All Chapters of Judge Of The Dead A Soul's Verdict: Chapter 31
- Chapter 40
134 chapters
Chapter Thirty (Part Two) : The Mirror of Sins
The Hall had fallen still.The light that had lingered after the verdict faded slowly, until only the dim silver glow of the hourglass remained above. The marble floor shimmered faintly where Tomas had stood, a fragile echo of the soul that had just passed on.Lyra stayed where she was, her fingers clasped loosely in front of her. She wanted to speak, but something about Kaelen’s silence warned her not to.He had returned to his throne, yet his posture was not as composed as before. His head rested lightly against his hand, his gaze unfocused as if he were seeing something far beyond the Hall.She waited a few moments before stepping closer.“Judge,” she said quietly. “The soul has crossed peacefully.”Kaelen did not answer right away. When he did, his voice was low. “Peace is only a word we give to endings. For them, perhaps. For us, never.”Lyra frowned slightly. “Do you not feel at ease when a soul passes with calm?”Kaelen’s eyes lifted to her, calm but distant. “Ease is for the l
Chapter Thirty-One : The Whisper Above Judgment
The corridors of the upper realm were made of light.Not the kind that burned or warmed, but something softer, older a glow that pulsed as if alive, running through the veins of the stone itself. Every step Lyra took echoed faintly, though she was not sure if the sound was her own or a memory carried by the air.The silence here was not empty. It was watchful.Every wall, every archway, seemed to breathe with quiet power. The pillars reached endlessly upward, disappearing into a ceiling made of shifting light. Symbols moved faintly across them, whispering words that were too ancient to understand.Lyra’s heart beat faster as she walked.She had been summoned to these halls only once before, long ago when she first became a servant of judgment. Even then, she had not gone beyond the Seventh Gate. Now she walked past it, her hands clasped tight against her robe to keep them from trembling.The summons had not been spoken aloud. It never was. A thought, a ripple in her mind, had called h
Chapter Thirty-One :The Whisper Above Judgment (Part Two)
The world reformed around her.Mist thinned into marble, and the vast silence of the Arbiter’s chamber gave way to the low hum of the Hall of Judgment. The air here was heavier, darker. The light that filtered through the tall arches carried no warmth, only the pale shimmer of souls waiting to be weighed.Lyra exhaled slowly. Her hand still tingled from the sigil pressed into her skin. She opened her fingers. It was gone absorbed, hidden somewhere deep beneath her aura but she could still feel its pulse.She had walked among the divine and returned. And yet, the feeling that clung to her was not reverence. It was fear.Kaelen stood by the dais when she entered.He was still as stone, his back to her, his gaze fixed upon the spectral pool that floated before the throne. A single fragment of light drifted above it a soul, newly brought for judgment, flickering between form and shadow.Lyra paused at the entrance.There was something different about the air around him. The stillness that
Chapter Thirty-Two : The Woman in the Mist (Part One)
The hall had never felt so cold.Light flickered over the cracked marble, trembling as if it feared what had entered. The silence that followed the woman’s scream was heavy enough to bend the air itself. Lyra stood frozen, her heart pounding in her chest, her hand raised toward the spectral pool that still rippled from the force of the intrusion.Kaelen didn’t move.He stood a few steps from the mist, his eyes locked on the figure within it. The woman’s form was clearer now, her body outlined in faint silver light. Her hair fell in dark waves that brushed her shoulders, and her eyes those eyes glowed faintly red, not with evil, but with something far worse.Recognition.The faint echo of his name still lingered between them.Lyra forced her voice through the stillness. “Kaelen… who is she?”He didn’t answer. His expression had gone blank, but his hands trembled slightly, betraying what his divine composure could not.The woman took a step forward. The mist clung to her legs like smoke
Chapter Thirty-Two The Woman in the Mist (Part Two)
The air around them began to hum.Light crawled over the walls in trembling lines, running along the ancient carvings that told the story of judgment and its keepers. The mist that had once filled the pool now spread through the hall like smoke, curling around Kaelen and Mira until they were the only shapes left standing.Lyra called out to them, but her voice was swallowed by the noise. The divine sigils etched into the floor were breaking apart, glowing in strange uneven bursts.“Kaelen, let go!” she cried.He did not hear her.Mira’s eyes were locked on his, and for a moment the weight of centuries seemed to vanish. In that stillness, there were only two people the Judge and the woman he had once loved standing in the place that was never meant for love at all.“I waited for you,” Mira whispered. “When the world went dark, I waited. I thought you’d come for me.”Kaelen’s voice was almost too quiet to hear. “I tried.”“Did you?”“I begged for it. I begged to trade my soul for yours.
