Interstellar Age

Lunaria immediately contacted Emrys in order to inform him of the promise that his rival had made. But of course, as Erich expected. Emrys was far from pleased with this news. And quickly reacted to the Alfheim Empress's words with a vicious temper. 

"You think I give a damn that he has promised to spare me and my family? I am the Supreme Leader of the Germanic Star-Empire! Not him! And I will not have my authority questioned or mocked in such a manner! It is not within his power to grant me immunity! What farcical nonsense is this? Is this how you repay your most valued subordinate? By siding with his enemies! I expected better of you Lunaria!" 

Lunaria frowned at Emrys when she heard him speak to her with such rudeness. Her face turned grim, and her tone turned cold as she reminded Emrys of his place in the galaxy, which was beneath her boot. 

"You speak out of turn, Emrys... If I wanted to, I could annihilate your entire species within a day's time! But I don't! Because the Germanic Nation is more valuable to me alive than dead. Note how I said the Germanic Nation and not its so-called Supreme Leader! I do not care who sits on the throne of your people, so long as they obey, and give me what I am owed as their suzerain! 

Do not mistake your place for one moment Emrys, you are beneath me in every way. You are a lower lifeform, who has been blessed by yours truly with exceptional gifts that other races can only dream of.

The favoritism I have showed your people has been on a whim, a passing fancy. But dare to speak to me in such a way again, and I will wipe the slate clean, so that Erich can start anew! Even if it takes centuries for him to recover the power your people once had before their foolish leader decided to offend those with more power than himself! 

I was initially going to give you the option to choose whether or not to continue this losing war of yours. After all, I am as interested as the rest of the galaxy to see what secrets Erich has hidden from us all over the past decade. But now... I am commanding you as your suzerain.

You will step down from your position and allow for a peaceful of transition of power to the new Germanic Emperor. Or I will send my Banshees to drag you from your home and bring you back to Alfheim, where you will have spent the rest of eternity as a prisoner in the pits!"

Emrys, however, did not back down in the face of the almighty Alfheim Empress. Perhaps it was because the woman had not properly displayed her power in millennia. Or perhaps it was the fact that Emrys believed his WRAITHs were superior to Lunaria's Banshees due to the fact that Erich steamrolled through them earlier in his life. 

This was, of course, a misconception based on the fact that Erich alone had detected their presence due to his foresight abilities. Regardless of the reason why, there was no doubt that Emrys believed that Lunaria had gone soft, and that she did not possess the means to do as she threatened. Thus, with a proud, not an arrogant smirk on his face, Emrys told Lunaria to go fuck herself. 

"You think you scare me? My WRAITHs have defeated your banshees before, and the greatest among them protects me. You will not even make it into the citadel without your special forces being obliterated. If you want me, come and get me, you old fucking hag!"

To any other citizen in the galaxy, the idea of spending an eternity in the Alfheim Pits was a fate worse than death. Not only did the Alfheim Dominion have the ability to grant biological immortality upon others. But the pits were their fabled prison, where those who had committed crimes deserving of a fate worse than death were sentenced to an eternity of suffering within. 

If any other denizen of the milky way were to have heard such a threat, they would have fallen to their knees, and begged Lunaria for her forgiveness, while giving into her demands. But Emrys had not done so. For reasons that only he knew, he had defied his suzerain, a woman who was among the most powerful beings in the galaxy, and he had done so to her face. 

Lunaria herself was in a state of disbelief when she heard that Emrys had rejected her demands. So much so that she cocked a brow and forced a smile to hide her fury, while posing a single question to the man who dared to defy her wishes. 

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear that... For a second I thought you just challenged my authority... But surely I must have been hearing things...." 

The fact that Lunaria was giving Emrys a second chance to recant his previous statement was a testimony to how much she valued the Germanic Star-Empire as vassal. If any other of her subordinates had spoken to her in such a way, she would have reserved the deepest spot in the pits of Alheim for them to spend an eternity of suffering in. And she would have immediately conducted the operation without hesitation. 

But Emrys did not take this favor that she had granted him. Nor did he seem to recognize the precarious situation he was in. He genuinely believed Lunaria's agents would not make it past his front door. Thus, he proudly and boldly told her exactly what he thought of her mercy. 

"Go fuck yourself! You think I don't see what is happening? You have gone mad in your old age and fallen in love with my rival. She was right all along. The two of you have been up to quite the scandalous deeds together.

I wonder what your people would think if their virgin goddess of an Empress was actually tainted all along by a filthy foreigner. Would they still worship you? Or would the Asterion Dynasty that has been in power longer than recorded history itself suddenly crumble beneath the weight of your actions? 

I should have known from the start, the favoritism that you showed that bastard... It was beyond unusual! I mean, when the fool touched your daughter, any other man would have been killed on the spot. But you let him live.

What happened between the two of you that night when you had Erich arrested? Or better yet? What happened between the two of you the year that you summoned my former protégé away from his duties to the Empire?"

Knowing that her secret relationship with Erich had been called into question, Lunaria had no choice but to silence Emrys, and permanently, at that. As much as she wanted for him to suffer in the pits for eternity, she realized that leaving him alive meant that her entire dynasty was in danger. Thus, with a wicked grin on her otherwise flawless face, Lunaria spoke the words that would seal Emrys' fate once and for all. 

"It's a pity... To think I once considered you to be among my closest friends and advisors. Goodbye Emrys, I know your people are atheists, but I hope whatever gods your civilization once worshiped take pity on your soul... Girls, take care of him..." 

Immediately after saying this, a pair of energy blades stuck through the chests of Emrys' bodyguards, both of which were concealed in stealth. Emrys, of course, turned around in shock when he saw this, where a group of Alfheim Banshees deactivated their stealthy fields and revealed their figures. 

Emrys' last words were a single question... 

"How... How did you-"

But the question was never completed as one of the banshees swung her energy blade at Emrys's neck, severing his head on the spot. The Supreme Leader of the Germanic Star-Empire had been executed by the agents of the Alfheim Dominion. And in the middle of his fortress, no less. 

However, the call was still active, and thus Lunaria spoke to her hidden agents with a frightening tone in her voice. The question she raised was one that they had expected, the moment that they heard Emrys mention the Empress's little secret. 

"Did you hear?" 

Normally, one would feign ignorance in this situation to survive. After all, survival was an instinct that all living things had. But these were Banshees had selected to serve as the Alfheim Empress's personal assassins. Their loyalty was unquestionable, their fanaticism was on a level that few living beings could comprehend. 

Thus, these Banshees, whose faces were concealed behind their masks, simply nodded their heads. Knowing full well that their goddess's next words would be a death sentence. And just like that, Lunaria smirked before condemning her most loyal operatives to share the same fate as Emrys. 

"Then you know what to do...."

With this, Lunaria hung up, knowing fully well what was about to happen next. The Banshees turned their own energy blades upon themselves and pierced their own hearts. Knowing that their deaths would conceal their empress's shameful secret for eternity.

And just like that, the Germanic Star-Empire was spared a bloody civil war.... Or had it?