Novels by Olamide

Some debts are so ancient that the interest alone is paid in the blood of the traitor's grandchildren.The heavy iron doors of the western holding court slammed open with a sharp, echoing bang that scattered the roosting white doves from the high marble rafters above. A sudden, blinding beam of divine golden light pierced through the cold mountain mist, illuminating the grand courtyard as four white winged stallions landed softly on the polished flagstones. Attached behind them was an ornate carriage forged from pure floating silver, its panels carved with the glowing, intricate sun moon crest of the supreme central imperial house.Clear the floor for the holy envoy, two golden guards bellowed in unison, their long spears striking the white marble with a heavy, synchronized clatter that forced the surrounding provincial elders to instantly drop to their knees.Grand Sect Master Yun froze mid step, his hands immediately falling to his sides as his arrogant composure vanished, replaced

Men construct grand monuments to hide the dirt of their treason, never realizing that every carved stone remains a silent witness to the original owner's hand.The massive iron anchor of the Sovereign Tempest dropped through the sea of golden clouds with a deafening, metallic roar, striking the polished white marble pier of the Star Altar with enough force to send a shower of sparks across the mooring deck. A cold, hyper compressed mountain gale whipped across the floating landing platform, tearing at the long silver sleeves of my sect robe as I stepped off the gangplank. Behind me, Senior Brother Chen marched with his head held unnaturally high, his hands clutching his silver spear while the remaining core attendants hauled our heavy baggage chests into line.Keep your eyes straight ahead, nomad, Chen barked, his voice carrying a nervous, sharp edge that he tried desperately to hide behind his usual arrogance. Do not gawk at the architecture like a dog looking at a butcher shop. This

The highest clouds in the sky do not hide the sun; they merely give the men who build floating warships a place to hide the blood on their decks before they reach the high seats of the world.The massive, shadow-draped hull of the Cloud Sovereign Sect’s grand dreadnought, the Sovereign Tempest, groaned against the thinning mountain air as its four massive iron sky keels cut through the midnight fog. Its hull was forged from cold black iron, reinforced with thousands of glowing bronze defense runes that hummed with a low, bone rattling vibration that made the wooden deck beams beneath my leather boots shake incessantly.Adjust the secondary spirit sails, Senior Brother Chen bellowed from the upper steering deck, his silver armor clanking loudly in the freezing wind as he gestured wildly at six trembling junior attendants. If the stabilizing array slips by half a degree while we cross the border ridge, I will personally throw the shift leader over the bow railing.He is trying very hard

A crown placed upon an unsuspecting head is rarely an honor; more often than not, it is merely the bright red ribbon tied around the neck of a goat before the blade comes down.The early morning sun broke through the mountain fog in long, sharp rays of pale gold, illuminating the white granite slabs of the central plaza. Thousands of outer and inner disciples stood gathered in precise, rigid ranks before the high balcony, their low murmurs rustling across the stone floor like dry autumn leaves. I stood near the front line of the lower candidates, still wearing my worn gray wool tunic and dusty leather boots, holding my cloth wrapped decoy blade loosely by my side.Attention on the central platform, the primary herald bellowed, his voice amplified by four bronze rune pillars that shook the air. By order of the discipline council and the high elders, the second round brackets are officially adjusted.A wave of confused whispers rippled through the surrounding elite disciples.Due to the

A dead man keeps his secrets well, but a dying man with a short blade pressed into his spiritual core will sing every note of his master's betrayal before his tongue turns into ice.Before Xiao Lan could slide the final ice block containing the squad leader down into the cellar grate, I raised my right hand, stopping her with a single, sharp gesture. The blue ice around the leader's chest was already thick, but his eyes were still moving behind the frosted barrier, wide with an unadulterated, desperate terror.Hold the intake, I told her, my voice dropping into a hard, low register that cut through the drafty cabin air. This one was not hired by a middleman in the market. Look at the silver lining inside his leather collar.Xiao Lan paused, her dark eyes narrowing as she pulled back the assassin's frozen cloak, revealing a tiny, intricate engraving of a five-clawed dragon wrapped around a broken crescent moon.The Sect Master's private shadow seal, Ye Qingxuan ga

