The Fourth Beast

38

Pandemonium

V

Arjuna

14 hours before Great Red's imprisonment

2 hours after the Academy's lockdown

The moment Le Fay and Bikou returned, the entire team immediately took off. Their destination was the closest crack governed by Grigori. Normally, it would have taken around half an hour at regular flight speed.

But Vali was in a rush. And Arjuna could never ask him to slow down, not when he personally understood how his teammate was feeling.

So, he divided his team into two. Arjuna and Vali were the vanguards, trying to reach their destination at full speed.

Bikou, Arthur, Le Fay, and Zhuge were following them from behind since they would not be able to keep up with them. Even if they could, they would be exhausted after reaching the crack.

At the same time, Arjuna kept sending Arthur coded messages in intervals. In case Arjuna and Vali were to fall into a trap, then they would know and would be able to act accordingly.

"Quite the fast thinking back there. I'm impressed."

And then, there was Solomon.

He decided to tag along with Arjuna and Vali. Surprisingly, he was able to keep up with their max speed... with ease.

So, why did he allow Solomon to join him?

Definitely not because Arjuna believed his words. No, only time would tell Solomon's real intentions. But there was no denying that he had provided a critical piece of information. And if Solomon was proven right, then the question that he needed to answer was 'How did he know?'

There was also this possibility that he was guiding them toward a certain direction, a specific checkpoint, and would backstab them at the last moment; a low chance for the last part to happen but it wasn't completely zero.

"Keep your friends close and enemies closer."

At least if Solomon were close to him, he would be able to see through his façade soon enough.

Arjuna's senses sharpened when he noticed the sudden drastic changes around him.

"Would you look at that?"

Arjuna ignored Solomon and examined his surroundings.

It was a manmade frozen wasteland, caused by the aftermath of a skirmish. But another glance made him correct his judgment, "Not a skirmish, a full-blown battle took place here."

A battle where one side was crushed viciously by a single person.

The entire invading force was covered in multiple layers of ice and frost. From the enormous golems to various war machines, to the people commanding them... Arjuna could tell that their lives were snuffed in an instant and many of the victims didn't even realize that they had perished.

Such a brutal display of power and he could still feel the lingering echoes of that individual's wrath.

Unfortunately, Arjuna wasn't given enough time to inspect the area further because Vali dived into the town the moment they saw it, making him speed up as well.

When he saw his companion again, he was with two other individuals. But instead of going toward his teammate, Arjuna stopped and kept a reasonable distance. After all, his identity and purpose were unknown to those talking with Vali right now.