"A foot! The blood level has reached a foot!"
When Dream and Vela walked back into the evaluation center, they could hear cheers and cries of surprise. Dream took a look at the space where Melody was fighting.
The previously dead desert was now a sea of blood. Melody stood within this blood that reached her shins. In her hand was the sword that Dream gave her, the roses of blood on it glowing with vibrant vitality as if it had absorbed the lives of the enemies it killed.
Melody's breathing was calm. She stood across from an army of creatures. Some of these creatures were merely humanoids wearing armor and wielding weapons like swords, spears, bows, or axes. Others were giant and burly. Some were smaller and looked like tigers, while some flew in the air with brilliant wings.
All these creatures stood opposed to Melody, drowning the space with roars and screeches. Waves were kicked up as they charged toward her, the only thoughts in their minds to kill her.
Melody dashed, sprinting into this horde of enemies. With a sweep of her blade, a dozen were cut in half. Then, after diving into the fray, she danced.
Her blade traced the throats of humanoids and pierced the skulls of giants. Birds seemed to throw themselves toward her blade as their wings were chopped off. Tigers and lions could only let out roars of unwillingness as their heads were lopped off like trophies.
Melody flowed through these bodies, trails of blood being traced in the air as she reaped lives. She was elegant yet lethal. Her blade was ruthlessly efficient as it went from one body to another. Her dance seemed fancy, but there were nearly zero wasted movements. She was like a river current, never stopping, constantly moving forward.
Seeing this, Vela revealed a look of surprise. As blood was spilled, it pooled within the space. Melody had already killed thousands, their blood flooding the wasteland. To get up to a one foot blood level was already impressive, but it didn't seem like Melody was having a hard time yet.
However, Vela knew that the worst had yet to come. Sure enough, as soon as Melody felled another army of hundreds, all the chaos came to a halt. Melody stood among the sea of blood that was a bit higher than before.
"The Asura Giants are coming!"
There was a shout, and everyone was even more attentive than before. By now, there were hundreds of asuras in the evaluation center, filling the building to the brim. Some were flying in the air to get a better look, stacking on top of each other.
Melody stood silently, waiting for the next enemy. Dream watched her. Suddenly, the blood around her started to swirl, forming 7 whirlpools around her. These whirlpools condensed, forming a single red bead in their center.
The beads glowed with power as flesh and muscle started to form around them. After several seconds, the beads became the cores of 7 30 foot giants.
Melody watched the giants form around her. The giants, contrasting to the sea of red around them, had pure white skin as if they were formed of pure marble, not unlike statues. They each held a different item. A sword, a bow, a spear, a shield, a hammer, a knife, and a book.
These 7 beings looked identical, genderless, and majestic. After forming, the red beads within them moved to their forehead where it became a red third eye. The giants had their normal eyes closed, and this third eye open.
Suddenly, Melody felt a vast power wash over her. This power shook her soul, making known the majesty of these 7 giants. Without much suspense, the 7 giants quickly struck out. Melody was also prepared to react, dodging a spear that was thrust at her neck.
The crowds of asuras watched as Melody dashed toward the giant with the bow. However, before she could reach the bow giant, the shield giant dashed in front of her. The speed of the shield giant surprised her, and she was forced to raise her arm to block the shield bash.
*Bang!*
The shield knocked into her, sending her flying. However, there was a noticeable crack on the shield that hit her.
"She cracked the shield! What a disgusting defense!"
One asura couldn't help but exclaim. There were definitely others who had gotten to this stage, so the power of these 7 giants was well known. Naturally, as the giant with the shield, the shield giant had the highest defensive power, able to take the hardest hits. However, just by hitting Melody, its shield had been cracked. Melody's bare body was tougher than the shield! This meant she wasn't just a glass cannon and could take hits.
Meanwhile, Dream was nodding, as if this were expected. Melody had fought against his bots, and she received no shortage of beatings. Against his bots, there was no avoiding getting hit and injured, so she needed to figure out how to boost her defense. The result was a hardened body and skillful use of mana that could not only protect her, but strike back. Melody's combat sense was through the roof, and she knew just how to handle all types of attacks.
After being slammed away, Melody gracefully recovered, landing on her feet. She looked at the shield giant that stood in front of the bow giant and the book giant. The other giants that wielded a hammer, sword, spear, and knife also moved.
The bow giant knocked an arrow, drawing it back before letting it loose. As for the book giant, it cast a spell, magical lines flooding the sky and mana condensing. The sword and hammer giants charged forth, and the spear giant took up a defensive position in front of the shield giant. As for the knife giant, it actually disappeared, shrouding itself in plain sight.
Melody was surprised a bit before smiling. She had finally met a reasonable challenge!
Under this all encompassing attack, Melody dashed forward, meeting the sword giant head on. Before she reached it though, an arrow came flying toward her. To this, she smirked before raising her sword. She pointed the tip of the sword at the tip of the arrow, thrusting forth.
