Veneri ran across the surface of the sea with terrifying speed while Nepenthes runes rotated around his body. The Silence Runes constantly reinforced themselves to stop Melody's music from reaching him. Every step shattered waves beneath his feet as his own runes amplified his body to absurd levels. The deep gorge splitting Modernia in half still stretched endlessly behind them.
Melody floated above the water with the white Orchestral Violex resting against her shoulder while her clone stood several meters behind her with a sword of energy in hand. The clone no longer sang or played music because Melody had completely changed her combat strategy the moment she realized Veneri had figured out her weakness. If sound could no longer reliably affect him, then she would simply overwhelm him with something far more terrifying.
Time.
The strings of the Orchestral Violex glowed white. Veneri's pupils shrank the moment the ocean around him suddenly stopped moving. The crashing waves froze in place while droplets of seawater remained motionless around him. Even the clouds above looked still for a brief moment as if the sky itself had forgotten how to move.
He vanished and activated Viridescence to the maximum.
A blade sliced through where his neck had been less than a fraction of a second later, slicing through the ocean itself and splitting the water into a canyon that stretched for kilometers. Veneri immediately twisted in midair and swung Calimostria horizontally. It unleashed a crescent slash.
Melody calmly stepped to the side and time rewound.
The Melody he attacked flickered like broken glass before suddenly appearing ten meters to the left, completely untouched as if the slash had never existed. The ocean behind her was hit anyway.
Veneri clicked his tongue. Melody was absurd. Even at the Fifth Enlightenment, Melody's control over time was horrifying.
The clone suddenly moved.
Unlike Melody, who remained composed and elegant with the violin, the clone fought like a seasoned warrior. It lunged forward and swung its blade directly toward Veneri's ribs, forcing him to block with Calimostria. The impact shook the air so violently that shockwaves spread across the ocean, creating trenches into the water beneath them. Veneri pushed the clone away and instantly formed dozens of sapphire barriers around himself. The barriers shattered because time accelerated.
Melody gently played another note on the Orchestral Violex and the barriers suddenly aged thousands of battles in seconds. They kept weakening until cracks spread through them. Veneri's eyes widened when he saw what happened.
He understood now why Melody had been considered the strongest Musica in history.
The clone attacked again.
This time, it moved unpredictably, constantly flickering between different points in space as Melody manipulated localized time around it. One second it appeared behind him and the next it was suddenly in front, attacking with brutal precision that targeted openings in his defense. Veneri was forced into constant motion. Plenituse helped him through with dodges while Nepenthes runes covered his body.
A slash tore through his chest.
Without hesitation, Veneri activated Body Reconstruction and forced the wound shut before leaping backwards. Another strike nearly severed his leg. Melody had lived over two thousand reincarnations so the amount of combat experience she possessed was ridiculous.
The clone kicked him hard enough to send him crashing through three massive waves before Melody herself finally moved. Her fingers danced across the violin. Thousands of razor-thin white lines manifested around him with each one distorting space itself. Veneri immediately sensed danger and covered himself in layers of sapphire protection but the moment the lines touched the barriers, they simply bypassed them entirely.
The attack ignored defense. His chest exploded with wounds. His blood spilled into the sea.
He coughed violently and nearly lost balance before instantly forming sapphire platforms beneath himself to stabilize. Even with Body Reconstruction healing him nonstop, the injuries were stacking up too quickly.
If this were anyone else, they would already be dead.
Melody remained calm as the clone reappeared beside him and swung again. Veneri barely blocked it.
The force launched him across the ocean so violently that he skipped across the surface like a stone before crashing into the remains of Modernia's coastline. Entire cliffs collapsed around him as rubble rained into the sea.
He stood back up anyway. Melody appeared above him with her clone, floating and looking down on him. She saw the same expression he had when he created Nepenthes. She saw the same expression he had when he made Mandalas work.
For the first time since the battle began, Melody tightened her grip on the Orchestral Violex. The monster she spent forty-five years creating was finally beginning to fight back seriously.