"The new generation of newborn angels... Are they the new angels recently summoned by the Angel Descending Formation?"
Gwendolyn was stunned for a moment, but she seemed to quickly grasp the implications. She immediately jumped down from her chair and knelt on one knee to ceremoniously pay her respects.
"Greetings to...the Inheritor!"
"Isn't that a bit much?"
Nicola had not expected such a gesture and looked back at Elara with a strange expression.
"Elder Gwendolyn, she's just the Inheritor after all. There's no need for such a grand greeting," Elara helplessly reminded.
"Oh right...I got too excited!"
Gwendolyn quickly got up from the ground again, respectfully saying, "If the Inheritor has any objections to Meg's proposal, the council can immediately reject it. But I think she has a point... "
"Forget about all that. Let's just follow Elara's plan. I support her proposal!"
Nicola hoped for openness. If they followed a closed-door policy, we transmigrators definitely wouldn't be able to stand being stuck in a place like this.
"Elder Gwendolyn, don't you have any doubts? It's too strange for a newborn angel to suddenly appear claiming to be Founder Liana's inheritor."
Councilor Meg did not agree. Seeing the situation developing in an unfavourable direction, she voiced her objection.
"Nicola's sword indeed looks exactly like the ancestral weapon described in the records, I'll admit that. But the weapon used by Michelle to invade Edenmere was also the same style. How do you explain that?"
"What if wind elemental abilities are added to that?" Elara calmly replied.
"In the finals of the martial arts tournament, Nicola was suspected of using battle qi. I'm sure everyone has heard about the uproar it caused. Now I can definitively tell you that it was the wind elemental control inherited from Liana. I shouldn't have to elaborate on the implications."
"Legend says Founder Liana's ability was controlling the wind element. There's no way to fake that!" Gwendolyn added.
"Are you saying that Nicola is..." Upon hearing this, Councilor Meg's expression changed drastically. With things as they were, she could no longer find any reason to object. She could only compromise and plead to Nicola, "If you have our race's best interests in mind, please agree to my proposal! Continuing to fight the monsters will have no benefit!"
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"Elara doesn't mean to proactively fight the monsters either. The openness faction just doesn't want to close off Edenmere..."
Councilor Meg's words were tantamount to acknowledging Nicola's identity. Seeing her attitude, Nicola also didn't want to reject too forcefully, and could only try to reason with her as much as possible.
"If we rashly withdraw from the main world, it will inevitably damage relations with humans, which would be very detrimental to the future circumstances of angels. Whether the monsters occupy the entire continent or humans successfully resist the monster invasion, the fact that Edenmere is attached to the main world will not change. Closing ourselves off will only lead to a dead end."
"Don't worry, I've always been very mindful about elemental balance and will try to minimize angel deaths as much as possible. As for Michelle, she's now the demon leader, so it's best if we can find an opportunity for dialogue. If that doesn't work, then we can consider other methods."
Elara also quickly clarified to reassure. As for the so-called "other methods", she did not elaborate on them immediately.
Seeing the situation, Meg knew further argument was futile. She could only lightly sigh and sit back down.
"I don't see peaceful coexistence working out, but since you're set on trying, there's no harm in attempting. I hope the Inheritor can keep the angel race's best interests in mind. Don't forget..."
"Of course!" Nicola looked somewhat conflicted. She didn't want to get involved in so much trouble. But she finally nodded and agreed.
And so the future governing direction of the angel race was decided.
Since Nicola's identity as the Inheritor had been made public, it was no longer appropriate for her to continue sitting with us.
Elara "invited" her to formally take a seat at the table, picking an empty spot and joining the meeting of seven.
Next, the meeting continued to discuss some trivial matters, including handling the spoils of war and response plans against Michelle. It soon came to an end.
"Let's adjourn for now!" Elara had just finished speaking when Gwendolyn jumped off her stool, waved at Nicola, then rushed out the door and disappeared in an instant.
"What's the hurry? Still the same after spending so many years in the human world..." Serena smiled wryly as she watched her disappearing back. After tidying up the table, she followed the other attendees out.
But Shirley did not react as calmly as Serena. She quickly went up to Elara and asked, "Lady Elara...and Inheritor, are you going to negotiate with the monsters?" She did not agree with the proposal to peacefully coexist with the monsters.
"They just invaded Edenmere. Isn't it too weak to give in like this? Many citizens won't be convinced!"
"It's inevitable. This war has been going on for thousands of years. It can't go on forever. There has to be an outcome!" Elara and Nicola stood together, helplessly acknowledging with a nod.
"Plus a lot is going on that you don't know about. I've had this idea for decades already, but unfortunately could never find the monster leader. At least now it seems that Michelle isn't completely unreasonable."
"Humans are one thing, but how could angels possibly peacefully coexist with monsters..." Shirley persisted, still trying to dissuade them. But Elara gestured for her to stop. Then she turned her gaze to us, a slight smile on her face.
"Looks like you guys are confused, right?"
"We're confused about so many things. But Shirley has already helped ask some of them, so what more can we say..." I sighed in response.
"It's because of the angels' deaths, right?" Reed suddenly spoke up after thinking for a bit.
"When angels die, they release an extremely large amount of light element into the environment. I didn't pay attention to it before, but after hearing about elemental balance, I guessed it must be a very serious problem."