They had no idea what had just hit them. At the woman's command, the space to the left and right of Hayama began to blend and warp. Something tumbled out of that rift in space and headed to the dumbfounded rearguard at high speed. 

Only Hayama and Yukinoshita managed to see the surprise attack coming.

Hayama quickly held his sword and sheath in a cross formation in front of her to guard, while leaping backward to soften the impact of the blow. However, the strength of the attack was far beyond his expectations. 

Whatever it was that hit him slammed him to the ground hard enough to knock the air out of his lungs. 

Meanwhile, Yamato used his Body Strengthening and Diamond Skin skills to raise his base defensive stats. The two skills combined made his body a far more reliable shield than any armor. Most things would have found it difficult to break through that human fortress.

Still, that something managed to blow through his defenses and ravage his arms. Blood splattered to the ground as he was blown backward. He only remained standing because Totsuka, who'd been standing behind him, was able to catch him. 

There was a sound of shattering glass as the barrier Yukinoshita had put up the instant before the attack was obliterated.

As it was, the shockwave from the barrier breaking flung her further back into the rearguard. Thanks to her enchanted cloak, she luckily avoided taking any direct damage, but her body was still temporarily paralyzed from the blow. 

The three somethings instantly launched a follow-up attack. Hayama, Yukinoshita, and Yamato were all down for the count, and the remaining party members were unable to mount any kind of defense in time. Just as it seemed that all hope was lost-

"Holy light please protect us! Holy Blessing, Divine Veil, Sacred Shields!"

Yuigahama fired off three potent light spells at once with barely any incantation.

The first spell was an intermediate rank healing spell that she'd cast on Yamato and Yukinoshita, and Hayama, invigorating them. It was one of the few healing spells that could target multiple people from a distance.

Her next spell was targeted at the three invisible creatures. Pale violet light began to eclipse them. Thanks to that light, their outlines were visible to everyone for the first time. 

The monsters outlined in pale light had the heads of lions, the legs and claws of dragons, the tails of snakes, and the wings of eagles. In other words, they were chimeras. Chances were the camouflage they used was their special magic. It not only hid them from sight, but also erased any trace of their presence. It was a quite dangerous skill, but it seemed they couldn't completely hide themselves while in motion. That was why the space around looked warped when they had attacked.

However, even with that, it was obvious that they couldn't compare with those monsters. Hayama and Yukinoshita, two of the party's best fighters, had been incapacitated in a single blow. Their strength was on a completely different level from the monster they'd been fighting on the last floor.

"Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" The Chimeras roared angrily and struck once more with their lethal claws. It seemed being revealed hadn't bothered them in the slightest.

The Chimeras' claws closed in on them. However, before reaching their targets, they found their attacks redirected. Shining shields of light had diverted the trajectory of their swipes. This was Yuigahama's third spell. Sacred Shields. It was the advanced version of a basic light spell. Holy Shield. Sacred Shields allowed the caster to deploy multiple Holy Shields at once.

She positioned the shield the shields an angle that could deflect the Chimeras attacks, rather than block them outright. The way she'd masterfully used the enemies' strength against them felt more like an advanced martial arts move than a magic spell. 

Enraged at having their attacks deflected, the Chimeras made to strike again. Yuigahama had only managed to buy her teammates a second. In the end, her efforts were still nothing more than a futile struggling of a weakling.

But that one moment she'd gained made all the difference.  Hayama had no intention of letting her efforts be in vain. 

"Get off of Yui!" With the one second she'd bought, Hayama used his Supersonic Step to interpose himself between Yuigahama and the Chimera. He'd moved so fast that he'd left afterimages in his wake. His holy sword shimmered in the air as he swung at the Chimera's neck, aiming to decapitate it. 

At the same time, the other students made their move. 

Yamato thrust his hand towards the Chimera targeting Yukinoshita. Figuring he didn't have time to rush all the way over, he'd instead opted to fire off a shockwave. He gathered his mana into his hands. Still, Yamato wasn't the only one to strike. 

"Swallow them whole, O crimson mother- Flame Tide!" Miura stuck out her staff and cast a powerful spell as well. As the name suggested, Flame Tide was an intermediate rank fire spell that summoned a wave of fire the caster could freely control. Even agile enemies had a hard time dodging this spell.

Hayama's sword swung down at the Chimera faster than human eyes could follow, all the force of gravity behind the swing. Yamato's shockwave shot out of his hand with the force of a cannonball, aftershocks trailing in its wake. Miura's crimson wave of death surged forward, reducing everything it touched to ash.

