"Elma, listen to me," Kanae said, her eyes locked on the residual blue clouds that marked her attack. "The Hero Hub received more information. The one who created this Mission was this world's proper Hero. Apparently, he's the type of Hero who was able to gain deific power specific to this world. That was why his message could reach the Hero Hub."

"Okay..." Elma said, her grip still on Dehlia, who was also trying to listen while armoring up her wound.

"That Hero is on his way here. Do you understand what that means?"

"It means we just have to hold out until he arrives!" Elma said.

"That's right. Svilran confirmed it herself. He's riding a sea serpent over right now."

"Wow. Thematically appropriate," Elma dryly remarked.

Dehlia chuckled. "Martilde... is coming...?"

Like she had just been given permission to fall, Dehlia's body lost its strength, startling Elma. Even her armor started crumbling.

"Dehlia!"

The woman collapsed as five other Marrazo Dee warriors approached and crowded around her. Her eyes were losing their light, and her breathing was rough.

Behind her, the crying Marrazzo Dee child sobbed and sobbed, begging for forgiveness while a warrior consoled him.

Kanae glanced at the wounded woman and tried to hide her anger. "Elma, where is Dorthaunzee?"

"Zee is outside the village trying to hold back big monsters with some of the other villagers." Elma focused on the shadows of the two who appeared from the previous attack's residual smoke. "Those two dropped monsters in here, skipping the frontlines, forcing us to split our forces."

"I see... Elma... I need to confront that child," Kanae said, her eyes on the silver-haired Neo-Demon child shaking his head and dislodging sand from his ears.

"I know," Elma replied.

A Marrazzo Dee male, Domaz, stood next to Kanae, his shark warrior armor fully donned. "You want the kid? Then, that other one with the spectacles. Three of us will try to handle him and give you space. He can teleport people away, so he's someone we have to lock down." Domaz looked over at Elma. "Thanks for blowing out one of his eyes."

"I wasn't about to let him take a chunk out of Dehlia for free."

"Alright," Kanae said. "Did you hear what I told my friend, warrior?"

"Aye, this reef's pride and joy is on his way. There's no way we're letting him come back to a bloodied pile of rocks..."

"Great... So let's do this."

The flames were waning. The monsters were little in number. The elders and most of the children were tucked away in one hiding spot.

The three warriors that were still healthy lined up with Kanae, and all four rushed in. The two Marrazzo Dee staying by Dehlia's side fired water beams at the Neo-Demons, further applying pressure while the three attackers sneaked in their opening moves, targeting the Neo-Demons when they reacted to the beams. Finally, Kanae fired rays of blue flame, further hoping to catch the pair unaware.

The two Neo-Demons hovered a foot or two above the ground and desperately dodged the attacks... They were only 'desperate' because they were locked in conversation, however.

The child's eyes were fixed on one of the attackers. "A demon and an angel in one body?" he asked.

"That newcomer. The pink one--can you see that too?" Dominguez asked, his eyes also on Kanae.

"I can... And I bet she's coming for me."

"And the others are coming for me," Dominguez concluded.

The child sneered. "I want to hear what she's going to say. Can you keep an eye on everything while I play with her?"

Dominguez groaned. "Don't talk like that you creep. Weren't we just hoping to stoke their misery? I don't want to actually fight them at this stage."

The child cackled. "Why'd you let them get your eye?" the child asked. "You made it harder for yourself!"

"I didn't! There were no sight lines. That woman had a projectile with maneuverability that I could not have predicted!"

"It goes to show that Imaginals cannot be underestimated... They'll be fun to break and raise. I can't wait to eat. They'll be so yum." The child flapped his wings and flew to the left, away from Dominguez. "Don't slip up, Dominguez. Our eternal army of Imaginals is mere steps away! Our paradise is on the line."

Dominguez groaned again, upset that he had to get into a melee.

Kanae saw the child fly away, and locked eyes with him. An invitation--it was nothing but an invitation. Kanae chased after him with the Marrazzo Dee warriors wishing her luck.

She chased the boy over to a sandy patch where the village children used to play games. As soon as the silver-haired child stopped running and started hovering, Kanae fired beams of blue flame from the branches growing from her shoulders.

"Ooo, scary!" the child said as he flew around them, casually twisting his body away, occasionally dodging flames by an inch. "Yeah, this really does feel familiar! I think I know who you are!"

"Bastard," Kanae spat.