*Ting!*
The two clashed, releasing a powerful shockwave that divided the blood below them. Not only was the arrow stopped, but Melody's sword actually pierced through it, separating it in two!
*Woosh!*
The two pieces of arrow sailed past her. Melody let out a breath before stepping forward once more, her figure shooting toward the sword giant at an even faster speed than previously. She was like a ghost as she appeared in front of the giant. However, the giant's reflexes weren't to be disregarded. It was able to deftly respond, raising its own sword with alarming speed that contrasted its large size.
*Bang!*
The two swords collided. In this exchange, the sword giant was the one to be pushed back. Not only that, but the sword giant's sword blade was chipped. Melody rode this momentum, pushing the sword giant back more and more as she spun around with slashes.
However, the sword giant wasn't the only fighter. Soon, the hammer giant joined the fray, throwing its hammer at Melody with tons of force. To this, Melody only dodged, not bothering to directly take such force. Unfortunately, the hammer giants attacks weren't so simple.
Upon missing, the hammer slammed into the floor. Melody had only sidestepped the hammer, expecting that to be it. The next moment though, a horrifying shockwave of mana and blood was released. This shockwave slammed into Melody's body at point blank range, sending her flying.
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"Pfft. Idiot. Where do you think that force was gonna go? It's like she's learned nothing in this past decade."
Dream chuckled before shaking his head, totally making fun of his sister's pain. As he spoke out loud, a few dozen spectators turned to him with odd looks. Vela was one of them. She couldn't help but smirk though. Dream would wield the power of an entire clan to help train his sister, but he would also make fun of her like this. They really were siblings.
Several asuras who had become Melody's fans though wanted to retort. Seeing Vela who stood next to Dream though, none of them did. They could tell that not only was Dream a powerful man, but he was related to Melody in some way. They just let him be.
Melody continued to battle after getting blown away by the unexpected attack. However, she was quickly bombarded with more arrows. Meanwhile, the book giant who had been casting a spell was finished. As melody dodged an arrow, the book giant brought down its hands.
*Rumble!*
The ground and sea of blood shook. Melody quickly looked up toward the thousands of magical runes and lines in the sky. Suddenly, everything lit up.
Hundreds of circles of light congealed into figures. These figures wore black armor, had wings of blood and bone, and were adorned with halos of white. They looked like fallen angels corrupted by endless slaughter.
These hundreds of angels suddenly shot toward Melody with their spears and swords. This onslaught combined with the attacks of the other giants just made things far more difficult.
Melody didn't panic though. She shot toward the angels that descended from the skies, meeting them with her blade. In two exchanges, she was able to kill one. She was then rapidly surrounded, forced to fend off attacks and counter with her own.
Like this, she was faced with another army. Her killing speed was high as blood spilled. However, she quickly discovered that the angels weren't so simple. Whenever one was killed, their blood fused into another, strengthening their comrades!
"Tedious."
Melody clicked her tongue as she continued to kill. The pressure quickly rose as she killed more and more. At the same time, she was occasionally faced with one of the giants who snuck in their own attacks.
This went on for half an hour. Melody constantly killed off the army, and now, they were reduced to a mere dozen. These dozen angels were only weaker than the giants though. Faced with their coordinated attacks, she was put on the defense.
By now, Melody wasn't so pleased. Over time she had gotten more and more annoyed. As she said, it was a tedious battle. And those giants kept annoying her.
Finally, when the sword giant snuck his sword into a gap and toward her leg, she snapped.
"Fuck off!"
She yelled, summoning her power and slashing at the sword giant's weapon. The two swords met, only this time one was fueled by an exploding rage.
*Clang!*
As the two collided, Melody put as much strength into it as she could. And with a turn of events, the sword giant's sword actually shattered!
Melody's sword didn't stop as she pushed herself toward the sword giant. The tip of her sword sailed to its head. The sword giant could only punch out.
"Just die!"
She shouted again, throwing out her own punch. Her fist collided with the sword giant's. The result was the sword giant's entire arm exploding!
"No way!"
Everyone watching was stunned. In just two moves, Melody had turned the tables.
She swung her sword, the blade burying itself into the sword giant's head and chopping its third eye. The third eye exploded with blood, and the entire sword giant melted away, turning into a blood fog that lingered in the air.
After that, Melody went back to fighting the angels. She killed a few more, and then after that, she turned her attention to the hammer giant. Like the sword giant, she pummeled its body before destroying its head, forming an even denser blood fog.
Melody then moved on to the rest of the giants, ignoring the angels. She first met the spear giant, intending to kill it with a few moves. However, she was taken off guard by the knife giant who acted as an assassin. Like this, she had to defend against the two, one elusive, one direct.
After putting in a bit more effort though, Melody was able to beat both down, destroying their heads one after the other. With that, she focused on the shield giant who stood to guard the arrow giant.
By now, the shield she cracked had actually healed. She didn't care though, rushing to attack the arrow giant. Unfortunately, the shield giant was fast and got in her way every time.
