The hourglass was embedded in the center of a pendant. The top of the hourglass was full of densely packed, flowing gold sand, while the bottom was empty, with not a single grain of sand.

「Once all the sand in the hourglass has fallen, the favorability will reach one hundred percent.」

Li Jia picked up the hourglass and played with it.

She thought, this Divine Lord is truly stingy, not willing to let a single grain of sand fall for her.

But Li Jia was not discouraged. The ending of the game was important, but the process of getting there made her heart pound and her blood rush.

She loved a challenge, the thrill of an adrenaline rush.

She was not a normal person.

She had known this since she was eight years old when she first killed a parrot and used a nail clipper to pluck out the feathers from its flesh, one by one.

The parrot had been a gift from Li Jia’s stepmother—or more accurately, her father’s girlfriend at the time. She loathed this woman who approached her with an agenda.

She also hated her father’s callousness; her mother had been dead for less than three months before he considered bringing a new person into the family.

She dismembered the parrot’s body parts and put them into a delicate gift box. When the woman next came to their house, almost with a fawning smile, Li Jia handed her the box and told her to open it at home.

Unsurprisingly, the woman was terrified out of her wits. Her father sent Li Jia to a sanitarium. Aside from paying the fees on time, she never saw him again.

Li Jia learned from the head nurse that he had remarried.

That woman.

Oh, no.

The stepmother.

His new wife was pregnant with his new child.

Li Jia had the fortune of tasting a wedding candy he distributed to others.

The little girl frowned.

So bitter.

The burning sensation after swallowing the Icy Vow Crystal brought her back to her senses.

She followed the queue, moving towards the palace gate. Out of the ten people, only eight stepped into the mountain gate. The other two were instantly carbonized or torn apart by blades the moment they tried to cross the threshold.

“Those who are not absolutely subservient shall not approach the Divine Mountain by half a step.”

The deep voice of the golden-haired maid once again echoed among the crowd.

Apollo’s sun and Athena’s bronze sword were the iron evidence left by the Icy Vow Crystal.

The candidates were reduced from ten to eight, but this made no difference to Li Jia.

Only she had chosen red.

Only she had chosen Hera.

Inside the Divine Temple, the three Divine Lords were seated separately. The central altar was burning with an eternal holy fire, the flames leaping in the bronze vessel, making crackling sounds.

The Divine Lord seated at the head of the table was surrounded by an awe-inspiring power that transcended everything. Her thick, long hair cascaded like a waterfall. She rested her chin on her hand, gazing at the scene in the holy fire, where the candidates appeared before the gods.

“To choose you and yet fear you—humans are as greedy as ever.”

Zeus tightly gripped the Thunder Spear in his hand, and purple-gold electrical currents coiled around it, roaring like a thousand colossal dragons.

“It’s just two tactless people who died. I much prefer cute and obedient little girls over men.”

Apollo was dressed in exquisite robes, with a gold-plated sash draped over his shoulder. He held a golden feather bow, and his golden hair and blue eyes carried a tone of extreme disdain.

He and Artemis were the twin Divine Lords, one the sun and the other the moon.

The golden feather bow and the silver feather bow were gifts bestowed upon the siblings by the Divine Mountain.

As the Sun God, whether standing or walking, ripples emanated from his path, as if light itself were physically moving.

“It’s not necessarily a bad thing to have someone pour tea and water for me, and wipe down my sword hilt when I return from a campaign.”

The Goddess of War was clad in armor. The plates were protected by ancient and profound divine runes, and every piece of armor flowed with the blessing of divine prophecy, as if a thousand years of wisdom circulated within.

Unlike ordinary goddesses, Athena did not seek fair and delicate skin. Her exposed arms showed wheat-colored muscle lines that contained an inexhaustible, endless divine power. She stretched out her hand to tease the black-eyed owl perched on her shoulder and laughed.

“I find it so boring, sitting here watching these fools. I’d rather go back and tend to my newly opened violets.”

The wheat tassel earrings swayed with Demeter’s emotional fluctuations. Her smile was as warm as the spring sun, and her eyes flowed with the loving radiance of the Mother of the Earth, as if she was thinking of her lovely, vibrant plants.

“But it’s quite a failure on your part, Apollo, that someone would choose Hera over you.”

The beautiful and charming Divine Lord appeared before the Sun God. Her words were full of playful mockery, and she watched the people in the holy fire with keen interest. Her every movement was a delight to the eye.

