The Myth of the Greek Heavenly Demon - Chapter 53

Chapter 53 – The Emotionally Touched Judge

Nemesis, empowered by her divine duty and power, could read the fates entwined with the judge who had rushed to her.
And while leisurely strolling across the night sky, she noticed the judge who appeared on her hand.
She pondered over the fate entwined with him.

A human emanating the same divine power as her.
And the one who, out of jealousy, slandered him from behind and attempted to violate his lover, who was also his half-sibling and Poseidon’s sister-in-law, as well as the sister of Amphitrite, the Queen of the Sea.

It was only natural that the foolish relative of Poseidon, who insulted their mother knowingly or unknowingly, would face ruin.
But the individual tied to this fate, the black-haired hero who possessed the divine power of Nyx, caught her attention.

Yes, even Mother might occasionally come out to the mortal world to enjoy herself.
Still, being a demigod with the bloodline of Nyx, she worried if this child, born of human flesh, could bear the immense divine power of the Protogenoi.
Since it was the work of the Great Mother, it meant she had met a passionate love after countless ages.
Therefore, she personally bonded with a human and bore a child.
Understanding this, she resolved to occasionally visit and care for the child, who would suffer greatly among the renowned heroes in the Forest of Heroes.
That was her only thought.
However, after breaking through the interference of the Sea God, the Mother of Night, whom she had not seen in ages, made a bombshell declaration that struck her mind.

Not a demigod born from bonding with a human, but a human directly crafted by the Protogenoi and then released into the world?

The first generation of humanity, closest to the Primordial Chaos, possessed such power and boundless potential that even the Titan King felt threatened. Even the current King of Gods, Zeus, considered them, and even the devout and pious Titans, a threat; Thus, he sent Pandora to annihilate them.

In their place, the prophet Prometheus and his brother crafted a new humanity from the blood and flesh of the vanished humans, creating the present world.
This marked the beginning of what is now called Greece.
But now, the Protogenoi, closest to the Primordial Chaos and the most powerful in the current era, who frequently interacted with the world, had directly molded and sent forth a human.

No wonder the Fates screamed, and Death, the Ferryman, and Dreams were shocked.

Should this child come into the world, one could only imagine the tumult it would bring to Greece and how many fates it might overturn.
Just thinking about it was exhausting.

‘…As expected.’

After her mother’s thunderous declaration, she arrived at the Sea God’s palace, where a vexing quarrel with the ruler of the Mediterranean ensued.
It baffled her why the old gods of Olympus, even those younger than her, were so fervently invested in their demigod offspring.
Every time she saw the Sea God, slyly flirting while boasting about his son Orion—who walked on water at age ten and wiped out pirates at age fifteen—Nemesis felt like praising herself for not drawing her Scales of Judgment.
In the end, regardless of this and that, the punishment for messing with a beloved follower of hers and Amphitrite’s youngest sister was unavoidable.
“Please, at least spare his life,” Poseidon pleaded earnestly.

Well, he wouldn’t want to lose a blood relative who might become the protagonist of the Great Prophecy.
But even so, the crime of insulting her mother and her brother was not light.
It was announced that he should endure a punishment so cruel that he would rather wish the sinner dead, and she hurried over.

Eris, the goddess of discord and strife, was a younger sibling entrusted directly to her by their mother.
Nemesis, the owner of the Scales of Judgment and the arbiter, personally drove her to the brink of destruction in the abyss and taught her.

Such Eris was being overwhelmingly pushed back by her human younger brother, who had been born only a few years ago.
Even she, who tried to stop it, had to retreat from the divine power emitted by her young sibling.
She wondered what kind of power their mother had bestowed upon this young sibling, and how this sibling, who wielded such power more skillfully than any god, had lived.

Fortunately, the duel between the siblings was halted by Eris’s intervention.
Had the sibling’s final sword and her Judgment Sword clashed, it was uncertain who would have stood in the end.

‘Most likely, it would have been me standing.’

However, recalling her sibling’s final sword, which seemed to gaze into the abyss where their mother slumbered, even that certainty wavered.

“Sister?”

“Huh? Did you call me, Brother?”

“Well, when you unleashed that brilliance with your swordsmanship earlier…”

‘…Does it matter?’

Sister.
Was there ever a title so beautiful?
Her cheeky youngest sister would always sing “stiff faced” whenever she saw her, and only call her “sister” when she needed something.
The other siblings had no interest in anything other than their assigned divine duties.
But when this freshly-baked honey bread of a younger sibling called her “sister” in a sweet voice, it felt as if her whole chest was warmed, like sitting by Hestia’s hearth.

Black hair just like their mother’s, a face so beautiful that if dressed up, one could mistake him for a sister, not a brother. Even skin as white as snow, just like hers.

Their youngest sibling’s martial prowess was so high that he could withstand and counter her sword, taking the duel to a level where he could compete with Ares or Athena.
His eyes were also exceptional, allowing him to critique her swordsmanship and discuss it in detail.

