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.

And he used this time to examine them.

The one Vali was talking to was a handsome young man with short inky hair and grey eyes that had lost their vibrance. The individual in question was wearing a black combat suit and a black coat.

“So that’s Tobio Ikuse.”

From what Arjuna learned, he possessed the Longinus ‘Canis Lykaon’, one of those Sacred Gears that were able to act independently from the wielder. And for Tobio, the Longinus was supposed to take the form of a large black dog. But…

“The dog is hiding in the shadows.”

Hearing Solomon, Arjuna focused on the shadows around Tobio. He could sense that the shadows around Tobio were imbued with magic but couldn’t outright sense the Longinus.

Taking note of the matter, his gaze moved toward the next person standing beside Tobio.

What caught Arjuna’s attention wasn’t her beauty or her attire, which indicated that she was a certified magician, it was her aura and the mana that she was releasing.

Then it clicked.

She was Lavinia Reni the possessor of the Longinus ‘Absolute Demise’ which allowed her to manipulate ice on a massive scale.

“So, the carnage outside was her doing.”

“It was probably over the moment she stepped into the battlefield.”

Arjuna had to agree with Solomon’s statement.

His lips twitched when he noticed that she had her focus locked onto him. And since their gazes met, Arjuna gave a small bow before moving his gaze and focusing on the surroundings.

And what he saw displeased him.

The town was filled with injured or exhausted Fallens. From the looks of it, an entirely new area was raised to house and treat the Fallens. The chaos and the depression in the air… Arjuna subtly glanced at Solomon. Was he right? If so…

“Where is he?!”

Arjuna immediately enhanced his senses and focused on where Vali was.

Vali was grabbing Tobio by the collar and Lavinia was trying to calm him down. As for Tobio, he was looking straight at Vali with a calm expression, “We were ordered to defend the capital and evacuate all the Fallens from…”

“I asked,” Vali pulled Tobio closer, “Where. Is. He?!”

As if a switch had been flipped, Tobio’s demeanor changed in a flash. He slammed his forehead with Vali’s, his murky eyes now burning with rage and despair, “He went after Ares, Vali! He. Went. After. Ares.”

“This…” Arjuna felt a chill. He thought it was only some skirmishes around the border, not a full-blown invasion. And if Azazel truly…

“Why the fuck are you here then?” Vali let go of Tobio and took some steps back. Arjuna frowned when he sensed the spike in Vali’s energy level, “Let’s go. We need to find him.”

Tobio looked away, “Vali…”

“Don’t fuck with me!” Vali was fuming and his power was continuously skyrocketing. Arjuna saw Lavinia slowly moving toward Vali’s blind spot. Then it hit him.

Vali’s power would soon go out of control and Lavinia, and probably Tobio as well, would restrain him.

“To join or not to join.”

Arjuna kept his expression neutral even though he wanted to scowl at Solomon. His quips weren’t appreciated at the moment.

“We both know how crafty that bastard is,” Vali was waving his hands frantically, “He probably teleported out at the last moment or… or used a doppelganger. He…”

Tobio took out an item and held it in front of him. It was a jewel of some sort. And it was cracked.

Arjuna didn’t understand the meaning behind it but it seemed Vali did as he went deathly quiet.

And a few seconds later, Vali roared.

Lavinia immediately summoned chains made of ice and restrained Vali. Shadows lashed out from all around Tobio and enforced the chains.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.

“Vanishing Dragon Balance Breaker!”

Vali’s human form was covered in his signature White Dragon armor, shattering the binds. But before Lavinia and Tobio could restrain him again, before Arjuna could lend a helping hand, Vali spread his arms and roared toward the sky.

The unfiltered rage, the promised agony, the mind-numbing despair… Arjuna felt it all in his bones. And the sheer power behind that roar distorted his senses for a few seconds. And he wasn’t the only one, even Tobio and Lavinia went down on their knees, while some downright fainted just from the pure pressure.

“What a way to announce our location to the entire continent.”

What surprised Arjuna was that even though everyone in the vicinity was affected by the roar, Solomon remained unscathed.

These few seconds were enough for Vali as he rushed toward the crack. His goal immediately became apparent to Arjuna.

