Night Attack

Moments before Ash's meeting with the Astraea and Ganesha ladies...

Somewhere within one of the dilapidated houses in the Daedalus district were a small gathering of some shady people, each wearing black hooded cloaks... except for one.

"Hmm~ I wonder if I could have the chance to see a blood-red moon in my lifetime..."

A short red-haired man in a full black attire except for the gold-colored trims on his shirt and coat and the two interlocking brown leather belts on his waist stood by the glass window.

He had a youthful facial feature and appears to have a gentle and harmless air around him as if he was the type of person who wouldn't feel even a hint of displeasure when offended.

Well, that would be anyone's first impression of him if they met him for the first time.

However, those who clearly knew who he is and his true personality would say the opposite from what he is usually showing on the outside; an extremely sadistic and murderous bastard.

With a thin smile adorning his face, he seemed to be admiring the crescent lunar and the stellar brilliance that was twinkling and glittering from within the seemingly infinite darkness of the night sky.

"Oh, how I long for that day to come..."

While seemingly embracing the moonlight brilliance, he uttered with a forlorn tone while dramatically reaching out his arms as if wanting to grasp the moon by his hands.

It was as if he was expressing an extreme melancholy for his ultimate desire which he knew would never be fulfilled.

And just behind him, at the dark corner of the room, far from any illuminations reach stood a number of people of different stature, clad covered in pitch-black cloth from head to toe...

*Creaaak~* * Clack!*

"Hmm?"

While in the middle of submerging himself in his own delusion, he was suddenly interrupted when his senses caught the sound of a door creaking and closing.

In fact, not only him but everyone else who is currently inside the room.

And not a second longer, barely audible thumping sounds could be heard followed by an emerging figure of another hooded person with tall stature...

"Vito, call everyone back..." the hooded person spoke after arriving in front of the red-haired man, now named Vito.

"Passing out orders right from the get-go... you're too serious as always, Ne~ Vendetta-san?" Vito replied in a playful manner while smiling.

"..."

But upon sensing that the hooded person which he recognized as 'Vendetta' meant business and had no time for dealing with his antics, he continued...

"Haaa... So? What's the reason everyone is being called back?"

"...The mission has been called off. Valletta has been called back as well." Vendetta said after a brief pause.

Upon hearing that, Vito's smile disappeared from his face and was changed to a frown...

"...What do you mean by it's being called off?" he said with a hint of coldness in his tone.

"The Deities didn't make it clear... but I assumed that it was because of the changes in the dungeon's internal structure which affected the Knossos."

The person named Vendetta said. And after a brief pause, he proceeded...

"They have also discovered something from within the dungeon. Thanatos-sama even said that if all goes well, it might soon turn to be our ace in destroying Orario."

After explaining further to Vito the reason for the sudden change in their original plans, Vendetta immediately turned around and left. Not even waiting for Vito to respond.

Vito on the other hand was pensive and couldn't help but think, 'What could be so important that we have to abandon the mission?...'

Sighing inwardly, he set his eyes back to the dark streets of the Daedalus district and was about to turn and leave as well.

He grabbed the hooded cloak that was hanging at his side when he caught sight of a lone silhouette of a person he assumed was an adventurer patrolling the area.

He stayed still for a short while, seemingly a predator observing its prey when a sudden thought came into his mind causing a hideous grin to emerge from his face.

---

Back to Ash, Astraea, and Ganesha ladies...

"And why are you covering your face with a scarf?"

As soon as her words came out of her mouth, Ash already knew where and how would the conversation go.

In fact, he could already see each of their faces with the same expression inside his mind. It wasn't because of narcissism but a simple fact that his appearance was just so irresistible, especially to the opposite sex.

"Well?" seeing no response from him, Lyra couldn't help but ask again.

"Fufufu~ Is it really that inconvenient for you to show your face to us?" asked Kaguya coyly after seeing Ash hesitating and was followed by Ardi's...

"Right, right... Or are you perhaps disfigured?"

Each of the ladies' eyes was currently on him and were adamantly expressing their demand for him to remove the scarf that was currently hiding the lower half of his face.

They were smiling and laughing while persistently asking him again and again.

Though they may seem too relaxed and were just casually keeping the conversation merrily, Ash could see that their bodies were tensed, keeping their guard up even more...

"Do I really have to?" he asked which earned a nod from each of the ladies.

"..."

'... You know what? I'm quite fed up with wearing this thing every single time...'

Ash sighed while expressing his dissatisfaction inwardly, at the same time, making up his mind.

Slowly and steadily, Ash began uncoiling the scarf from his neck and was about to completely remove it on him.

But all of a sudden, with the ladies, totally focused on him, his intuition kicked in and was roaring to him about an incoming danger causing him to halt his actions.

And soon, it was confirmed by Wise's voice inside his mind, warning him about hostile threats around them...

[*Alert!... Multiple hostiles were found within the area... Incoming pro-...*]

*Swoosh* *Swoosh* *Swoosh*

However, he no longer waited for Wise to notify him about the threat and had already reacted since he had already sensed the incoming projectiles aimed at them.

Ash immediately took Lyra and Ardi in each of his arms, carried Kaguya on his shoulder, and lunged at a good distance...

*Shwoop!* *Shwoop!* *Shwoop!*

"Eh!?"

"Hmm?"

"Ah?"

After setting the three ladies down, they were quite baffled upon realizing what had just happened while staggering on their feet when he abruptly brought them down.

Only then had they realized that they had moved quite a few distances from the original position they were in.

And all of these seemingly happened in the blink of an eye or even before their minds could process what had transpired.

'What just happened!?'

'Fast!'

'What's going on?'

These left Kaguya, Lyra, and Ardi quite stupefied. They turned their eyes towards Ash whose back was facing them and wanted to ask what just happened.

But as soon as they saw several arrows embedded in the ground they were standing in just a few seconds ago, their expression immediately changed.

Kaguya, who was the first of the three to recover from her stupefaction was already holding the hilt of her katana, preparing to draw to any threat that would emerge from the darkness.

"Ambush!" Lyra exclaimed while holding several small round objects in between her fingers.

Ardi, on the other hand, had already drawn her sword and asked, "Did you see them Ash-san?"

"It's probably those Evilus psychos again. They're the only ones who had the guts to do this sneaky ambush!" Lyra answered when she saw that Ash was keeping his silence.

After the ladies behind him realized the direness of the current situation and were preparing themselves for a fight, Ash on the other hand seemed to not mind them and was just staring at the system's map.

At the same time, his eyes darted towards each of the places where the hostile party was hiding...

"Come out!"

Ash said loudly, enough for everyone within the vicinity to hear his words, and assumed a stance while also preparing to draw his sword.