You will Have Your Time

When the spring finally rose, Artie was very happy. However, she didn't think that the spirit behind the spring would dare to play games now. Then again, she finally remembered that finding the spring was connected to a rather overwhelming quest title. Controlling Galacia? She was going to attempt to take over an entire continent? It's not just the devildoms, but the entire continent of Galacia!

That was why the question did not faze Artie all that much. She threw a glance at the archduke and the seneschal before answering the female spirit. "A spring that would give life and heal… what kind of payment do you seek from me… who doesn't even belong in these lands?"

["I see that you are well aware. Then, it might not be too much to ask… leave the devildoms to their own affairs, angel. You have no place to be of influence in this land. Begone and come back from whence your fictitious heaven thrived. You are not welcome to stay."]

"...I see, but there's something that I must do for Ellis Plains first. I have no designs on your lands or on the people who prayed to you. Lady of the Land, I have been tasked to answer the prayers of the people. You and I only have the interests of the people in mind. There is no need to drive me away..."

["Lies..."]

Artie paused. Her eyes flickered as she left her lips open for a moment. She had no idea how to convince such an ethereal creature to give back the body and with life. Moreover, the complex looks of Larkin's and Miel's faces as she hinted to them that she was speaking with the deity that they offered prayers to… told her that she could not proceed without care.

"Lady of the Land, I only need my friend back. Please..." The angel took a deep breath. "I'm pretty sure that you can hear her even just when she stepped foot right inside the archduchy. Jillian… she's… she's a victim of lies and fraudulent actions, and now, her loyalty to her master had been repaid with death and suffering. I only seek for her to have a second shot at life."

["You speak as if your hands are not dipped in the blood of the people of Galacia."] Artie's eyes widened.

["Is friendship the basis of your justice? What of the people that the archduke killed? Those who had lost their lives in the attacks? Why have you not come here to ask for their lives?"] The voice then sneered at her. ["You put on a front of being righteous, but you are nothing but a slave to kin selection. A true angel would never favor a human over another. If they chose to abandon one, they would abandon all."]

Artie's eyes then darkened. However, she wasn't deterred to answer. "Lady of the Land, aren't you being kin-selective as well? Your prejudice against angels is starting to blind you, and yet you continue to favor those who served your brothers and sisters." The angel made a very serious face. "The demon servants were freely crossing the deserts, and it took you an angel to stop them?

"You preach me about putting the lives of the people in front of one's own, but you let the demon servants do as they like to the people of the plains. That black worm must have been a pet of yours, but it only attacked just because a demon descendant was in trouble. If we did not come, will you act against them?"

["How bold of you to assume that I care for the humans. The humans of Galacia only prayed to those in power. They had already forgotten the real monarch of their land, and none would even remember the struggles of my love. I receive their prayers and bless the land in his name, but saving the innocent? Why must I do so?"]

Artie was shocked. If Larkin and Miel heard this voice, they would be devastated. They had been so respectful to the Lady of the Land, and she was behaving like a privileged politician? The angel brought a hand to her mouth as if trying not to puke in disgust. This 'ancient demon' was very disgusting.

Then again, she couldn't just walk out without reclaiming Jillian alive. At that moment, the gears of her mind began to turn as she tried to piece together seemingly unrelated things that the System had given her. There must be something in it that would make the Lady of the Land listen to her.

"The forgotten devildom..." she whispered in passing. She kept on getting hints that there was a legendary kingdom somewhere in the area, and it was even said that the seventeen devildoms sat on top of it. Moreover, she had a book titled 'Chronicles of the Forgotten Devildom'. If the Lady of the Land spouted such sentiments in a quest entitled 'Controlling Galacia', could it mean that…

The Lady of the Land was once a monarch of the forgotten devildom? And that she was sad because her husband—the supposed king of the devildom—had been forgotten and invalidated through history?

'They must have owned a big chunk of Galacia before… but doesn't Galacia belong to the glass spirits?' Artie bit her lip. Truly, she had too little knowledge of the affairs of the world to actually argue or convince the Lady of the Land. She could only look up at the woman again.

"Lady of the Land… there is really no need to burden simple men like them with the troubles of your past. If you give Jillian back to us, I will help you… what is it that you like the most? What would make you accept my stay in Ellis Plains?" Artie placed a palm on her chest. "Please… I beg you… queen..."

The woman in the vapor moved back as if startled. Her intense gaze had moved away before she glanced at Larkin and Miel for a second. She then turned to Artie again. ["...what I like the most? Don't test my patience, angel. If the Emperor Albas and the Supreme King had rejected my claims, then what difference can you and puny power make? Leave now… lest you will witness my anger!"]

"Lady of the Land, F-First Queen!" Artie spouted nonsense now, purely relying on her imagination and interpretation of how this world worked. "I am an angel! The devildoms are out here to serve Tetroka, but I do not! If the Supreme King rejected your claims on the seventeen devildoms, then let me hear it! The glass spirits will soon come to the land, and the demons cannot stop them! If your claim comes with power, then…

"You will have your time!"

The Lady of the Land was once again stopped. She then stared at the angel and laughed out mockingly. ["So shall be it, angel. Do not disappoint me."]