To have a new friend and beloved sibling recognize the sword she had honed alone over countless years was something special.
Even as a stern judge, there were times she wished to simply exist as Nemesis, a simple goddess.
The black-winged Nemesis felt a strong affection for this brother she was meeting for the first time.

“The sword technique from that time is both a sword technique and my power, the Judgment Sword.”

“Oh… Judgment Sword… a sword united with your power?”

Look at that pure admiration—those eyes filled with pure reverence!
Eyes shining with pure desire and respect for martial arts, incomparable to that deceitful younger sister!
Aside from the affection for her younger sibling, those eyes were dazzling to Nemesis, who had deceitful siblings.

“Hoho, do you want to learn?”

“Sister, need I say more? No matter how much I drink, the thirst remains.”

“Once you realize your divine duty and awaken your powers, you will gradually master them, little brother. We came all the way here to help with that. Oh, there’s some dust.”

As she gently brushed away the dust and ran her hand through his midnight-black hair…

‘Oh my…!’

The soft sensation reminded her of when she was a child, sleeping wrapped in her mother’s hair, and it made the corners of her mouth tremble slightly.

“Hey! You blockhead!”

-Crack!

It was only natural that a vein would pop on her pale forehead at the voice of discord and strife that interrupted her moment of healing.

“…Eris? Has your backside already healed?”

“Eek! Th-that kind of threat won’t make this maiden of discord budge…”

As the scale sword slowly lifted again, the troublemaker clammed up once more.
The sinner writhing at Eris’s feet caught her eye again.

“…Hoo, it can’t be helped, little brother. We did delay a bit under the pretext of performing divine duties. If we stay any longer in Chiron’s sanctuary, the loose lips and rolling eyes of Olympus will surely notice us.”

“…You don’t need to say who you’re talking about.”

Her brother, nodding with a smirk, seemed to know the owner of those loose lips.
His face said he had a mountain of questions, but knowing that Hermes would make things troublesome if he saw this, he seemed to accept it.

“How mature you are, even at such a young age. Eris, you should learn from him.”

“Ugh! Aren’t you going to work?!”

Where in the world did those hundreds of years go?
Eris’s nagging made her seem far more immature compared to her young brother, forcing Nemesis to turn away.

“First of all, I’m sorry, little brother, but due to the plea of Poseidon, the sea god, I can’t take his life.”

“What?! Sister, what are you talking about!? Mother was insulted! I heard it clearly. They said something about a low-ranking god, a mongrel, and even that a worthless god could be dealt with just by swaying their hips a few times!”

“Mmph?!”

The sinner, whose eyes and mouth were sealed, struggled under Eris’s feet as if to deny it.
But it was already meaningless.

“Enough. Do you think Mother would be shaken by such an insult?”

To begin with, the Protogenoi were gods without offerings and gods without grace.
Even that name was hardly known on earth, only vaguely recognized by the priests who dedicated their lives to the genealogy of the gods.

However, that is that, and the sin of blasphemously invoking the name of a god is severe.

“Sinner, Orion, son of Poseidon. The punishment bestowed upon you is the final mercy.”

With the declaration of punishment, a pitch-black scale sword was instantly swung.
But the head of the scoundrel did not fall.
Instead, only the symbol of Nemesis, the emblem of the scales with black wings, burned black on his forehead.

“Arrrgh!!”

The final mercy.
The sinner was blinded and his mouth was sealed.
And with only the clothes and shoes he was wearing, he was condemned to wander ceaselessly until his strength would be entirely spent.
No human in this world would dare to take in a sinner marked with the seal of Nemesis on their forehead. No god in this world would grant even a drop of water or a grain of food to a scoundrel who committed a great sin.
However, should someone show mercy at the brink of his death, destiny would consider his life granted, and his punishment would be deemed complete.

“Most of them die before mercy even finds them.”

“Ugh?!”

As the burning forehead soon calmed down, and the black mark of Nemesis was imprinted.
Orion disappeared along with an afterimage.

“Oh, by the way, what happened to the party with him?”

“Oh, them? By the time I arrived, three were already dead without leaving a trace. The last remaining magician-like fool lost his mind and ran into the sea alone. He drowned.”

“…Is that so?”

Anyway, the sinner’s punishment was over, and it was time for the ones who had fulfilled their divine tasks to leave.

“Are you… going?”

“….”

“Oh my…”

Nemesis and Eris couldn’t help but smile at the younger sibling, who scratched his head, as if regretting that he couldn’t hold them back.
Today wasn’t the only day.

“Don’t be sad.”

“That’s right! Mother has also said it, and there’s much I need to teach you!”

Parting wasn’t necessarily farewell. As the two goddesses flapped their wings and consoled him, their youngest nodded and smiled brightly.

“Then, see you later, Sister! Eris!”

“Yes! We’ll come back soon. Wait for us, blood of Nyx!”

“Hey, wait! Why am I called by my name…?!”

Ending the noisy meeting until the last moment, the children of Nyx warmly bid farewell to each other.