He pointed at her with a wide grin on his face. "Hey you--"

The jewels on Kanae's head started glowing.

"--are you a ghost?"

Two pink and hot beams flew from Kanae's horn jewels. The child sucked in air and jerked his back away, rotating his entire body in the process. Now parallel to the ground, he watched as the beams flew inches above him and blew two perfectly circular holes in the wall behind him.

Kanae smirked as she sprinted toward the boy. Branches grew from her arms and formed monstrous claws. The tips of the wood-made claws ignited. Blue flames covering them, she swung at the child.

"I've got a question for you!" she yelled.

"How funny." The child covered his hand in black flames and rotated back toward Kanae, crashing his flame-clad arm against hers. "I've got a question for you too!"

The two's eyes were locked on the other. Kanae had nothing but anger twisting her face. The child, meanwhile, had nothing but deranged glee. They both opened their mouths.

""Where's the child?!""

It was a moment of shock.

Kanae, though her brows were still tightly knit, had her mouth fall slightly. The child, meanwhile, cocked his head and then sneered.

"Oh," he said. He flapped his wings and flew backward, dodging Kanae's five follow-up fireballs as he did. "I see what's going on then." He pointed at Kanae. "Hey, I think I know what's going on, sort of... Wanna hear?"

Kanae grew ten branches from her back and lit the tips of each branch with blue flames. "Speak."

"Okay... but if I tell you this, you'll have to tell me something in return."

"Please, I doubt your information will be worthwhile."

"Oh boo," the child said with a pout. "Whatever, I want to see your face when you learn this tidbit." His grin grew wider yet again. "The kid we're both looking for," he kept his finger pointed at Kanae. "He's right there."

"Huh?" Kanae asked, stunned.

"I don't know what happened, but the angel is right there, inside your body."

Anomaly.

That was the first word that came to Kanae's mind.

"Was he..." she muttered in wide-eyed disbelief.

"At first, I thought something weirder was going on, but this is much simpler! I'm happy, even!" The child wagged his brows at Kanae. "It means my little buddy came straight to me."

He flapped his wings and flew toward Kanae like a jet.

"Thanks for escorting him, Imaginal! I'll take him from you now!"

She snapped back into action and fired her blue flames. They crashed into the boy's body and erupted, but the boy flew through and threw a punch at Kanae, who blocked with her branch-wrapped arm.

"I won't have to hunt you down anymore! We've been looking high and low for you!" the child yelled.

Kanae fired her lasers point blank. They hit--they must have hit. A boom originated from the space the boy's head had occupied. Kanae was propelled back, but she kept her eyes ahead and released more flames, creating a giant blue conflagration.

The boy's laughter echoed through the blast. He flew high above the flames, coated in his own black flames. Kanae fired laser blasts at the boy as he flew like a hummingbird, dodging every single one of the lasers.

"I've got a question for you!" he said.

Kanae conjured up new flames and sent small fireballs up at the child. He flew around them, watching the flames carefully as he flew past them.

"We even have your head sitting on our fireplace! How are you here? How are you in this world? How are you alive?"

The many fireballs that he dodged came back down, aiming for his back. The boy simply released a massive cloud of black flame from his back.

"I know that trick--"

A disembodied black hand holding a jeweled dagger flew in from the side and penetrated the child's cheek.

"Gah!?" he yelped, reacting to the sudden pain.

And then the hand discharged, releasing withering mana into the boy's head. He was blown down toward the sand, where he got on his knees quickly. His eyes went to his left in time to see the foot wreathed in blue flames an inch from his face.

He had no time to do anything but brace. The kick made contact and blew him away further, making him roll on the sand like a common child. He lifted his face from the ground with an angry roar, fragments of his face falling toward the ground and revealing black and oily skin beneath.

"You..." Kanae said as she jumped, intent on smashing the child's face into the sand with her foot. "You're not the one I fought the first time..."

That statement enraged the child. He roared and let out a wave of black flames that swept Kanae back like they were the waves of the ocean.

"Tsk," Kanae said, producing as much blue flame as she could to counter the black flames. "These flames are still so painful to receive!"

The child let out a roar that devolved into a scream every few seconds. "Imaginals!" The boy flew toward Kanae, propelled by the black flames that armored him. "You all are too arrogant!"

Kanae rushed toward him, igniting the branches that covered her hands with blue flames once again.

"You're nothing but a fleeting thought!" the child screamed. "Don't dare believe you leave anything close to a lasting impression!"

