Toz could sense that the cats were handling the jellyfish on the other parts of the island just fine. Relieved, he decided to help Hods and Stitches. Not for their sake but because he also wanted the boats intact. And because the void magic spread by the jellyfish was starting to wear on the island.
Although Toz and Nil had reinforced the trees and the island by filling it out with constructs of metal magic, the void magic's erosion was beginning to dissolve the mana and weaken the island. If Toz allowed the jellyfish to continue, he would put the island and all of their lives at risk.
Since he couldn't rely on the cats or the two pirates helping him, Toz was prepared to fight off the jellyfish alone. Thankfully he had access to an assortment of elements that could fulfill various purposes. But he couldn't use them as deftly as the cats could, so he was forced to improvise.
Toz used a combination of fire and lightning to burn and singe off the jellyfish's tentacles. He didn't cast a fireball since he was afraid he would destroy the jellyfish completely and possibly damage the boats as well.
The bombardment of flames and lightning bolts was enough to get rid of most tentacles. After disarming the jellyfish as much as possible, he created large fish hooks that he threw into the jellyfish, where they expanded and grabbed hold of the slimy jellyfish bodies. And then, while pulling the jellyfish away from the boats and to the ground, Toz covered the nearby area with a layer of darkness to stop the remaining tentacles from eroding the trees and their roots.
While Toz burned the remaining tentacles and sliced up the jellyfish, he also kept an eye out for Hods and Stitches in case they tried to escape. But it was a needless worry since they had been staring slackjawed in his direction after he started attacking the jellyfish. And when they finally clamped their jaws shut, it was too late to make an attempt at escaping since Toz was done with the last jellyfish. Toz would have more than enough time to stop them if the two pirates wanted to flee.
The only reason they had arrived by the boats before Toz did, was because Toz sensed that the jellyfish had already surrounded the island, and he wanted to see what the two pirates would do. There was no way they were faster than Toz, even if Stitches enhanced their physical abilities, making them faster.
Toz looked at the two pirates, who were flustered since it looked like they had wanted to escape as soon as an opportunity appeared. Stitches acted quickly and, before Toz could do anything, opened his mouth.
"I know what it looks like, but we only wanted to protect the boats. Promise."
Toz didn't have any intentions of squabbling over what the two pirates had wanted to do.
"Start bringing the remains to the storage."
'"Yes!"'
Hods and Stitches reacted in tandem before they began hauling the translucent pieces of jellyfish to the tiny square hut a short walk away from the house.
Toz was beginning to think it was a great idea to spare the two pirates' lives since it meant he didn't have to do bothersome chores anymore. Any time something cumbersome or annoying had to be dealt with, Toz had been the one that had to do it since he was the only one with hands and opposable thumbs.
Joan and Joshua had recently joined their island, but some things weren't suitable for a tiny kid or a mother who had spent most of her life enchanting clothes, especially when that mother could still be traumatized from losing her husband or surviving the war.
Toz himself didn't like cleaning up the mess that occurred each time they defended against a void beast attack since it was so slimy. And now he didn't have to since Hods and Stitches could do that for him.
While Hods and Stitches began lifting the pieces of meat large enough that a single piece filled up their arms, Toz headed back to the house in advance to check on the cats.
Considering the two pirates' attitude, it honestly didn't look like they had any intentions of fleeing. Either they realized they didn't have a chance against Toz or that they would only die alone and hungry or in the belly of some void beast if they tried to flee with the boats.
Toz arrived at the center of the island and noticed that the cats were about to finish up. They had done the same tactic they usually use against jellyfish, but without Toz and with more jellyfish than usual, it had taken more time and effort.
Lucy had made sure to protect the island from the void magic from the tentacles. But since there were so many tentacles, a few trees had lost some of their leaves. And Toz could sense that the underside of the island was feeling a little less stable. He made a mental note to fix that later when everything calmed down.
Mindle had done a great job burning away the tentacles with her two tongues of flame, and if it weren't for the amount, Lucy wouldn't have struggled when protecting the island.
And Nil and Scrael had worked together to make Toz's absence less noteworthy as they tore through the jellyfish and covered the ground in pieces of meat of various sizes. Toz felt like they would have to upgrade their food storage due to this incident. Toz also noticed that there were very few jellyfish with holes. Since Nil had just learned his spell, Toz thought he would be casting it as much as possible. Though Toz quickly realized that the spikes conjured by the spell were practically useless against the jellyfish since the spikes simply pierced through the body without doing any real damage.
The cats were done with their last jellyfish, so while they started resting, Toz started creating a larger warehouse. Making a large box with only a door wasn't so complex, and Toz only had to make sure to put in enough mana to hold it until the trees had finished growing and replacing the metal.
Hods and Stitches almost fell over when they saw how much jellyfish meat they would have to clean up.
