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Emil could see it in the eyes of the monsters that were summoned. They seemed rather sad than being threatening. Drawing his blade, the blonde male charged at the Lamia and Mandragora that aimed to attack him. "Raining Fangs!" He jumped into the air and slashed his blade toward the ground, sending several shockwaves at the Lamia.

Oro was jumping around the battlefield avoiding and wayward attacks from the enemies, 'cause who would seriously take on a puppy' he thought.

Schwarz was dodging the Lamia with little difficulty, but with Oro's gel bag in his hand he couldn't summon his weapon. So he did what he thought was the next best thing. "Snake lady meet my friend, Mr. Sack-'n-toss." he grabbed the bag with both hands and swung hard sending the lamia soaring a short ways before it face planted into the ground. Schwarz had a smug grin on until he saw that the impact ripped the bag open and thrown the gels across the battlefield. "Uh oh." he waited for the call.

Oro upon seeing his gels flying in the air, he forgot that he was hiding from the newer people in there small group and bellowed, "SCHWAAAAAAAAAARRRRRZZZZZ!" scream Oro aura glowed, he took off and and seconds later bit Schwarz on the nose.

"Ow! Get him off me, get him off." he pulled the pup off his face and glared at it, "now is not the time Oro, bite me after the battle." Schwarz heard movement from behind and dodged to the side as vines came up from the ground. Schwarz placed Oro on his head, then summoned his kusarigama, "Just watch my back till this is over."

"Grr. Fine!" mad

((The other team could arrive about now to even things out. 3nodding ))

"Demonic Circle!" Lloyd held one sword out as he whirled in a full circle before slamming both of them on the ground in front of him. The spin knocked his two foes away, and the shockwave from the slam would keep them at bay. "I'm sorry guys...we'll try to save you..." he uttered as he looked with pity upon the creatures.

"Crescent Moon!" Zaul did a flip kick to knock away the Lamia going after him, and to create distance between him and the other with the landing. He then proceeded to keep the accompanying Mandragora back by shooting off an "Aqua Spiral!"

"Hey! Looks like Nepheus is in trouble," Lloyd called out to anyone in particular, "What can we do?"

Zaul glanced over in the girl's direction for a moment and replied, "We pull 'em away from 'er! A distraction...like this!" He pointed both his pistols at the Lamia closing in on Nepheus. "Twin Bullet!" He pelted the monster with 10 energy bullets fired in rapid succession, and whenever it tried to turn back on the girl, he'd do it again. Until the creature turned its attention away from her and onto him.

"Ah, gotcha!" Lloyd proceeded to apply Zaul's strategy with Demon Fangs, leading away the Mandragora that was going after Nepheus.

One of the Lamias on Zaul was acting particularly relentless on him. The other Lamia and the Mandragora that were targeting him were watching on, making themselves look like they were looking for a good opening on him. It was just for show, however; they were making themselves look busy so that Torus wouldn't think they were slacking. The "relentless" Lamia then proceeded to talk softly to Zaul.

"I'm going to die right here, aren't I? I...I recognize my daughter's scent on you. Please tell her I'm sorry..."

For a second, Zaul's eye widened as he remembered a little girl he came across earlier yesterday in Luin, before he met the others. She was crying out for someone, anyone to find her mother. Her father had gone missing for several days earlier as well, and they had just about given up hope on him turning up again. Her mother was all she had left, and she sobbed about how she didn't want to be left all alone. Though the people around sympathized, they were unnerved that she was making quite a scene; some of them would lightly scold her then just walk away ignoring her when she wouldn't let up. So Zaul had worked up the nerve to go up to the little girl, give her a comforting embrace, and talk with her enough to calm her down.

Zaul mentally shoved that flashback to the back of his mind and whispered in reply, "No. No...no no no. We'll get ya outta this and make y'all better. Jus' play 'long here; I got somethin' cooking up in this head 'f mine. But don' a single one a' ya fall yet. Spread the word." Making sure to hold back, he did a Spin Kick to push her away and followed up with a Sessive Bullet arte in which he rapidly fired off 16 energy bullets at her. The Lamia-woman scrambled away, seeming to want to turn on a new target now, but was actually going to carry out what Zaul instructed to her fellow victims. The two she left behind took their turn on him.

Meanwhile, Torus was just smugly and relaxedly standing off to the side, watching the action. Because the minions he rounded up outnumbered them, not to mention that they'd try to avoid hurting them too much after learning their nature, he was overconfident to the point that he had been dulled to how Zaul was communicating to them. However, he was also watching the creatures intently to spot which ones were down for the count as he pulled out a device that looked like a remote control. Fortunately, none of them were yet, but the sight of the device appeared to increase their anxiety and made them step up their game.

With a brief glance over at Torus, Zaul indeed noticed the device in his hands. Alright, he's got it out now...jus' gotta wait for a window 'f opportunity...

Colette smiled from hearing Cinkel's comment to Hina about having a heart of gold. "I believe you have a heart of gold as well, Cinkel." She said. As she was listening to Jason's story, she spotted what seemed to be a fight. "Hey, what's going on there?" Among the group that were fighting what seemed to be monsters, her blue eyes widen in surprise when she saw a familiar figure. "L-Lloyd?" She blinked for a moment. Not only Lloyd was there among the group, she also spotted Emil as well as Oro and Schwarz.

Her pink angel wings would appear as she drew out her chakrams. "Lloyd! Emil!" She called out as she would make her way over to the battlefield. "Ray Thrust!" She would toss a single ring at Torus.