“Aphrodite, what does this have to do with you? Today is not for selecting your own retinue.”

The proud Sun God immediately retaliated. The Goddess of Beauty smiled, covering her lips and bowing to apologize to him.

“I actually admire this little girl. To dare challenge the most temperamental god in the entire Divine Realm is enough to spark my curiosity.”

The Sea God Poseidon’s blue-gray eyes were as deep as the ocean abyss, and every strand of his hair was imbued with the fragrance of sea salt.

“It truly is something to look forward to.”

With an unknown sigh of appreciation, the gaze of the gods was drawn to the mountain below.

The eight people who successfully entered found that the staircase leading up the Divine Mountain had split into five paths. Following the colors, everyone walked towards the entrance they were supposed to enter.

Except for Linai and Li Jia, the rest were in pairs.

“Li Jia.”

Before entering the passage, Linai called out to her and mumbled sincerely, “You will get your wish.”

“I hope so.”

Li Jia stepped onto the red staircase one step at a time. After the passage, there was a boundless forest. She followed the instructions and headed deep into the dense woods.

The further she walked in, the more a smell of decay and foul odor permeated the air, vaguely mixed with the crying of an infant, a weak, thin cry, like a cat.

It was a fragment unearthed from the depths of memory.

Li Jia continued to walk in and saw herself.

Or rather, this was the original host’s memory. The transformed scene was what the original host feared internally.

Cercy was a simple farm girl. Fenrik was the descendant of an aristocrat. They met at a stud farm. He was drawn to her kindness and liveliness, and she was captivated by his gentlemanly demeanor and class-defying character. The two young, like-minded people soon fell in love and secretly pledged their lives to each other.

However, in any era, being a suitable match seemed an unavoidable issue.

Ultimately, Fenrik left his family, gave up his title, and held a wedding with Cercy in the Northern Territory. Fenrik became an overseas merchant. After their daughter, Li Jia, was born, to support his wife and daughter, he had to venture to more distant seas for a livelihood. His business grew larger and more prosperous.

The original protagonist’s memory touched Li Jia’s heart. She felt things she had never experienced.

Cercy’s kisses, Fenrik’s embrace—they made her immerse herself, unable to let go.

Until Fenrik and Cercy’s ship sank in the Atlantic Ocean. When the bad news arrived, Li Jia saw the pain hidden in the little girl’s heart.

The scene shifted again. The salty wind of the Baltic Sea, mixed with a torrential downpour, lashed against the face of the young original protagonist. She clung to her father’s hand, refusing to let go.

“Hold tight to the ship’s railing, Li Jia!”

Her mother crammed her into the storage cabin, wrapping her in oilcloth. The girl huddled in the damp darkness, listening to the despairing sound of splintering wood coming from the deck. The waves were like a rampaging beast, tossing the ship into the air again and again, then violently slamming it into the abyss.

The partition of the storage cabin was breached by a giant wave. The girl was swept toward the stern by the seawater. She saw her mother stumbling toward her in the heavy rain, her brownish-gray hair flying in the storm.

“Grab it!”

Her mother shoved her into the last lifeboat but was struck by a suddenly snapped mast.

The girl cried out, reaching out, but only touched her mother’s slipping fingertips.

“Good daughter! Row! Head southwest, the lighthouse is there…”

The girl saw his last smile atop the wave crest. Three days later, she was rescued by a Phiraesian merchant ship. The bodies of her parents were also recovered.

Conrad brought an will bearing her father’s name. Li Jia secretly watched him pocket her father’s silver coins.

She was too weak; she couldn’t do anything.

She didn’t even dare to ask for her father’s belongings back.

The brown, wet, fertile soil beneath Li Jia’s feet was instantly covered with thorns. The little girl squatted in the center of the thorn bush, hugging her knees. The thorns closed in on the little girl, and soft, continuous sobs came from the center.

Is this what she fears?

Li Jia took a step without any hesitation. The moment she stepped onto the thorns, the sharp prickles pierced the soles of her shoes. She took off her shoes and walked barefoot into the thorn bush.

The little girl looked up at her, her eyes filled with disbelief.

“You…”

After walking a distance, Li Jia’s feet were already bloody and raw.

“Don’t cry.”

She squatted down, meeting the little girl’s gaze, and smiled.

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