“This idiot is going after Ares!”

Arjuna followed after Vali… or tried to but was forced to stop as shields of various sizes made of ice formed in front of him.

He could force his way out of this but knew that doing so would create unnecessary disputes.

He faced Lavinia and gave a short bow, “My name is Arjuna…”

“We know who you are. A member of Khaos Brigade.”

This was concerning. But instead of asking questions, Arjuna tried to diffuse the situation, “My goal was to infiltrate Khaos Brigade and Vali is aware of this fact,” Unfortunately Lavinia didn’t show any reaction to this.

Another roar that momentarily disrupted their focus.

“Time is ticking~”

Arjuna decided then and there that he really didn’t like Solomon.

“Look, the rest of our team is coming here and they will explain everything,” Arjuna threw a spare communication device to the Ice Witch which she grabbed telepathically, “Let me help Vali. He needs it.”

Lavinia’s expression remained unchanged.

“Do you trust Vali?”

Finally, there was a crack in her icy demeanor and Arjuna immediately pounced, “Then trust his choice. And he chose to be in our team.”

A few seconds later, which felt like hours to Arjuna, Lavinia sighed. Instantly all the shields dissolved into thin air, “Go.”

Arjuna nodded his head in appreciation before rushing after Vali and Tobio.

Since he was already a few minutes behind, Arjuna opted to go for a different method.

Each of the communication devices that his team possessed also worked as a marker that could be used to pinpoint their location. And some of them could also use this marker to teleport toward the location.

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So, without wasting any second, Arjuna teleported toward Vali’s location. And the moment he came out from the teleportation portal, he immediately created some distance from his entry point by flying higher.

As expected, it was a wise move from his side because Vali was tearing apart the invading Greek force.

Arjuna summoned his ‘Agni Gandiva’ when he sensed a presence approaching him. But realizing who it was, he put the bow aside.

Tobio stopped in front of him, maintaining a respectable distance. Strands of shadows covered his entire body, “Arjuna.”

Tobio’s tone spoke a hundred words and Arjuna understood his intention. So he responded in a similar manner, “Tobio.”

Tobio let out a tired sigh before pointing at the ruined fortress behind him, “We are at the outskirts of the capital,” Then he pointed at Vali, “I want to use this opportunity to take out the enemies.”

“After that, we calm down Vali.”

Tobio smiled warily as he nodded his head in agreement.

“I will provide long-range support,” Then Arjuna pointed at the outer area, “And I will take out the scouts and the messengers.”

Tobio’s nodded his head in appreciation but then his gaze moved past Arjuna. And he understood the silent question.

Arjuna glanced at Solomon who just stood behind him while looking at the surroundings as if he were a tourist. Arjuna met Tobio’s gaze, “I will… take responsibility for him.”

That was enough for Tobio as he dove into the battle immediately.

“I am deeply wounded,” Solomon smiled, “You left me back there.”

Yes. When Arjuna activated the teleportation spell, it was meant for one person only. And yet, Solomon was able to tag along with him and Arjuna had zero clues on how he pulled it off.

“The thought never crossed my mind,” Arjuna replied with a straight face as he readied his bow.

Taking out the enemies from his position wasn’t hard. And since he had the Clairvoyance skill, the precision of his arrows was that of a homing missile. It didn’t matter if they were hiding under spells or moving extremely fast, the moment he got a lock on his enemies, they were as good as dead.

The motives of the Greek force here were one of two. The invasive force captured the fortress to either set up a base for themselves to keep the Fallen in check or they wanted to use this area as a scouting checkpoint. And based on the number of the force, Arjuna believed it to be the latter.

A roar disrupted his focus.

At least Arjuna was taking down the enemies with a clean shot. Vali on the other hand…

It was pure carnage below him.

Vali was tearing his enemies apart with his bare hand, all the while tanking every attack of his enemies head-on. At first, the Greek force was fighting back fiercely but after witnessing the monstrous strength of the Divine Dividing wielder first-hand, they started to retreat. At least they tried to but Vali didn’t allow them.

And Vali wasn’t attacking them from behind. No. He made sure they saw his face before they took their last breath. And Arjuna noticed that Vali didn’t use his core ability ‘Divide’ once. It was just pure strength, speed, and durability.

