Edwin Lunar Chapter 87: The Truth of Orion

Read chapter 87 of Edwin Lunar by MananTayal on NovelPedia.

The chamber remained silent. Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. For decades, Groader had existed only as a name. A legend. A traitor. A mystery. Now he stood before them in the flesh. Edwin could hardly believe it. This was the man who had shaped the history of the galaxy. The man whose supposed betrayal had changed the fate of billions. The man Wingard had trusted more than anyone. And the man the Observer had worked so hard to erase. Groader slowly examined the chamber around him. His gaze lingered on the shattered fragments of the Red Box. Then on Humming. For several moments neither spoke. Neither needed to. Years of friendship existed between them. Years of pain. Years of loss. Finally Groader smiled. "You got old." Humming laughed. Actually laughed. Edwin couldn't remember the last time he had heard the headmaster laugh. "You spent forty years in a box." Humming replied. "You don't get to comment on appearances." A small smile appeared on Groader's face. For a moment it felt as though decades had disappeared. As though the Great War had never happened. As though the Original Orion stood together once more. Then reality returned. Wingard was gone. Edlin was gone. The galaxy was on the verge of another crisis. And the Observer was coming. Groader's expression became serious. "Tell me everything." For the next hour nobody interrupted. Humming explained everything. The end of the Great War. The destruction of the Void Fleet. The rise of the Dominion. The discovery of Edwin. The First Enemy. The Builder Gates. The Final Expanse Crisis. Everything. Groader listened carefully. Occasionally asking questions. Occasionally closing his eyes as though reliving old memories. When Humming finally finished, the chamber became quiet. Groader slowly looked toward Edwin. "So." His eyes narrowed slightly. "You're Wingard's son." Edwin nodded. "Yes." Groader studied him. The silence became uncomfortable. Then suddenly he laughed. A deep genuine laugh. "You have his stubbornness." Carl immediately pointed. "I said the same thing." Nobody paid attention to him. Groader continued watching Edwin. There was something strange in his eyes. Not surprise. Not curiosity. Pride. The same way a teacher might look at a student. Or a grandfather might look at family. Finally he nodded. "Good." That single word somehow carried enormous weight. Edwin felt strangely relieved. As though he had unknowingly passed some kind of test. Groader turned serious again. "Then you deserve the truth." The room immediately became silent. Everyone moved closer. This was the moment they had been waiting for. The moment the mysteries of the Great War would finally begin to unravel. Groader took a deep breath. "The official story is wrong." Nobody was surprised. "The real story began long before the Great War." He slowly began walking through the chamber. "The Observer wasn't our enemy at first." Edwin frowned. "What do you mean?" Groader looked toward him. "Because we didn't know he existed." The room froze. Groader continued. "The Observer never appeared openly." "He never ruled armies." "He never conquered worlds." "He never declared war." "He manipulated." His voice grew colder. "He watched." The chamber became silent. "Whenever civilizations advanced too far, he intervened." "Whenever powerful alliances formed, he divided them." "Whenever heroes appeared, he corrupted history around them." Iris immediately spoke. "To what end?" Groader looked toward her. "Control." The answer was immediate. Absolute. Certain. "As long as people fought each other, nobody looked beyond the galaxy." Nobody interrupted. Because everyone could hear the conviction in his voice. This wasn't theory. This was knowledge. Knowledge earned through experience. Groader continued. "Years before the Great War, Edlin discovered evidence." Edwin's attention sharpened immediately. His mother. Groader nodded. "As brilliant as Wingard was, Edlin was always the investigator." A faint smile crossed his face. "She no