[Greek Mythology] The Demons Under My Command - Chapter 58

An arrow sliced across the night sky, flying towards the divine mountain. The blue-haired deity stood on the opposing peak, her bow drawn.

Three arrows, one after another, traced almost identical arcs in the air, all aimed at the same point. Each impact caused subtle ripples in the air, but none managed to tear open a breach.

Suddenly, Artemis felt the inconspicuous vent. Her Silver Plume Bow was drawn to a full moon again, and the divine power from her fingertips spread along the bow, making the cold metal glow with a silvery white light.

She exerted all her strength, aiming at the rocks below the mountain.

With a crisp “sizzle,” a sharp sound cut through the night. The void beside the rocks seemed to be a tearing vortex, opening a crack about an inch wide. A faint light leaked from the opening.

“Are we actually helping her or harming her by doing this?”

The little penguin stood on Artemis’s shoulder, its voice carrying a few uneasy, hesitant notes.

Artemis lowered her gaze, gently tapped the little penguin’s head with her finger, and said with a tone of helpless teasing, “If you hadn’t given her the nameplate, would I have had the right to refuse?”

Lina was speechless. When she gave the item to her, she thought that since Li Jia was a mortal, it would be good for her “maiden family” to give her something substantial that could save her life at a critical moment.

But she never expected Li Jia to take the nameplate to Artemis, asking her to use the Silver Plume Bow to break the divine mountain’s restriction.

The little penguin quietly shrank its neck, repeatedly praying in its heart: Please go smoothly, sis. Don’t let anything really go wrong.

Artemis’s bow had been with her since its creation. She and Apollo each governed the sun and the moon.

They were the only two divine bows in existence.

The Difficult-to-Treat Ailments Brocade Pouch only contained four words: Self-contradictory.

The divine mountain’s divine authority transcended everyone, including the gods, who had to bow to it.

But who ordained this?

Who permitted it?

What would be the result if an arrow shot from a divine bow were to counter the divine mountain’s own barrier?

Li Jia was willing to try.

To break your shield with your spear.

Clearly, the result was a mutually destructive clash.

“Li Jia.”

A clear female voice came from the communicator on her wrist.

“The Silver Plume Bow can only break the outer restriction. The internal defense of the divine mountain will gradually strengthen as you approach the Divine Palace. Hera’s divine star-glow is rapidly depleting. This is all I can help you with.”

The gods and the divine mountain mutually restrained each other, and no one dared to challenge the absolute authority of the divine mountain.

Li Jia understood Artemis’s meaning, thanked her, and stepped alone into the realm of the divine mountain.

Li Jia held the Dao-Judge, and the divine sword felt Li Jia’s emotions, its blade’s flame burning brighter. Li Jia touched the hilt and smiled, “We’ll go save your master together. Once we find her, you should be returned to your rightful owner.”

“I’ll send you up.”

The girl’s tone was flat and emotionless, maintaining her usual cold manner.

“You’re awake? It seems I still couldn’t fool you.”

Li Jia scratched her head, pulled up the corner of her mouth, and said lazily.

“That half-bowl dose of yours could at most fool a drunk like Winslow.”

“You go up. The road to the divine mountain is filled with fierce beasts and malevolent spirits. Go forward without fear, and I will take care of them for you.”

Saying this, Doreen drew the two short swords hanging at her waist. Their blades shimmered with a cold light in the moonlight, pointing at the lion-bodied, goat-headed Chimera that had just emerged from the shadows in front of Li Jia.

The Chimera’s roar shook the surrounding leaves, but Doreen had already charged forward. The two short blades traced sharp arcs, colliding with the fierce beast’s claws, instantly splashing sparks across the night sky.

Li Jia looked at her retreating figure, took a deep breath, turned, and stepped into the void crack. The light inside grew brighter and brighter.

I need to be fast, even faster.

On the peak of the divine mountain, clouds and mist swirled.

A majestic Divine Palace stood on the summit. On the judgment platform in front of the palace, a woman knelt on the ground. Her plain white dress was covered in dark brown bloodstains. Her four limbs were tightly bound by golden chains. The restrictions glowing on the chains were constantly absorbing the red star-glow within her body.

That was the most fundamental power of a deity, disappearing from the silver serpent divine mark on her collarbone at a visible speed. Her head was bowed, and her golden hair covered her face, making it impossible to see her expression.

Two more days. Just two more days, and the divine star-glow in Hera’s body would be refined and exhausted. Her divine will would be completely stripped away, and the remaining skeleton would be eternally confined to the Ash Hell beneath the divine mountain.

The secret would never see the light of day.

“Good news and bad news, which do you want to hear first?”