With their combined effort, the Greek forces perished fully within ten minutes.

The moment the last of their enemies fell, Vali tried to rush out of the area again. This time, Arjuna and Tobio were ready.

A flaming arrow landed right before Vali and huge strands of shadow surrounded him.

Vali took one deep breath before looking at Arjuna and then Tobio, “You dare to stop me?!”

The shadows around Vali parted as Tobio walked toward him, “And what do you plan to do?”

“His fate, I will see with my own eyes!”

“After that?”

Vali took a step forward and towered over Tobio, “I. Will. Kill. Ares!”

“Can you?”

Arjuna felt the distortion in the air. Vali’s emotion was directly affecting the environment around him. He understood which angle Tobio was going for to calm down Vali but he felt that it might not work.

Dispelling his bow and bringing down his energy level, Arjuna took a few steps forward. As expected, this got Vali’s attention, “Vali, all I ask of you is to give me one minute. If I can’t persuade you within that time frame, I will step aside.”

His statement made Tobio frown but Arjuna didn’t budge. A few seconds passed by before he finally relented.

When Arjuna noticed the temperature around them returning to normal, he sent Tobio a look who got the silent message. Releasing an audible breath, he withdrew into the shadows. And a moment later, the shadows disappeared as well.

Now there was no one but Arjuna and Vali since even Solomon was keeping his distance.

Taking a deep breath, Arjuna looked at Vali who still hadn’t lowered his guard. Knowing that baseless platitude wouldn’t go anywhere, Arjuna decided to share his secret, “Indra, my father, the King of the Gods and Lord of Heaven in our realm was assassinated a few hours ago.”

Vali visibly flinched. Knowing that he got his attention, Arjuna continued, “We have no idea how but the assassins were able to bypass all the barriers and defensive mechanisms. As for the assassination method, they were able to get their hands on this ‘Blessing of Ophis’ which was used to poison my father.”

He took a step forward and entered Vali’s striking zone, “Vali, which faction has an individual who can travel between spaces undisturbed, and which faction can easily get their hands on this ‘Blessing’?”

“The Hero faction,” The answer came immediately.

“But it doesn’t add up, does it? They have no reason to make an enemy out of the Hindu faction, unless,” Arjuna pointed to the carnage around him, “They were ordered by another faction.”

Vali didn’t speak for a few seconds but Arjuna could see that he was visibly calming down.

“Our faction is investigating the assassination while making sure the death of my father doesn’t leak out yet since it will…” Arjuna tried to remain calm but a bit of his rage unintentionally sipped out through his tone. He took a few quick breaths to calm himself before continuing again, “While I agreed with their decision, it didn’t mean that I would sit by and wait for everything to unfold by itself.”

“That’s why you gathered us,” Seeing Vali fully calm down brought a smile to his face, “That’s why you wanted to go after the Hero faction.”

Arjuna once again pointed at his surroundings, “We can skip them and directly go for the root cause. But let’s do it properly. Let’s truly bring down the Greeks.”

Another few seconds of silence before Vali released his ‘Balance Breaker’. His eyes still held the fury but at least now he was willing to listen. And that was more than enough.

.

12 hours before Great Red’s imprisonment

4 hours after the Academy’s lockdown

.

Currently, they were in front of another outer post, hastily made up by the Greek faction. But unlike the others, this one’s structure and security were solid. And considering the position, there was a high probability that this could be an important station.

But that was not why they chose this specific base.

It was because this was the last place where Ares was sighted.

Of course, he wasn’t here now. They could tell that much from their initial scouting. But they should be able to find clues about the God of War’s whereabouts and probably some much-needed insights on the Greek faction’s invasion.

The plan was simple.

Vali, in his ‘Scale Mail’, would be crashing into the base head-first and would draw the attention. Arjuna and Lavinia would be providing long-range support while Tobio would be sneaking into the base and looking for clues. This was why they couldn’t blow up the base in one shot.

They needed information.

However, Arjuna was still dizzy because of the information provided by Tobio.

The Biblical God was dead.

What a mindblowing revelation.

