Look at the version of Mel who is being compared. It's 2nd DM Mel outside of AM when he was in Stigma. Ludo has no feats to put him on a comparable level to AM Prime Meliodas. In fact, a 2nd DM Prime Mel already clashed with Sun Mael (who should be no weaker than Ludo, in fact he should be stronger) on equal terms and repelled him.
If you think about the statement without just accepting the image then Maels statement of comparability is referencing to Prime Meliodas, not any other weaker version.
Mael was the equal and rival of Prime Meliodas, which was the reason why he was selected by Gowther to be brainwashed into Estarossa in order to switch the power balance and force the Goddesses to activate the Coffin Of Eternal Darkness. Yet, Mael questions Gowther's choice of him even further by referencing that he wasn't the only person in his clan that was comparable to his strength, power which rivalled Prime Meliodas but he was still selected out of personal revenge. His statement basically said that Goddess Elizabeth or Ludoshel being selected instead of him would've done the same job given the comparable power they had to Prime Meliodas.
TL.DR - Mael is Prime Meliodas equal and rival but tells Gowther that he wasn't the only option and questions why he was chosen even further given other people in his clan were comparable in strength to him, cementing that the Goddess Elizabeth & Ludoshel are comparable to Prime Meliodas.
There's no evidence to suggest that Ludoshel is above this Meliodas, I gave you the scan on which the statement is made and AM Prime Mel is nowhere to be seen, he was being compared to 2nd DM Holy War Mel. There's also no evidence to suggest that Ludo would outspeed Mel given how he wasn't even able to outspeed Cusack in the first place (in fact, Cusack surpassed him in speed on that duel since Ludo was the one who got injured). Yes, he was and still is nerfed thanks to his human vessel but my point still stands, there's no evidence to suggest that Ludo would outspeed Mel, even more so given how underwhelming Flash has been so far. Of course I don't need to say that there's even less evidence to suggest that Sar and Tar were above this Mel.
Problem Is, that scan makes no sense via the image. Mael was selected as Gowthers target because he was Prime Meliodas rival and equal, yet the image shows 2ND DM Meliodas who is obviously inferior.
Maels statement was referencing to Prime Meliodas, I imagine the image showing 2ND DM Meliodas is because of how someone needed to be selected to replace Meliodas (whom was in that version of himself when he betrayed the clan).
Either way, I trust the logical statement of: Mael selected because he's Prime Meliodas rival = but Mael said others could've been selected because they were comparable to Meliodas and would've been able to fill the same position Mael did.
As for Ludoshels speed, given how he's more renowned more for his speed and has a God gift strictly for it and was able to pretty much stalemate Cusacks speed in a vessel whom trained Zeldris to be the fastest for swordplay in the Demon Clan, I'm more inclined to believe that Ludoshel is superior to Prime Meliodas in speed.
The statement of comparability supports this as well, to be honest.
Look, even going by your power scale, 2nd DM Holy War Mel did just as well as Goddess Eli (who you consider to be comparable to him in his prime and Ludo) against the Gods, already emphasizing more that the statement made by Mael was refering to 2nd DM Holy War Mel. IMO, the scale is something like this:
This feat actually isn't that impressive. Elizabeth's physical strength is much weaker than any of the Four Archangels yet she was able to stalemate 2ND DM Meliodas in durability.
I'm pretty sure that's telling of what level that version of Meliodas was at.
Noon Mael > Late Morning Mael >= or = AM Prime Mel > 2nd DM Prime Mel = Morning Mael >= Ludoshel = Goddess Eli > Chandler (True Form) = Cusack (True Form) > Sariel = Tarmiel >= Chandler (Base) = Cusack (Base)
Bruh, too much math.
Not taking into account OG Magic since that as of now puts him on a comparable field to the Gods.
Absolutely not. OG magic is a non-factor since it has yet to be explored.
Meliodas needs the commandments to break the curse, which directly tells us he isn't anywhere close to their level, albeit he's a little threat given his magic but regardless in a full fight where the Gods are serious, he has no chance.
