Thank you AGS for the excellent work as always!
I felt like the first time the author did this it worked out, make them able to escape the op enemy by a combination of skill, effort, and sacrifice. Giving them a target that is not only difficult but even adding a second to add a surprise element the next time they appear. Which makes it difficult even with the new help.
But now the author keeps ramping it up before a single closing mid point or closing can be reached. I feel it will force a deus ex machina or just some solution that feels hollow. Because at this point, the only reasonable conclusion to me feels like they all die here.
For an example imagine if Cell showed up in the middle of Goku fighting Vegeta for the first time. The entire earth would have been done.
I'm hoping the solution is better than my hypothesis.