[Greek Mythology] The Demons Under My Command - Chapter 7

Hera’s true form was not in the temple; what remained was only her divine soul.

None of the gods present dared to plead for Poseidon; getting into difficult trouble was his own fault.

With the divine soul separated, the pressure was only greater.

A wave of fear surged in Zeus’s heart, his breathing caught, and he nearly dropped the divine spear in his hand.

She had actually reached such a realm.

The source of a deity’s divine power is determined by the completeness and dutifulness of their execution of their divine office. The higher the completion, the higher and more insurmountable the ceiling of the divine power.

“Hera, she hasn’t personally set foot on the Divine Mountain, how can she be considered your acolyte?”

“Your favoritism is completely inexplicable.”

“Your soul body probably isn’t feeling well either. For a mere slave, how foolish!”

Poseidon, enraged and humiliated, his clothes torn into powder, was already unclothed.

He was utterly disgraced.

The venom carried by the silver serpent’s sharp fangs permeated his skin, blocking all his divine power.

He was a god, immortal. Hera doing this was nothing more than shaming him.

For a lowly and despicable slave, she would actually strike at him, a fellow Divine Lord.

“If not for your obstruction, she would have been the first acolyte to reach the Divine Palace realm.”

“Winning this competition makes her mine.”

“Why shouldn’t I protect her?”

The female voice carried a bottomless anger, almost forcibly restrained.

“The punitive branding will disappear in three days.”

“Mind your own business.”

After coldly dropping this sentence, the silver serpents dispersed like a tide, leaving only the gods looking at each other in dismay.

Hera’s sanctuary was hidden in the hot spring ravine, a remote and tranquil deep mountain. Divine Lords choose their sanctuaries based on their own living habits.

Poseidon, the God of the Sea, resided beneath the ocean. Demeter, the Agricultural Goddess, built her sanctuary upon the fields of Pologh. Every god had the sanctuary most suitable for themselves.

Hera loved tranquility and lived in the hot spring ravine before marrying Zeus. Cruel, violent, and impartial seemed to be her exclusive characteristics; speaking of this Divine Lord, only fear was possible.

Yet, she was also the most reliable. She had her own way of dealing with people.

Right and wrong, good and evil—she had her own judgment and would not show favoritism or misunderstand anyone because of a few words.

Although everyone feared her, no one questioned her fairness in her divine duties.

The Goddess of Marriage will forever stand firmly by women’s sides.

Because there were already enough people standing on the other side.

Hera needed to uphold their self-respect and rights.

A tall, slender figure appeared in the wooden corridor. She walked quickly, heading straight for the inner chamber. Her soft blonde hair fell, covering her cheeks, obscuring her expression.

The girl was curled up in her arms.

The Divine Lord’s forearm, holding the girl, showed sharp, hard lines. Her distinct knuckles and the bulging veins indicated her urgency.

Just as she passed through the flower garden, she heard the “crunch,” “crunch” sound of a broom sweeping leaves.

“Your Majesty Hera.”

“What’s wrong? And where did she come from?”

A female attendant with dark tea-brown hair wearing a pure white maid’s outfit saw the arrival, put down her broom, and walked towards Hera, blinking her gray-blue eyes, startled and full of questions.

“Poseidon used his divine power on her.”

“She is injured.”

The Divine Lord briefly summarized the course of events.

Winslow seemed accustomed to her cold personality and was not annoyed, closely following behind Hera, murmuring, “Could this be a girl Your Majesty picked up?”

“She really is a beauty, tsk tsk tsk. How could the dignified God of the Sea bear to strike a beauty?”

“Haha, well, then Dolyn and I will have company.”

“This is really good news, I must quickly tell Dolyn.”

In the blink of an eye, the person was gone, coming and going in a rush.

The Divine Lord carried the person into the inner chamber of the deep temple and gently placed her on the bed. On the way, she had already used her divine sense to check Li Jia’s pulse. She was fine, just overly exhausted. The taut string had snapped, and she needed a good rest.

She stretched out her fingertip and removed the veil. The entire face was revealed in the inner chamber, immediately making one understand the meaning of “bringing splendor to a humble dwelling.”

She was quite beautiful, vibrant, and enchanting—a beauty with fatal aggression, unforgettable at a glance, stunning the first time, and still stunning the second time.

Especially those red eyes, slightly upturned at the corners, wild and unrestrained. Just one look was enough to make people fall into a vortex, unable to extricate themselves.

Yet, she possessed an extremely cold temperament. In the books where the other twelve Divine Lords had lovers or even descendants, not a single word was written about her.

A god must be emotionless to maintain absolute impartiality and selflessness.

A god with emotion will have selfish motives.

This was her vow to the Divine Mountain.

Hera used her divine sense to probe her brain. She had read the life diaries of the ten candidates. The description of Li Jia in the diary was only a few short words: timid, weak, sensitive, and taciturn.

The girl she saw today felt completely different from the person described.

It was as if another person had moved into her body.

Could it be… soul parasitism?

A soul detaching from its original body and forcibly occupying and resurrecting in someone else’s newly deceased body.

Hera had only seen this theory in ancient texts. Although rare, it was not entirely non-existent in the world.

The secret techniques recorded in ancient texts all have a certain basis; existence is reasonable.

Hera recalled seeing Li Jia, in her memory, taking the poisonous herb and lying under the tree with the hanging moon.

Was it at that time that her body was forcibly taken over?

All her choices today seemed to be directed at Hera.

“How curious…” The usually stern Divine Lord rarely curled her lips, revealing a smile known only to herself.

