In the shadows of the S Ranked Main character
Chapter 46: A path forward(5)

Chapter 46: A path forward(5)

As Kai leaned back against the wall, his broken right arm resting uselessly across his lap, he felt something shift.

A faint sound.

A creak.

A rattle.

His eyes snapped open.

Across the ruined square, the archer corpse twitched. Its blackened fingers spasmed, its head gave a violent, jerky twist, and then —

It moved.

Kai’s breath hitched.

Next to it, the larger charred warrior they’d downed earlier — the one with the greatsword — shuddered once, its ruined chest rising faintly. Bones creaked. Its splintered ribs began pulling back together, black tendrils of corrupted mana weaving between the broken gaps.

"...Kathlyn."

Kai’s voice was barely a whisper.

She forced her eyes open, blinking slowly, her body still trembling from the aftershock of Burning Heart.

"...What?"

"Look."

She followed his gaze —

and her breath froze.

More shapes were rising.

From the rubble.

From the ground.

From the shadows.

Blackened corpses, twisted and half-rotted, clawing free of the dirt and stone, their bodies flickering with patches of sickly red mana. And worse —

for every one that stood, another emerged behind it.

They were multiplying.

Kai forced himself up, gasping as his broken arm throbbed sharply.

"Nope," he panted, "nope nope nope, we’re not doing this."

Kathlyn stumbled to her feet, her legs wobbling dangerously.

"We... we can’t fight that."

"Yeah, no kidding!"

The first archer’s head snapped up, its jaw unhinging wide as it let out a piercing, guttural screech —

and the horde charged.

"KATHLYN, MOVE!"

They ran.

They sprinted full-tilt through the burned village, ash spraying up behind their feet as they tore across the cracked ground. Kai clenched his teeth, his left hand gripping his curved blade, his right arm dangling painfully at his side. Kathlyn stumbled beside him, sweat dripping from her brow, her magic sparking faintly but barely sustaining.

Behind them, the sound was deafening.

Dozens of feet pounding against dirt.

Weapons clashing against stone.

Snarls, growls, that high-pitched shriek of the archer.

Kai’s lungs burned. His legs screamed. His body had nothing left to give

And then, without warning, pain.

A burst of force struck his lower leg.

His world spun.

Kai hit the ground hard, the breath knocked from his chest. For a second, he didn’t understand. His brain was still processing the impact, the sudden shift

Until he looked down.

His right leg

below the knee

was gone.

Severed.

The ragged edge pulsed faintly, blood spraying in sharp bursts across the ash. A shattered blade, half-melted and jagged, jutted from the ground where he’d fallen.

His stomach lurched.

He heard Kathlyn’s scream.

"KAI!"

His vision blurred for a moment. Black spots danced at the edges. His heart pounded wildly, his body lurching between shock and panic.

But somewhere, deep in the haze, instinct snapped through.

Move.

Kai sucked in a ragged breath, his left hand clamping desperately over the shredded stump. His face twisted in pain, his teeth bared as he forced himself upright.

The horde was closing in.

"Kathlyn—!"

She was there she was already there, grabbing under his arm, dragging him up. Her face was pale, blood smeared across her mouth, her arms trembling violently from pure exertion, but she didn’t stop.

"We’re going!" she hissed, her voice tight with desperation. "We’re GOING!"

Kai gasped, his vision swimming as he clung to her.

His leg his leg

Forget it.

Forget it.

Move.

The corpses surged forward, their numbers doubling, tripling, the ash beneath their feet churning like black water.

Kathlyn’s fingers lit faintly as she half-dragged, half-hauled Kai through the wreckage, her steps jerking wildly as her body threatened to give out.

"Don’t— you— dare pass out!" she snarled through clenched teeth.

Kai gave a breathless, strained laugh. "Wouldn’t dream of it..."

They tore through the last broken archway, the shrieks and snarls echoing behind them, the ground shaking under the weight of the multiplying horde.

