Her ice-cold presence was both shocking and relieving to Tsushiro. She evoked a myriad of emotions, but the most dominant was utter confusion. Never had he thought she would appear in such a situation—but there she was. Her presence sent shivers down the spines of the onlookers, leaving them unsure how she had overcome them.
"You're overdoing it, Tsushiro," she said, breaking the silence, "just look at all this damage you're causing to the village and to your vessel."
He sat there, expressionless, staring blankly forward. Her then tone suddenly shifted.
"Snap out of it, Tsushiro."
She pointed at the villagers. "Just look at them, look how terrified they are."
He glanced back. Sure enough, she was right. Behind the transparent glass barrier he had erected, the villagers stood motionless, too terrified to move.
"Do you see that?" the Fuyumi continued, capturing his attention. "Now you know that if you go down this path, you will shatter their world and leave nothing but pain, when your mission is to end the suffering of people like them."
Tsushiro turned his gaze away from her and toward the scene of destruction he had wrought. Without looking back, he said, "You know what, Fuyumi? Maybe I just got caught up in the moment back then, but now I see that one single man could never change such a world. I tried to hide my fear behind a show of confidence, but I'm not sure I can keep it up—not anymore."
His words left her speechless for a moment as he loosened his grip. He dropped his sword to the ground.
"You're right," she said. "You can't do it on your own. But you were never meant to. The condition was that you help bring this war to an end. It doesn't necessarily mean that you have to do it alone. You have to seek aid in others; only then can you win."
For a moment, another wave of silence fell—each second more nerve-wracking for Fuyumi, for she could never anticipate what would come next.
Tsushiro suddenly turned toward her.
"What then? Will the pain in my heart finally go away? Will saving these people and possibly bringing that change quell the rage inside? How sure are you that I am selfless enough to put others before myself?"
She listened to his barrage and saw a tear welling in his eye. She looked away. "All that shows is that I don't know you as well as I had thought. But what I do know is that you have to make a decision—whether to just walk away from this, or whether to retaliate. Not just against those who wronged you, but against this cruel world that thrust that pain upon you. The only way is to change this twisted world into something better. Not just for you, but for those who will come after as well."
She stood and opened her hand. "If you've chosen to walk the path to the future, then stand up and face forward. And when you feel overwhelmed by it all—by pain, despair, and hopelessness—take a step back, fill your heart with the hope of tomorrow, and leap forward to face the world at your fullest."
"Stand up, Tsushiro, for even you know that this is just the beginning."
Tsushiro lowered his gaze to the scorched ground, letting her words echo through him. The smoke stung his lungs, but he breathed slowly, steeling his resolve.
A sudden chill ran along his arms, and the small flames on his sword hissed as if recoiling. Frost began to form in the cracks of the burned earth beneath his feet as he rose. His breath fogged in the night air as he grasped his sword with his right hand.
His chest rose and fell, calm yet alert. He turned to the burning house in which Waver had fallen, sensing a familiar pulse.
His instincts proved correct. His foe emerged from the flames, body scarred and blackened.
Tsushiro raised his sword toward Fuyumi. "You're right. This is just the beginning."
A smile appeared on her face. She grasped the blade with both hands. "Go give him hell."
Her body turned into a white mist that enveloped him and his sword.
As the mist cleared, Tsushiro stood in an entirely new fighting stance. His blade had changed—no longer black with a crimson flame pattern along its edge, it now gleamed pale blue and white.
"He's changed," Waver thought to himself. "It would be best to finish this while I still can."
The blood covering his body began to energize and crackle as he became enveloped in his technique.
Tsushiro responded in kind, stepping forward as ice crystals formed at his feet. He prepared for a decisive attack.
Waver channeled all the blood thunder into his hands, forming two large crackling spears of electrified blood.
"Let's see you dodge this!" he yelled, throwing the spears with every ounce of strength he could muster.
Instead of panicking, Tsushiro took a deep breath.
"Taksho tenyin!"
With that single phrase, Tsushiro unleashed a massive wave of ice that intercepted and overpowered the thunder arrows, leaving a trail of frost and crystal spikes racing toward Waver.
Seeing the pulsating wave of ice and mist, Waver could do nothing but remain frozen in place. He had expended all his energy in his previous attack and could barely lift a finger.
He accepted his fate with dread as the wave engulfed him, forming a massive cloud of mist.
When the haze cleared, Tsushiro saw Waver encased in a massive ice crystal that shattered, leaving him in pieces.
Tsushiro could not hold back a smile. He fell to his knees and finally collapsed, exhausted but victorious.