Hearing a familiar voice, Emil's green eyes widen slightly. "Colette?" Turning his attention back to the fight. "Ravaging Tiger!" He would send the Mandragora that was coming after him up into the air and as he swung his blade down, he sent the creature back down to the ground. He did felt bad for those creatures.

Meteo had silently put his opponents to sleep with non-lethal strikes, leaving them unconscious. He drew a pair of throwing axes, rushing the man who had summoned the monsters, silently focusing on his task. This was the first time in a long time he'd actually drawn an axe in battle, since up to now he'd used his body or his Zweihander to fight. But now he was going to put an axe right through this cruel being's skull.

The dwarf responded to Cinkel. "Ahah, that they 'ave!" Now there was a good old-fashioned tussle, which Jason would eagerly join. The fact that it would help the two heroes and some others was a great bonus. In fact, his blood was boiling so much that he hardly noticed Cinkel's dual voices.
"'Ail to yeh, lads an' lasses! 'Ope ya don't mind 'ar buttin' in!" Jason did not hesitate to whip out his chain and recklessly charge into the fray. Lowering his shoulders, he would barrel through two nearby "monsters" with a charging headbutt. "Yee-haw! I'm a dwarven Battering Ram!" A charging dwarf was a formidable force, and he knocked them down.
He turned around to follow up on his attack, but halted mid-windup as he finally noticed the Exspheres. What really upset him was the presence of the Key Crests, and he bellowed "What's this?!" Must be damn shoddy workmanship! Misuse! Jus' shameful!
He looked around for whoever was responsible, and shouted out his challenge, despite the fact that he didn't know the strength of this foe. "Who's responsible for alla this, then? I'll show 'im a thing'a two!"

((Ah, good. I was running out of ideas.))

There was hardly any room at all for Lloyd and Zaul to notice Nepheus fleeing the scene. Some of the creatures did, however, and considered giving chase. Instead, they tried to help up their fallen allies, knowing what was going to follow if Torus saw them completely down for the count.

And their bull-headed commander was about to spot them, if not for Colette's interruption. "What?!" Spotting the chakram she threw, he leaped upward into a backflip to dodge the attack. Keeping his eyes trained in the direction it came from as he landed outside of its range for its return trip to its owner, he caught a good look at the incoming group. "Unbelievable," he muttered under his breath. In retaliation, he chucked his spear at Colette.

As Lloyd pushed away a Mandragora foe, Colette's voice caught his attention. "Colette?" After looking over and confirming that it was indeed her, he exclaimed, "...Colette!" Making his way over to her, he knocked away Torus' spear with a Double Demon Fang. "Great, this evens things out a bit! No time to explain, but go easy on them! They're people! They must be the missing people we keep hearing about!" Hearing the dwarf's rage, Lloyd looked over in his direction and added, "Hey, Jason! I'm pretty sure that guy with the horns has something to do with it!"

"Eh...?" Zaul was caught by surprise by the wind attack that had zeroed in on his own opponents. As Cleo alerted him to the newcomers, he glanced over at them. "Well...main objective's ta get to th' device in Toro's hand---" He cut his own words off, noticing the following unfolding.

After Torus had thrown his spear, he caught sight of Meteo charging after him. Gritting his teeth into an annoyed scowl, he backed up a few steps and leaped high into the air before he could be reached. Flipping at the peak of his jump, he came down in a hoof-first dive in the hopes of crushing in Meteo's head.

Seeing Torus mid-dive, Zaul saw the window of opportunity he was looking for. Taking aim at the hand in which the remote control device was, he shot off an Aerial Laser. It manage to strike Torus' wrist hard, causing him to loosen his grip on the device....and drop it.

"NOOOOO!!!"

The blow also knocked Torus off-balance from his intended attack. He was now about to fall upon Meteo with his back facing the ground. As for the device itself, all the monster-folk on the battlefield froze as they watched it fall...into the hands of one of their own; specifically, one of the Lamia-people. As she held it, her eyes widened in shock and she began to shiver from nervousness. She was internally panicking, knowing how careful she had to be with it---one false move and one of her ilk would end up exploding.

Watching the results of his shot, Zaul grinned and began to laugh triumphantly. "Hahahah! Guys! Now's about th' right time fer ALL o' ya ta turn on ol' Toro!" he announced to his allies. Then, turning to Cleo, he added, "I'm gonna go on n' take care o' disablin' that device." He then hurriedly proceeded to the Lamia-woman who happened to catch it.

((Hmm. I suggest Meteo take his next shot at Torus first, then the rest can follow. About now, the monster-folk would stop attacking the party.))

Colette's eyes widen as Torus chucked his spear towards her. She was about to move until she saw that Lloyd had managed to knock away the spear with a Double Demon Fang. "Thanks, Lloyd." She then blinked for a moment as the red-clad swordsman told her to go easy on the creatures as well as mentioning that they might be the missing people they've been hearing about. She frowned as she glanced over to the monster-folk for a moment, noticing the exspheres.

Emil glanced over to see that it was indeed Colette, and she had brought some new friends as well. After Zaul had succeeded with having Torus drop the device, he smiled. "Nice shot!" He said. He would then charge at Torus as Meteo began his attack. "Raining Fangs!" He jumped into the air, sending several small shockwaves at Torus like falling rain.

She began to concentrate. "Holy wings, I beg of thee to reveal thy glory. Angel Feathers!" Rings of light shot out towards Torus that would leave behind a trail of glowing pink feathers.