The battle between Dream and the valkyrie raged on, each clash of their powers sending shockwaves through the verdant valley. It was a spectacle of raw energy, a dance of lightning and wind, as they pushed their abilities to the limit.
Dream's mastery of his electro-elementalis was evident in the way he wielded his lightning. Having raised his P.P. and fought many battles relying on his lightnings, he’d gotten better at wielding them, sending bolts of electricity crackling through the air with precision. The valkyrie, on the other hand, showcased her agility and control over the golden particles, whether it was the ones she used to fly up or the ones she used to make up blade attacks or replicas. She moved through the battlefield with grace and speed, deflecting and countering Dream's attacks with her golden blade.
The ground shook as Dream summoned powerful gusts of wind, creating whirlwinds that threatened to uproot trees and send debris flying. The valkyrie responded with her own maneuvers, using the golden particles to coat her blade blocking if not outright cutting past Dream’s many attacks.
Their clash was not just a physical one; it was a battle of strategy and wits. Dream tried to anticipate the valkyrie's movements, while she adapted to his tactics with each passing moment. It was a relentless exchange of blows, with neither side willing to yield.
As the battle raged on, the sky above them darkened with gathering storm clouds, crackling with electricity. The air was charged with tension, and the verdant valley bore the scars of their conflict. Trees were splintered, the ground was scorched, and the very air seemed to tremble with their power.
Name
H.P
P.P
O.P
O.M.P
A.P
Level
Dream
322▲/327▲
1617▲/3269▲
3094/5214▲
1036▲
868▼/927
19
Having the battle dragged longer than he wanted it to be dragged, Dream had come to the conclusion that he was not going to win the way he was currently fighting it. So long as he was sending mildly powerful electro or aero elemental attacks beneath novice-ranked, he would fail to even graze or even faze the valkyrie with how good she was at either defending herself against them or evading his hulking spear attack. At that point, Dream understood very well that there was no lowering her HP for him, at least not through his current approach. And still, he did not give up on his approach; instead, what he gave up was his objective in the battle; lowering her HP was no longer his main objective.
Class
HP
O.P
O.M.P
A.P
Valkyrie lvl.90
203▼/263
3843▼/9718
1860
⥈
His new objective: Lowering her O.P.
“No doubt she's figured out my goal,” Dream mumbled to himself as he stared at the valkyrie in the distance. She was up in the sky, far from his winds and lightnings, and he was on the ground, out of her reach. “But even if that's the case,” he continued, determination in his voice, “it doesn't matter. I'll keep burying her with my attacks.”
[ Electro ]
Acolyte
Lightning Torrent.Lvl.2
233
The valkyrie skillfully evaded the lightning fired at her, skirting around the electrifying tendrils with grace. She followed her evasion with an attempt to close the distance between her and Dream, for it was undoubtedly her best shot at winning this battle, and she knew that. But Dream was not about to let her get any closer.
[ Aero ]
Acolyte
Wind Blitz.Lvl.4
218
Dream swiftly used [Wind Blitz], which not only halted the valkyrie's mid-charge but also slightly knocked her off balance. He immediately prepared to follow up with an electro-elementalis attack, but before he could unleash his lightning, the valkyrie, with powerful flaps of her wings that produced a strident metallic noise, swiftly ascended to a safe distance.
While it wasn't within Dream's calculations, it seemed that the valkyrie was beginning to feel the pressure, growing desperate. Unlike Dream, who had three powers to rely on, she only had Odo and her finite Odo reserves. If she ran out of her Odo reserve, she understood that she would be done for. To make matters worse, the dust-like particles produced by the valkyrie, both for attacking from a distance and flying, were heavily taxing on her reserves, especially when used actively. She had already depleted half of her O.P, urging her to finish this battle as quickly as possible, which led her to attempt bold stunts like the one she had earlier performed.
Added to that, the fact that her Odo greatly diminished with each attack she blocked from Dream's relentless assault, she was undoubtedly feeling like she was being pushed to the edge. Yet, in spite of this perception, Dream felt that something was not sitting right. It was only in that moment, as she reached for the second blade on her waist, that Dream understood what it was: she wasn't done, she had yet another card that she had yet to play.
The second blade was somewhat similar to the first, a golden-handled saber with a golden-bladed edge. However, something happened that made the second blade stand out more than the first; a golden dust formed around the saber's blades, concealing almost the entire blade behind a shimmering golden screen. With her two blades in hand, she flapped her wings to lower her altitude before once again suddenly closing in on Dream.
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Dream had been extra wary from the moment she unsheathed her second blade. He extended his arm, ready to unleash a [Thunderspear]. But at that moment, she maneuvered midair and disappeared.
“What!”
Of course, she didn't simply vanish. She had just flown upward with a powerful flap of her wings. Dream, who foresaw where this was going, immediately stepped back, aided by his aero-elementalis. Not even a second after he moved, the valkyrie landed with an explosive boom where he had stood just moments before. The impact caused the ground to crack and sent green debris scattering into the air. Wasting no time, the valkyrie rushed at Dream, who was just within reasonable reach, her blade poised to impale him.
[ Aero ]
Acolyte
Wind Blitz.Lvl.4
218
Dream unleashed [Wind Blitz], which, from the distance separating them, knocked the valkyrie heavily away before she could strike him down. However, she had a plan in mind this time. Unlike the previous encounter, when [Wind Blitz] was unleashed at her, the valkyrie didn't even bother to shield herself with her oversized wings. Instead, she faced Dream's knocking gale head-on, one blade raised and the other, the second one, poised for a thrusting motion.
The powerful gale struck her with tremendous force, but she didn't falter. The valkyrie used the momentum of the wind to guide her thrusting blade. As she was knocked back, her second blade thrust forward, aiming straight for Dream's chest.