Azazel passed this sensitive information to Tobio before ordering him to retreat. According to him, it was a very closely guarded secret that only a handful of Fallens and Angels knew about. And he suspected that the Greek faction might have sensed something was amiss which would explain their surprise invasion.

The leader of Grigori had also informed Tobio that attacking the Fallens was a smokescreen. Unfortunately, he fell in the battle with Ares before pinpointing the Greek faction’s target.

Arjuna had to agree with Azazel’s theory. Otherwise, why would the Greek faction create such a defensive base outside of Babel, a small and unimportant city, instead of the capital or other significant locations?

“I am ready.”

Vali’s words snapped Arjuna out of his thoughts. With a tired smile, he nodded back before starting to head toward his own location, Lavinia trailing behind him.

After five full seconds later, he felt the power up. And two seconds later, he heard the crash, followed by screams and explosions.

When his gaze landed on the base, it was already burning.

Although Arjuna was supposed to provide support, he was only aiming at the fleeing enemies or the scouts since he knew Vali didn’t need or would appreciate any help even though he agreed with the plan verbally. On Arjuna’s side, Solomon was watching the battle with an unreadable expression while leaning on a rock. As for Lavinia, instead of helping, she was silently standing behind them. She was not only observing the enemies but also Arjuna and Solomon.

And he couldn’t blame her since he would have done the same.

When the battle was approaching its end, Solomon looked away with a smile, “It’s going to be more entertaining than I thought.”

Immediately, Arjuna flared his senses and focused on the direction Solomon was looking at. It took him only a second to notice the approaching enemies and another few seconds to gauge their battle strength.

Shifting his senses toward the base, he noticed that Vali was still going strong.

A plan came to his mind and he immediately jumped into action.

“Enemy reinforcement will be here in one minute and their leader is a ‘Super’ level,” He spoke into his communication device. Ignoring the wide smirk of Solomon and the surprised gasp from Lavinia, he continued, “I will try my best to slow them down. Vali, get ready, you will take out the leader.”

“What!”

One scream came from the earpiece and another from behind him.

“On it.”

And then came the vicious reply from Vali.

When the communication device deactivated, Lavinia stomped toward him, “Who gave you the right to order us around?”

Arjuna empowered his bow, “Vali is full of rage and hatred,” He aimed the bow toward the unseen enemies, “We need to drain him out completely. He is listening to us now but the moment we get a solid lock on Ares or if he thinks we are too passive, he will rush ahead,” He let loose the first set of arrows, “If he is exhausted, physically at least, we can use that time to think about our next course of action.”

Lowering his bow, Arjuna looked at Lavinia, “With me so far?”

Lavinia snapped her mouth shut and nodded her head indifferently, even though she couldn’t hide her surprise.

Arjuna activated the earpiece once more, “We will rendezvous at the northern…” He stopped as an enormous amount of draconic energy flooded the area. He could also sense that the enemies had sped up in response. Clicking his tongue, he corrected his message, “No, southern gate.”

Even before he could deactivate his device, Lavinia flew off.

“You can’t always let others take the spotlight.”

Ignoring Solomon, which was becoming second nature to him by now, he followed after Lavinia.

But before they could even reach halfway toward their desired checkpoint, a huge frame rose from the burning outpost.

The towering armored individual was none other than Vali in his ‘Juggernaut Drive’ form. It had a striking resemblance to the ‘Scale Mail’ but with a significantly more draconic appearance with claw-like protrusions on both hands and feet.

And not a second later, the enemies finally reached their location.

It was a platoon of Grim Reapers.

The one who stood out the most was an exceptionally large Grim Reaper dressed in a robe as black as the abyss. Combined with all the eerie ornaments, creepy mask, and the gruesome long scythe… he was letting out an unsettling vibe.

Arjuna knew who he was. Pluto, a legendary Grim Reaper whose name was recorded in history.

“Greetings, my name…”

The roar from Vali shook the area and immediately separated the leading Grim Reaper from the rest. And the White Dragon Emperor didn’t waste the opening.

Yet, he still missed.

Pluto was not labeled as a ‘Legendary’ Grim Reaper for nothing. He was able to dodge Vali’s attack which covered a wide area even while being disoriented, even with the powerful shockwave that followed after. What was more, he even teleported behind Vali to land a sneak attack. But Vali’s enormous tail acted as a shield.

