As Santokumaru trades a blizzard of clanging blows with Akimbold, he notices the Ramenooze inhaling a great quantity of air, as though in preparation for some terrible breath. Just before the Ramenooze lets loose, Santokumaru appears to vanish from his duel entirely, in a shimmer of motion. There is a sound of rushing air and roaring flame, as the Ramenooze spews a plume of fire that washes over Vesper.
When the flames subside, Santokumaru stands in front of Vesper, his blades spinning like the propellers of an airship, their metal superheated to a red-orange glow. The spinning stops, and a soot-covered Santokumaru stumbles, slightly; his strength is beginning to falter. He spits out some ash-choked saliva on the ground, and locks eyes with Akimbold once more. His lips curl into a subtle smile.
"I finally remember what dish your ropes remind me of, false dragon," Santokumaru says, defiantly. "In Honyaki, we have a noodle dish where the noodles are made from barley, and are cut in a very particular way." He seizes Gyuuto, and its magical flames spring to life once more. "You do not know of it? Here, I will show you." As Santokumaru raises his fiery blade to strike, he disappears again, his image flickering for just a moment before vanishing completely.
Suddenly, one of the ropes above snaps with a hissing noise, its end scorched as it twists and lashes around from the abrupt change in tension. Another rope does the same thing, then another. Before long, almost all of the ropes are cut, with the exception of one larger rope that strains and whines in its newfound solitude.
Santokumaru reappears on the bowlship, and with a flourish, reverses his grip on Gyuuto as he speaks:
~ A dream of ramen.
Noodles carved from sheets? No, they
Are carved from intent. ~
He sheathes Gyuuto back in the knife block with a loud clack, as he bellows "Burning Talons of the Divine Dragon!!"
A frenzy of whirling, burning slashes slithers down the length of the final rope, and for a second, they almost resemble a coiling dragon. But the effect is over in an instant as the rope is shredded into twine.