Gabriel’s voice broke the silence. She crouched down, a playful smile on her face, her eyes fixed on Hera’s bowed head.

Hera ignored her. To her, whether it was good news or bad news, it wouldn’t change the inevitable outcome, it would only add to her troubles.

Gabriel wasn’t annoyed, but smiled even more cheerfully: “Cheer up. The good news is, your little lover has already broken into the divine mountain and is rushing towards this place along the path. She should be able to see you before long.”

Gabriel’s words made Hera freeze, her eyes filled with disbelief: “How did she get in? How could the divine mountain’s restriction not stop her? Are you all incompetent!”

Anxiety instantly overwhelmed her heart. She struggled violently. The golden chains cut into her wrists, drawing blood, but she didn’t care.

Gabriel watched Hera’s loss of control, her smile deepening, but her tone carried a hint of cruelty: “The bad news is, even if she breaks in, she can’t do anything. She’ll only have to watch you have your will extracted and turn into a withered skeleton guarding the Ash Hell.”

She reached out and lightly brushed the bloodstains on Hera’s cheek, saying indifferently, “I wonder, which is harder for you: watching her suffer, or her watching you die?”

“Why?”

“I already agreed to use my skeleton to suppress the demon beneath the divine mountain. Why won’t you let her go?!”

“The only reason you can remain high and mighty on the peak of the divine mountain is that you stripped away your inner desires and locked them underground. Is the superior being always right?”

Gabriel’s movement paused. She stood up, unfolded her wings, and looked down at Hera, smiling faintly, “It doesn’t matter if the superior being is right.”

Her wings trembled slightly, and a few feathers fell onto Hera’s bloodstains, instantly staining them brown: “What matters is that no one is allowed to question our rightness.”

“Very clearly, your little lover is unwilling to accept the fate we chose for you. She refuses to behave as the Divine King. She is openly challenging divine authority, openly provoking the divine mountain!”

Hera looked at her, saying coldly, “You are not afraid of her challenging divine authority at all. You are afraid of her discovering the secret of the Ash Hell!”

“And what if she discovers it?”

Gabriel straightened up, her tone full of disdain: “When she comes, she will only end up like you, becoming a withered skeleton beneath the Ash Hell.”

A clear sword clang came from a distance, accompanied by the screams of malevolent spirits. A familiar figure appeared at the bottom of the judgment platform’s stone steps.

Li Jia rushed up, gripping the Dao-Judge. Her forehead was dusted with dirt, but her eyes brightened instantly when she saw her.

“Your Majesty, I found you.”

Gabriel turned her head, saw the flame-burning Dao-Judge in Li Jia’s hand, and the smile on her lips faded.

She raised her hand, summoning more golden chains to wrap around Li Jia: “Since you’ve come, don’t think about leaving.”

Li Jia swung her sword, cutting the chains rushing towards her. The sword light illuminated her eyes. Li Jia raised the hilt, the tip of the sword pointing directly at Gabriel, and declared resolutely, “Not only am I going to leave, but I’m also taking my wife with me!”

“If you know what’s good for you, get out of my way.”

Hera watched her approach the judgment platform step by step, her face pale. Those eyes, usually devoid of sorrow or joy, were now uncontrollably turning red.

She struggled with all her might. The chains cut painfully into her shoulder blades. Her voice was laced with a broken tremor: “Li Jia, don’t come over! Go back! You shouldn’t be here!”

But Li Jia did not stop, she only came closer.

She knew that this time, she couldn’t let Hera face this alone.

The flames of the Dao-Judge surged in her hand. She stepped onto the stone steps of the judgment platform, walking toward Hera.

Even if the path ahead led to the authority of the divine mountain, to unknown dangers, to an abyss of eternal damnation, she had to take Hera back.

Gabriel looked at the scene, a flash of malice in her eyes. Golden light blades condensed in her palm: “Since you insist on seeking death, then I shall grant your wish!”

The light blades shot towards Li Jia with a sharp, air-tearing sound, but were blocked mid-air by a sudden burst of red star-glow.

Hera used the last of her remaining divine power to raise a thin barrier in front of Li Jia. The star-glow flickered at her fingertips, like a candle flame swaying in the wind.

Gabriel’s face changed drastically: “Impossible! How can you still use divine power?”

Seizing the opportunity, Li Jia gripped the Dao-Judge and leaped up, the flaming blade slashing directly at the golden chains binding Hera.

With a loud “clang,” the chains snapped. Hera collapsed onto the ground, her gaze fixed intently on Li Jia, her breathing tightening.

Li Jia helped her stand up, her eyes bloodshot: “You think that by confining me here, you can guard the secret?”

She reached out and grasped Li Jia’s hand. The flame of the Dao-Judge and her divine star-glow intertwined, illuminating the judgment platform: “You promised me you wouldn’t harm her, but you betrayed your oath.”