Just from the initial bout, Arjuna knew how the fight between these two monsters would go. Vali had enough power to take down Pluto but the Grim Reaper’s extreme speed was the issue.

Strength versus Speed.

He was quite familiar with this type of dance.

“And, we have our own dances to perform.”

Vali’s initiation disorientated the Grim Reapers as well as Lavinia. It was the problem with most Dragon-type attacks. Fortunately, Arjuna was prepared. So, not only was he able to defend himself but he also used this gap to take down a few Grim Reapers before the rest recovered.

Honestly, he wanted to take down every Grim Reaper but the shockwave created by Vali disrupted his attack. He immediately did a follow-up attack, Lavinia joining in as well after she recovered, but the Grim Reapers spread out.

Arjuna clicked his tongue in annoyance.

The battle had just become troublesome.

Grim Reapers’ battle style was perfect for assassination. They were agile, their weapons contained various curses, and they could blend well with the environment. Adding on top of that, the recoils from Vali’s attack would be hindering his fight.

But he had handled worse predicaments. He moved closer to Lavina while shooting regular arrows at the Grim Reapers to keep them at bay, “We should lower our position.”

His guard went up when a three-meter-tall disfigured ice sculpture materialized behind Lavinia, “So Tobio’s Longinus isn’t the only independent type in their team.”

“You have a plan.”

Arjuna was surprised that her words came as a statement, not a question. Nodding his head, he subtly pointed toward the ground, “When we are low enough, I will use a few wide-range attacks. There is a high probability that it would make most of our enemies use the shadows on the land to hide themselves.”

A smile formed on her lips, “And a perfect opportunity for me to take them out in one shot.”

Arjuna subtly glanced around, “But Tobio…”

“He is still looking around the base for clues,” Lavinia started to descend making Arjuna follow her promptly, “I will send a signal, he will know what to do.”

Arjuna kept his face neutral and nodded back, “They are definitely communicating through some other means.”

He didn’t pry further. Instead, he started powering up his bow while making it flashy enough to grab their enemies’ attention.

The enemies would have been cautious if not for the fact that the sky became dangerous to allies and enemies alike because of the clash between the two ‘Super’ class individuals. Even now, the shockwaves created by their attacks were making it harder for the reapers to focus.

So, without wasting any moment, they also dived down.

Scrunching his expression on purpose, Arjuna turned around and started to fire messily. A fake initiation that the reapers fell for. They dispersed once again before heading toward the ground faster.

Lavinia also contributed by throwing around some random ice attacks. Her purpose was different since she was covering the power-up of her ice-puppet.

And the moment most Grim Reapers disappeared into the shadows on the ground below them, Lavinia let loose her attack.

A flash of ice blue and the entire ground was frozen solid.

The few reapers that dodged the massive attack received an arrow filled with Arjuna’s divinity right on their heads.

Since they didn’t experience Arjuna’s precision, this came as a surprise… the last one they faced before they fell.

It was then that Arjuna noticed the oddity. Solomon wasn’t with him.

But before he could ponder any further, a large shockwave shook the entire area, breaking his focus.

He looked up to see that Vali had caught Pluto in his ‘Half Dimension’. The moment the space around Pluto started to shrink, the legendary Grim Reaper released an enormous amount of energy to defend himself.

But it was all for naught.

Half Dimension was used not to kill Pluto but to restrict his movement. And the massive Dragon Breath filled with Albion’s energy was the attack that took out the legendary Grim Reaper.

With him dead, the enemy reinforcement was completely annihilated.

But the nagging in the back of Arjuna’s head didn’t disappear.

“Vali, it’s over. Come…”

Lavinia couldn’t finish her sentence.

Because they all felt it.

The malevolent Divinity.

And then, he emerged from the shadows.

His eyes, twin orbs of promised death, glowed with an unholy fire. A crown of twisted blackened thrones sat on top of his skull. His skeleton hand was gripping an obsidian staff from which tendrils of darkness of unimaginable power were emanating.

With every step, the ground withered and decayed. His every breath froze the air, turning it into a chilling mist that clung to nature.

Hades, the Greek God of the Underworld, had descended on the battlefield.