Heated Battle - I

"S-Surround that g-guy and t-take him o-out! Hurry u-up!"

Said a bulky framed Evilus minion with a one-handed giant Axe in his hand to a bunch of his fellow minions a few meters in front of his group after seeing Ash brutally incapacitate most of his fellow minions.

Although he was stuttering, he seemed to be a bit calm when he speaks or gives orders.

Internally though, he was horrified upon seeing his companions fall one after another whenever Ash moved,-

especially as he hears the painful wailings of those who are currently on the ground, even more so of those who had gone completely silent and were unconscious...

'What the hell is that guy made of? He's so fast that I could barely follow his movements. What level is he at? and that wooden sword...'

'Damn thing is unbreakable like it is made out of the same material with that elf bitch's weapon from the Astraea familia. It's even glowing like some sort of magic weapon.'

While in his own thoughts, the fellow Evilus minions who are currently surrounding him suddenly raised their weapons and charged forwards...

"Huh- Hey, hey, hey, wait! sto- damn stupid shits!"

He tried to stop them from charging recklessly since his instincts had been tingling even from the start when the fight broke out but alas...

---

Ash has been constantly moving on the battlefield, thinning out the numbers of any abled Evilus minions that could fight...

"Son of a bitch! I'm going to kill you, basta- Bleurgh!"

He has just put down one of the minions on the ground when another minion sneakily swung his sword thinking he would have the honor of killing the white-haired menace...

"You're mine bitch!"

However, Ash didn't even turn around to face him but swiftly twisted his body rightward and ducked low before...

*Shwoomp*

"Argh!"

Ash swung his sword at the back of the minion's right knee, hitting his popliteal artery, cutting the blood flow for a short while and making it numb as if it was completely severed.

However, Ash wasn't done just yet...

*Shwoomp*

"Arck-"

As soon as he saw that the minion lost his footing and was about to fall onto his knee, Ash once again spins his body to gather momentum.

And with an upward slash, he struck the minion's neck. Due to the momentum of his blow, Ash pushed him leaning backward before finally falling to the ground on his back, unconscious...

*Thud*

"Next?", he said only to realize that those who once had surrounded him were no longer in the position to fight.

With no more able-bodied enemies standing near him, he turned his eyes several distances in front of him.

He set his eyes towards another bunch of Evilus minions surrounding a bulky and tall guy in the middle.

They were currently the only ones who are standing in between him and Vito along with several guys beside him.

Although he knew it was futile, he had thought of talking first before forcibly intimidating them further but before he could say something...

"D-Don't f-falter! W-We have t-the numbers!", said one of the minions who were at the very front of the bunch, attempting to encourage his fellow minions.

"T-that's right! That's r-right!", exclaimed another in the same stuttering manner, while trying to control his shivering legs.

"Those justice bitches can't help him right now. There's more of us and he's alone. Kill him!"

"Die! Raaah!"

"That's right! Kill him!"

"Raaaaah!"

"Kill that white-haired menace!"

And with that, they all charged toward Ash who could only sigh at their stupidity and thought...

'Haaa... They should've already known by now that they couldn't defeat me even if they have the numbers.'

*Swoosh!*

Once again, his coat fluttered, leaving only a gust of wind, he disappeared from his current position and lunged forward, reappearing right in front of one of the Evilus members within the bunch...

"Huh- Bleurgh!"

Poor guy didn't even know what hit him and what had just happened when Ash appeared right before him and kicked his chest, sending him flying backward.

Ash was as swift as the wind that in the blink of an eye, he appeared right in front of them and hadn't even realized yet that one of them had already been hit...

"Out of my way! Out of my way! I'm going to cleave that guy wit-"

*Bang!*

"Bleurgh..."

Realizing that he was alone while his fellow minions courageously charged forward, the bulky framed guy with an Axe as his weapon was left with no choice but to quickly move his legs to catch up to them.

However, as he was getting closer and closer to them and while he was shouting some profanities, he choked a few words back into his throat when he saw a black figure rapidly lunging at him.

And as his steps abruptly halted due to the sudden emergence of that bullet-like black figure and before his teeny tiny mind could process what it was, it crashed onto him, hard.

So hard, that the momentum of the airborne black-figure sent his bulky body afloat, leaning back before finally falling onto the ground...

"Aaargh!"

"Urgh!"

Painful wailings escaped the bulky guy's and the black figure's mouth who turned out to be the one who had been kicked by Ash as their bodies collided.

*Clang!*

*Thud* *Thud*

And as soon as both of them finally landed on the ground, the bulky guy and the other one's minds blanked out for a short while and were rendered incapacitated for the moment while the fight is still ongoing...

---

On Vito's side, just moments before the all-out brawl between the two sides...

"Any word from the sentries?"

As the embers of the heated confrontation erupted, Vito had been on the sidelines along with several of his henchmen.

He was standing on an inclined platform for a better and wider peripheral vision to have a good grasp of anything that happens on the battlefield.

"Reporting, Vito-sama. It seems that the citizens, especially the adventurers who are patrolling near this area are still oblivious to what's happening here.", replied one of the henchmen at his side.

"That's good. Go tell the men to hurry it up before the rest of the adventurers get wind of the commotion here."

"Yes, Vito-sama."

Vito then turned his eyes back in front of him where Ash, Astraea, and Ganesha ladies were...

'As soon as we eliminate these ladies and soon the rest of their familias from the chessboard, only then can our plans move forwa-.'

Vito thought inwardly but was then cut short when he saw the white-haired donned in black take a step forward while glancing at the ladies behind him.

"Hmm? and who is this guy?", he muttered under his breath as soon as Ash got his attention.

Vito observed him for a moment when he saw what seemed to be another sword appeared in the man's hand...

'Another sword? but from what I can see, he seemed to have a sword tucked in his waist but didn't draw it... what does he need another sword fo- is that a magic sword!?'

Vito thought in wonder upon seeing his weapon stand out as it glowed brightly as his eyes can see.

Soon, he saw him in a stance and seemed to be preparing to strike. And not a second later, Vito's usual squinted eyes widened...

'He's fast!', he thought after seeing Ash disappear from his position.

"He's almost as fast as the current holder of the fastest man in Orario, Freya's Chariot."

What came next was the dull hitting sounds and his men's painful wailings on the cold ground made of bricks.

And with how Ash struck first, the ladies behind him engaged with their respective opponents as well.

Bladed weapons clashed, arrows whistled, bombs blasted, chaos ensued upon the commencement of the two sides colliding.

But with all that has been happening, Vito's eyes were fixated on an interesting individual on the battlefield...

"Ohya~? What do we have here? a blunt swor- no, scratch that. A blunt magic sword?"

He wondered when he saw his minions getting only incapacitated one after another but none were dead, at least from what he could tell.

'Fufufu~ so he's one of those types of delusional people who refused to get their hands bloodied.'

Soon, several moments had gone by and the battle only didn't show signs of dying down but intensified even more.

Vito's laidback attitude was no longer visible from his expression but despite all that, he wasn't showing his worry at all...

'Arara, it seems like this time is a failure as well... What a useless bunch.', he thought while complaining inwardly before sighing in defeat.

Not long after, an Evilus minion approached him from his side and informed...

"Vito-sama, The adventurers are coming! Roland, one of the sentries we left also said that he had spotted the Astraea familia's captain as well as the Loki familia's captain."

But before Vito could respond, another one came in running towards them...

"Reporting, Vito-sama. Ganesha familia already evacuated the remaining civilians within the district and had this place locked down."