Edwin Lunar Chapter 94: Heir of the Barrier

Read chapter 94 of Edwin Lunar by MananTayal on NovelPedia.

The moment Edwin touched the Heart of Orion, the universe seemed to stop. Golden light erupted throughout the chamber. The crystal sphere blazed brighter than a star, forcing everyone to shield their eyes. Ancient Builder symbols flooded the air. Every wall, every system, every machine within the headquarters awakened simultaneously. The station itself seemed alive. For a brief moment Edwin felt weightless. Then reality vanished. He wasn't standing inside the headquarters anymore. He wasn't standing anywhere. There was only darkness. Endless darkness. And stars. Billions of them. Entire galaxies stretched before him. Some burned with brilliant light. Others had already died. The scale was beyond comprehension. Edwin looked down and realized his body was made of golden energy. The ring on his finger shone like a miniature sun. Then a voice echoed through the void. A familiar voice. "Welcome." Edwin turned. Wingard stood behind him. Not a hologram. Not a recording. A memory. A fragment preserved within the Heart of Orion. For several seconds Edwin couldn't speak. After everything. After all the mysteries. After all the questions. His father stood before him. "I wish we could meet properly." Wingard smiled. "Unfortunately this is the best I can do." Edwin stared at him. There were thousands of questions. Thousands. Yet only one emerged first. "Why did you leave?" The smile faded. Wingard looked toward the stars. "Because some battles require sacrifices." The answer wasn't enough. Edwin knew it. Wingard knew it. But neither said anything. Finally Wingard sighed. "You sound exactly like your mother." That earned the smallest smile from Edwin. Wingard stepped forward. His expression became serious. "The Heart is connecting you to the barrier." Immediately Edwin focused. The barrier. The shield protecting the galaxy. The thing Groader had mentioned. The thing keeping the Observer out. "What exactly is it?" Edwin asked. Wingard looked around them. Toward the endless stars. "The barrier isn't a wall." Edwin frowned. "Then what is it?" "It's a promise." The answer made absolutely no sense. Wingard laughed softly. "I know." With a wave of his hand, the darkness around them transformed. Images appeared. Ancient memories. Older than the Great War. Older than Orion. Older than recorded history. Edwin watched civilizations rise and fall. Entire empires appeared and vanished. Stars were born. Stars died. Then he saw something unexpected. A man. Standing alone at the edge of a galaxy. His face couldn't be seen clearly. Yet his presence felt overwhelming. Ancient. Powerful. Familiar. "The Observer." Edwin whispered. Wingard nodded. "The real one." The image changed. The Observer was younger. Not the terrifying being from the stories. Not the mastermind behind galactic conspiracies. Just a man. A very powerful man. A very lonely man. "What am I looking at?" Wingard's expression darkened. "The beginning." The vision continued. The Observer stood before a massive golden structure. The Forge. Edlin's map. The same place they had just learned about. Then something happened. The stars beyond the galaxy disappeared. Consumed by darkness. A darkness unlike anything Edwin had ever seen. Not empty space. Not a void. Something alive. Something hungry. Entire star systems vanished within it. Civilizations ceased to exist. Reality itself seemed to collapse. The Observer turned toward the approaching darkness. And for the first time— He looked afraid. The vision ended. Edwin stared at Wingard. "What was that?" Wingard answered immediately. "The reason everything happened." Silence. The reason. Not Groader. Not the Great War. Not Orion. Not even the Observer. Something else. Something older. Something worse. "The Watchers?" Edwin asked. Wingard nodded. "The Watchers." The name echoed through the void. "The creatures attacking the headquarters aren't leaders." Wingard's voice became grim. "They're scouts." The exact same word Groader had used. Edwin suddenly r