Every step Kai took on his one good leg sent sharp, blinding pain screaming up his body. His vision blurred. His pulse hammered. But he forced himself forward.

They cleared a narrow passage, the walls closing tight around them. The horde’s mass rammed into the entrance behind them but the narrow space slowed the flow, bottlenecking the swarm just long enough for them to stagger ahead.

Kai gasped, the world spinning around him.

His leg His arm His chest

Everything was wrong

But Kathlyn was still moving, her arm wrapped tight under his, dragging him through, her face pale and determined and wild.

"Come on," she whispered, hoarse and raw. "Come on, Kai, just a little more..."

Their footsteps pounded forward, their shadows stretching long across the cracked walls.

The horde shrieked behind them.

And they ran

The stone walls blurred past them, rough and cracked, every uneven edge scraping at Kai’s side as Kathlyn hauled him forward.

Kai’s vision swam — black at the edges, his left leg trembling under his weight, his broken arm a dead weight hanging at his side. His severed leg burned with a sick, wet heat, each hop-shuffle lurch making him grit his teeth so hard he tasted blood.

Kathlyn stumbled but didn’t stop. Her arm wrapped under his shoulders, her steps staggering, her whole body shaking. She was bleeding from her mouth from where she’d coughed blood earlier and her fists flickered faintly with the last dregs of her magic.

The horde surged behind them, a wall of snarls and shrieks and pounding feet, too many to count, too fast to outrun.

"Kathlyn—" Kai rasped.

"I KNOW!" she snapped, panting, sweat and ash streaking her face. "I know, Kai, I know, I know!"

She dragged him around another turn a narrow, jagged cut in the stone but the end of the path was blocked Cracked rubble Fallen beams

Kai’s heart twisted hard.

No. No

Kathlyn braced herself, her chest heaving, her fists clenched tight as the red light flickered weakly across her skin.

But it wasn’t enough.

They both knew it.

The horde rounded the corner behind them —

and then, suddenly, a burst of light.

Small.

Soft.

Dancing like blue and purple.

Kai blinked hard. His heart pounded wildly, his head spinning was he hallucinating?

But Kathlyn straightened slightly, her mouth parting in shock.

"...The fairies," she whispered.

The light surged.

Dozens no, hundreds of tiny glowing forms erupted through the walls, shimmering shapes darting like living stars. They wove through the horde, pushing it back, sweeping like a tide of light, forcing the advancing corpses to stagger and halt, their snarls fading into eerie silence.

The cavern pulsed.

A voice soft, androgynous, and all around them echoed gently:

« Trial complete. »

Kai sagged hard against Kathlyn, his whole body trembling, his heart pounding in his throat.

"...Holy shit," he breathed.

Kathlyn’s fingers gripped him tighter, holding him upright.

But when Kai tried to lean fully into her, she stepped back slightly.

"...Kathlyn?"

She turned, her face pale, her expression caught somewhere between exhaustion and sharp, unwavering resolve.

"The ritual," she whispered. Her fists trembled faintly, her jaw clenched. "The dragon eggs... they’re here I can’t... I can’t leave."

Kai’s stomach twisted sharply.

"Wait—"

But before he could speak, she leaned forward suddenly and pressed a kiss a fast, soft kiss to his cheek.

His eyes widened. His breath caught.

Kathlyn gave him a shaky, almost broken smile.

" in case I fail Thank you," she whispered. "For everything."

The fairies pulsed brighter, their lights shifting, wrapping gently around Kai’s battered form.

"No — wait, Kathlyn —" Kai’s voice cracked. He struggled to push forward, but his leg buckled, his arm flared with pain.

She smiled again, just faintly, her hands tightening into fists as she turned away.

"This part... I have to do myself."

The fairies’ magic wrapped fully around Kai, and the last thing he saw before the light swallowed him was Kathlyn’s back

straight, determined, trembling

as she walked deeper into the shimmering light, alone

And then, everything went white.