The elven race is split into two major categories: Superior Elves, and Inferior Elves.
In the Land of Eternal Springs, more than 80% of intellectual beings belong to either the elven race or their subordinate races, leaving the Superior Elves accounting for a mere 10%.
The reason for this is quite simple.
The Superior Elves are individually far more powerful than the Inferior Elves, that was already obvious from the name. However, the Heavenly Dao dictates the balance of things, to take the surplus while providing for the deficit. Like most powerful races in the known universe, the more powerful they are, the less fertile they become. Of course, there are some exceptions to this ‘rule’, but they are exceptions because they are outliers.
In any case, the Superior Elves are just another categorization, they are made up of four elven races which are High Elf, the ‘royal’ bloodline of the elven races, Gold Elf, the ultra-elite elves responsible for the elven races' military exploits, Silver Elf, who are biologically designed to have extreme compatibility with faith-path methods and thus having the closest relation with the elven gods, and lastly, the Dark Elf, whose talent lies in subterfuge and assassination.
As for the Inferior Elves, they are subordinate elven races to make up for the Superior Elves’ low birth rates. Members of this group include Petite Elf, Wood Elf, Wind Elf, Water Elf, et cetera. The elven subrace has so many specialized branches that it becomes easy to identify their cultivation through their race. For example, wood elves' talents are skewed towards wood-path, so almost all wood elves would be wood-path cultivators. So on and so forth, with the dark elf being an exception to this.
Upon observing the subtle gray hue on Adraste's skin, Mordred was instantly reassured that the 'dark elf' of Galatreon matched the one etched in his memory.
In the matriarchal culture of dark elves, men serve as slaves while women inherently hold a higher value. The sadistic nature of dark elves has evolved out of necessity, as they are the ones who engage in unsavory tasks for their high elf masters. However, the cruelty is heightened in the case of female dark elves, taking it to an entirely new level. This distinction has led dark elves to transform torture into an art form, subjecting their victims to a fate worse than death.
Unfortunately, these dark tendencies are left unchecked by the high elves who desire a sharper weapon from their subordinate race. Historical records indicate that, when the Undead Calamity occurs, the dark elves see a new ‘hope’ in the Grim Reaper, the Otherworldly Invader of that era. They were one of the first races who converted to the Grim Reaper’s cause.
This betrayal shocked the world.
After all, it was the event that triggered the mass betrayal of other races. The Duergars, the Vampire races, and then a few other races who thrived in the suffering of others followed suit, seemingly seeing the Grim Reaper to be the pillar of their strength.
However, the Hero at that time had too many advantages, and so, like the two previous otherworldly invaders, the Grim Reaper was destined to fail.
Then, what happened to those traitorous races post-Undead Calamity?
The Duergars had almost been exterminated, with whatever that remains went hiding in the Land of Autumn Rain. The Vampire races had their master, the True Blood Ancestor, killed in the war, with most of their subraces hunted to near-extinction, which forced the majority of them to go into hiding in the Seas of Eternal Winters.
Conversely, the Dark Elf managed to escape a similar fate because their Sovereign, the ‘Spider Monarch’ Lorci, survived the purge. Holding titles such as Lust Matriarch, Poison Monarch, and Dancer in the Dark, among others, Lorci stands out as one of the most troublesome Sovereigns in Morgen World. She is the quintessence of being sadistic, vengeful, obsessive, and above all, possessiveness.
To her, the entirety of the dark elf is her belongings, objects for her to play around and amuse herself. By taking the rest of the dark elves into hiding in Secret Planes located in the Land of Sand and Fire, she ensured their survival. Secret Plane entrances can be hidden into a single point in space, hunting them down has truly become looking for a specific molecule of water in the boundless ocean.
Nevertheless, the traitorous races are now highly ostracized by everyone in Morgen World, but the reason why the dark elves are still a major headache to everyone in Morgen World instead of being exterminated is simply because of Lorci herself.
The elven races, specifically, the high elves, are completely infatuated with their ‘political balancing’ game. They weave schemes across the world, strategically diminishing the power of other factions to elevate themselves. However, the success of this intricate game heavily relies on the dark elves, who excel in information gathering, subterfuge, and assassination.
