Edwin Lunar Chapter 98: The Legacy of Orion

Read chapter 98 of Edwin Lunar by MananTayal on NovelPedia.

The chamber remained silent long after Elyra revealed the truth. Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. The weight of twenty thousand years of history hung over them. The Observer. The Architects. The Watchers. The First War. Everything they had believed was only a fragment of a much larger story. Elyra stood calmly beside the ancient tower. Her eyes reflected distant galaxies as she watched Orion process the truth. Finally Groader broke the silence. "You said the Observer's real name was Orion." Elyra nodded. "Yes." Groader folded his arms. "Then why did Wingard name our order after him?" The question immediately captured everyone's attention. For decades, Orion had represented everything good in the galaxy. Hope. Honor. Courage. Sacrifice. Why would Wingard choose the name of the man who eventually became the Observer? Elyra smiled faintly. "Because Wingard understood something most people never did." The stars surrounding them shifted once again. Ancient memories appeared. This time Edwin saw a younger Orion. The original Orion. The Architect. The hero. He stood before countless civilizations. Not as a ruler. Not as a king. But as a protector. Wherever he went, people followed. Wherever he fought, hope returned. Entire galaxies had once trusted him. Entire civilizations had once believed in him. Elyra's voice echoed softly. "History remembers what people become." The image showed Orion leading fleets against the Watchers. Saving worlds. Rescuing civilizations. Protecting millions. "But Wingard remembered who he was." The vision continued. Edwin watched Orion risk his life repeatedly. Not for glory. Not for power. Simply because others needed help. For a moment Edwin felt uncomfortable. Because the person he was seeing looked nothing like the Observer. Nothing. The man in the vision wasn't cruel. Wasn't manipulative. Wasn't obsessed with control. He was a hero. A genuine hero. Elyra looked toward Edwin. "The Observer's greatest tragedy was not that he became a villain." The image darkened. The stars around Orion began disappearing. Worlds burned. Galaxies collapsed. His friends vanished one by one. His family disappeared into darkness. His hope slowly died. "The tragedy was that he once represented the best of us." The vision faded. Silence returned. Nobody spoke. Because for the first time they truly understood. The Observer hadn't started as a monster. He had become one. Slowly. Painfully. Over thousands of years. Elyra turned toward Edwin. "Your father knew this." A new memory appeared. Wingard and Groader standing together years before the Great War. They were inside the original headquarters. Young. Confident. Laughing. Then Edwin heard Wingard's voice. "If we forget what Orion once stood for..." The younger Wingard smiled. "...then the Observer wins." The memory vanished. Groader lowered his head. For a moment Edwin saw sadness in the warrior's eyes. Old sadness. The kind carried for decades. "That sounds like him." Elyra nodded. "Your father believed people should be remembered for their ideals." She looked toward the stars. "Not their failures." The room became quiet again. Then Edwin asked the question that had been bothering him since the beginning. "If the Observer created the barrier..." Elyra looked at him. "Yes?" "Why is he trying to break through it?" The Architect sighed. A genuinely tired sigh. As though the answer carried centuries of pain. "Because the barrier was never meant to keep him out." The room froze. "What?" Carl nearly shouted. Elyra raised her hand. A massive image appeared. The galaxy. The barrier surrounding it. The darkness beyond. Then she zoomed outward. Far beyond the galaxies. Far beyond explored space. Far beyond reality itself. Everyone stared. The darkness wasn't random. It wasn't chaos. It was spreading. Slowly. Relentlessly. The Watchers weren't merely attacking. They were consuming existence itself. Entire regions of reality had already disappeared. The universe was shrinking. The realization