With his throat now back in commission, Zero was shouting out directions as he pathfound their way west.
Behind them, shrilling screams met devastating roars as the Wrath and Ravenger exchanged devastating blows.
Too hyper-focused on routing a path through the dark, and guiding Caelum and Alice, Zero dared not look back. But every few moments, an orange hue illuminated the trees beside him.
Gradually, each hue became fainter and fainter until the flashes stopped. If not for the roars which seemed ever so distant now, Zero would have thought their deathmatch had ended.
But what would happen when their death match finally came to an end? If the mother drake won, then perhaps they would be safe, but if the Ravenger won, the hunt would begin all over again.
Zero had high hopes for the drake. After all, it seemed like she had an elemental advantage against the Ravenger. If Zero's fire was able to harm the Transcended being, the fire from another Transcended would devastate it.
Crossing a treeline, he peered ahead and was met with the sight of floating rocks. They had reached the end of the island.
"Stop… Island ends here."
Zero fell to one knee and tried to catch his breath to no avail. It was only when Caelum began healing his throat that he was able to eke out a few breaths. Zero grabbed Caelum's hand and then pushed it onto his eyes as well. The burning sensation in his eyes finally relieved itself.
Alice spoke out, a hint of panic in her voice.
"Zero, is there another land bridge? Or tree? Anything?"
Zero pulled his burned face upwards and glanced all around him, taking in the view of the island in front of them as well. He was met by an unfortunate sight. They were at the closest point to the mountainous island before them. Yet the gap was far too wide to jump over.
"It's about twenty-something meters. No way to cross."
Shaking her head, Alice was thrown back into thought.
A moment later, Alice summoned her meteor hammer and pushed it into Zero's hand.
"Accept it, then throw it across and try to grapple a tree or something. One ability extends and contracts the rope; the other makes an explosion. You'll only have enough Vie for the former."
Zero placed his hand onto the ordinary-looking rock and felt the Remembrance enter his Spirit Storage.
{Received Remebrance, Ember Coil}
Manifesting Ember Coil back into existence, Zero stood back up and scanned for something to connect to.
"Caelum, if Zero latches onto something, we are going to hold onto him. Use your staff and give us a boost so we can grapple across."
Caelum nodded and summoned his staff.
Zero finally found what he was looking for. A pile of boulders had likely rolled from the mountain ahead and stopped just before falling into the void.
There were a few of them piled randomly, so if Zero could slot it over and catch something when reeling it in, they might have their ticket off this island.
'Wait… isn't flying across with a rope just as dangerous as…'
Zero cleared his mind of needless thoughts and wrapped the rope around one of his hands. Then with the other, he cocked his arm back and let it fly. Zero felt his Vie expand slightly as the rope of the meteor hammer gained distance from him.
The rock flew over the void in a wide arc, then came crashing down behind the pile of rubble.
'Bullseye. Wait, what's a bull?'
Zero exerted more Vie and pulled the rock back towards him. Suddenly, the string went taut and pulled him forward. Zero just managed to stop powering the skill before tumbling into the void.
His connection was sturdy. Tugging once more for security, Zero took a deep breath.
"Alright, it's secured. Are we doing this?"
"Yes, may my wind carry our souls safely."
Zero felt Alice wrap herself around him, and soon after, he felt Caelum do the same.
"Ready?"
"Ready…"
"Re…ady, Ze-ro."
Caelum spoke out with words that were no longer his.
A chill ran down Zero's spine, but now was not the time for hesitation.
Without wasting another beat, Zero pulled them forward using his own feet, then supplemented it with the pull from Ember Coil. Immediately after, a strong gust began pushing them forward.
Avoiding looking down, Zero took his final step and leaped into the abyss, carrying two souls with him.
A roar of wind burst out from behind him, and he could feel as three hands gripped onto the misplaced handholds of his armor.
They were flying—supplemented by the pull of a string and the mighty wind.
Their time over the void passed almost as soon as it had started, but they flew a bit further in the air for security.
Caelum cut the wind, and Zero released the skill from Ember Coil, causing the three of them to crash onto the mountainous island.
Zero rolled onto his feet, which he has had to do a lot recently, and glanced to make sure his two companions made it across safely. After checking their safety, he looked back towards the island they came from.
A bright light burned in the distance, but an even brighter light was heading straight towards them.
The beast spoke out again in Caelum's voice, "Ze-ro, Wh-at, what."
"Zero quickly, give me the dragon head, we'll have to knock it into the void when it tries to cross."
Thankfully, Zero could still hear Alice's voice.
Zero manifested the dragon head into his hand, then passed it to Alice.
{Nascent Drake Armor Transferred}
The cool armor that had enveloped Zero transferred over to Alice, and she soon donned the black and orange armor.
"Ze-ro…"
The flaming mass reached the edge of the island, and its black figure danced along the edges of the flame. Its white eyes shining brighter than the fire around it.
Caelum stepped up beside them and brandished his staff.
The Ravenger stared them down for a moment, then walked away.
It had strayed ten, maybe fifteen, meters from the edge before it spun around once more and sprinted to the edge.