The battle had progressed favorably with the return of the fallen warriors and the arrival of the mysterious helpers. Everyone was in agreement that the single most critical threats were the black flames. If those piercing and debilitating black flames could be kept under control, the Marrazzo Dee would be able to eventually turn the tides. To that end, the Marrazzo plus Hub alliance did all they could to get Dorthaunzee close enough to the three Krakens, and once they did--

"Let it rip, Zee! We'll help you from afar!"

Dorthaunzee stood in front of the three Krakens and let out a scream. Her tentacles burst out from the inky black pooling at her feet and lashed out at the Krakens.

In that moment, all the Marrazzo Dee who happened to have eyes on that fight held their breath. Elma, too, shook with anxiety. And then, Dorthaunzee's tentacle collided with the tentacle of black flame. It smashed through it and smacked a Kraken Solider back, the beast of the depths letting out a pained screech.

"Yes!" Elma cheered as more of Dorthaunzee's tentacles attacked and struck the Krakens. "Dorthaunzee's got the power! Just like with the turtle!"

The Krakens were pushed back for the first time, now using different abilities to defend themselves from the tentacles. The Kraken Priestess let out a shriek that passed through all combatants. Monsters of many types lifted their heads and pulled away from whoever they were fighting and converged on Dorthaunzee.

"Marrazzo Dee, do not let our priestess fall!" Rudda yelled.

"Wait no!" Elma yelled over him. "Don't approach the zone of death! Keep your distance from Dorthaunzee!"

Before Rudda could inquire, he saw with his own eyes the sheer power Dorthaunzee wielded.

"Oh my," he muttered as a single tentacle lashed out and obliterated entire upper halves of monsters. He nodded at Elma and gave a different order. "Keep your enemies from leaving you! If you fail and let them get away, don't pursue! Find another one and stop it there! You hear me?! We will prevent what we can, but we won't get overzealous!"

"Good call," Elma said before jumping onto the back of a kelp monster and blasting it with withering mana.

Dehlia zipped in with water jets and leaped over Elma's head, cutting a hawk in half. She landed and twirled around, her eyes on the other warriors locked in combat. "Don't get cocky! The priestess who got you back onto your feet won't be helping you anymore. Fight smart, and fight hard. We still have enemies beyond the ones in front of us."

Elma raised a brow. "What do you mean?"

Dehlia pointed up at the sky, and Elma narrowed her eyes.

"We think those two blobs up there are involved."

"Huh..." Elma's confusion gave way to a confident grin. "No two ways about it. If those two are involved, then they're monsters, if not painfully evil."

Far above the battlefield, the silver-haired child sneezed. Then he grinned at Dominguez. "Hey, I think someone just complimented me."

"Impossible. There's no one in any universe that would do that."

"Aww, Dominguez, you know that's not true." The silver-haired child floated across his friend with his hands behind his head. "You know our bosses like me enough to spare kind words."

"They're lying to you. Did you forget we're demons?"

"Envy doesn't fit you, Dominguez."

Dominguez groaned as the silver-haired child turned to his side. "Still... That's so strange. How is someone stopping those big scary squids? Did you expect this, Dominguez?"

Dominguez shrugged. "I thought there was a 20% chance there would be an Imaginal with enough strength to do so, yes."

"Woooow... Nothing is unexpected for you, huh?" The silver-haired child watched the battlefield, a dissatisfied look on his face.

Dominguez groaned. "What's the matter?"

"This isn't going the way I wanted. I wanted to see people crying as the monsters broke through, but they're putting up a fight, Dominguez!"

"Yes, well, the Imaginals are not as hopeless as the humans--"

"Dominguez, use your magic and portal some of the fresh monsters right into the settlement."

Dominguez let out his loudest groan yet. "An Infernal Gate will wound the monsters we've frenzied. We will most likely lose 40 to 60 percent of the travelers."

"Great!" the silver-haired child said, his eyes twinkling. "That means that the ones that survive are the best of the best!"

"Yes, and they'll be wounded--"

"Who cares? There's no one defending the structures! This will catch them by surprise and make them shed some tears."

Dominguez scowled. "Has anyone told you you're too sadistic for your own good? You're too much of a glutton."

"Oh yeah, all the time. Now do it, Dominguez."

Dominguez trained his eyes on a herd of monsters approaching the battlefield. "Fine, but I can't make too many gates."

Dominguez put his hands together and began chanting as ominous runes radiated from his hands.

Meanwhile, down on the battlefield, Elma and Dehlia kept fighting, repelling monsters as they came.

"That's some interesting magic you have there, Elma! It seems to work on the kelpoids more than the others! Focus on them!"

"Got it! You have interesting powers too!"

