Dream chuckled softly, speaking to himself, “Hahaha, for a valkyrie of her caliber to be brought back to existence by the Odo tree... I can only imagine the time and effort you all must have expended. I just hope your tree is still standing.”
The truth was, since the day Dream had chosen to oppose the Odo tree and, in doing so, had made the valkyries his enemies, he had wagered that much like the valkyries who, in their slumber, had once been absorbed and assimilated by the Odo tree, it would take time for them to be reborn into existence —enough time for him to grow stronger. However, it seemed that Dream had greatly underestimated the effort and length to which they would go to get him.
To reach the level of the valkyrie standing before him now, her original body must by now have been completely melted as a part of Odo tree, it was likely that her current body had been reconstructed from scratch by the Odo tree.
“I suppose I'm just that much trouble that you guys want me taken care of, before I become more and more trouble,” he added internally with a sardonic grin. “Or that’s just how badly you guys want that blessing.”
As she landed on solid ground at the same level as Dream, she paused for a moment, her gaze locked onto him. The seconds stretched into a strange, silent moment of apprehension between the two, leaving Dream perplexed as to whether he should or not launch a direct attack.
It was just at that moment that the valkyrie finally broke the silence by saying, “I shouldn't be mistaken, but I would like to nonetheless confirm, are you BlessingReaver, the one who stole the blessing from our beloved Odo tree?”
To which Dream sighed, a hint of disdain in his voice. “BlessingReaver, huh?” he muttered, almost to himself, before replying, “That's just a name you guys came up with, but yes, if there's a person that you, Valkyries call that name, it would be me.”
The valkyrie, showing no apparent surprise, simply nodded and asked, "May I ask another question?" Uncertain whether it was a rhetorical question or not, Dream subtly nodded, prompting the valkyrie to continue, "Are you the one responsible for the disappearance of my sister valkyries in the gray wasteland?"
Dream, before answering, asked his own question, wanting to confirm something. "Since you're asking me this, I assume you, Valkyries, have a special means to keep an eye on one another, but since you're asking me whether or not it was me, it must not be a precise method. So, I'll ask, how does it work?" He was fairly certain he had already figured out the answer, but he wanted thorough confirmation from a valkyrie.
The valkyrie remained silent for a moment, as if considering whether or not to answer his question. Eventually, she replied, “I can answer that. We valkyrie can sense each other's presence, and through that same premise, we can notice a sudden absence.”
Dream nodded, content with the somewhat vague explanation. It confirmed his suspicion that the valkyries had no actual means to track him down; they simply monitored each other's positions, positions he himself revealed by slaying one of them.
“Then to answer your question,” Dream confessed, finally addressing her inquiry, “yes, it was me who did it.”
The valkyrie showed not much reaction to Dream's confession before once again calmly asking, “I see, then can I ask a question that I'm sure you've already heard more than once? How about surrendering yourself? No harm will be done to you, that I can promise. You just have to accompany me back to the Odo capital and return what has been stolen from the Matriarch.”
“What if, for the sake of argument, my answer was no?”
The valkyrie maintained her composure as she responded, “Then that would put me in a position where, as a valkyrie who took a sacred oath, I'll have to slay you.”
“Slay me? Aren't your orders supposed to bring me back alive?”
“That was the order of my fellow valkyrie. Mine was to either escort you back to the Odo capital or to slay you should you not obediently accept the former offer."
“I see,” Dream sighed, shaking his head. “So they've decided that my corpse should get the job done. What a macabre masquerade.”
The valkyrie looked at him with a hint of compassion, if not outright pity and said, "I had a brother who was your age, so I would appreciate it if you could at least consider the former offer before forcing me to go to that length,” as She cast a glance at the sword at her waist.
“Do you not like violence, miss valkyrie?”
“I abhor it,” she replied.
“I see,” Dream nodded, before saying, “that's a shame because it'll make me feel bad because my answer will leave you with no other choice but to resort to it.”
“Then your answer is... I see,” the valkyrie mused. She fixed her gaze on Dream, a fleeting pause before her hand moved to the hilt of a golden-bladed saber strapped to her left waist. With a smooth motion, she drew the sword and held it poised.
