In the time that had gone by since she received the skill, Alissa had learned that [Walk in the Shadows] was rather unique even amongst skills of its type.

Most of the time, skills that had stealth or concealment effects worked by shielding the user from perception in some manner. Some more advanced skills might also erase other traces like scent and sound, to make it even harder to notice the presence of its user. In general, however, the skill user was still where they were supposed to be, and could be detected by direct contact.

Those skills wouldn’t shield them from area effect damaging skills either, as the user was still where they were, and such skills would typically knock them right out of stealth. It was one reason that people with area effect skills would instinctually resort to using them when faced with an enemy capable of stealth in some manner.

[Walk in the Shadows] on the other hand worked by physically transporting its user – and whoever else Alissa was able to bring along with her – into a whole different dimension altogether. They did not exist in the physical world while under the effects of the skill, so the vast majority of perception skills and practically all area effect offensive skills were useless against it.

When the skill was still lower in level, people with sharp senses like Sir Inolet and Magus Drummond could still find Alissa if they were specifically looking for her and knew she was in the general area through some faint dimensional ripples she caused while moving around. That effect diminished to the point of imperceptibility once she leveled her skill a few times, however, which made her all but undetectable while using the skills.

Only people who were themselves attuned to either shadows or spatial elements were capable of noticing her, and even then, it was like Sir Inolet and Magus Drummond in the past, reliant on faint signs of passage that were only noticeable when one specifically looked for them. Given the relative rarity of those elements, Alissa was pretty much invisible as she made her way behind a pair of demons who were engaged with one of the human fourth tiers.

Both demons appeared to be primarily physical combatants, though one of them also made use of minor spells to feint and attempt to lure their opponent into making a mistake, even while he attacked ferociously with a slender sword. The other demon – a Ma’varok woman from what Alissa could tell – should be a pure physical type, with the large, wicked-looking polearm in her hand already drenched in blood and gore.

Alissa made a split-second decision – she noticed that everyone else in the party was already positioned to strike next to their respective targets – and chose the swordmage demon as her target. She emerged out of the shadowy realm behind the unsuspecting demon, though he likely sensed something as he tried to turn around the moment she emerged, and struck out with her spear.

Clad with the enhancements of every single one of Alissa’s active offensive skills other than [Moment of Truth], the broad blade of the spearhead accurately struck the back of the swordmage demon’s head, just around where his head connected to his neck. The chain coif the demon wore posed no resistance to the heavily enhanced thrust, and the spearhead pierced through the demon’s flesh, the point coming out from his surprised mouth.

The fourth tier demon had perished before he could do anything.

Around the same time, the rest of the party also made their own moves at their respective targets. Unlike Alissa, they couldn’t make use of the element of surprise to that extent, so the demons they targeted had more time to react. Even so, the fourth tier human combatants – who were all in on the plan – immediately intensified their attacks as well to keep the demons occupied and vulnerable to the assault.

Ethan and Joshua both targeted demons who were working in pairs to pressure a human fourth-tier combatant together. Ethan’s target saw him coming, but couldn’t help but be lured towards him by [Antagonizing Yell] which had a taunt effect. In fact, it caused both demons to strike at him, which allowed the fourth tier human to grievously wound one of them in their distracted state. Ethan quickly finished off that injured demon before he worked together with the fourth tier human to pressure the other one.

Joshua’s method was far more straightforward, as he directly blasted an [Overcharge]d spell in the form of a massive bolt of lightning at the demons. One of the demons managed to avoid the blast, but the other was kept busy by the human fourth tier they were engaging and failed to react in time. By the time the lightning bolt subsided, all that was left of the demon was a charred corpse that still emanated wisps of smoke from every cavity on its body.

Stolen story; please report.

Elsewhere, the rest of the party also made their assaults while cooperating with their partners.

Nadine worked together with the human fourth tier combatant near her to keep the fourth tier demon’s hands and weapons occupied with them, which created an opening Maribel made full use of. She swiftly dove in close to the demon as she slashed out with her paired blades, cleanly slicing halfway through the demon’s throat with her strike. As the demon fell to their knees, Nadine finished them off with a decapitating blow from her greatblade.

Bronwen worked together with Silvia and relieved a human fourth tier combatant who was on the verge of defeat. The human fourth tier was one with the lowest level out of the ones deployed that day, so it was understandable that they had a hard time against a higher level demon. Bronwen’s timely rush salvaged the deteriorating situation and turned the tables at the same time.

As Bronwen defended against the demon fourth tier’s attacks with her large shield, Silvia and the human fourth tier combatant struck from the sides. The demon prioritized blocking the human fourth tier combatant’s attack, but failed to notice the gleaming power that accumulated in Silvia’s spear. It was only when the spearhead directly punched through his armor and went deep into his abdomen that he realized the fatal mistake he had made.

