Finally understanding the nature of Marcus' phasing power, Sato felt a rush of various emotions.
He was angry at himself for not realizing something so simple earlier. His creature appraisal may have said that his opponent was human, but perhaps he should not have put his absolute trust in it.
This may have been the first time he had come across someone with a skill or item that could fake their status rather than just blocking the appraisal, but he should have at least considered the possibility.
Along with his vexation towards his own ineptitude, he was also incredibly bitter that what Marcus said was true.
Manipulating spiritual energy was not an ability he had ever picked up. It was not something that was considered a skill, so he could not obtain it using skill points with his Personal Status unique skill. As powerful as he was, he knew that a lot of it was from using his advantage as a transmigration to pick and choose the best skills for his fighting style.
At one point he had attempted to pick up the technique but found the process tedious for a power that was only useful in niche situations and dropped the training before learning much of anything.
Now he was severely regretting his past laziness. If only he had learned how to control spiritual energy in the past, he would not be in such a dire situation against a foe his blade could not reach.
'Nevertheless, there is still a way for me to win.'
While Marcus may have been attempting to demoralize him, Sato thought it was a bad move on his opponent's part to reveal the secret behind his apparent invincibility.
His party had reached the highest rank as adventurers and over their long career had picked up all manner of items for their profession.
Among these items was a special poison derived from the venom of a phase spider. A rare monster that could turn ethereal and travel between the material and spiritual worlds. They were capable of surviving off only material creatures but were known to favor spirits.
Their venom was highly effective against spectral entities and Sato's party had around a dozen vials just in case they ever encountered a ghost or some other type of phantom monster.
Unfortunately, there was one problem.
All of their rarely used items that were only meant to deal with uncommon enemies were kept inside a magic bag that Adonis always had on his person. Retrieving the poison and coating his blade with it in the middle of such an intense battle would be far from easy.
Feeling a sense of demoralization, Sato barely managed to block an incoming spell. Despite Marcus asking for his surrender, he still had not stopped his magical assault.
Of course, Sato was not going to give up just because things had taken a turn for the worse. He had teamed up with a cult of demon worshippers knowing full well that they were far from virtuous. However, this was the only path he had found that he believed could lead him to changing this messed up world. The world that had rejected the person he cared about the most.
'Ah, I should have thought about this sooner. All I need to do is launch an attack he can't afford to let pass through him.'
At the beginning of their engagement, Sato saw Marcus use all manner of skills and spells in an attempt to stop his blade. Not a single one had been particularly effective. The only reason his sword could not reach was because of his opponent's intangibility.
Having figured out a different method to let his strikes reach Marcus, Sato turned his gaze away from his opponent and stared intently at a different battle happing around a dozen kilometers away.
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There he locked onto Mrazivý who was fighting and overwhelming Mara.
Sato was a bit surprised to see how strong and skilled with the sword she was, but it did not change what he was about to do. Certainly, she was clearly winning her own battle, but Mara was not someone she could take lightly. A sudden, blindingly quick attack from far away would likely catch her off guard.
Naturally he let Marcus follow his gaze. His plan would not work if his true target did not understand his intentions.
With a sudden bust of speed, Sato rushed towards Mrazivý in order to close the distance between them.
Several kilometers may have seemed like a great distance, but for exceptionally high-level individuals, it was something that they could cover in only a few moments.
When he was just a bit under three kilometers away from her, he prepared to unleash hos One-Stroke kill attack skill.
It was his strongest move and something that few people around the same level as him could block or dodge.
Except, just before Sato swung his sword, he hesitated.
Not from any sort of moral dilemma or second thoughts, but because of the unbelievably murderous aura he suddenly felt directed at him.