A shadow appeared over the child and crashed into him, driving him into the sand before Kanae could attack.

"Not paying attention, boy?!" the bloody Marrazzo Dee chief, Rudda asked, having come from above, covered in his own shark armor. He nodded at Kanae, who never once faltered. He leaped off the child at the last possible minute and let Kanae drive her flaming, giant branch-formed fist into the Neo Demon's body.

"Daaaamn!" the child screamed as Kanae's flames consumed him.

"Come on, come on!" Kanae said.

She knew his flames were resisting her own. But she couldn't give up.

"Come on!"

She had to overcome him.

Then gold light sparked within her blue flames. One sparked turned two, and then three, and so on before it reached a tipping point. The blue flames were ignited, and golden flames burst out from them.

"No way," Kanae said.

In that moment when the golden flames flashed, she saw him in her mind. His warmth spread out toward Kanae.

"Thank you."

The golden flames roared, and then the Neo-Demon child's blood-curdling screams erupted over them. Something had changed. Kanae could feel the black flames waning within hers.

"It's the child's power!" Kanae exclaimed.

"Watch it, girlie!" Rudda yelled. He crashed into Kanae's body and tackled her away.

"Wait--I almost had him!" she cried as she watched her golden flames disappear since she wasn't making contact with them anymore. "Wait, please--"

Her voice got stuck in her throat when she saw the black, swirling ball appear in the space she had been standing in. It looked like a spherical black hole. It would have destroyed her--that was what her instincts told her.

"Damnation: Unstable Mayhem!" roared the other Neo Demon. "Huh? Oh no, she moved! Did I take too long with the chant?!"

He was high above the village, black lightning arcing from him and striking many parts of the village. Those parts that were struck would experience a black swirling sphere opening above them--no--on closer inspection, spheres were opening up at random wherever the lightning was traveling.

The Marrazzo Dee warriors were scurrying as they tried to avoid the consistent lightning-shaped discharge. Elma, too, had taken refuge behind a house and some trees with Dehlia and the Marrazzo Dee child.

Dominguez, noticing his opportunity, teleported to the silver-haired child, grabbed him by the arm, slung the arm across his neck--

"Don't move at all."

--and teleported into the sky again.

"We need to pull back!" Dominguez yelled.

"No!" the child screamed. He looked at Kanae with his one good eye, the skin around it black. His body was charred, and he was leaking black smoke from many parts of his body. "I can't let the angel escape! It's the only one we have!"

He lifted his hand, and five giant snakes made of black flames flowed out into the sky. They were so large they blanketed the entire island in shadows.

Down below, Kanae and Rudda stopped running. Kanae began charging her laser and lit many flames around her body. Rudda--and many of the other warriors prepared the shark water cannons. Elma, too, pointed her hand at the flames, ready to throw withering mana at the problem.

"Ha!" the child laughed. "You think that'll do anything?! You're nothing!"

The ones below heard his rant, but not a single one changed course.

"You're nothing but an afterthought!" the child screamed.

The warriors were ready to counter, but no one would ever know what would have happened if they did, for at that moment, golden waters flew from far beyond the island. They crashed into the flame snakes--it was like a great, raging river was flowing through the sky.

Elma and Kanae were in shock, but the Marrazzo Dee were cheering.

Domaz yelled at the top of his lungs. "Welcome home! Martilde!"

A man dressed in blue flowing robes accented with golden, star-like, points of light, arrived on the back of an azure flying serpentine dragon covered in fish scales.

Dominguez paled. "Th-This is not something we can handle!"

The child was oblivious to the fact that his snakes were evaporating. He could see nothing but the black flames he had ignited to cover the ugliness of his face.

"There is no Imaginal we can't handle!" the child screamed. "They're our resources! Not our predators--"

"Idiot! Don't get caught up on this! This isn't Earth--this is the Imaginal Realm!"

"Interlopers--do not think that you can just do as you please," said the divine newcomer. His hair was as blue as the ocean, and his skin as tan as those of the Marrazo Dee. He pointed at the Neo Demons, and jets of water broke through the space around him like they were breaking through windows. The jets flew toward the Neo Demons.

"Yeah, right!" Dominguez yelled. "I'm done here. Imaginal Gods are not something to be fought right now!"

The two Neo Demons disappeared mere moments before the jets struck them, much to the annoyance of the divine newcomer.

"Curses..."

The Neo Demons--the instigators--had disappeared without a trace in the face of Imaginal Divinity.