A predator only learns it has stepped into a butcher's shop when the light in the room dies and the door locks from the outside.The quiet hum of the night wind through the cracks in my cabin wall ceased abruptly, swallowed by a heavy, suffocating stillness that signaled the arrival of killers who didn't work for the sect master's administrative office. These were independent blood contractors, hired by one of the wealthy eastern houses to ensure the northern drifter did not wake up for his morning match against Senior Brother Chen.Three wooden roof tiles shattered above my head with a sharp, muted pop.Three figures dropped through the ceiling rafters simultaneously, landing in a perfect, silent triangular formation around my low wooden bed. They were peak Meridian Opening assassins, their tight black leather armor reinforced with shadow runes, and their short, double-edged daggers shone with a sickly, iridescent green sheen of lethal viper poison. They didn't pause

When the dead dig up the living, nobody expects the man coming out of the hole to look less human than the dirt he was buried under.The white marble plaza was littered with smoking craters, shredded copper mining leads, and the shattered fragments of my Heaven Piercer strike. The vanguard squad stood frozen along the lip of the freshly opened fissure, their glowing pikes lowered and their faces pale beneath layers of gray dust. Heat rolled off my iron frame in thick, shimmering waves, smelling of scorched ozone, boiled slate, and the dark, metallic tang of devoured marrow."Lu Feng?" Elder Gu called out, his voice dropping into an uncertain rasp as he took three cautious steps toward the center of the crater. "Is that still you under that iron mask?"I reached up with my right gauntlet, grabbing the lower edge of my shattered faceplate. With a single, sharp twist of my hydraulic knuckles, I ripped the broken iron visor clean off my collarbone, letting the heavy metal

A dead man’s memory tastes like cold ash and cheap gin, but when you are buried alive under fifty tons of granite, you eat whatever soul is floating nearby.The sudden secondary collapse of the upper plaza arches had sealed the exit crater before Elder Gu and the vanguard could pull my frame clear. Millions of pounds of solid marble, iron beams, and crushed basalt slammed down in a second wave, burying me in a cramped, airless pocket of stone deep beneath the ruins. My broken left knee was pinned flat under a fallen pillar, my visor was filled with thick dust, and my artificial core was running dangerously cold."Lu Feng, do not force the hydraulic arm," Elder Mo’s phantom voice vibrated through my jawbone, his thoughts raspy and faint in the pitch darkness. "The stone slab above your chest is holding up the entire eastern arch. If you shift your shoulder three inches to the left, the whole pile drops and crushes your skull.""I am not moving the shoulder,

A man who walks on a broken knee has already accepted that the ground beneath him is going to give way eventually.The wide marble avenue leading out of the maintenance hatch did not stay open for long. Before our vanguard could step fifty yards toward the High Imperial Palace, three massive iron portcullises slammed down from the archways above, sealing us inside a deep, subterranean access tunnel directly beneath the capital plaza. From the high stone galleries running along both sides of the vault, the sound of marching boots echoed like thunder as three hundred legionnaires in brass plate lined the ledges, their heavy steam rifles trained directly on our column."It is an ambush box, Commander!" the vanguard sergeant yelled, driving his glowing pike into the marble floor to anchor his shield against the front file. "They led us straight into the secondary foundation vault!""They brought three hundred rifles into a stone tunnel, sergeant," Elder Gu said, his voice

When you trap a dozen viper legionnaires inside a steam pipe, the only thing thicker than the humidity is the stench of cheap ambition.The elevator car had barely hit the surface landing before a high pressure brass bulkhead slammed down over the shaft exit, forcing our vanguard squad sideways through a heavy maintenance hatch. We tumbled directly into a subterranean labyrinth of pressurized steam pipes running beneath the capital plaza. The air down here was terrifyingly hot, thick with white fog, and screaming under three thousand pounds of pneumatic force. The dark iron pipes, each easily eight feet wide, twisted and turned like the metal guts of a dead dragon, carrying superheated air straight to the city's surface defenses."Watch your boots on those copper grates, sergeant!" Elder Gu shouted, his voice echoing off the curved walls as he wiped scalding condensation from his face. "If a seam pops under this pressure, it will peel your skin straight off the bone!"