On the battlefield against the Defilers, the casualties of the elementals were piling up along with that of humans - however powerful or elite they were, their powers still seemed limited when faced with what seemed like an endless outpour of Defilers. Several high level human leaders and a few Elemental Lords had fallen, and the rest of the resistance forces were just barely holding on. The inflow of creatures from the gaps stopped being as devastating as they used to - as more creatures came in through the portal, the blessing they received upon entering became thinner, which caused their attacks to have less and less effects on the Defilers, which then in turn accelerated their rate in which they had casualties.
Xyn and Tze Cha's had expended most of their energy at this time, and were now in a more passive fighting mode instead of active - they tried their best to evade and dodge the attacks to avoid any head-on clashes with any of the mid-tier Defilers, and only unleashed sneak attacks that would not hindered their flow of avoiding their enemies.
The outer energy seal that closed this realm off, as a result of the turning tide of the battle, cracked more and more due to more of the Defiler horde being able to divert their attention and attacks at it.
"Sorry, Jianmen. I am delegating the anchor - I won't be there when you come back." Josephine Wong took out a small crystal orb with meticulous patterns inside, filling all of its interior space in a three dimensional manner. And then with a trembling voice, she started chanting a spell, which would transfer a mark she willingly accepted before this battle into the crystal orb.
Just this moment, a "white hole" appeared right above the dark orb from which the Defiler horde came, and waves after waves of orange and golden waves of energy pulsated from it. Both Xyn and Tze Cha could tell instantly, that it was the power of order itself being released from the realm in which Jianmen had locked himself and the Grand Defiler. The low tier Defilers were nowhere near able to withstand this kind of order, and their bodies just crumbled into ashes upon contact. The mid tier Defilers, on the other hand, reacted like normal beings of flesh and blood when touched by strong acid or burning iron, and they flew away screaming and crying while their bodies were being burnt and melted.
"He's alive!" Professor Barnes held onto his almost maimed left arm and said: "He did it!"
"Wait, who's 'he'?" Professor Dorothea Clarkson asked.
"I - I can't remember." Professor Barnes frowned and hesitated: "Josephine, Glenda, do you know?"
"It seems to be coming back to me now." Glenda Grimes looked at Josephine Wong, who seemed to be wiping her eyes: "Do you know something we don't? Josephine?"
"We won." Josephine Wong's voice was trembling, as she pointed at the dark orb.
The dark orb, under the effects of the orange and golden energy waves, started to shrink in size visibly. During the battle, it had already gone down in size by a measurable amount, but as the rate in which it decreased was nowhere near what it was right now.
The energy waves swept through more and more Defilers on the battlefield, crushing, incinerating and melting them in the process. The forces of humans and elementals immediately pushed back and launched their counter attack with vengeance and fury. With almost half of the Defilers on the battlefield dead, the rest in panic and their formation in disarray, they were finally able to unleash their attacks without much worry, hindrance or resistance.
As the humans and elemental lords got their memories about Jianmen back, so had they begun to remember the names of those that had fallen in battle before. Many of them, when they had the moment to breathe and rest because of the crumbling of the Defilers, broke down and started weeping or crying in pain right on the spot - the sudden hit of the memories of all of those they lost at once proved too much, even for them.
"On your feet, humans!" Tze Cha roared and said, a red shockwave swept through the entire battlefield: "Mourn your losses later! Take this chance and slay them all!"
This was a spell of Tze Cha, whose effect and purpose was simple: it pushed those affected to channel their emotion to another avenue, through subliminal messaging and mental manipulation. It was by no means an honorable spell to use, but it worked - the distraught humans and elementals saw red, and started going after the Defilers with a vengeful, even desperate rage.
"Fuck you, Tze Cha." Josephine Wong sighed, and immediately started to prepare a mind and spirit calming spell.
The waves of order eventually ceased, and at which time, the dark orb had already become barely visible at all. It shook and jumped around in space, as if someone was banging it from behind trying to get out, but only small traces of black smoke were able to come out of it, and nothing else.
Josephine Wong's spell was released into the air when the number of Defilers dwindled to a non-threatening amount, and the fighters in a state of frenzy and berserk started getting clarity in their minds.
It only took a few more minutes for the rest of the Defilers to be annihilated, and the energy they released just decreased the size of the dark orb for the last time - right now, it was already at a size that was invisible to the naked eye.
"What should we do now?" Lady Ryleen, standing near the position of the orb and carrying the body of Bruj in her arms, asked: "The tear is still there."
"Leave it to us." Tze Cha and Xyn descended from the sky and answered with weary voices.
"This tear, though small, still needs the power of order to repair. And since there's no more Defilers here, the only way to do it is through the power of godhood." Xyn said: "And we are the only ones with this kind of power."
"I don't know if we'd feel comfortable with that." Professor Dorothea Clarkson stepped forward and said: "This is a realm of humans, and it should be left to us."
"Worry not, young human. We have no intention of claiming this realm for ourselves. Even if we wanted to, I am not even sure we could." Tze Cha sighed.