"Oh, these old things?" Dehlia said, slicing through a crab man with an arm fin of bone she sprouted. "They're nothing special--"

Suddenly, the roars of monsters reached their ears from an unexpected direction. They both turned, anxiety fueling their movements, and looked around. Their eyes simultaneously went skyward, and they both paled, words stuck in their throats, as they watched monsters covered in black flames fall from a flaming black ball in the sky. That ball crackled with black lightning dancing along its surface as monsters poured out without end.

Elma took off sprinting moments before Dehlia sounded the alarm.

"They're attacking the village!"

Nearby warriors turned, horrified.

"They're cheating!" Dehlia screamed as she chased after Elma. "Anyone that's close! We need to protect the village!"

Dehlia caught up to Elma as more Marrazzo Dee followed the pair.

"Elma! The path--"

"I know! Dorth and I came through here!"

The two blasted away any opportunistic monster that had managed to get in their way, the magic of the warriors following them further blasting away arrogant monsters. The two made it to the pathway between cliffs and ran faster until they entered the village nestled at the base of the protective cliffs.

Both gritted their teeth, urgency and anger fueling them.

"Don't stop until the children have retreated!"

"We will not be deadweights! We will not just be people to be rescued!"

"Don't give up! We were warriors once befo--Gaaaagh!"

It was a grisly and chaotic sight. Monsters were landing on the sands of the village, roaring in pain as smoke and black flames blasted from their bodies, with many monsters crumbling the moment they hit the ground. The monsters that could still stand were wreaking havoc, spreading their flames into the islander's huts and breaking down the wooden structures. Children were crying in sheer terror as they ran from the monsters while the elderly donned their armor and did their best to repel the monsters.

"WE'RE HERE!" Dehlia roared as she jumped into the fray and let a sharkman-type monster bite her arm armor, getting in the way of the bite meant for the elderly Marrazzo Dee, who so bravely let four kids get away.

"You're an inspiration!" Dehlia cried as she blasted the flaming shark away. "I hope that I'm half as brave as you when I'm your age," Dehlia said, as she produced an arm cannon and unleashed the most vicious torrent of water yet at an oncoming wave of fools.

"Heh... you're too kind, Dehlia," the old Marrazzo Dee woman muttered. Her armor falling apart. In the next breath, the old woman fell over.

Dehlia looked away from her enemies for only a second and growled before facing forward again, her eyes reddening.

"Just hold on!" Dehlia screamed as she pushed monsters back with water beams.

Elma then broke into the scene, leaping on a monster that was coming from above and taking it to the ground.

"Your elderly are trying their best, but the children are getting cornered! We need to get them to a single defensible spot!"

"Right!" Dehlia roared as her shots of water magic became more precise. "Everyone! Protect as much as you can! Our next generation is counting on us! Be the examples they'll strive to be! I believe in every single one of you! Anyone that can, help the elders who have fallen! Don't let the defenseless be fuel for our enemies.

"I'll evacuate that woman, Dehlia!" Elma said, throwing the Marrazzo Dee elder across her back.

"Thank you, Elma!"

Dehlia blasted monsters out of the sky as she ran around the burning village, desperately searching for kids. Other Marrazzo Dee warriors followed her lead, helping the elderly where possible and searching for straggling children while blasting away monsters.

"Be wary of the black flames! We might not be able to put them out with traditional means so don't get fixated on them!" Elma yelled, quickly shouting as much helpful advice as she could. "Some of the monsters can't withstand the black flames! Don't get fixated on taking down ones that will burn out in the next few seconds!"

The Marrazzo Dee, warriors and elderly, took Elma's advice to heart and fought hard, their battle cries overcoming the sounds of their burning homes.

Up above--

"They're resilient. They're very human-like in that way, though the presence of magic makes them much more effective. Even their elderly are able to make an impact. That was a surprise..." Dominguez studied some of the children entering the cliffs themselves. "Though, it seems they weren't ready for this kind of attack in general. They should have hid in a cave since the start if they had them available... Unless... do their people have a history that makes them wary of caves? I would so love to know," Dominguez mumbled to himself. "Maybe they have an attachment to their homes. And now those treasured homes are burning." Dominguez looked over to his annoying slave-driver of a partner. "And you? Are you tickled. People are crying over the homes you caused to burn."

Dominguez groaned when his friend hadn't replied immediately, already hating the look on the boy's face.

"Something's weird here..." the silver-haired child said, his hand on his chin. "I think I know who the leader is but..." He watched the faces of the Marrazzo Dee warriors for a few moments. "Oh..." His eyes landed on Dehlia. "She's the Heart of this community--I'm sure of it! They can still stand because she's pushing them to stand on their feet!"

Dominguez sighed. "And so, the little terror has found his victim."

"If I take her down, despair will surge!"