Against this, Melody scoffed. Taking a step back, she pointed her sword at the shield giant. Then, she stepped forward, piercing her sword straight like a duelist.
*Shing!*
The sword tip pierced through the shield. Not only that, but the power of the sword extended forth, poking a hole in the shield giant itself. After this, Melody backed away before piercing forward again. This time, she thrust out a dozen times, poking a dozen holes in the shield and shield giant.
Melody did this until the shield was poked full of holes. While the arrow giant tried to shoot her during this time, she was able to dodge or break the attack every time.
Finally, after turning the shield into a sieve, she let out one last attack. This attack hit the shield, but instead of piercing through, the energy was released into the shield through a shockwave
*Boom!*
The entire shield exploded, unable to withstand the attack. Melody smiled before going on to dice the shield giant into hundreds of pieces. This shield giant's body turned into a blood mist, making the lingering blood fog even denser.
After that, there were only two more enemies. The arrow and book giants stood next to each other. Melody gazed at them like a predator to a fresh piece of meat. She dashed toward them, dodging the arrows thrown at her.
*Slice!*
With a sword slice, the arrow giant's head was split in half, exploding into a blood mist. With that, the book giant was the last one. However, it wasn't attacking Melody. It just stood there. Not even its third eye was open.
"Hm..."
Melody was curious, but as the angels continued to harass her, she didn't think much. She quickly sliced the book giant's heat in two. This time, it exploded, but it didn't release much blood mist.
Surprisingly, the angels who continued to attack her didn't go away with the book giant's death. Melody turned her attention to the remaining 6 angels, killing them one by one.
Finally, After obliterating five angels, the last one stood alone, strengthened by the deaths of those before it. It stood opposite to Melody. But it didn't attack. Instead, it opened up its arms.
The next moment, all of the blood fog that lingered in the air started to surge. Melody watched as it all shot toward the remaining angel, filling its body with the power of all the 7 giants.
In mere seconds, this vast power condensed. Under this power, the angel grew 3 more pairs of arms, making 8 total. Each of the 8 arms held the items of the 7 giants plus one extra weapon.
This angel, upon fully forming, released a vast and glorious aura as it stood 50 feet tall. Now, Melody was smiling. It wasn't a playful smile though.
Faced with this enemy that was stronger than any other she had ever faced, she was exuding a sense of arrogance. She wanted to show this enemy what real power was!
The two stood 300 feet from each other. Suddenly, Melody closed her eyes. Then, all the ripples in the sea of blood around her came to a halt. The surroundings became deathly still, ominously silent.
"Third eye!"
The spectating asuras gawked as they looked at Melody. On her forehead, a third eye had opened. This eye was a deep red, like a ruby crystal. However, the pupil of this eye was black as an abyss. It released a horribly sharp aura.
The aura of this eye far surpassed the angel who had evolved from the giant asuras. Melody's third eye remained the only eye open as she brought up her sword, pointing the tip straight at the angel.
"Let's see, this is her first stance?"
Dream made a guess as he watched his sister. He had seen her use the Blood Drop Stance, her ultimate skill, many times. There were a variety of stances that encompassed different modes of attack. This looked to be the first stance.
The peculiar thing about Melody's skill was that the different stances didn't actually get more powerful than each other. They were all equal. The thing that determined their power was the power and application of the fighter. As one comprehended the stances, their power would also rise accordingly.
The first stance was the most direct of the stances. A frontal thrust with the full power of the asura behind it, all centered onto the single point of the sword. There was nothing more direct than this.
This attack would reach the extreme of all aspects of an attack. Extreme speed, extreme power, extreme piercing. This was an attack that embodied the very essence of offense.
However, before Melody shot forward, she spotted something in the distance behind the angel. She looked over with her third eye.
"Dream?"
"Don't mind me. Just changing things up a little."
Dream, who now suddenly stood within the totem space, waved before releasing a string of his power. Melody wasn't the only one who saw this. Outside the totem space, Vela's eyes bulged when she Dream behind the angel. Her eyes then looked at the now empty space next to her where Dream used to be.
Other than Vela and Melody though, nobody else could see what was going on.
After Dream appeared, he flicked a bit of his power into the giant angel. Then, some of the blood sea was actually sucked up into the angel. This was clearly visible to all the spectators, and it baffled them.
"I've never seen the angel do that. What's going on?"
"Something special is happening!"
Everyone was excited to see something out of place. The angel became even stronger than before, and Melody felt the angel's aura gradually increase until it matched hers. Then, it surpassed hers, though not by much.
"A little extra challenge. Let's see if you can't draw out some extra power from your soul."
Dream smiled after the changes took place. He then disappeared, reappearing next to Vela who was shocked. The totem space was a separate, isolated space. Only someone who could bend space was able to enter the area, otherwise it would take brute force to pierce through. But that would be incredibly obvious. Dream had slipped in and out, even altering the totem enchantments without anyone noticing what he did. This display of skill rivaled the creation of the halberd not that long ago. If anything, this told Vela just how deep Dream's comprehensions ran.