Lord of the Sky City

After entering the Sky Era, the original social structure was completely overturned. The most evident feature was the disappearance of the concept of nation-states. Now, only the Kafka Empire remained as a single nation, while the other Sky Cities were at most part of the Alliance, with many more in independent states.

In such circumstances, when such important events occurred, everyone’s attention turned to the Three Giants: the Sky Alliance, the Kafka Empire, and the Magic Energy Research Institute. Only these entities had the power to lead everyone against the Demons, and it was clear that it was time for them to act.

Facing the expectations of the people, the Three Giants did not disappoint. They immediately took a series of actions.

First, the Sky Alliance and the Kafka Empire publicly declared a ceasefire, ending the war that had lasted almost a year.

"A house divided against itself cannot stand." Facing the threat of the Demons, it was absolutely unacceptable for two of the Giants to continue fighting each other. Thus, under the mediation of the Magic Energy Research Institute, the two Giants chose to cease their mutual conflict and united against external threats.

This news, once announced, immediately sparked cheers from nearly everyone. Everyone rejoiced because during the nearly year-long conflict between the two alliances, not only the Sky Alliance and the Kafka Empire, but almost everyone, had experienced the horrors of war.

Before these two Giants went to war, many people had seen the signs but dismissed them, thinking it had nothing to do with them. Even if the Sky Alliance and the Kafka Empire really fought, everyone else could just watch the excitement from the sidelines, right? Maybe they could even pick up some benefits. Many thought this way before the war.

But when the war truly erupted, people realized that this level of conflict was nothing like what they had imagined.

In times of peace, people might not feel the significance of the Sky Alliance and the Kafka Empire, thinking their presence hardly related to them or even suppressing their own development. But when the two Giants really started fighting, everyone realized that without these massive entities, many sinister or ambitious people took the opportunity to emerge, throwing the entire sky into chaos. In such conditions, no one could truly remain unaffected.

It was only then that people realized the importance of the Three Giants to the sky. With them, there was order; if they started fighting, the entire sky’s order would dissolve. Thus, knowing that the Sky Alliance and the Kafka Empire had finally ceased fighting, everyone was genuinely happy.

Of course, the general public only saw the outcome. After a year-long war, both sides were severely depleted. How could they just declare a ceasefire?

In reality, the ceasefire took immense efforts not just from the Sky Alliance and the Kafka Empire, but even the Magic Energy Research Institute spent countless efforts. Just to give one example to illustrate how tough the negotiations were:

In the ceasefire negotiations, the Sky Alliance made a demand that the Kafka Empire hand over all the alliances, families, and independent cities within the Rebel Army to the Alliance’s discretion!

As for the alliances and families within the Rebel Army, and those independent Sky Cities, the Sky Alliance absolutely loathed them. In the eyes of the Alliance, the Kafka Empire was at least a peer, but the Rebel Army?

A bunch of clowns!

These people dared to declare war against the Alliance, and regardless of who was backing them, it was a provocation to the Sky Alliance. If it hadn’t been for the need to conserve strength for dealing with the Kafka Empire, the Alliance would have annihilated them with the force of a thunderbolt right after the declaration of war.

Now that the ceasefire had been decided, how to deal with the Kafka Empire was another matter, but the Rebel Army absolutely could not be let off, otherwise wouldn’t the Alliance lose its deterrent effect?

However, the Kafka Empire did not agree to this demand, no, they firmly disagreed.

The true founders of the Rebel Army were actually the Empire! It was the Empire that had gathered these people together. Now that the war had ended, as the elder brother, the Kafka Empire couldn’t just ignore these younger brothers they had brought together! If they allowed the Sky Alliance to dispose of the Rebel Army so easily, where would the Empire’s dignity lie? Who would dare to follow the Empire in the future?

Moreover, from another perspective, the Empire had its own plans for the Rebel Army.

In the eyes of the Empire, forming the Rebel Alliance served a dual purpose: it could be a great aid in their attack against the Sky Alliance, and it could act as a reserve strength after the war was lost or ended because once the war ended as it had now, it was impossible for the Rebel Army to survive in the skies. They had no choice but to join the Kafka Empire to avoid retaliation from the Alliance. Thus, in the eyes of the Empire, the Rebel Army was already in the palm of their hands, and naturally, they would not agree to the demands of the Alliance.

On this issue, both sides were uncompromising. The Alliance wanted to punish the Rebel Army no matter what, but the Empire disagreed in every way. The two sides were even willing to continue fighting rather than yield an inch, so much so that the ceasefire negotiations couldn’t progress at all.

Eventually, it was the Magic Energy Research Institute that mediated between them and brought them to an agreement.

According to the Magic Energy Research Institute, the demands from the Sky Alliance were not excessive, and the Kafka Empire’s insistence was also reasonable, so it suggested that both sides could make a compromise.

Regarding the Rebel Army, the Alliance did not need to annihilate them; after all, the Rebel Army was composed of major families and major Sky Cities, even those participating from Independent Sky Cities were all large-scale cities. With the imminent threat of the Demons, these people could definitely become a significant force against the Demons. If they were all annihilated, wouldn’t that be akin to cutting off their own arm?

Similarly, the Empire had no need to continue protecting the Rebel Army, because, strictly speaking, the previous conflict was actually a three-sided war—the Alliance on one side, the Empire on another, and the Rebel Army on yet another. In such a situation, for the Empire to want to save both themselves and the Rebel Army was too unrealistic.

Therefore, according to the proposal by the Magic Energy Research Institute, the Kafka Empire would no longer provide protection to the Rebel Army, and the Sky Alliance could not completely annihilate the Rebel Army. As for the losses caused by the Rebel Army to the Alliance, those naturally needed to be compensated, and the compensation standards would be decided by the Sky Alliance.

This proposal was clearly a compromise, and even more evidently, the Rebel Army had apparently been abandoned by the Magic Energy Research Institute, because as previously mentioned, the war had lasted a year, and the losses for both sides were so great that they could not be quantified. Under such circumstances, it was impossible for them to put aside their grievances without someone bearing the cost of the war.

In the view of the Magic Energy Research Institute, this cost would be borne by the Rebel Army, which would result in no loss to either the Sky Alliance or the Kafka Empire…