Interstellar Age

Chapter 423 A Lesson in Galactic History

Erich quickly learned as he walked around the Alfheim Palace that he had truly been transported back to the Primeval Era. Everything was real, and it was shocking to see how prosperous and powerful the ancient Elven Empire was.

Evidently, after its fall, much of its power was lost. Not only had the Elven Empire spanned across nearly the entire galaxy, but it had also been significantly more advanced than its two successor states.

As for Lunaria's father, he regaled Erich with tales of the long-forgotten past. From the humble origins of the Elven race as a pacifistic and borderline hippie like people. To their ascension to the Stars as a Galactic Empire, which destroyed the abominable Star Vampires.

It took hours to explain everything to Erich, and much of what he learned was unfathomable. Prior to what he had been told, the Elven Empire was not Matriarchal, but rather Patriarchal instead. Ruled over by a series of benevolent emperors who had the ability to bend time to their will.

The so called Seers of Time were the predecessors of the Sages of Fate. Their teachings manipulated and degraded over the eons by a mysterious force which Erich was beginning to suspect was Lunaria's doing.

But then… Why was she so surprised by his ability to see the future when they first met? Things just simply didn't make sense to Erich. But then again, the past was entirely different from he had been told. Hell, it was vastly different from what the entire galaxy had been told. Clearly, some mastermind had changed galactic history to suit their bidding.

What was perhaps most shocking, though, was the idea that the Elven Emperor was already aware of the Naraku and had long since sent deep space probes to investigate. What he revealed to Erich was much of what he had already expected, at least a quarter of the galaxies which these probes searched were infested with the Naraku, or were currently being invaded by them.

He knew it was only a matter of time until the Naraku invaded the Milky Way, and was currently making preparations for their arrival. However, when he finished his tale of glory, there was a grim look in his eyes as he realized it was all meaningless now.

"If you from the distant future are so surprised by all of this, then it means my preparations were for nought. Something clearly happens, and soon from the sounds of it that will shake the very foundations of the Empire, which my ancestors built eons ago….

I have no desire to know the future. Such a thing could vastly change what is already set in stone. As a seer of time, clearly you understand the dangers of presenting me with such information?

As curious as I am, I do not seek to disrupt the fragile balance of time. But even so, from what it sounds like, you seem to be familiar with my daughter Lunaria. At least tell me this, what is your relation to her?"

Erich honestly had a hard time explaining to this man that he was actually his son-in-law, as that pretty much violated so many traditions of the Asterion Dynasty that it might actually get him killed. But he decided to be truthful as well as he revealed what he knew.

"It's not just your daughter Lunaria, I am also acquainted with your other daughter Daelia, You could say that they are both…. My wives…."

The ancient Elven Emperor's golden eyes widened in disbelief, while his face twitched for a second, before he surprisingly broke out into a fit of mad laughter. If what Erich said was true, then the timeline had truly gone haywire, and to know any more was to invite disaster upon all of creation.

And with this in mind, the Elven Emperor forced himself to remain calm. He only had one other question in mind. One that he was certain would have no major effect on the timeline.

"Alright… Considering you are a Seer of Time yourself, I will choose to believe you… But that begs another question, what race gave birth to such a creature, and how did they do it? What is the name of your species?"

Erich did not know whether or not it was a good idea to reveal this information to the Ancient Elven Emperor. For all he knew the man would use this information to destroy humanity before it could even evolve into its modern form.

But the Elven Emperor seemed to have a defeated expression on his face, almost as if he had come to terms with the fact that his people's days of glory were rapidly coming to an end. And he was more curious about who would replace him in the future.

Erich decided to be honest with the man, though he didn't say what part of the galaxy his people originated in, or how long they had been around, he gave just enough information about the origins of the Germanic Star-Empire and their rapid rise to power to satisfy the man's curiosity.

But one thing Erich let slip was startling to the man. Erich had accidentally revealed the existence of the Dark Elves, which did not exist at this time. And this was despite Daelia currently being born. Such a thing flew in the face of what the two sisters had told Erich about the origins of their two distinctive sub species.

The news was so startling that even the Elven Emperor had forgotten about what he had said about the fragile balance of time and blurted out a question regarding the Dark Elves and how they came to be.

"I'm sorry, Dark Elves? What are you talking about? There is only one species of Elves. We do not have dark skin or dark hair like you claim. Do we end up dividing into a separate subspecies within the next million years? I suppose it isn't impossible…."

Erich was stunned by this, because Daelia and Lunaria had both told him that Daelia was genetically engineered at birth to be an experimental sub-species, and by that logic she should already be a Dark Elf, the first of her kind.

And because of this, Erich was just as confused as the Elven Emperor, voicing his bewilderment aloud without thinking about the potential ramifications it could have in the future.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand. From what your daughters have told me, Daelia was born as the product of genetic experimentation into the Elven Genome, and was the first of the Dark Elves. Does she not have dark skin?

Supposedly, this was the reason that the Elven Empire was destroyed. Because Lunaria hated Daelia for being what she considered an abomination. What resulted from this hatred was a war we call the Great Schism, which caused the collapse of the Elven Empire, and the following galactic dark age. Hence why we know very little of this time period in the era that I am from…."

The Ancient Elven Emperor froze in horror as a single thought crossed his mind. One which he expressed aloud in a dread filled tone.

"The Maw…."