Infinite Realm

"How about I give you a taste of death?" Sato glanced at the Nightmare Devil as he tightened his grip on his sword.

"Hehe. Why don't you try?" The Nightmare Devil grinned.

"[Astral Might]" Sato said with a low voice. 

Immediately, a billowing invisible force burst forth from Sato's figure. Like the aura of a godly dragon, it pressed forth against the Nightmare Devil; countering its mental pressure and the natural pressure from the mountain. Sato had channeled his emotions into the passive skill, increasing the strength of it by one-fold.

"Hehe. I admit that this aura of yours is quite impressive but if you plan on beating me with this alone, then you might as well just fall over a rock and die." The Nightmare Devil commented, seemingly unaffected by the pressure from Sato. 

This was understandable since the effects of [Astral Might] depended on the difference in level, [Endurance] and [Willpower] between the user and the target. This was the only weakness the skill possessed. Both Sato and the Nightmare Devil were level 9. However, the Nightmare Devil's [Endurance] was 5 points higher than Sato's whereas its [Willpower] was 22 points higher! The difference was an insurmountable gap that required a total of 27 points, in other words, at least 6 level up worth of points. With such a massive gap, the effects of [Astral Might] on the Nightmare Devil was nothing more than a light breeze.

It wasn't only those two attributes that Sato lost out in. Excluding [Strength], Sato was utterly suppressed by the Nightmare Devil in both [Agility] and [Intelligence]; as for [Dexterity], Sato was ahead by just one meager point. When the difference in attribute points was only limited to one or two attributes, there was still a possibility of winning the battle. But once it went above three, the battle could well be a certain loss. No matter how one looked at it, Sato was outmatched and outclassed when compared to the Nightmare Devil. Despite knowing this, however, he still went on to challenge it.

This wasn't to say that Sato was being stupid or overestimating his strength, rather, Sato felt that the appearance of the Nightmare Devil meant more than meets the eye. At first, one would presume that the Nightmare Devil was just one of the monsters that dwelt on the [Staircase to Zolstice] but after exploring a part of the mountain, Sato had yet to spot another similar creature. Even though back then he didn't know of the existence of the Nightmare Devil, Sato didn't run into any monster that had a humanoid shape much less of a monster that could transform itself into someone else. 

With the little information he had, Sato guessed that either the Nightmare Devils within the first section were sparse and widely spread or that there was a single one. In either scenario, it meant that there was a high chance that the Nightmare Devil would give out a reward and the reward would be exceptional or at the very least, satisfactory. 

It should be recalled that most phantasmal and illusory monsters don't give kill rewards; even Experience points weren't compensated. For the real monsters like the Red-Back Bear and the Twin Beak Hawk, they gave out measly Experience points with no loot. It was because of this that Sato avoided the monsters. Even when he was blocked by the previous Red-Back bear, Sato took the option of trying to communicate with the monster over coming to blows with it. Rather than struggle for such a paltry amount of Experience points, Sato would instead avoid any unnecessary battles and try to conserve his stamina as much as possible. But this time, things were different. 

There was a high chance that the Nightmare Devil gave out rewards. There was even the possibility that killing it would influence his completion rating for this challenge. In that case, Sato decided it was best to take on the Nightmare Devil than retreat. 

Right now was the best possible opportunity to do so. The first reason being that the battle was currently being held just a bit close to the territory of the Red-Back bear from before. Because of this, the chance of there being another monster close by was low. Apart from the location, there was also the fact that the Nightmare Devil had been injured by Sato's two previous strikes. With just less than 85% health less, Sato stood a chance against it. The problem, however, still remained. And that was the fact that the Nightmare Devil surpassed him in more than one attribute.

'But it's not like this is the first time something like this is happening.' Sato thought. 

Generally, monsters tend to have much more attribute points than players in the same level and for monsters with specialties, like the Nightmare Devil, a certain attribute of theirs would be absurdly higher than the rest.

"Die!"

While it might seem like a lot of time had passed, in reality, only 2 seconds had passed. During these 2 seconds, the Nightmare Devil had been monitoring Sato, looking for an opening to attack. After spotting one, it instantly made its move.

*Crack*

The ground beneath the Nightmare Devil's feet cracked as it forcefully hurled itself towards Sato. The speed at which the Nightmare Devil moved would undoubtedly leave the world's fastest man in its dust. Even for Sato, the Nightmare Devil was fast. Of all the monsters Sato had faced against, it was just only slower than the Kobold Chief and Kobold King.

"Keke." The Nightmare Devil appeared right in front of Sato with its teeth forming a creepy grin with its mouth. It looked like a spooky Halloween sculpture or to be more appropriate, like a demon straight from hell.

Despite the horrific appearance in front of him, Sato's mind remained calm as he swung his sword at the monster. Of the 7 attributes, the only one that Sato exceedingly surpassed the Nightmare Devil in was [Strength] and the gap wasn't a simple one. The [Strength] count of the Nightmare Devil was at 15 points. As for Sato, with all the bonuses from his equipment and weapons, he had a whopping total of 34 points! 

During the first round, the Nightmare Devil had made use of its higher [Agility] and movement speed to force Sato to continuously be on guard. Because of this, Sato couldn't freely utilize his entire strength and it made the battle look as if he was being suppressed. But now, since the Nightmare Devil took some time before it made its move, Sato was able to gather all that power and force into this strike. 

Even if the momentum from the Nightmare Devil's dash was added in, its strength would just peak at 16~17 points. Against the entirety of Sato's 34 points of [Strength], this was just pitiful.

Lotus Sword Art : 4th form… Lotus slash!