“Oath?”

Gabriel suddenly laughed, her voice full of mockery: “Rules are nothing but lies to trap fools like you. Your divine power is already at its limit of exhaustion.”

“Originally, you had two more days. Now, you’ll turn into a pile of white bones in less than half an hour. It’s such a pity your little lover came all this way.”

Gabriel clapped her hands, praising their deep conjugal affection. She paused, then deliberately exposed the most cruel truth: “Your wife willingly became the vessel to suppress the demon beneath the divine mountain, not just for you. If she gives up, thousands of desires will gush out from the ground, causing devastation and misery. She will destroy the world you currently live in and everything.”

“She is not Hera, the Goddess of Marriage, but a demon.”

These words struck Hera’s heart like a heavy hammer.

She suddenly let go of Li Jia’s hand and pushed her down the stone steps with all her might. Black flames ignited around Hera. The flames twisted and climbed onto her face.

That face, originally like a celestial jade sculpture, was gradually replaced by a demonic countenance full of fangs. Black wings pierced the skin of her back, unfolding with a bloody stench: “Don’t come near me, leave me.”

“Go home, Li Jia.”

Li Jia smiled at her words: “Where you are, I am. That is home.”

She met Hera’s terrified gaze, saying clearly, one word at a time.

“The demon.”

“I will command it.”

As soon as she finished speaking, countless divine powers suddenly surged from all directions, pouring frantically into Li Jia’s body. She became somewhat transparent in a white light. Six pairs of pure white wings slowly unfolded behind her, the wings still dusted with fine star-glow, like a Seraphim fallen to the human world.

Gabriel’s eyes widened. She froze in place. She had never seen anyone capable of drawing such immense divine power in such a short time.

Unless Li Jia had made some forbidden exchange.

She used all her strength to embrace the black flames, her voice still gentle: “Your Majesty, I love you.”

Hera couldn’t hear what she was saying, she could only see Li Jia’s lips moving.

“Your Majesty, Li Jia loves you very much.”

Due to the system’s punishment, she couldn’t hear, but Li Jia repeatedly whispered.

Hera recognized her words from the lip movements. Her eyes suddenly felt hot, her vision instantly clouded with a thin mist, and the next second, warm liquid streamed down her cheeks.

Li Jia gently wiped away her tears.

Her gaze lingered on Hera’s face, unhurriedly scanning her brow, the corners of her eyes, as if to engrave every contour in her heart.

“Your Majesty, Li Jia has deceived you about many things, but loving you is purely my instinct.”

“As long as my heart is still beating, this love belongs to you.”

“Of course, I’ll love you even when it stops.”

Li Jia suddenly leaned in, her breath a little hurried, her lips gently brushing Hera’s, like a soft, trembling feather.

Upon hearing this, Hera suddenly looked up, realizing something, and said in terror: “What are you doing? What did you exchange with it?!”

“You want to make her fall to rock bottom, but I refuse to let you have your way!”

Li Jia finished speaking and took Hera’s right hand, intertwining their fingers. Countless divine powers poured into her body like madness. Hera could feel her originally exhausted divine soul repairing and reversing.

“Your Majesty, you are free.”

Li Jia’s voice grew softer and softer until her body completely dissolved into a phantom, leaving only two rings resting quietly in Hera’s palm.

“Your Majesty, please don’t forget me. Remember to bring me home.”

“Please, live for me.”

The hourglass necklace slipped to the ground as Li Jia vanished. The bottle cracked, and countless golden sands poured out through the crack, instantly spreading over the entire judgment platform.

It wasn’t sand; it was an overwhelming expanse of starlight, fine white like dazzling stars, light gold like morning light, and pale blue like nebulae. Even the wind passing through carried fragments of light, weaving a winding Milky Way across the sky.

The system’s mechanical prompt suddenly paused, and the values on the screen wildly fluctuated, finally settling on one line:

[Target’s Affection Level – Limitless.]

Hera tightly gripped the rings in her palm. The starlight fell on her demonic wings, making the black feathers glow with a gentle light. The black wings gradually shed their darkness in the light, and pure white new feathers sprouted from the roots. What finally unfurled was a pair of pure white wings adorned with star-dust.

She looked up at the Milky Way. Li Jia’s voice seemed to still be in her ear: “Remember to bring me home, live for me.”

“Home,” Hera murmured.

The woman regained her composure. The sudden celestial phenomenon on the divine mountain startled all creation. Dorin and Winslow arrived guided by Hera’s divine power.

“Your Majesty!”

Winslow and Doreen tried to ask something, but Hera waved her hand.

“Let’s go.”

“To the Underworld.”

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