Benedictus and Osmond worked together and harried the fourth tier they were targeting with javelins and arrows, all of which were enhanced by various skills. The sudden barrage caught the fourth tier demon by some surprise, but she still managed to defend herself even as the human fourth tier she faced intensified his assault against her.

Moira and Glenn had better fortune as Glenn barged into the fight between a burly demon fourth tier and a swift human combatant. Glenn’s sudden intrusion gave the human fourth tier combatant a chance to land a cut on his opponent’s arm, and just as the demon roared in anger and raised its other arm to strike back, Moira swept in and struck, the blade of her glaive hewn through the demon’s thick arm and chopping it off just behind the wrist.

The burly demon did not last long under the three’s assault after it lost one of its hands.

Most of the time, fights between fourth tier combatants took a long time, because both parties would be wary of each other and fought with the preservation of their own lives as the top priority. The main reason the ambush succeeded was because at a glance, people were accustomed to checking an enemy’s level, and the fourth tier demons had seen that the [Heroes]’ party were only at their third tiers and subconsciously dismissed them as a threat.

That was a mistake they paid for in blood, as most members of the party were capable of taking on a fourth tier combatant on their own. In a situation where they had to face two to three opponents with strength similar to theirs, it was no surprise that the fourth tier demons took heavy losses, doubly so since they were caught off guard and failed to react in time for the most part.

In a timespan of only ten seconds after the ambush was sprung, six fourth tier demon combatants lost their lives. The remaining five were naturally alarmed, and immediately tried to disengage from the fighting, but three of them were not so fortunate, and only two made it out alive in the end. The survivors were a demon who was fortunate to not be targeted by the ambush as well as Benedictus and Osmond’s target, who managed to escape with her life, with only some injuries on her.

The other demons who had been working in pairs had found themselves pincered by a fourth tier human warrior and one of the [Heroes] each, a situation that made it difficult for them to disengage from the battle. Ethan’s second target was still affected by his [Antagonizing Yell] and couldn’t even move further than a ten meters away from him, for that matter.

Joshua was actually the first to finish his second target, as he feinted a high-power magical blast at the demon, which caused the demon to dodge straight into the path of a second, barely noticeable spell. The second spell was much weaker in terms of damage, but it had a strong paralytic effect, which rendered the demon insensate for a brief moment. Long enough for the warrior Joshua was working with to land a fatal blow, even as another blast of powerful magic landed on the demon at the same time.

The blast also electrocuted the human fourth tier combatant mildly, but it was a minor injury, and the man still gave Joshua – who by then was panting in exhaustion as he had used up most of his mana – a respectful salute before he charge into the horde of the lower leveled demon soldiers still pushing against the defense line.

On his side, Ethan got creative with his skills as he realized that the invisible wall from [None Shall Pass] would change its position based on the way he oriented himself. As such, he activated the skill and after a quick clash with the demon fourth tier, swiftly made an about-face to the left. As a result, the invisible wall slammed against the demon’s side, the unexpected blow causing her to lose her balance as a vicious chop from the human warrior next to Ethan arrived and mangled one of her legs.

With one leg crippled, the demon had no chance as Ethan and the human combatant delivered more blows from above the fallen demon and ended her life swiftly.

Alissa and the fourth tier human warrior she helped had an easier time against the burly female demon. They were fighting two against one, after all, and the demon did not seem to have any skill that allowed her to make a swift escape. In the end, Alissa took an opportunate time to activate [Moment of Truth] and ended the fight.

As the burly demon’s polearm flashed towards her head from the right, Alissa used the wing-like protrusions below her weapon’s spearhead to catch her opponent’s weapon and pushed it away. The demon was a good bit stronger than her, but the leverage of the force she applied allowed the push to throw the strike off-course, far enough that it whiffed just an inch away from her helmet.

At the same time, Alissa stepped in close to the demon and struck at her solar plexus with a vicious punch, the upper tip of her shield digging into the female demon’s abdomen. The demon quailed back in pain, some of her organs probably ruptured from the blow, as the human warrior Alissa helped struck from the side and pierced into the demon’s shoulder with his sword.

Before the demon could regain control of the situation or make another strike, Alissa shortened her grip on her spear and pierced through the demon’s throat with it. The female demon let out one last groan that ended in a bloody gurgle before she collapsed on the spot, leaving only the victors standing on the battlefield.

The ambush ended up being a resounding success, as the defenders killed nine fourth tier demons as they pushed the demons back to the valley. As for the thousands of casualties sacrificed in the process, everyone in command considered that as an acceptable cost for the victory they achieved.