The world was a sea of fire and blood. Deep sanguine red and searingly bright orange exploded around Balyn, clawing at his clothing, searing his flesh, sending him tumbling away, desperately trying to escape a destruction that seemed to be everywhere at once.
Just in the nick of time he hurtled out of the way before a cloud of flame engulfed him completely. His shoulder hit the wooden floor, the pain and shock of impact nearly jarring the blunderbuss from his grip. Gritting his teeth beneath his mask, he got his knee under him and pushed himself to his feet...
...only for steel to explode out of the cloud of flame, a long, lunging stab that tore along his ribs, slashing through his coat and the banding of leather belts reinforcing his waistcoat to leave stinging pain along his side. He heard the explosion of fire behind him, but he was already flinging himself left to dodge the sweeping follow-up uppercut of Lady Maria's Rakuyo and the wave of bloody flame it left in its wake. More out of desperation than plan, he triggered his blunderbuss, and the cloud of quicksilver pellets slammed into Lady Maria's chest, rocking her back.
Seizing the opportunity, Balyn raised his saw cleaver, bracing himself for a second, and unloaded a wild, roundhouse swing with every last bit of power he could manage, and she went down at long last into the end of her nightmare.
~X X X~
"Good hunter," the Doll said as Balyn returned to the Dream, "have I somehow changed? Just now, from somewhere deep within, I sensed a liberation from heavy shackles."
"I finally did it!" Balyn pumped his fist in the air. "I beat Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower! After sixteen separate attempts, after dying to fire, to blood, to stabbing, slicing, shooting, and even one really assertive hug, this time it was me who got the final word and she was the one who ended up getting her clock cleaned!"
The Doll gave Balyn a long, searching look, then shook her head sadly.
"No, I was wrong; the shackles remain."