Meruin, about to face Cerberus, paused at the arrival of Cornelia. Apparently, Agni was not the only one that was feeling particularly murderous today. She sighed in exasperation; now there were two of them (four, if you included Marcus and Deus from earlier) running around.

[i]Hm, who to deal with first?[/i] she thought. Cerberus was certainly a threat, but Pamela and Lyn were facing it together, while Cornelia was facing Marcus alone. Before she could decide who to go after, Ryan launched a spear of magic against the girl. [i]Ah, well that's decided.[/i]

Meruin floated in between Pamela and Lyn. "It seems you're bent on facing this thing. I will help you," she said in a tone that offered no room for argument. "Afterwards, I will deal with Agni and Cruz."

Facing Cerberus, the tiny mage tilted her head. "Now, you're certainly smaller than I had thought. I can only hope you can prove to be an interesting subject of observation."

A light tap from her foot resulted in a sudden explosion of glowing white chains. They snaked around Cerberus on all sides, burning all traces of demonic influence with it.