Now that the dark elf is no longer serving a master, Lorci’s obsession has become even more deranged and unhinged. Despite this, nobody dared to fully commit forces to hunt her down. Even if a Sovereign managed to find out where she had been hiding, she’s still someone who had received/stole the inheritance of the Grim Reaper. She’s no pushover.
Knowing that, the ‘Great Archmage’ who had shown great interest in the Grim Reaper tried to extend an olive branch.
Mordred knew that his previous self was only interested in the Great Reaper’s inheritance instead of the dark elves themselves. After all, the Grim Reaper is the origin of all undead in Morgen World. Before the Grim Reaper, the undead doesn't exist.
Holy Terra can only be considered as a small world, the dimensional laws aren't as deep as Morgen World, thus limiting his comprehension of the interactions of laws. As someone who wants to pursue the absolute peak of soul-path cultivation, it is best to have references from the predecessor of the same field. So when the Great Archmage was around two hundred years old, he was still a rank 4 Paragon at that time, he began to actively butter up Lorci to purchase the Grim Reaper’s inheritance from her.
To Mordred, the dark elf is worth befriending, because they had experienced the Grim Reaper’s era, a fellow Otherworldly Invader like him.
At that time, the dimension where Lorci had been hiding since three thousand years ago faced a dwindling availability of resources. In the first place, her Secret Planes are enclosed environments. Unlike the ones maintained by the Ninetail Royal Academy with the purpose of grooming students, Lorci’s Secret Planes are being closed out of necessity. This is a precautionary measure that was taken to prevent deduction experts from exploiting the clues exposed to the main world when Secret Planes were opened.
Moreover, even if it was a rank 6 Secret Plane that could house a Sovereign’s true body and thus capable of producing rank 6 resources, Sovereigns themselves consume an obscene amount of resources just by existing. When the enclosed environment has been exploited for over three thousand years starting to dry up, Mordred offered to help her find a new Secret Plane.
Lorci was prudent. She naturally proceeded with a lengthy discussion over the details of the contracts.
It was around the year 9.700 A.H, when the Great Archmage had turned 300 years old, that the contract finally got finalized. At that time, the Great Archmage had become a rank 5 Epic, one of the fastest Epics in the history of Morgen World. In addition, he was also a heavenly genius who could fight across realms. Although doing so in higher realms is far more difficult because those who had attained rank 6 are heavenly geniuses who can fight across realms themselves, the Great Archmage has countless trump cards under his sleeves. Even if The Great Archmage can’t fight Lorci, he could get away with some sacrifice.
‘I’m not sure what had happened at that time. My memory is incomplete regarding that event. However…’ Mordred’s soul radiation began to intensify, causing Satoru’s black hair to visibly whiten at a speed visible to the naked eye. ‘Lorci betrayed the Great Archmage’s good intention in a true dark elf fashion, causing him to suffer greatly. In retaliation, the Great Archmage plundered one of her less-guarded Secret Planes, kidnapped one of her daughters including her tribe, and performed a life-alteration surgery on them…’
Adraste was shocked at the sudden soul radiation attack. Her body shuddered, causing her methods to go out of control. She slipped from her straightforward lunge, causing her to hit the floor and flipped multiple times. When she had recovered from her shock, a sense of primal fear, one that came from the depth of her soul, washed over her. She was fully aware of what caused that.
‘The Bloodline Crest… is activating.’ Her thoughts were in shambles. She immediately took out suppressants and injected them into her body, returning the bulging muscles and bone granules on her epidermis to return to their original conditions. With shaky legs and shivering arms, she slowly approaches Mordred. Half a meter away, she dropped to her knees, slamming her forehead to the ground with such force that it was bleeding. “This one apologizes for being unable to discern you, young master…”
Mordred stared at the dark elf, consumed by his own thoughts. ‘Tisserande Habile Delcroix Lorci, the 8th daughter of Spider Monarch Lorci and her Delcroix tribe, has thrown away the Lorci name and become my slave after I engrave the Bloodline Crest, turning their black skin grayish. The ‘gray elves’ of Galatreon, the Delcroix clan, are granted the highest status amongst the four great clans, allowing them to act freely without consequences because Tisserande Habile and her cohorts are my personal guard which was infamously known as the Schutzstaffel…’
Seeing the lack of response from Mordred, Adraste raised her head, trying to discern what Mordred was thinking. Unfortunately for her, his soul radiation is still in full effect. The term ‘eyes are the windows to the soul’ is quite literal to beings such as Mordred. The moment her eyes made contact with Mordred’s, she began to tear up blood as she suffered corrosive soul damage.