Hera sat by the bed, looking at the person on the bed, whose breathing rose and fell evenly. Staring at her face, she meticulously observed even the small mole behind her ear. She wanted to see what difference there was between this person and the original Li Jia.

“Then let me see, what exactly are you?”

Whether human or ghost, god or demon, a check with the Soul Wandering Technique would reveal it. If not the original owner, the possessor would inevitably suffer divine punishment—perishing in smoke, turning into nothingness.

“Don’t be nervous, relax… little girl.”

After all, this was the person who dared to choose her and broke through fear despite the pain. Hera patiently chanted a sentence.

If she couldn’t find out her background, her vigilance would not allow her to keep her by her side.

The female voice was like a curse, penetrating layer upon layer of dreams and stimulating Li Jia’s cerebral cortex, causing her to shiver.

“Master! Master! Wake up! Wake up!”

The electronic voice was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. If Li Jia didn’t regain consciousness, it was planning to shock her awake with current.

The buzzing current sound kept ringing in her ears. Finally, Li Jia slowly opened her eyes, frowning tightly, seemingly reluctant to leave her sweet dream.

In her dream, she hadn’t even had a bite of the DQ matcha almond ice cream she had just bought when the system woke her up. She was still upset and pouted $text{(text{へ})}$.

The system was extremely anxious until it promised to compensate her with ten scoops of ice cream when she returned, only then did it stop.

“The target of the strategy has become suspicious that Master is not the original female lead. She will use the Soul Wandering Technique to search Master’s soul. If you are not the original female lead, Master will be scattered into nothingness, and my mission will fail.”

“If I fail this time, I will have to go back for remanufacturing, wuwuwu T_T. It’s too embarrassing to go back for remanufacturing at my age. The main point is that Master will also cease to exist, so I must wake Master up because I intend to help Master evade the Soul Wandering Technique search next.”

“Helping Master escape a disaster will consume a lot of my power. I will go into deep sleep for a period. For the days to come, Master will have to proceed with the strategy on your own.”

“Remember! When I am absent, Master must not court disaster. Wait patiently for me to come back and assist you with the strategy!”

Before Li Jia could react to the bewildered state, the system suddenly made a “clatter” sound, followed by a few seconds of current noise, and instantly crashed.

“How can this be?”

A trace of surprise flashed in Hera’s eyes: “How can it be the same person?”

The girl in front of her, and the one she saw in her memories—their personalities and ways of acting—seemed completely like two different people.

Yet, the Soul Wandering Technique showed they were the same person; there was no trace of a second soul in her spirit.

Hera rubbed her forehead, unable to figure out how a person’s nature could change overnight.

Looking at the sleeping girl, the Divine Lord raised her hand and used her fingertip to stroke her cheek, which was gradually turning from pale to rosy. Her index finger gently traced her lips.

Speculation, friction.

The cherry-like mouth looked very tempting.

Her throat subtly bobbed up and down. Her deep, cold red eyes were gone, tinged with a slight lust, with surging tides hidden in her gaze.

She laughed softly twice: “Then stay by my side.”

Hera took off the ring on her left little finger, placed it in her palm, bit her right middle finger, and dripped a drop of her blood onto the ring. The ruby greedily absorbed the blood, but she watched silently as if she felt no pain until it was completely absorbed.

Soon, an identical ring appeared in her palm. Hera picked up Li Jia’s slender left hand, lightly cut it, and let a bead of blood flow onto her ring.

She placed the ring on Li Jia’s middle finger. The ring adjusted to the size of the wearer’s finger, firmly locking onto the joint of her middle finger.

Soul connection.

The master-servant contract was complete.

From now on, if she felt ten parts of pain, Hera would bear nine parts for her.

Her divine power would be shared with her.

To protect her to the greatest extent possible.

Everyone on the Divine Mountain knew this method, but no one had ever done it. To stake one’s divine power for an irrelevant person—no one wanted to, and no one was willing to do so.

Hera was the first.

She didn’t know why she did it, perhaps because she felt she was her first acolyte, or perhaps her only acolyte. Guarding her was only right and proper.

Li Jia didn’t know how long she had slept. The moment she opened her eyes, she almost instinctively stretched her arms and gave a huge yawn. Her elbow touched something soft, and she shivered, horrified.

Where was she now?

She met a very beautiful face, and their eyes locked. The red eyes held a hint of playfulness.

“You’re awake? Do you feel any discomfort?”

Her voice was slightly cool. Li Jia looked at her, and for some reason, she recalled the scene from their first meeting when Hera stroked her body, causing her face to blush involuntarily.

“Divine Lord, I’m awake. I feel no discomfort, I eat well, and my body is great.”

Li Jia quickly switched to her role-playing character. She licked her dry lips, which had inexplicably become chapped.

“Gurgle gurgle~”

Li Jia’s stomach rumbled shamelessly. She scratched her head in embarrassment: “I slept too long, and I’m hungry.”

Hera seemed amused by her, apologizing slightly: “I wasn’t considerate. Gods do not need to eat and do not feel hunger. I will have someone bring you some food right now.”

Just as she was about to turn and leave the inner chamber, Li Jia noticed the ring on her middle finger. She remembered Hera also had one on her hand. Puzzled, she called out to Hera: “Divine Lord, may I ask why this ring is on my hand?”

“This is the master-servant contract. You passed the trial and have become my sole acolyte.”

“Wear this ring.”

The powerful, severe Divine Lord leaned against the doorway, issuing a cautionary command with no room for negotiation:

“Leave me, and you will die.”

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