Cainan's Act

The entire city was then vacated. Those who were inside that saw them escaping either felt amused or worried. Those that were amused continued on what they were doing while those that felt worried hurriedly went down the floors to take a look at what's truly happening. Those who were at the lower floors that got out were incredibly lucky. Those who did not, however, would literally never see the light of day.

Boom! Finally, the broken ground gave up. The tower, once ever so magnificent, began to plummet down to the Earth. First, second, third, continuously, the floors began to sink down, burying those within.

Those who were on the higher floors weren't so lucky either as their bodied turned to mush, crushed by the gravity on the ceiling.

The friction of the Earth and the tower walls were so great that more cracks began to appear at the area. Minutes after, the fall finally stopped as the tower reached the farthest it could go underground. When it did, it sent shockwaves all throughout and even beyond the city.

The carpenters, artists, sculptors, and all the talents that were involved in the construction wept, seeing their finest masterpiece fall just like that. They were all questioning; "Why does it have to fall? What gone wrong?"

Those who were clearly mad, started to vehemently blame it on the Almighty. It was only He that is powerful enough to do so. Still, due to the exact same reason, few had the guts to shout their displeasure towards Him. Of course, those who did so started to have some problems; nausea, vomiting, fainting, and so on.

It seems the presence of divinity was still strong.

Seeing them, everyone began to fear the heavens more. The knowledge of having someone looking above them, judging their every move, and knowing that He will exact punishment bred fear and, oddly, reverence within their hearts and minds.

Now, after the catastrophe, the tower that was once more than 200 stories high became four, with the top mysteriously destroyed. The people did not even have the courage to enter it, fearing that it might plunge deeper later on.

With that, the tower became a forbidden site for everyone in the city. No one can even get ten meters near it, lest they be reprimanded by the elders in fear that any movement might cause the tower to collapse more.

Soon, the tower was called by the people "the gate of death", seeing as to how many people involved with it died. Asshur, their king, was also nowhere to be found, so the people surmised that he has died.

His death then led to Cainan being sought out. He, who has not processed what has happened yet. He couldn't even fathom what just occurred. In just one day, Asshur seemingly "died" and the tower sunk to the earth. He did not even see what had transpired.

He could not determine what had happened, but he was sure that Asshur wouldn't die due to the fall, he would have survived it. But, considering the fact that his body was nowhere to be found, Cainan knew that a part of the puzzle was missing.

He also reviewed what had happened through his harmonization, but all he see was nothing. Blank. It was as if something was interfering. Cainan could only accept the fact that it has happened and he had to deal with the aftermath.

When he was approached by the officials of the Empire, with the Saintess that was canonized by Asshur still present, Cainan only said that he will speak in front of the people the next day, so the officials could only wait.

He now had the key to accomplish his plan. The only thing he needs to do now is to prepare for the worst. Back before Asshur had been ruling the Empire from the true capital, Cainan had no allies in Jerusalem politically and even in the military because he was also one of Asshur's supporter. Arpachshad's lineage heavily leaned away from participating in leadership, which bred Cainan's mind that being a leader is a last-case scenario. When he led the war against Nimrod, he was only given authority of the soldiers as their general, but all of them still relies on heavily on Asshur's orders.

Although he had taken over as regent of Jerusalem in the time that Asshur brought his throne to Shinar and had almost all of the politicians brought under his control, he still cannot trust that they wouldn't backstab him, especially that canonized Saintess.

What he has is his collections of spies all across the Central Lands. While Asshur leads in the light, Cainan secretly watches in the dark.

First, before the speech, he first sent another letter to the west and the Far East without the knowledge of the officials using his web of people. It must be done so that if ever the officials try to contain the news from reaching out, the message would have already reached their desired recipients.

Next, he slept peacefully, to fully rest his mind in preparation for the things that would happen tomorrow.

Finally, the day came. Outside the palace of Jerusalem, a huge crowd has gathered. If this was before, entertaining such a huge crowd would have been done at the tower, but considering its state, the base of operation once again returned to Jerusalem.

At the main balcony of the palace, Cainan— donned in his official costume; a yellow robe with the symbol of the sun behind him— stood stoutly and authoritatively. Below, the officials looked at him with mixed feelings. Truly, they did not want him on the throne because he was too soft and kind in the eyes of many. Except for his execution of Nimrod, there was nothing that could support his rule on the throne.

As for the commoners, he couldn't be more fit for the job. They feared God. That God wants them to advocate peace. A man with such a record as Cainan couldn't be even more fit.

The murmurs and gossips were loud because of the sheer quantity of people. Even outside the city, there were people listening in, with hopes to hear it. Cainan first cleared his throat, signaling them to quiet down He gazed upon his newly gained "subjects" and began to speak, "Because of my uncle's absence and having no guarantee that he will come back, I, Cainan, son of Arpachshad, son of Shem, son of Noah, hereby pledge my rule over the Heavenly Empire. I shall enact things only and only for the good of the people."

"My first act shall be this; I hereby dissolve the Heavenly Empire, letting the people rule independently without the shackles bound by any capital!"