In the shadows of the S Ranked Main character-Chapter 34: Prism(8)

Kai shot through the air, wings pounding hard, the rush of wind screaming past his ears. Below, the chaos had already broken loose Kathlyn was surrounded by a snapping, clawing swarm, her fists flaring with bursts of flame as she ducked and dodged, her strikes clean and brutal. frёewebnoѵēl.com

He darted left, twisting in the air as two of the creatures long-limbed, bone-spiked things launched themselves after him, leaping so high their claws nearly scraped his boots. Kai spun mid-flight, a blade of condensed light forming in his hand, and slashed hard, sending one beast tumbling back into the mass below.

The other clipped his wing.

"Damn—!"

Kai flapped upward sharply, feeling the jolt ripple through his shoulder. Pain, sharp and immediate, but manageable. Below, Kathlyn blasted a wide shockwave of fire, scattering three more of the creatures, but already, new ones were filling in the gaps.

"They're forcing us left!" Kai called down.

Kathlyn didn't look up — she just pivoted smoothly, knocking aside a lunging beast with her elbow, then slamming a kick straight into the side of its skull. "I know!"

Kai gritted his teeth, banking hard as a burst of snarling shadows launched after him again.

He could feel it the subtle pull, the mental tug, the way the Prism's pressure grew stronger the closer they got to the left side of the field. It wasn't just emotional noise anymore. It was like the air itself was clawing at his mind, trying to rip something loose.

Kathlyn slammed both fists into the ground, fire erupting outward in a wide ring, buying herself a half-second of space. She twisted to glance up at him.

"Kai! We can't hold here!"

"I know!"

He dove sharply, landing beside her with a burst of wind. Together they faced the creeping mass of beasts dozens, maybe more, all teeth and claws and dark muscle, their glowing eyes trained only on them.

"We need a path through," Kathlyn hissed, sweat glinting on her brow, her eyes fierce.

Kai flicked his hand, summoning another blade, his breath fast. "You punch. I cut. We carve left and force the line."

She gave the faintest grin, wild and sharp. "That's more like it."

The monsters surged.

Kathlyn burst forward first, slamming her shoulder into a lunging beast, grabbing it mid-charge, and throwing it into two others. She spun immediately, flames dancing up her arms, punching another clean in the jaw bone cracked, flesh scorched.

Kai dashed alongside, slicing a tight arc with his blade, severing a monster's tendon just as it lunged for Kathlyn's back. He ducked under another's swing, swept its legs out, then pivoted to slice up through a third's throat.

Their movements were tight, fast, practiced one covered, the other attacked, switching without a word.

But the swarm kept closing.

Kai's breath hitched, sweat running down his temples.

The pressure the Prism's awful, dragging pull was worse here.

It dug claws into his chest, flooding his mind with old doubts, sharp flashes of memory, things he had no time to process but it slowed his focus, blurred his reflexes. He could feel it in the stumble of his steps, the way his blade wavered a little more each time.

Kathlyn was faring no better her swings were still deadly, but they were also angrier now, less controlled, her teeth clenched hard, her aura flaring too hot too fast. The emotional amplification was latching onto both of them, forcing them to fight not just the monsters but themselves.

"Kai!" she shouted, voice tight "NOW!"

He snapped his wings wide, caught the updraft, and dove over her a blinding streak of light slicing downward, cutting through three monsters at once, cracking the ground beneath him as his boots hit hard.

Kathlyn followed with a punch that exploded one beast's chest inward, the force rippling like a cannon blast.

They broke through.

Not fully.

But enough.

Enough to push left, to stagger the swarm, to make it just a little farther toward whatever the Prism wanted them to reach.

Their chests heaved, sweat running, muscles burning.

But they didn't stop.

Because they had no other choice or did they

Kai ducked under another snapping maw, his blade carving a quick arc that severed the creature's jaw clean off. The monster collapsed in a heap of snarls and ash, but already another was leaping over it, claws outstretched.

"Left!" Kathlyn barked, fire blasting from her fists as she slammed another attacker into the dirt.

Kai stumbled back, panting, heart hammering in his ears. His vision blurred slightly from the sheer weight of the Prism's pull, the way it dragged at his mind, feeding it doubt and noise. He barely caught Kathlyn's voice.

"What?"

"I said left!"

He blinked sharply, forcing himself to focus. Left.

His mind reeled — why left? Why lean into the pull, the pressure, the place where the Prism was dragging their thoughts into the mud? Shouldn't they be resisting it, breaking away?

Then —

He remembered.

The woman in the tablet's story.

They led her.

They brought her to the place of seeing.

And there, they showed her not the world — but herself.

Kathlyn must have realized it too because when Kai met her eyes, wide and blazing, she gave a fierce nod.

"The fairies," she gasped between breaths. "She had to follow. She had to endure it. That's how she earned their trust."

Kai's throat felt dry.

"So we go left."

Kai felt unsure "THAT DAMMED AUTHOR ALWAYS SO FUCKING VAUGE

He wasn't sure about how Kathlyn got through the second one we only got a Kathlyn pov Chapter towards the end of the arc for now he would have to trust in her

Kathlyn clenched her fists tighter, fire crackling.

"We go left."

The monsters shrieked, sensing their shift. The swarm surged harder as if it, too, knew they were trying to break through.

Kai gritted his teeth, lifted his wings, and surged up just long enough to call down:

"Stay close!"

Kathlyn didn't need to be told.

She blasted a path forward, flames roaring outward in a spiraling sweep, shoving aside the nearest beasts just long enough to dash ahead. Kai dropped from the sky to cover her flank, blade slashing in clean arcs, each strike carved from instinct and survival.

They didn't stop.

They pressed left toward the pressure, toward the place that hurt to even think about.

The monsters thickened, more violent, more desperate but for every claw, every bite, every crushing weight of fear, they answered with fire and steel, with grit and determination.

Because they remembered the story.

Because they knew the only way forward was through.

And somewhere, just ahead, Kai could feel it the faintest flicker of something waiting, watching, just beyond the next rise.