He could protect both.

Maru heard his order and was immediately on the move.

These creatures were disgusting. They needed to be removed. And stopped from hurting Madoka's friends.

He fairly flew toward the tentacled creature, removing each one of it's waving appendages with flashes of his claws as they came crashing down toward him, until it was just so much calamari on the darkened sands of the beach.

Maru kicked at one of the wriggling things, sending it sailing off into the ocean. "Gross..."