All Chapters of The Akashic Mandate: Chapter 11
- Chapter 20
104 chapters
Chapter 11
The silence in the ruined cathedral was heavy and thick. It felt like the air itself was holding its breath. Elijah stood in the center of the broken stone floor, his chest heaving. Steam rose from his skin, mixing with the cold purple moonlight.At his feet lay the Alpha Hellhound. The monster that had looked like a mountain of bone and shadow was now just a heap of cooling meat and shattered ribs. Elijah had torn its throat out with his bare, flaming hands. He had felt the beast’s life fade away. He had felt its terror.Slowly, the Alpha’s body began to change. Just like the smaller hounds, its flesh started to turn into gray ash. The thick, black shadow-muscles dissolved into the cracks in the floor. But the soul of an Alpha was different.Instead of a small golden orb, a massive, swirling sphere of light erupted from the beast's chest. It was the size of a pumpkin, glowing with a violent, angry red-gold light. It didn't wait. It shot forward like a bullet, slamming into Elijah’s s
Chapter 12
Elijah looked up. Standing on a raised wooden platform next to the gate was a massive figure. He was seven feet tall, with skin the color of a bruised plum. He had two small, curved horns growing from his forehead, but his face looked mostly human. He was wearing heavy plate armor and carrying a whip made of glowing blue energy.A half-demon warden."You are in the Crucible now!" the warden roared, his whip cracking in the air with a sound like a thunderbolt. "The life you had on Earth is gone. Your families are gone. Your names are gone. Here, you are nothing but meat for the Gods' meat-grinder! If you want to eat, if you want to sleep inside the walls, you have to prove you aren't useless!"The people in line trembled. A woman in a torn business suit started to cry. The warden laughed, a sound like grinding rocks."Cry all you want, lady! The Gods love the taste of tears!" The warden pointed his whip at a large, heavy stone block sitting in the middle of the path. The block was the
Chapter 13
Elijah looked at the man. He felt the black fire itching under his skin. The "Devourer" inside him wanted to reach out and snap this man's neck. It would be so easy. He could feel the man's soul. It was weak, flickering like a dying candle.“Eat him,” a voice whispered in the back of Elijah’s mind. “He is trash. Take his strength. He doesn't deserve to exist.”Elijah shook his head, fighting the urge. "I don't want any trouble. Let me pass.""Trouble is all we have here, boy!" the leader laughed. He raised his mace. "Give it up, or—""Enough!"A cold, sharp voice sliced through the air. The thugs immediately froze. They turned around and scrambled back, their faces turning pale.Coming down the street was a small group of people. In the center was a man wearing long, flowing white robes edged with gold. He was tall and thin, with long white hair and a face that looked like it was carved from marble. He carried a tall staff made of clear glass, and at the top of the staff was a large,
Chapter 14
The two iron spears were inches from Elijah’s throat. The guards holding them were strong men, their faces hidden behind cold gray helmets. They didn't see a man in front of them anymore. Because of the High Inquisitor’s scream, they saw a demon.Elijah did not think. His body moved on its own.With a speed that made the air whistle, Elijah leaned his head to the left. The first spear hissed past his ear. He reached out with his left hand and grabbed the wooden shaft of the second spear.The guard gasped, trying to pull the weapon back, but Elijah was like a statue."My turn," Elijah growled.He didn't use a sword. He used his right hand. He balled it into a fist and slammed it into the guard’s chest plate. At the exact moment of impact, he let the black fire explode.FWOOSH.The black flames did not just burn the guard; they melted the iron armor instantly. The man didn't even have time to scream. The hellfire traveled up the spear and into the guard's arms. In three seconds, the gu
Chapter 15
The woman didn't answer. Instead, she moved with a speed that rivaled his own. Before Elijah could raise his hands, she had him pinned against the wall. A long, jagged dagger made of black glass was pressed firmly against the skin of his neck."Don't move," she whispered. "I could open your throat before you can blink."Elijah stared into her purple eyes. He could feel the coldness of the blade. "What do you want?""I want to know how a piece of trash from the Deadlands ended up with the Akashic Mandate," she hissed. Her voice was full of a strange mix of fear and wonder. "Do you have any idea what you are carrying inside you? It’s not a 'gift.' It’s a death sentence for every soul in the universe.""I didn't ask for it!" Elijah argued. "An Angel stabbed me. I woke up with this power. I'm just trying to stay alive."The woman pressed the dagger a little harder. A tiny drop of red blood ran down the blade."Listen to me carefully," she said. "The Gods built this world to be a prison an
Chapter 16
The Under-Tunnels were no longer dark. They were filled with a light so bright it felt like a physical weight pressing against Elijah’s skin. It was a cold, sharp light that didn't just illuminate the shadows—it burned them away."Do not look at its halo!" Lyra’s scream was sharp and full of terror.She threw her hands forward, and a wave of purple-black smoke erupted from her palms. It was her shadow-magic, a thick shield meant to hide them. But as soon as the smoke touched the golden glow of the Angelic Enforcer, it didn't just stop. It sizzled. It vanished like dry grass in a forest fire.Lyra cried out in pain. Her hands were covered in white blisters. The shadow-magic, her only protection, was being eaten by the "holy" light.Elijah tried to squint, but it was too much. Even through his closed eyelids, the light was blinding. It felt like needles were being driven into his brain. The water around his feet was no longer just boiling—it was evaporating into a thick, choking steam.