In terms of physical or perhaps even the spiritual aspect, Adraste won by a large margin. In the aspect of soul, however, Mordred completely overwhelms her, and that’s not because of only his quantity of soul energy, but also quality.
Despite her quick response to mitigate the harm, she still suffered from temporary blindness. So as not to suffer from the same mistake twice, she curbed her curiosity while waiting for Mordred to sort his mind.
‘I may not achieve perfect replication of the Space Marine in Holy Terra like the one that my big brother made, but by using them as the foundational model, and through a series of surgeries and experiments, I have transformed the Delcroix tribe into a clan that consistently yields individuals with the potential to become Space Marines.’ Mordred used his leg to step on her head, inspecting her body structure.
The feedback that he sensed from his feet indicates that Adraste Delcroix truly is a Space Marine adept.
Space Marine adepts are potential Space Marines who will eventually be equipped with a Power Armor by Galatreon once she is ready to serve as the Schutzstaffel. ‘Her rib cage is a solid cage of interlocking plates, she has two sets of lungs, hearts, two sets of nervous systems, and there’s even the presence of Reflux Organ in her body… A punch from her could burst someone’s skull, and that was before she injected herself with performance-enhancing drugs.’ Mordred nodded solemnly, admitting that she wasn’t all talk. “Stand up.” He ordered as he lifted his feet.
In fear of offending Mordred, Adraste stood up but did not dare to look at his eyes.
The Bloodline Crest isn’t like an enslavement brand, a soul contract, or an enslaving parasite that is placed on her body. Its cruelty extends much further: the crest is intricately engraved into her very genetic code. When she procreate and give birth to descendants, her children will retain the crest, becoming Mordred’s slave the moment they are born. And since each successive generation will strengthen the Bloodline Crest, it manifests in progressively paler skin tones, transforming the ‘dark elves’ of the Delcroix clan into a mere shadow of their former selves.
Now derogatorily referred to as Gray Elves by the Superior Elves in the Land of Eternal Spring, these ‘dark elves’ face scorn and disdain from all elven species in Morgen World. It was a tragic fate. The non-elven race hates them due to their relation with the Superior Elves, whereas the elven races disdain their existence because they are a stain that needs to be wiped clean.
If not for killing them meant offending Galatreon, they would’ve been hunted to extinction. Nevertheless, the gray elves have been subjected to this level of suffering as a form of retaliation for the Spider Monarch’s betrayal.
“Tell me why you are dispatched here.” Mordred commanded.
“Yes, young master.” Adraste quickly took a respective bow, “I’ve been tasked to find and serve the ones who received Der Führer’s blessing. Galatreon High Command does not provide the details, so I am forced to rely on my seven senses… but the young master has found me first. My utmost apology for being incompetent.”
"That's for me to decide," Mordred shrugs it off.
The Bloodline Crest dictates that all gray elves instinctively designate individuals with his truesoul fluctuation as their master. Unable to publicly declare his rebirth in fear of other Sovereign getting a whiff of his plan before he matures, Mordred’s truesoul fluctuation serves as a covert identifier, like a password, making every 'young master' with that unique signature an extension of the Great Archmage's will. Thus, despite not being the Great Archmage, the nine True Colors can use the Schutzstaffel as they see fit as the Great Archmage's ‘young master’.
In any case, Mordred isn’t worried about information leakage when he’s with the gray elves. They inherited some of the features of the original dark elf: which are resistance to psychometry, clairvoyance, and other forms of investigative methods. It was also one of the primary reasons why they were adopted into his Schutzstaffel.
“About you being in my team…” Mordred stared at her as he pulled back his soul radiation.
“Understood. I shall serve as your medic until you have no use of me.”
“Perfect.” Mordred touched his graying hair. “Do you have some potions to change the color of my hair? I’ve used up some of my lifespans.”
