By the time Azemo realized he had caused the city to fall from the sky, the city was already nearing the ground. The speed of the city's descent was insane, causing Azemo to be in awe of the destruction he had started.
The Soul Essence was extremely upset but mostly it was just shocked. There was no plausible way for what had happened to actually transpire. Behirite had been certain to make sure that nothing could cause the fall of the cities but Azemo finding the physical soul of Kclzan had not been in her calculations.
It should not have been possible for Azemo to do what he did but it did happen and the Soul Essence had still not accepted the fact.
"I got it." Azemo quickly pressed his Crnst residency badge twice and he was removed from the city as he began to descend to the ground in a ray of light.
It seemed that the badges operated on a different system than the upper city. Azemo had no way of knowing that fact, but his luck was holding out.
The rest of the residents of the upper city were not so lucky. None of them actually had residency badges because they just used vehicles like Visnelda's fountain to move from city to city. Unlike the residency passes the vehicles were connected to the upper city's system so the upper city residents were stuck on a sinking ship.
Panic ensued among the highest ranks of Kclzan but there was no hope for them. With the fall of the upper city came the deaths of the leaders of the populace. It was even worse than just that because four of the five governors of the sky cities were in the upper city. When Visnelda brought Azemo to the upper city a meeting had been called and all the governors were supposed to travel to the highest city.
The only governor that survived the ruins of the upper city was the governor of Crnst because he was traveling on the ground to Srenti. Normally he would have used a vehicle to travel, but because he was hunting Azemo, he was traveling with a small army that would not fit in his vehicle.
Azemo alighted on the ground and in the distance he could see the technically brilliant upper city in shambles. In future years the city would become a prominent ruin of the past era.
As Azemo was daydreaming about the decimated city the ground was again impacted by a massive shape.
Luckily Azemo was not where the city landed but Azemo had a great view of the dust plumes that were created as Srenti was destroyed by the unflinching ground.
Azemo could not help but laugh out loud. Apparently the skies of Kclzan would never house another city. The upper city was the control panel of all the five flying cities of Kclzan and when it failed, they all did as well.
Fortunately the casualties from the destruction of the massive cities were next to none. The cities all landed in the vast, open desert of Kclzan and every person in the cities were able to activate their residency badges.
That did not mean that everything was fine and dandy for the residents of the sky cities because they lost everything except for their lives. They had nowhere to live, no source of income, very little money and over two thirds of the population had disappeared entirely.
It was at this time that Lleh made it's announcement. In the sky a massive cube of light hovered and began to emanate Sareth's voice.
"Brothers and Sisters of Kclzan, look around you and see the failure of our government. More than half of us were nothing but fakes created to brainwash us. I am sure that many of you lost your homes or your businesses today but now is the time for us to band together. Think not about what you have lost and focus on creating a better future for our descendants. We must make sure not to follow in the path of our corrupt government. Now ends the era of classes and deception. Long live the era of Lleh."
To the common folk Sareth's voice was like that of an angel, showing them the path to follow and a roar built among demons and humans alike.
"LONG LIVE THE ERA OF LLEH."
Of course not everyone was happy with the destruction of the old system but what could they do. All the guards had vanished because they were robots and no one seemed to care about money at the moment. After all, what could they buy?
Azemo had no idea how Sareth had figured out what happened, because he doubted his note reached Lixen in time, but she had perfectly capitalized on the situation. In the coming years Lleh would be the driving force of the rebuilding of a civilization guaranteeing demons' place in the world.
It would not be an easy process because the destruction of the sky cities had set back technology for at least a decade but Azemo believed in Lleh. After all was the technology they had with the cities really necessary.
The complete decimation of the great cities allowed for a brand new start and those that were stuck with the old ways would not make it far.
Azemo noticed that people and demons from the ground cities were helping those who had just lost their homes, regardless of their status. The poor had never really interacted with the wealthy so hate was only directed at the government and the rich soon realized their snooty attitudes only hurt them in the new world.
As Azemo confirmed the unintended success of shutting down the robots the Soul Essence spoke to him.
"You have set the world in the right direction. If you choose you can leave the simulation now and receive all the stuff you collected and partial rewards. Or you can stay in the simulation and wipe out the remnants of the floating city era. Be warned that the battle to come will be extremely difficult and perilous and if you die you lose the right to any rewards."
"Did you really think I would leave with unfinished business?"
"I figured as much. I hope you fail. I mean good luck."
Before Azemo could respond the Soul Essence shut up and Azemo saw a group approaching him over a sand dune.
It was the governor of Crnst, ten assassins and Reginald. The last vestige of the old ways.
When the upper city fell, the chain of command was passed to the governor and all of Amelie's remaining assassins had met up with his entourage.
While the governor lost most of his troops because they were robots, the formidable force that faced Azemo was more than enough to warrant a threat.
Azemo struggled taking out the four assassins in the desert and back then he had Reginald's help, now Reginald was against him.
Even facing impossible odds Azemo did not give in and as his gauntlets ignited the low growls of Bella and Ima were heard as they walked out of the room bag. Azemo was not alone and the two sisters were ready to show him that he could rely on them.
The governor's force stopped on top of the dune and the governor began to speak.
"Painter, prepare to meet your end and know that even though you caused this destruction, me and this group are more than capable of taking control over the living."
Azemo believed him, this group of highly trained professionals were more than capable of wresting control from Lleh, but he would not let them survive another day.
"You have seen my previous work and you still think you have a chance against me."
Azemo dropped (skill) Incognito and his vicious demon face sent a ripple of shock through his opponents. They remembered what they heard about the tower of blood, the building where Azemo decimated the Hat Vendors Association of Srenti, and the look in Azemo's eyes was that of a killer.
"Steel yourselves, he killed your fellow members and I am here. There is no way for us to lose." The powerful voice of the governor snapped the assassins out of their fear and they began to prepare for the battle.
Light shone as they activated their drive skills and ignited their weaponry. Meanwhile Azemo and the tigers were sucked into the shadows. Creating a scene of light and darkness on the sand of the desert.
As the light and dark struggled on the ground no one moved a muscle, both sides were waiting for an opening.
Even against these opponents Azemo was confident, this time Azemo was at full strength and he had Bellania and Imagine. The only worries were the abilities that his attackers would unleash and how he would be able to deal with Reginald.
In the distance the sounds of the rebuilding were echoing across the sands, but neither side gave the sound any attention.
Finally the tension started to boil over and the shadows swirled into a frenzy as the light intensified. In a blink of an eye Imagine had disappeared from sight and the battle had already begun.