A large amount of dirt smoke rises and blocks the view.

　Suzu has also been cornered, an all-out blow by Kamui.
　If this is.........

...phew.

　As his vision cleared, he could see Iris' figure.
　Even if he had amazing physical abilities, he couldn't call that one unharmed, as expected.
　It was ragged and bleeding everywhere.

　The color of the blood was........red.

''How can I say it, well I didn't expect you to go this far. Not just a blow to me, but to drive me into a corner.
You seem to have a lot of room for that, though, don't you?
It's called emaciation. I don't want to show Rayne-sama that I'm miserable. Hmm.

　What a thing to say, but Iris is standing on a firm footing.
　There's no doubt that she's damaged in her own way, but....
　And yet, it's still not quite there, is it?

　Not only does he have amazing physical abilities, but he's also tougher than you can imagine...
　I didn't realize how troublesome it would be to make enemies with the strongest species.

　I'm really glad I had Suz-san put some training on me.
　If I hadn't trained against the strongest species, I wouldn't have been able to push Iris to this point.
　If it wasn't for Suzu-san's training, she would have been swallowed up by the more overwhelming power Iris possessed and would have been destroyed in no time.

''Well ... what do we do now?''
....
Can we just call it a day?
Well I guess we're done here.

　I can't help but look up at the unexpected words.
　Seeing me like that, Iris smiles a small smile.

''Huh, what's wrong?　You look like a fish flying through the air, don't you?
'Uh ... no, I didn't expect Iris to retreat honestly,'
Oh, dear. I'm not a wild boar, you know.　It's a shame, but Miss Lane is ... no. You are strong, Rain-sama and the others are strong. Even if we continue to fight, it's doubtful that we'll be able to win.
You're a very humble man.
'Because if you can't analyse a place calmly, you'll die. I will not commit such folly.
I see.
Besides, you promised me. If only I could deliver a blow to me. I was given something far more than a blow. Let's step aside for now. I am, despite my appearance, a man of my word, you know?　Well, it depends on who you're dealing with, but giggle.

　Iris snapped her fingers.
　In response to the signal, another Iris, who had been fighting with Arios and the others, comes over here.
　Arios and the others didn't seem to have the energy to chase after them and slumped down on the spot.

''What's wrong?''

　The other Iris speaks to Iris while the other Iris looks at her curiously.
　...........................There's something complicated here.

'We're retreating,'
'What?　Oh?　Is this the kind of place you want to pull up?　I, for one, would still like to have some fun...
I've made that kind of promise, so it can't be helped. Besides, you must remember that I have the upper hand on this occasion.
Yes, I know. I don't want to go against you, the body. Well, I guess I'm done with you, then. I'll go back to my world.

　The other Iris turned to me and bowed gracefully.

'Then, good day to you.'

　The figure disappeared as it melted into the air.

　I'm told that the summoning magic of the celestial race is not cancelled even if the surgeon falls....
　The power that Iris herself possesses must have allowed her to return to her original world.

I'm sure you'll be able to see that the other me returned by summoning myself to the original world. To be precise, this is not the case at all, but it is a difficult subject, so I've tried to explain it simply.
Well thank you for the explanation.
No, you're welcome.
So........would it help if you could repatriate the demons over there as well?

　He pointed to the group of demons that Axe and the others were fighting.

''Excuse me.
Hey.
'If it's Lady Rain and her friends, those demons are nothing to sneeze at, right?　In the meantime, I'll be leaving.

　Iris turned on her heel.
　She called out to its back.

'Wait!'
Oh my God, is there anything else?
Did you promise to answer my question?
'Oh, you remembered correctly. I was going to get in the middle of the hustle and bustle and just vanish...
Hey.
Hmmm, just kidding. I break my promises sometimes, but if it's someone I like, like Miss Lane, I'm pretty loyal to them.
You can say all you want, though.
'Oh, it's so sad that you don't believe me. Well, I guess I had it coming, huh?

　Giggling, Iris laughs.
　She just seems to simply enjoy talking to me.

　When I look at her this way, she really does look like a normal girl, but...
　But Iris destroyed a single village....and not only that, she also went after the survivors.

　Why would he do that?
　I wanted to know what was at the source of Iris' actions.

'We can't just sit here and talk... can we?　I'll come back to Lady Lane's at a later date. Will you be patient with that promise for now?
You're going to keep that promise, aren't you?　You wouldn't break it like Arios, would you?
Yes, of course. I told you.　I like Miss Lane, you know?　When it comes to a promise to someone like that, I'll make sure I keep it.
Well I believe it.
Hmmm, it's a strange feeling to be trusted by a human.

　Iris showed a complicated expression.
　Joy, anger, sorrow......................an emotion that cannot be expressed in words.

　However, it was only for a moment that she showed such an expression.
　As usual, Iris smiles.

''Then I'll see you later.''
Yeah, I'll see you later.
Hello, Miss Lane.

　Iris bows politely and....
　Then, in the briefest of moments of blinking, the figure disappeared.
　It must have used the same kind of power that the other Iris had used to repatriate itself earlier.

''Well........''

　The mountains have been overcome for the moment, but the demons are still there.

'It will be a little while before we can settle down... Kanade, Nina. Can you still make it?
'Yeah, I'm fine!
Hmmm... I'll do my best.

　They nodded together.

'Then we'll take care of the rest of the demons. Let's go!
'Oh!'
'Oh....'

　With Kanade energetically pumping his fist up and Nina with her tail peeking up, he went to support Axe and the others.



----------



　Since then, we all took care of the demons and were able to sweep them away safely.
　However, that doesn't mean there was zero damage.
　The adventurer who was serving as a guard was injured when he was blown up by Iris first, and...
　Everyone else has a lot of minor injuries and such.

　Fortunately, I should say, there were no serious injuries, but....
　With the addition of fatigue, it was impossible to move immediately.

　Naturally, there was no way he could chase after the escaped Iris...
　We were forced to rest in a Zith village.

　Well, it was all right.
　As for me, I had no intention of going after Ilisu.
　The truth of the matter is that it was a convenient way to get rid of the reason for the chase, and it helped.

　I can't say this in front of the victim, though...
　Essentially, I don't think it's a good idea to think about this.

　I think....

I'm curious.

　Why did Iris do that?
　Why do you have such a strong hatred for humans?

　I can't believe they didn't know that and just decided to take it down as 'evil'....
　It was like putting a lid on something that smells, and I felt like that wasn't a fundamental solution.

　So I want to know about Iris.
　Why did she do that, what is she thinking?
　I wanted to touch Iris's heart, yes, I wanted so badly.

'Am I naive, or am I?'
Meow?

　The outskirts of the village.
　As I was cooling off in the breeze, Kanade, who had followed me, tilted his head slightly.

'What is it, Rain?　Sweet?　Candy!
'No, I don't have any candy. Don't give me that twinkle in your eye.
Yeah that's too bad.

　Kanade's tail twitched.

'When I say sweet, I mean me. To tell you the truth, I've been wanting to talk to Iris.....................and that's not good enough. They're destroying an entire village and...
Hmmm, sounds good, doesn't it?

　Kanade readily agreed.

'When I say sweet, I mean sweet. Is it as sweet as a dollop of sugar-laden condensed milk?
Ugghhhhh Kanade says a lot too.
Oh, I'm sorry?　I don't mean to mock Rain, but that's not the point. Because we think it's just the way Rayne is. It is because of this that we are all following along with you.