The second blade shot forth at Dream, elongating suddenly, crossing the distance between them in a flash. Had it not been for Dream's lightning-quick reflexes, he would have been impaled in the chest. With incredible speed, he intercepted the blade with his bare hand just in time.
However, the second sword held a deadly secret—it could elongate its blade. In that moment, just as Dream managed to stop the blade's initial thrust, but then it suddenly fluctuated like a whip, severing Dream's arm from his wrist. The blade shot upward, aiming to vertically cut Dream's head in half, but he had already jumped back, narrowly evading that deadly fate.
A whip-like blade.
Having been knocked into the distance by Dream’s wind, the valkyrie, undeterred by her initial attack's failure, continued to wield her whip-like blade with remarkable dexterity. She flicked her wrist, causing the blade to dance through the air like a serpent. With each motion, it elongated and retracted, giving it an unpredictable and serpentine quality.
So that’s what your trump cards were?
[ Aero ]
Novice
Hurricane Slash Lvl.1
142
The valkyrie was about to whip out her blade again, prompting Dream to unleash [Hurricane Slash]. With an upward slash of her first blade, the valkyrie cut Dream's wind blade with relative ease. She was ready to follow up with another thrusting attack with her second blade.
Just as she was about to unleash her thrusting whipping attack, the valkyrie was surprised upon seeing the ground beneath her turn into a treacherous mire, causing her legs to sink into the mud up to halfway through her knee.
Skill: [ Aspect ]
Aquamorphism
[Morphogenesis]
50
“I'm not letting you do that!” Dream shouted, turning the ground into mud with [Aquamorphism]. Giving no time for the valkyrie to react. Dream followed with [Slithering Strike], but before the lightning could reach the valkyrie, she had already withdrawn to a safe distance in the air.
She hovered above the muddied battlefield, her wings producing a metallic symphony as she regained her balance. Her golden-bladed sabers were poised and ready, and she stared down at Dream with apprehension.
Name
H.P
P.P
O.P
O.M.P
A.P
Level
Dream
301/327▲
1117▲/3269▲
2854/5214▲
1036▲
817▼/927
19
Class
HP
O.P
O.M.P
A.P
Valkyrie lvl.90
199▼/263
2444▼/9718
1860
⥈
No doubt, the battle had reached a critical juncture, and both combatants were acutely aware that victory could tip in either direction with the next decisive move. Knowing that being cornered could lead a person to act in unexpected ways, which had allowed him to triumph in the past, Dream steeled his mind to finish things here. But first, he addressed the valkyrie, “I've noticed that you Valkyrie like introducing yourselves at the beginning of each battle. Perhaps I should do the same, Resi'ma.”
In that moment, Dream regenerated his severed Odo arm, the amorphous substance coalescing back into a solid form, before promptly summoning an oversized lance. He continued, “Some of you might refer to me as BlessingReaver, but I have a name I would like you to remember me by.” The valkyrie, sensing that Dream was up to something, straightened her posture, her eyes squinting at whatever he could be planning.
“I am Dream,” he declared, his voice carrying a note of unwavering determination, “and I shall be the one to put an end to your duty.”
In his long journey southward through the gray wasteland after dealing with all the valkyries, Dream had been continuously racking his brain to find a way to counter an airborne opponent, especially a formidable one like a valkyrie. He had already surmised that trying to fly like the valkyries was not a viable option, as he would be facing opponents with far more experience in aerial combat. So, he decided to set that idea aside for the time being and focus on what he knew best: fighting from the ground. On solid ground, he could freely utilize the three sources of his power: pranakinesis, Odo, and arcane.
However, even on the ground, Dream realized that most of his powers were ill-suited for dealing with flying opponents, especially valkyries. They could easily evade his electro and aero-elementalis attacks, dodge his hurled spear attacks, and were nearly impervious to his most powerful arcane aspect against regular valkyries — aquamorphism. This made arcane, out of the three powers he had access to, the most ineffective option when facing a valkyrie.
But that was until very recently, until he stumbled upon a somewhat problematic yet life-changing lesser Aspect.
Skill: [ Aspect ]
Photomorphism
[Morphogenesis]
800
Upon noticing Dream's newfound determination, the valkyrie braced herself for whatever he was planning, she prepared to either cut through his attack or, in the worst-case scenario, evade it. However, the moment she set eyes on the vividly bright golden lance in Dream's hand, as he summoned strong winds to hurl the lance at her, she shuddered instinctively.
It became clear to her what was coming, and she immediately took the most reasonable course of action: she backed off urgently, trying to create as much distance as possible between herself and the impending strike.
“Flying away won't help, especially in one single direction,” Dream muttered with grim determination. He took deliberate strides, each one charged with purpose and intensity. The golden lance was clutched firmly in his hand, and he began building momentum, preparing to unleash it into the air with the power of a thousand galloping hooves, backed by the swirling force of his summoned wind, akin to the fury of a tornado.
Tension hung heavy in the air as the final step approached. Then, in a swift and fluid motion, Dream released his attack—a fusion of pranakinesis, odo, and arcane. The golden lance streaked through the sky, closing the distance to the valkyrie in less than a second. As it neared its target, the lance unleashed the delayed effect Dream had been meticulously repressing.
In the distance, a dazzling spectacle unfolded. A sudden burst of radiant light painted the horizon with hues of brilliant white and searing blue. It was as if the very fabric of reality had momentarily fractured, revealing another world ablaze with celestial fire.
As the light expanded and intensified, a profound silence enveloped the surroundings, a momentary hush before the storm. Then, with a seismic boom that shook the earth to its core, the shockwave arrived. The ground trembled in response, protesting the sheer force of nature's fury.