The Ravenger scaled, Chaos Beast charged forward, flattening small trees and breaking all the branches in its path.
"Dodge!"
Zero rushed to the side and just managed to roll out of the way before the creature barreled past him and into Caelum.
The nomad skillfully intercepted the Ravenger's attack with his staff, then used a gust of air to blow himself back. All while a creepy grin and white eyes covered his face, chanting, "Dan-ger, en..crrroachingg, Ze-ro, Alice."
Alice, too, had escaped the plight and was chanting, but her repertoire had more words.
"Ze-ro, listen itttt can'ttt usss."
Zero yelled out to them, but was met with no indication of understanding. He watched as Alice spun her meteor hammer, and it ignited into a flaming blur. Releasing it, a streak of light shot out towards the Ravenger… and missed spectacularly.
The rock flew high into the dying sky, then exploded with a bang.
But Zero did not have time to think about that. The Ravenger recovered from his charge and set his white eyes onto Zero, then copied his voice.
"LISTEN… dan-ger!"
Zero stared down the beast, but the moment he blinked, it was standing right before him. By pure instinct, Zero was just able to jump back as one of the creature's long arms flashed right before his body.
"Dan-ger!"
The Ravenger raised its other arm to strike downwards at the defenseless Zero, but was suddenly pushed to the side by a strike from Caelum's staff.
"Wh-at, Zero, eyes." Caelum's voice resounded.
'It's stealing our words?'
Zero wanted to think of a solution to communicate with his team since their words were stolen, but he did not have that luxury. All his focus was dedicated to avoiding the Ravenger's attacks.
The beast recovered its balance and swatted down on Caelum.
The skillful nomad struck his staff into the ground and ducked as the creature's hand made contact. The impact transferred through the staff and hit the ground around it, causing the ground to fly out in all directions. Due to the force transferring outward, the staff held, and Caelum was not crushed yet.
"Fi-Firrree danger!" It cried out through Alice's voice.
Zero did not hesitate to return Caelum's favor of saving him earlier and darted to the Ravenger's outstretched arm. At the same time, Alice recovered her meteor hammer and sent it flying with better accuracy this time. The rock exploded a few feet away from the Ravenger's face and caught its attention.
With a distraction, Zero was able to dart into a pocket of space in front of the Ravenger. Approaching the weakest point he could find on the beast's grotesque arm, Valiant Blade shone a crimson light and swiftly delivered a barrage of strikes.
A simple Seeker's blade did not cut deep into the Transcended Ravenger's flesh, but it struck deep enough to provoke it.
The Ravenger released the pressure on Caelum's staff and struck at Zero, while it used its other hand to shield from the explosion of the meteor hammer.
Zero released the tension in his knees and pulled himself down in an attempt to duck under the incoming strike. A Transcended being was faster than the gravity pulling Zero down, but Zero had reacted in advance, with his Forsaken instincts acting like a sixth sense.
"FIIIRE, Dra-gon, Fi-re." The beast spoke through Alice's mouth. At this point, it seemed like she was the only one still trying to communicate, or perhaps Caelum was still able to hear her. Regardless, the Ravenger was only using her as a conduit for its mimicry.
In the back of his mind, Zero knew that either speaking to or acknowledging the Ravenger's words as someone else's solidified their voice as an extension of him.
"Fi-re, don't, dra-gon."
Zero rolled back onto his feet and maneuvered behind the creature as Caelum took it head-on. He landed a devastating blow on the Ravenger's knee joint but was soon pushed back by a returning strike.
Caelum was sent flying back, and his staff went tumbling out of his hands. Before the creature could give chase, Zero sank Valiant Blade into the joint where Caelum had struck. Zero tried to pull back, but found his blade embedded in the knee joint.
His sixth sense tingled, and he was forced to abandon the sword as the creature spun back around.
Before the creature could finish the defenseless Zero, a flaming rock swung past its head and wrapped around its Antler. The flaming rock exploded and impeded the beast's vision. Zero used this opportunity to run and draw its attention away.
Although his fear of the beast was great without Valiant Blade in his hand, a friend dying had become a big fear of his ever since the Coliseum.
"Ze-ro… FIRE… Dragon! SKYY."
Zero glanced to where Alice's words were ringing out and saw her blonde hair streaking towards a nearby tree, a black thread wildly swinging in the air.
'Why is she talking about Dragons?'
Considering Alice had been the only one still speaking, it was evident she was trying to communicate something. But Zero did not have time to think about it.
With half of its face on fire, the Ravenger ignored the source and continued on its rampage towards Zero. Valiant Blade had slipped from its knee joint, but Zero dared not dismiss it. He simply would not have enough time to summon it back. Perhaps he could loop back later and retrieve it.
Zero had created a considerable distance, but his speed was no match for a Transcended Chaos Beast. In the very next moment, the Ravenger was close enough to attack.
"Sky, SKY, Att-ention
Even with his sixth sense, Zero was simply too committed to a single direction to make an unpredictable dodge in time. Zero stumbled forward and braced for impact.
The sound of a corded instrument strung out once as the meteor hammer around the Ravenger's Antlers tensed and snapped its neck back. The swipe at Zero swung just high, and Zero tumbled onto the ground.
Alice had wrapped her end of the meteor hammer around a tree and used it to anchor down the Ravenger.
Managing to roll back onto his feet, Zero tried to decipher Alice's message. It only took a moment before he understood.
'Ah, I really am an idiot.'
Ignoring the struggling Ravenger, choosing to rely on his sixth sense in case an attack made it his way, Zero looked towards the night sky and roared out.