Famfrit has been torn apart.

But it's still moving.

There's no way it can survive. The efforts of the rest of my allies have crippled it beyond repair, in particular Mathiassen-san's channeling of Ramuh-sama's might.

But what power it has left is still dangerous. Corrupted, corroded, the guardian becoming nothing more then a force for destruction.

In a way, the end will come as a mercy. But it must come as swiftly as possible.

I need to reach the core, and I must do so swiftly. Simply throwing kunai towards it won't be sufficient if I want to stop it before it can attack with its last gasp.

The skin of my left arm is reddened by the blast I'd used to escape Graviga, but nevertheless I wrap both hands around the hilt of my sword and suck in a deep breath. Both to prepare myself for what I must do, and to brace myself against the protest of my singed palm.

The nearest pillar is also one of the tallest. That suits my needs quite well.

A single slash won't be enough. Not to destroy it before it uses its dying moments as a final assault. And so---

I duck low and hurl myself over the stone floor, towards the base of the pillar. I have plenty of momentum.

I hit the base of the stone cylinder and push upwards, throwing myself towards the ceiling. With enough speed, scaling a vertical surface this way is trivial.

I have to get high enough, the word streaming past me.

But that's not all.

Heat and light flows through my veins, to my palms, to my fingers, surging its way through my katana. The steel begins to grow hotter, hotter, hotter, hotter---

Red. Then white. But then---

The shade of cherry blossoms overtakes the edge of my blade, surging over it and trailing light, burning petals scattering from the edge of my sword. A technique not suited for stealth, but rather for striking as hard as possible, as fast as possible, for securing the target's elimination regardless of discovery.

There is no need to be subtle here.

Famfrit's core is in reach.

A great technique of the Asakura will be demonstrated now.

The cherry blossom light sears through the air, evaporating the moisture clinging to the pillar, reflecting off of the damp surfaces across the temple, flashing against Famfrit's broken form.

I push off of the surface of the pillar. The world around me slows to a crawl, my body twisting, my limbs tensing as I raise my sword, burning blossoms following its path.

The first time she described this technique to me, they had been in full bloom. She had used the fallen petals to illustrate it to me, her motions stirring them in a trail much like the one following my sword now.

A shower of cherry blossoms to mark the death of the enemy. A grave among the trees.

Is Famfrit worthy of such an epitaph? To be destroyed beneath the falling petals?

Perhaps its endless guardianship truly did earn it that much.

"Sensen---"

I swing my sword. The trail of light follows, to strike as deeply into the core, to end it before Famfrit's 'final breath' can take anyone along with it.

"---[i]Sange[/i]!"

The trail follows me as I descend.

Then, it erupts, the cherry blossom conflagration piercing the air and engulfing the damaged core.