Chapter 17
Elijah didn't move. He didn't blink. He watched the white light come toward him. At the last second, he shifted his body just enough so the lance wouldn't hit his heart.SHRIIIII.The sound was terrible. It sounded like a hot sword being dropped into a bucket of water. The light-lance pierced through Elijah’s left shoulder, coming out the other side.Elijah screamed. The pain was beyond anything he had ever felt. It wasn't just his flesh burning; it felt like his very essence was being erased. The "holy" energy was fighting the "dark" energy inside him, turning his blood into steam.But he didn't fall.He used the pain. He used the lance.The light-lance was stuck in his body, which meant the Angel was now connected to him. The barrier was broken because the weapon was inside him.Elijah reached up with his right hand. He grabbed the shaft of the light-lance. His hand sizzled, the skin turning black instantly, but he didn't let go. He used the lance like a rope, pulling himself forwar
Chapter 18
The Under-Tunnels were shaking. It was not the Angel’s light anymore. It was Elijah’s own body.Elijah lay on the wet, muddy floor. His back was arched, and his teeth were clamped shut so hard they started to bleed. Inside his chest, a war was happening. The black fire of the Akashic Mandate, the power of the void, was trying to eat the golden light of the Angel’s halo. But the halo was not easy to swallow. It was pure, divine energy. It fought back with the strength of a thousand suns."Aaaagh!" Elijah finally screamed.Black smoke poured out of his right hand. Golden sparks flew out of his left. His skin was cracking. Bright golden lines and pitch-black veins moved under his flesh like angry snakes. They crossed each other, burning his muscles and freezing his bones. Every time the two powers touched, it felt like a bomb going off inside his heart."Elijah! Stay with me!" Lyra yelled.She was kneeling over him. She looked terrified. She could see the skin on his chest beginning t
Chapter 19
Elijah thought about the ruined streets of Earth. He thought about the Hollows, the people trapped in rotting bodies, unable to die."The Ever-Blight," Elijah whispered. "They sent the sickness.""Yes," Lyra nodded. "It wasn't an accident. It was a tool. The Gods sent the Blight to Earth to 'season' the souls. If a person dies quickly, their soul is weak. But if a person suffers for years—if they feel fear, hunger, and the rot of their own body while staying alive—their soul becomes 'ripe.' It becomes heavy with energy."Elijah felt a wave of sick horror wash over him. "They turned our world into a nightmare just to make us taste better?""Exactly," Lyra said. "And every few hundred years, when the crop is ready, they send the Reapers. They open the Gates of Genesis and pull millions of souls into the Crucible at once. They process the pain, take the energy, and throw the empty husks of the souls into the Deadlands to wander forever as monsters."Elijah stood up, his chair clattering
Chapter 20
The safehouse was no longer a sanctuary. It was a cage. Outside, the world was screaming. The massive horn of the Reapers continued to blow, a sound that shook the very molecules of the air.Elijah stood in the center of the room. He was not the same man who had crawled out of the blood river. His left eye burned with a steady, divine gold light, while his right eye remained a bottomless pit of black ink. The two powers inside him, the Holy and the Void—were no longer fighting. They were waiting. They were hungry.He looked down at the broken silver sword on the table. It was a pathetic weapon for what he had to do."I need something better," Elijah said. His voice was low, vibrating with a power that made the dust on the table jump.He reached into his chest with his right hand. He didn't pull out his heart; he reached into the space where the Angel’s halo had fused with his soul. He gripped the golden energy and pulled it out. It looked like a string of liquid sun.With a grunt of