Tania circled in a circle above them.
　As if following it, a line of light followed it from the ground.

　From the bottom to the top, as if gravity had been reversed.
　Rays of light shot out of the cell's bow one after another, relentlessly aiming at us.

'What the hell, that guy!
'Tania, you better land once. That's a good target if you keep it up!
Yes, sir!

　Tania got a wide berth and escaped out of range of the cell's bow.
　There, she set us down and returned to human form again.

　In the meantime, Axe and Cell have closed the distance between us.
　They stop as far as their voices can reach.

'That's an abrupt greeting.'

　I threw the words at them, wary of them both.

'Sorry about that. I was surprised when the dragon appeared out of nowhere, and I attacked him.
I fired the bow, though.
...Is that true?
What do you mean?
Don't you think that's a little bold for an attack by the way?

　After all, it was a dragon.
　They could have just been flying around here, and usually, you would just wait and see.

　And if they didn't do that....
　It's possible that Axe and Cell attacked while understanding that it was us........

　I was wary of the two of them for thinking such a thing.
　

　Axe chuckled.

''Good grief........you're still the same guy with a keen instinct. Your eyes, you think we attacked you knowing that Rain and the others were there, don't you?
The answer is ... that's right.
...you admit it so easily, don't you?
It's not going to take much fudging.
Why would I do that?

　Tania asked, glaring at the two men.
　Not to be outdone by their eye pressure, Axe replied quietly.

'In the direction you guys were heading, the demon in the example is hiding out.......If you're heading there, then you've found a way to seal the demon, right?
Yeah, yeah.
'I knew it. Well, since you broke up with me after saying that, I didn't expect you to charge in before you found a way to seal it... but I didn't expect you to find it in such a short time. Big deal, you guys.
So ... the two of you are interrupting us, is that right?
Yeah.

　Cell nodded in a quiet ... really quiet voice.

'The top has made the decision to take out the demon. The option of sealing it off is gone.
You know what I mean?

　Axe speaks to me with a hopeful expression, as if to say this is the last time.

"Even if you seal it, it will be broken sooner or later, just like this time. That demon will be freed. If that happens, it's meaningless. We can't leave a bad taste in our mouths for future generations. We have to take care of this right now.
So you're going to kill him?
Yes.

　Axe nodded without hesitation.

'I can understand Rain's sympathy for the demon. To be honest, I feel a little sorry for him too. But. Just because he did something horrible to you in the past doesn't mean you should take it out on people now, right?
....
"He's killed so many people. He's killed with lust, he's killed with hate. He won't stop.
....
Time ain't going to make hate go away. It's something you can hold onto for a long, long time. At least that's what I think. So there's nothing we can do about it. There's nothing we as humans can do. Only thing we can do is just kill him and stop him.
....

　Axe is right.
　It's an overwhelmingly good argument.

　In your actions to protect people...
　And yet, I'm thinking about Iris, too.

　Still.

I'm not convinced.
You!
We're the ones who sowed the seeds. And now you're asking us to die for our own reasons and it's too selfish.
'I suppose that's inevitable!　He's already killed a bunch of people!　I'm going to continue to kill as many people as I can!
In order to prevent that from happening, I'm going to seal Iris away.
'So!　Even if you do that, he's going to be released eventually!　It was just a stopgap measure!　Don't be so naive!　Don't keep talking about your blue-eyed idealism!

　Axe is furious.
　It's hard to be looked at like that by Axe, who was my friend, even if it was only for a while.

　But.
　I've made up my mind.

I'm selfish, I know. It's my ego. But killing Iris and making an additional victim out of her is not enough to make you feel guilty about your actions, it's not enough to make you feel guilty. ...with blood on your hands I can't even laugh anymore if you do that.
Huh.
'You can't live a straight life. Killing him because he killed me I just can't see how it can be right. It's naive. It's a naive idealism. But what's wrong with that?
You.....
'Much better than giving up so easily and choosing to kill them!　I don't want to see anyone cry I don't want to see anyone die any more!!!　Even if it's Iris.........!

　As he shouted, he blurted out his true feelings that he was holding in his chest.

　Was it right to kill Iris?
　The answer is yes.

　But it's the right answer for people...
　From Iris' point of view, it's a colossal miss.
　And from my point of view, it's also incorrect.

　After all.....

　What is right and what is wrong is just a matter of personal discretion.
　There is no such thing as absolute justice.
　There is no such thing as an overwhelmingly correct answer.

　So.
　I'm going to follow the path I believe in.

"d*mn it, this guy you are...!

　Axe scratched his head in frustration, cringing.
　Looking at his partner, Cell held up his bow.

''Cell...?''
I told you before.　You can't convince Rayne and the others that you can't.

　Cell's voice was as calm as can be.

'Rain, I understand where you're coming from. You don't need to hear it but I'm sure everyone else feels the same way Rain does.
Of course!
Yes, they do.
Sora would like to help Iris.
I will do what I want to do.
I don't think I can go on like this...
We are beholden to Lane's husband.

　Everyone showed their agreement one after another.

　Looking at everyone like that, Cell smiled slightly........
　Next, he makes a stern face.

'All right, Axe. It's impossible to convince Rain and the others. Like us, Rain and the others stand here with the same firm resolve.
I know that's not true.
I hope so.

　Then Cell looks at me.

'I don't like to hide things. To be honest, we've been ordered to keep Lane and the others stranded.
It's...
'After that, we didn't hide what Rain and the others were doing, but we reported it to the top. The top brass was afraid that they would interfere with our efforts to defeat the demon. So, he ordered Axe and I to stop Rain and the others. In the meantime, to defeat the demon.
....
Well, what should we do?
I know...

　The truth is, I don't want to do this.
　But if there's no other way...
　I just keep pushing forward.

　I readied my Kamui.

'If you two are going to get in my way, I'll have to force my way through.
I knew it...

　Cell looked slightly sad....
　But in the next moment he was back to his usual calm face.

''If there are things we can't compromise on with each other then let's decide which one of us is better here.

　Cell readied his bow.

'I'm sorry, but I won't take it easy on you. Don't hate me if I die.

　Axe readied his sword.

'That's my line. Are you guys ready?
Nya ... Lane, are you sure you want to do this?
'We're not two people who would retreat here. If it's hard for you, Kanade can stand back....
...No, I'll do it. I can't force Rain to do something hard all the time, you know!

　Kanade was also ready.
　Following that, everyone else began to prepare to attack.