Chapter Thirty-Three : The Arbiter’s Wrath
The realm of judgment trembled.The golden fire that lined the endless corridors pulsed like a living heart, sending ripples of light through the black stone walls. The flames did not warm. They burned cold, their glow revealing carvings of ancient faces frozen in agony. The air was heavy, pressing against everything that dared to exist within those halls.At the centre of it all stood the Arbiter.He was older than creation, older than light itself. His form was carved from shadow, yet it gleamed faintly where the flames touched him. His eyes were the colour of molten gold, and when he moved, the air bent around him like it feared him. The floor beneath his bare feet cracked, each step echoing across eternity.He had been still for a thousand years. But now, something had disturbed his silence.The sound began faintly. Like a whisper caught on the wind. A tremor in the fabric of the realm. The Arbiter turned his gaze upward, and through the layers of reality, he felt a shift in the
Chapter Thirty-Four : The Herald Descends
The air had grown heavy.Selene felt it first, a subtle change in the world around her. The quiet hum of the Judgment Hall had shifted, no longer calm but pulsing, alive with a rhythm she didn’t understand. The golden veins that ran along the marble walls dimmed, as though the light itself was holding its breath.She stood at the edge of the bridge that crossed into the mortal reflection, her pale hair stirred by a wind that did not exist. Below her, the river of souls flowed in soft, luminous waves. The surface was calm, but she could feel something beneath it, a pulse of power that didn’t belong there.Kaelen stood a few steps behind her, his arms crossed, eyes fixed on the shifting water. He hadn’t spoken in some time. His thoughts were far away, his expression drawn in that quiet way that always made her uneasy.“Something’s coming,” Selene said softly.Kaelen’s gaze flicked toward her, sharp but distant. “You can feel it too.”“It’s like the realm is… watching.”He said nothing.
Chapter Thirty-Five : The Soul of Light
The chamber of judgment was quiet.For a moment, neither Selene nor Kaelen spoke. The mist had not yet settled after the Herald’s visit, and it clung to the air like the last breath of a dream. The faint hum of the river of souls filled the silence, soft but steady, the one thing that still seemed alive in a world that felt suddenly hollow.Selene stood at her table of glass and light, her hands resting on its edge. The surface shimmered beneath her touch, rippling faintly as if aware of her unease. She could still feel the echo of the Herald’s voice in her mind.The next soul you judge will decide your fate.She hadn’t forgotten those words.Kaelen stood across the room, silent as stone. His coat was torn at the edges, his hair shadowing his face. The silver markings that lined his skin marks that once symbolised divine service now pulsed faintly, as though they burned from within.He hadn’t looked at her since the Herald disappeared.The air between them was full of things unspoken
Chapter Thirty-Six : Divine Eyes
The chamber of judgment was not meant for mortals to see.It stretched beyond what the human eye could follow, filled with slow-moving ribbons of silver light that wound around pillars carved from stone so pale it almost glowed. Every surface shimmered like the air itself was alive, whispering the language of souls.At the far end of the vast hall, a great window overlooked an empty expanse. It was not the sky. It was not darkness either. It was something in between, like the edge of existence itself.The Watchers stood along the high steps that led to the judgment throne. Their faces were hidden by veils of smoke and light, their bodies unmoving as they waited. None of them dared to speak. The air was heavy with silence, too heavy even for thought.The Herald moved quietly among them. His voice was calm but his hands trembled slightly when he touched the sacred staff that hung near the gate. He had served the Arbiter for centuries, but tonight the air felt different. The weight of th
Chapter Thirty-Seven : The Realm Between Mercy and Truth
The doors of the judgment hall closed with a sound like a heartbeat fading into the distance.Selene stood still for a long time after they shut. Her body trembled slightly, though she told herself it was only the cold. Around her, the silence stretched on, wide and unbroken, like a sea made of glass.Kaelen was beside her. His hands hung loosely by his sides, his gaze fixed forward. The faint silver marks that had burned across his skin during the Arbiter’s decree were still faintly glowing, tracing the outline of his veins. They pulsed gently, alive, as if the divine sentence still whispered inside him.Neither of them spoke. Words felt too small for what had just happened.The hall behind them was gone now. In its place was a long corridor of dim light that seemed to stretch into eternity. The walls were not walls, but thin veils of mist, each flickering with faint images fragments of souls passing, lives half-remembered.Selene took a slow breath and started forward. The sound of