However-

"Graaaaaaaaaah!" They'd been more enemies waiting in the wings. Just before their attacks landed home, two new shadows suddenly appeared and charged at Hayama and Yamato.

"What the!?" Chills ran down their spines. 

The two shadows reached their targets and swung down their heavy metal maces.

Hayama nimbly twisted his body out of the way, using the centrifugal force of his swing to accelerate his dodge. Meanwhile, Yamato bought up his left first and blocked the mace outright. 

Hayama lost his balance and tumbled to the ground, while Yamato was blown away by the shadow's follow-up punch. The monsters that had caught them by surprise were two two-meter tall giants that looked like Bulltaurs. But Bulltaurs, like Orcs and Ogres, tended to have pig-like faces. These two giants that had attacked them had much more intelligent features. They looked like what one might get if they took a Bulltaur and refined its face into something more pleasant. And both their strength and their speed were far greater than that of any Bulltaur's. 

"What the hell are these things!?"

"Damn it, where do they keep popping up from!?"

The students were confused and overwhelmed by the powerful monsters that had appeared out of seemingly nowhere. Just then-

"Gah!?" Ooka cried out in pain as he slammed into the ground between the two of them.

"Ngh, be careful everyone! There's more we can't see! They are everywhere!" Shouted Hayama.

The monsters were coming in and out of existence with a power that made them invisible and covered their presence. There was no telling how many enemies were hidden from them. 

And as if to prove Hayama's statement, monsters suddenly appeared one after another surrounding. 

"No way..." The shock was too much for most of them. They were staring blankly at their enemies.

"Looks like you're having a hard time. How about it? Feel like joining our side yet? If you give up now, I might still be willing to let you." The demon folded her arms and watched as Hayama and the others struggled to keep the monsters at bay. Her cold stare made it clear that she already knew what his reply was going to be, though. She was taunting them.

Hayama didn't answer immediately this time. It was indeed a tempting offer but he knew better than to trust the words of an enemy. She had too much leverage over them. It would be too risky. Rather than to walk into a trap, he was going to gamble instead. Making a signal to his group as he yelled.

"Like hell we will! Your petty threats won't work on us! Just you watch, we'll beat you and your monster army! Take this- Limit Break!" He angrily swatted back the Super Bulltaur's mace and activated his most powerful skill.

Limit Break continuously drained his mana, but in exchange, it tripled all of his stats. However, the skill literally pushed his body past its limits, so he couldn't maintain it for long. Furthermore, it left him drained and exhausted once the skill wore off. Though this skill was his trump card, it came with dire consequences that needed to be taken into consideration.

"Light of Judgement, smite mine enemies- Sword of Light!!!" 

Pointing his sword at the demon Hayama summoned an incredibly brilliant light that flooded the floor with light. 

Nevertheless, magical chains instantly rose from the ground and created a wall that shielded her completely from Hayama's attack.

"Sorry, but if this is the best you've got, it's nowhere near good enough." The demon wanted to laugh at how pathetic their struggles were. Overpowered or not by her numerous monsters, she still expected more from humanity's strongest humans. However, her good mood was instantly erased when she saw that the students were nowhere to be seen.

"Tch! Don't let them escape!" Realizing their intentions, Cattleya, the demon, was enraged at being fooled. Quickly dashing in pursuit to prevent them from escaping. The chimeras, four-eyed wolves, and black cats were all agile creatures, hence they closed the gap at an alarming speed.

The young heroes had taken advantage of Hayama's bluff and ran for the exit. Summoning various obstacles to throw off their pursuers. 

"Dark Gaol!" Miura fired off gray spheres that exploded in front of the charging monsters and the ceiling, Making it collapse besides creating a smokescreen, effectively hiding her and the others from view as well as blocking the path of the monsters. 

"Was anyone left behind!?" 

"No!"

"Good! Yukinoshita, did you manage to send an SOS signal!?"

"Our backup is on their way!"

While they ran, Ooka called upon a big amount of his mana to use a skill that hid all their tracks, erased their scents, and silenced the noise they produced. It was one of his derivatives skills, 'Stealth', pushed to the limit to wrap all the members of the party in it. Incredibly useful as it was, it still fell short compared to the overpowered concealment skill that the demon had used to ambush them.

The monsters' angry howls slowly faded into the distance as the group of students ran. Humbled and defeated, the party trudged up the stairs leading to the 89th floor.