Interstellar Age

The galaxy burned in the wake of the Naraku invasion… The lesser of the five great powers, those being the Ennead Theocracy and the Asura Cabal suffered the most. Or I would say they should have in any reasonable and logical universe.

But that was if you did not take into account the fact that the Svartalfheim Federation was being led by a spectral entity from another dimension which was sacrificing its own nation for her own plans to ressurect her race and the darkness they would bring forth into this universe.

Little of the Svartalfheim Federation remained untouched by the flames of war, other than their home world and the system that surrounded it with a dark miasma so dense it blotted out the light of the star.

A darkness so disgusting to the Naraku on a deeply instinctual level that they avoided this system entirely, instead choosing to ravage and devour everything else within its vicinity. Erich’s stand here on Svartalfheim was not only his last chance to save the Dark Elf race, but the homeworld of the Elves which had been corrupted by perpetual night for far far too long.

The seismic wave that exuded from Erich’s gauntlets and entrapped Daelia’s figure provided intense agony to the interdimensional spirit like being possessing her. She screamed and wailed in agony, like a ghost about to suffer its final death.

All the while, the last shred of Daelia’s actual sanity, which had withheld for a million years of possession used this opportunity to break forth and exercise the spirit possessing her body once and for all.

It was a sight that Erich could only see because of the nano robots within his bloodstream, something that gave him the ability to detect things beyond the basic human eye. The spectral entity existed on a wave traceable in this reality only with sound. Though it tried to escape from the cage which surrounded it, it could not. As it was on a frequency that only it could interact with.

Well, besides Tia that is… Tia of course seemed rather keen to study the creature, and determine its properties. In fact, her voice was elated as she gave Erich the go-ahead to collect his “bride.”

“Master! The creature has been successfully captured! Although I must say it would appear that the little elf has done her own part in this regard as well. You can go and check on her now. Her vitals are stable, but her mind appears unconscious…”

Erich, however did not immediately turn to care for Daelia, instead he stopped in his tracks and stared at the spectral entity which was trying fiercely to break out of the cage Tia had prepared for it. After taking one glance at the monstrosity, he could hear its voice whisper in his head.

“Fool! You think this cage can contain me indefinitely? I will be free even if it takes me a million years, and when I do your victory will turn to ash in your mouth, and all the joy you have ever experienced will be for nought!”

Upon hearing this, Erich frowned. He could see Tia’s avatar projected in his sight, almost salivating over her new test subject. And when Erich saw this, he was quick to give the advanced artificial intelligence an order. One that would no doubt test her loyalties then and there.

For a very long time, Erich and Tia’s objectives had completely coincided with one another. But now they were at a divergence. Tia wanted the Voidweird as a test subject, to gain more knowledge which she was lacking, and to experiment with it.

She cared not for the danger it posed to biological life within the galaxy, because she had the means to protect herself from it, and that would never change. But Erich was not the same as Tia. There were those he cared about who had suffered personally at this monstrosity’s hands.

And… There were those he wished to protect from it. Considering the warning that the Voidweird had given him about Tia’s potential lack of loyalty, now was the time to make her prove that she was truly following his orders out of the love she professed for him. Rather than playing him like a pawn in chess.

Thus his voice was cold, as Erich gave an unthinkable order to Tia one that stopped her in her tracks for the slightest of seconds.

“Destroy it…”

Tia looked over at her master as if she were hearing things. The unknown reality of this monster, and what could be learned from studying its existence was monumental. Sure, Lunaria claimed that she had destroyed the Maw, but the fact remained this was an extra-dimensional being.

What if the maw still lied dormant in some other plane of existence, and Lunaria had simply dismantled the bridge between the two worlds? The danger of such a potential threat was of enormous magnitude.

Because of this, she was quick to try to argue with her master. In a way that only further solidified his decision.

“Master… I would highly suggest you reconsider those orders… You have no idea-“

But before she could finish her suggestion Erich’s voice turned colder than ice, as did his gaze as he gave Tia another order.

“I said destroy it Tia… The dangers it presents here and now in the present outweigh whatever potential future possibilities you are calculating. I know you want to study it, and I believe you have the means to safely do so.

But if it escapes, there is no telling what kind of damage it can do to not just the galaxy, but the universe at large. Destroy it! Now!”

Tia sighed heavily as she shook her head, before doing as Erich ordered her to do so. There was no hesitation in her voice, nor any rebellious sentiment, only lament.

“Very well.. As you command master…”

After saying this, Tia’s avatar raised its hand and acted as if she were casting a spell. In doing so, the cage surrounding the dark entity began to shrink, and shrink, and shrink, until finally the being appeared to be snuffed out of existence in the most brutal and agonizing way possible.

Now that the Entity of the Maw had been exercised from the milky way once and for all, the darkness which had for a million years enshrouded the world of Svartalfheim began to recede, and the Dark Elves who remained unscathed by the fire and fury of war began to lose the darkened hue of their skin.

As if the corrupting influence over their bodies had vanished, with the Voidweird restoring them to their ancient states as elves.