The child was paralyzed with fear, his mind unable to formulate new thoughts. The thing in front of him was worst than all others. That was what his paralyzed body told him. Dominguez reached for the child, his hand bigger than the child's face.

Three Mazarro Dee--one man and two women, two of which had done so much to get that child away earlier--yelled as they desperately rushed toward Dominguez.

"""Don't touch that child!!!""" they roared in unison.

Dominguez was unperturbed. His hand reached the child's face. His words were devoid of emotion--he was simply stating a fact.

"Cowardice is the gateway to Acedia."

The child disappeared in the next instant, much to the horror of the approaching Marrazzo Dee warriors.

Dominguez glanced at them. "There is no Sloth here... Only Wrath."

They swung their weapons at the man, but he disappeared, leaving nothing but air. Yet, even though there was nothing there and the warriors were stumbling across the space he occupied, his voice echoed.

"Alas, if only I were of Wrath."

The warriors looked around, confused. Where exactly did the child go?

The answer was simple--

Over by Dehlia's side, she was firing blasts of water at the silver-haired child. The child sneered as he effortlessly dodged the beams.

"I'm curious about that laser array from earlier," the silver-haired child said. "You can't do it too often, huh?"

"Shut it--"

Dehlia's senses sharpened when a whimper reached her ear. She turned around and saw a child many paces across from her. She glanced back at the silver-haired child and watched as his grin grew impossibly wide.

The silver-haired child spread his wings and flew toward the child, a sword with a blade in the shape of a spiraled-lance in hand.

Give me power! Dehlia screamed to herself as she blasted off toward the child with magic-generated water jets blasting from her feet.

The silver-haired child thrust his weapon, and the armor of the Marrazzo Dee formed around her arm as Dehlia screamed in opposition.

She blocked the blade and protected the child. Her armor would not break--all her magic power was devoted to preventing that cursed blade. Her expression was fierce, and the silver-haired child's was gleeful.

"This is what that heart got you!" he screamed. "This is your fault, kid!"

"Shut up!" Dehlia roared back. "I won't break!"

Dominguez then appeared a pace away from Dehlia's right.

"This is what you wanted, right?"

He stuck a barbed trident into Dehlia's side in one swift movement.

"Gotcha!" the silver-haired child screamed.

"Gah!" Dehlia cried.

"Panic! Despair! Fail!"

The following events happened in the span of a couple of seconds.

Pain surged through Dehlia's body as blood spilled from her mouth. The silver-haired child was about to laugh--to gloat. Then, fingers coated in black magic flew into the scene and pierced Dominguez's right eye. They discharged, destroying his eye. Dominguez yelped in pain as he pulled away, yanking the trident out, tearing Dehlia's flesh, and taking chunks of organs with him.

"Dominguez?!" the silver-haired child yelled, taking his eyes off Dehlia for the first time since thier clash.

In that moment, Dehlia pounced, her bloody mouth wide open, teeth covered in armor. The silver-haired child's eyes went back toward her in time to see that maw.

The child screamed as Dehlia sank her teeth into his face, neck, and shoulder. In this moment, it didn't matter how ugly it was. One thing was certain--Dehlia would tear through anyone that imperiled the Marrazzo Dee children.

The silver haired child let out his scream, but Dehlia would never let this attack end on his terms.

Dehlia pulled her head back, tearing more of the child's face off than anyone expected she would, the silver-haired child included. Black oily blood arced between them as Dehlia gasped for air. The child covered his face and released a burst of black flames that propelled him backward. He came to a stop many paces from Dehlia and landed. Dominguez appeared next to him, on his knees and holding his eye.

"Desperate, desperate! Wretched desperation!" the silver-haired child screamed.

"This human body... It's weak to that gray-skinned woman's mana..." Dominguez followed.

The silver-haired child was breathing heavily. He let black flames pour from his hand and covered up his wounds with the black flames.

"That bitch!" he roared.

On the other side of the black flames, Dehlia still stood, having covered herself with her armor to mitigate the blast's damage. The Marrazzo Dee child was further behind her, still terrified stiff, unable to process the magnitude of what had just occurred. Dehlia looked back at the child and smiled.

"Be brave," she said, as her legs wobbled. Dehlia forced out a bloody smile and her head tilted backward.

"Dehlia!"

Elma rushed in and grabbed Dehlia right as the woman was about to fall.

"Hey! Stay with me!" Elma yelled, noticing she was on her last legs. Her eyes went to the wound on her left sive, and she saw in full detail how eviscerated that side was.

Elma's eyes shook with the same frequency her fingers did. There was no way the lung was still functioning. There was no way the other pierced organs were still intact enough to function. It was just too brutal an attack.

Dehlia's eyes hadn't lost their light yet, however. They were fixed on the enemies of her people. The voices of other nearby Marrazzo Dee rose as they noticed her predicament. And then, they became louder in time with Dehlia's own call--

"Protect the child!" she screamed.

Elma looked toward the enemy to see a giant ball of flame flying toward them. A split-second decision had to be made--Dehlia, the child, or both. Leaving Dehlia to die was the last thing Elma wanted to do, but there was no time, and Elma wasn't strong enough to be greedy and try to save both.

Thankfully, she didn't have to make her choice today.

Blue flames flew in from behind the group and collided head-on with the black flames. It turned into a clash between two billowing giants--one blue and one black. When it looked like the black would win, a thin pink laser cut through both flames and struck the silver-haired child square in the chest, blowing him back. The moment that laser struck and disrupted the child's output, the blue flames consumed the disrupted black flames and raged toward the surprised Neo-Demons. The flames erupted when they hit them, enveloping where they stood in a giant fireball.

"I know you're still there," said the newly arrived Hero.

Elma watched as this Hero walked a few steps past them, a smile on her face. "Hey..." Elma said, choking back both frustration and joyful tears.

The new Hero slightly tilted her head toward Elma.

"Those horns look good on you," Elma said with a quivering smile.

The new Hero stood proud, her body charred no longer. Her hair was long and was of a bluish-white. Ashen branches grew from her body, many with blue flames at the tips, and her skin was pink. The horns reflected in Elma's eyes were nothing short of magnificent. Black, and with vibrant pink jewels encrusted in them, they were surely one of the most beautiful things Elma had ever seen.

This Hero had arrived at the battlefield as her proud and radiant self. She wore little to nothing, with thin blue lines running along her body and covering only the most sensitive of areas. On her waist was a longer black skirt she took from the Hero Hub, but that was it--nothing else. This was the Ygdrahusk Walker of the Hero Hub.

"Nice to meet you, Kanae," Elma said.

Kanae chuckled. "It's good to be back. And just in time too, huh?" Kanae slammed her fists together and set her sights on the blaze. "Let's pay them back and then some."