Boost!

　Magic to enhance your physical abilities.
　Your body becomes light as a feather.
　In that state, he attacked Axe again.

''d*mn, you're fast!

　Axe tries to respond with his godspeed swordplay, but I go even further.
　Axe draws his sword out and I'm no longer at the end of it.
　With a momentum that even leaves an afterimage, I get behind Axe.

''Huh........don't lick it!

　As expected, Axe doesn't end with this.
　He twists his body and quickly reverses.
　He swings the sword off at an angle.
　It's an amazing reaction speed.

　This time I couldn't avoid it and caught it with my Kamui.
　But this is fine.

''Nyan, I want my back!

　Kanade takes Axe's back and unleashes a kick.
　Axe supports his sword with one hand and guards Kanade's kick with his other hand.

''Guh!''

　Even though he received it with a small hand, it was a blow from the cat spirit family.
　Axe's face stiffened at the heavy impact, which seemed not to be unharmed.

''Axe!''

　Cell's covering fire is unleashed.
　Fast!

　Three simultaneous shots of three arrows at once, three times.
　In total, nine arrows flew like a rainstorm.

''I'm sorry, but I'm going to end it here!

　Tania shot out a fireball and intercepted the arrow.

'Sola and the others will take care of the cell!
We will not let Lane get in the way!

　Continuing on, Sora and Luna turn to cover Tania.
　They hit a series of beginner level magic.
　Even though it's just beginner level magic, it would be amazing if more than a dozen rounds were used at the same time.

''Kukk!''

　They would be competing in a long-distance battle, but the problem was that their opponents were Tania, Sora and Luna.
　No matter how much Cell was an A-ranked adventurer and had superb archery skills, there was no way he could take on the three strongest species.
　He was gradually being pushed into a corner as they fired a series of magic and fireballs at him.
　Turning to cover Axe, of course, is not possible.


'We can't take much more time on this!　I'm sorry, but I'm going to end it!
Don't lick it.

　Axe grasps his sword with both hands again and delivers a god-speed blow.
　However, his movements are slow.
　Kanade's blow must have been effective.
　It seems that the sword can't be wielded as before, and its speed had clearly decreased.

　Normally, I might have hesitated here....

　We've come this far, we have to make up our minds.
　We've got to do what we came here to do.
　We're going to defeat Axe!

Kanade!
Yeah.

　He exchanged glances with Kanade.
　That's enough.

　Kanade, sensing our intentions, continued to fire a series of blows at Axe.
　A rush of fists and legs.
　Although Axe caught it with his amazing reaction speed, he gradually began to delay.
　His hands must be getting numb from the power of the Kanade.
　Also, the blows I received earlier may have tailed off.

''Nyan!''
Guh!

　Kanade swung his arms wide and blew Axe away.
　Just as I had hoped, he created an opening.

　Here's the decision!

'I'm not done yet!

　Axe quickly regained his position and blocked my approach.
　It wasn't going to end like that.......was it?

　But it's already too late.

"I will not recognize you, you know!
That's fine, I'll be on my way!

　He clashes with Axe and crosses blades.
　A flash.

　Geez, the blade collides with the blade, making a sound.
　The number of times of the clash increases and the speed increases.

　Like a storm.
　Like a tornado.
　The blade meets the blade, creating countless wounds.
　Still, it doesn't stop. I can't stop.
　Axe and I, in order to achieve our respective goals we advance, risking everything we have to achieve our goals.

　An endless sword dance unfolds....
　In this situation where the moment either side makes a mistake, the end comes........

What?

　Suddenly, Axe lost his balance.
　I look at his feet with startled eyes.
　There.........the rabbit that I had remotely tamed was clinging to Axe's leg, slightly disrupting its movement.

''Wha, rabbit........?
Did you forget?　I'm a beast tamer!

　Axe's movements are disorganized and he's stopped in his tracks from getting flustered.
　I don't miss the opening.

　I grab my Kamui and jump into Axe's bosom.
　And.........
　Back the blade.
　He struck the pigeon tail with the hilt.

''Gu........ah.......!

　That was a decisive blow to the body now.
　Axe tries to posture up but his legs don't seem to be doing the job...
　He let go of his sword and fell straight to the ground.

　At about the same time........

　Tania and the others, who had been fighting a little further away, succeeded in destroying and neutralizing Cell's bow.



----------



Fu.....

　The fight was over and he relaxed his body.
　Axe and Cell wouldn't be able to move for a while.
　I gave Axe a painful blow and........
　The cell has to take care of that Axe.

　There's nothing we can do to stop him.

Are you okay?
Well you know what, you don't have to worry about us every time.

　When I called out to him, Axe said dismissively.

'Are you an idiot?　We've just been fighting, remember?　I'm an enemy to Rayne. Don't worry about the enemy.
I'm still curious.
You're a very good-natured person, aren't you? It's a good place to be, Ama-chan.
But that's the beauty of Rain, isn't it?

　Kanade says with a smile.

"I mean, don't you think it's so vain to talk like that after we won?
Ugh....

　At Tania's tweak, Axe looked awkward.
　He was a bit aware of it.

''Well then, we'll go.

　I care about the two of you, but....
　But we can't take any more time.
　There's a chance that the strike force might be engaged with Iris.
　We need to get there first and seal Iris off.

'I'll tell you what,'

　Axe's voice is strained, as if it's the last bad thing he's ever done.

'I won't admit it, you know.
....
Lane, I don't approve of what you're trying to do.
Okay.
You're too soft, you know that?
'Maybe so but there's nothing else I can do about it. This is the best way for me to do it. So, we'll just have to believe in it and keep going, won't we?
...a f*cking idiot.

　That's where Axe seemed to run out of power and he fainted.
　Looking at Axe with some love and support, Cell says

'There's no one else to hold Lane and the others back. Do what you want with the rest.
I will.
If I may say one thing I agree with Axe on this one thing, it's that I agree with him. That's why we fought Rain and the others like this.
I know.
Goodbye.
Yeah, bye.

　That was the moment when Axe and Cell were completely cut off from each other.
　They were friends who had traveled together, even if it was only for a while...
　We will never have that good time again.

　No more words will be spoken.
　We left the place.