“I am Resi'ma, a Guardian Valkyrie,” she proclaimed, her voice steady and unwavering. “I must and will fulfill my duty.” Her blade gleamed in the light as she continued, “Bearer of the moniker BlessingReaver, reveal your name so that I may remember you, and I promise to make this as swift and painless as possible.”
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Dream simply watched as the valkyrie rose up high in the sky, flapping her wings. It was only as she came to a halt that Dream suddenly burst into laughter, prompting the valkyrie, who was visibly surprised by the sudden reaction, to ask, confused, “What’s so funny? Was there anything I said worth laughing about?”
Nothing; it was just that so far I was just playing along thinking that this overly nice persona was just you being overly sarcastic; it’s only now that I realize that I was wrong,” as his laughter subsided, Dream added with a much more serious tone. “But you see, as nice of you as it is to propose that, I don’t think there’s a painless way to do what you claim to want to do to me. Trust me, I know what I’m talking about.”
“Then, would you change your mind?”
“That’s not happening.”
“Then there’ll be pain.”
Name
H.P
P.P
O.P
O.M.P
A.P
Level
Dream
301▲/327▲
3017▲/3269▲
4994/5214▲
1036▲
839▼/927
19
“It seems,” Dream declared, pointing at her and summoning his electro-elementalis, “shall we begin?”
Class
HP
O.P
O.M.P
A.P
Valkyrie lvl.90
260/263
9143▼/9718
1860
⥈
“Hm,” she nodded.
[ Electro ]
Apprentice
Thunderspear Lvl.9
119
Dream, being just himself, didn’t waste the opportunity to be the first to strike, opening the hostilities with a [Thunderspear] that the valkyrie in midair easily evaded.
The sight of her easily evading his attack did not deter Dream. Shifting to another approach given the distance between them, he wasted no time and summoned dozens of Odo spears. Unlike his previous encounters where he lacked firepower, Dream didn't hold back this time, summoning ample layers of Odo to form his spears. Each one of them were fully sized and packed with toughness equal to the hardest of rocks. With the many spears floating around him through his aero-elementalis, their ends aimed at the valkyrie. The moment he was ready, Dream unleashed the Odo spears straight at her.
[ Aero ]
Apprentice
Galestrike Spear Lvl.5
149
This time, the valkyrie seemed to be considering the idea of once again evading Dream's attack, but she quickly realized that there was no avoiding the barrage of hurling spears coming at her. Cornered, she had her wings form a shield in front of her to fend off the incoming onslaught. While none of the spears easily bounced away upon impact, and in fact, all that met her shielding wings carried a ballistic force that the valkyrie barely withstood, she managed to endure it.
[ Aero ]
Apprentice
Galestrike Spear Lvl.5
149
As Dream prepared to unleash another barrage of Odo spears, the valkyrie adjusted her stance in midair, her sword poised for a thrust, with golden particles swirling around her. Sensing that she was about to make a move, Dream wasted no time and released his spears at her. The projectiles hurtled toward her with remarkable speed, creating a formidable wall of spears in her path.
As the valkyrie unleashed her attack, “What!” Dream reacted with surprise at the sudden display.
Her stance which suggested a thrusting attack had somehow made it past the barrage of spears and was coming straight at her, at hurling speed.
With a quick summon of his aero-elementalis, Dream managed to move away from where he had just been standing, narrowly avoiding being skewered by the golden figure that landed right next to him with a powerful crash.
As he adjusted his position to distance himself from the incoming attack from both above and below, Dream quickly understood what had just happened.
With the valkyrie still hovering in midair, it was clear that she’d created an illusion—or, to be exact, a complete replica of herself made from the same dust particles that she and the other flying valkyrie usually produce with each flap of their wings before hurling it at Dream. The replica, being just and exactly what she was, a replica, quickly fell apart upon landing on the ground.
Looking up, Dream saw the valkyrie, who'd managed to successfully fend off his barrage of spears, repositioning herself in midair for another sword-thrusting attack. She had swiftly recovered from his earlier assault and was now poised to strike again, her golden blade gleaming in the light.
“Not again.”