If I recall, the 'attack now' button, in the bottom left menu, was always there for all dialogues, initially, and has since been removed from many (most?) of them.
I feel as though, if you did that with Raphael, it ended the cutscene (so it could start your requested initiative), which of course just dumped you back out into your camp, and no devil to see. I'm not 100% certain on that, but that's what my brain is telling me.
I want this button to attack and defeat the Absolute, Selûne's avatar, and others the first time they meet. Or see what happens
Minthara is the best character and she NEEDS to be recruitable if you side with the grove!
