The Ashen Mandate

When a gifted outsider is cast into a dying empire, his modern knowledge twists into a source of forbidden, abyssal power. In this land haunted by the decaying whispers of dead gods, he discovers a terrifying truth: a celebrated national reform is merely a veil for a blood ritual designed to sacrifice the entire population to a rising eldritch deity. To combat a conspiracy woven into the very fabric of society, he must embrace the cursed knowledge that erodes his sanity and reshapes his flesh. Each step toward saving civilization is a step toward becoming a monster, forcing him to fight madness with greater madness. Can he outwit a death cult and preserve humanity's future, even if it means sacrificing his own?