Team #21 was a pretty successful team of five demi-ascendants. Without any ascendants in the team, they were able to destroy tens of teleportation anchors without losing anyone. This was a remarkable feat.

As usual, the team again gathered together to go to another location and destroy the anchor. The mood was, as usual, awkward. Mark Strong was flirting subtly with Madeline, Mark Gregory was silently in the corner, Azeer and Samuel were talking about unimportant things. The team, which was praised by the natives on many occasions, did not show any semblance of teamwork. Soon, they boarded the ship and left for the target location.

Teleportation was a way to use the power of laws of space to move from one location to another extremely quickly. But unlike most people believed, it was not instantaneous. For very large distances, it took a good amount of time to teleport. There was no way known to instantaneously move between two locations. Teleportation was generally done through formations which powered the laws of space and connected two points in space. Only people who understood the laws of space could teleport without formations. Another way was to use brute force to align and travel between two locations. In essence, it was the same as teleportation but it used hundreds of times more energy than using space laws. Of course, if you wanted to teleport in the territory of the enemy, you can only either use raw power or space laws as your formations would be the first thing the enemy will destroy.

The way around this was using teleportation anchors. Using the power of space laws and a huge amount of energy, a location could be embedded with a teleportation anchor, which could then be connected to a formation on one side. Then, the anchor would act as a temporary formation and one could send troops to the enemy region. To make sure that the enemies don't appear in your territory, you would have to keep destroying these anchors or you could do a space lock-down. Doing a lock-down was too hard, thus, the Divine Sea Sect ignored these anchors. These anchors were quite weak and only weak puppets would cross through these. The natives were left to handle these anchors.

Michael had been very happy this past year. Meeting Madeline out of the blue was truly incredible luck. The memories from the depth of his heart had emerged when he saw her. As his first love, he felt he was back to his carefree days as he interacted with her day and night. While Madeline did not remember him, she was the same as in his previous life. She had a streak of righteousness in her that caused her to step up against injustice. She would truly get upset with the plight of normal people and did everything in her power to fight for her beliefs. This was very different from many other powerful cultivators who were selfish and indifferent to the suffering of common people. It was very different from the way Michael was in his previous life. Michael in his previous life fought against devils primarily for revenge. In his new life, he now empathised with the common people, but it was still not to Madeline's extent. Madeline was also kind. It was clear from the way she guided him in cultivation. When she confirmed that his character was not evil, she truly tried to help him.

She could be considered pretty but not a divine beauty like Ashley. But she had the temperament that bound Michael's heart. In the past year, Michael had tried to make many discreet enquiries trying to figure out if she remembered anything about the previous timeline but he got the same result every time, she did not know anything. Michael initially had thought that the ancient being who changed time was a divinity. This was the highest level of power he knew about. But the fact that Fate Seer divinity did not find anything wrong with him made him less certain of this assumption. He got to know from Fate-Seer divinity that there are beings beyond divinities, beings who can truly be called gods. Now, after meeting Madeline, he was quite certain that the ancient being who turned back time was a God! After all, Madeline's identity was not simple. After all this time, he was 90% sure that she was from the Samsara Sect from heaven-realm. That was a powerful sect, even stronger than the Divine Sea Sect. So they obviously had divinities. The fact that this timeline repeated Madeline's visit meant even divinities were swept by that power! This was a terrifying conclusion, but Michael had a very strong hunch that he was correct. But if that was the case, things did not add up.

Initially, he had thought that he had been sent back in time only in exchange for the planar source that he was born with. He had thought that time was rewound for the entire plane. Even then, the price of a planar source was not enough. But now, it seemed that time was rewound for the whole universe. Even if a god could do this, it would not be easy. How could the price of a single planar-source suffice? Michael had a very strong feeling that he was involved in the plans of a god. It was a terrifying situation to be in, but there was nothing he could do about it. He could only try to save the plane and become stronger so that he could survive the fate that he had waiting for him. Since he came back in time a million years, it was reasonable to assume that the unknown god will take action within a million years. A million years was quite long for mortals but ascendants could indeed live that long. Besides, to survive, he would at least need to be a divinity. Thus, subconsciously, Michael had set the goal to reach the divinity realm within a million years.

But, in the present, he was not interested in the deadline of a million years, nor was he interested in the identity of the god he was a pawn of. He was simply living his life happily trying to woo his crush. It was a carefree life of happiness.

As they travelled via the crystal ship, Mark Gregory suddenly spoke, "We are already in range. This camp of devils is quite large. There is an octagonal formation around the camp. I am not sure what those nodes are for, but the anchor is definitely in the centre of fortifications. It is very heavily guarded."

"We are going to break in a straight line before the devils can react. Then, after destroying the formation, we will retreat swiftly as well. It will be difficult on our own this time, so Azeer can charge in after we destroy the anchor. We will get on the ship and leave as quickly as possible.", said Madeline.

"Let's do this! This is definitely a big anchor. If we destroy this, we will be able to gain a huge amount of merit points. I will also qualify for the 1st class medal of honour. After that, I will be leaving the team. After all, I am not here to win the war but to make a statement for my family.", said Samuel.

Azeer replied, "Yes, this is the only way. You guys can count on me!"

Soon, the ship landed stealthily and four people departed. They were Mark Strong and Madeline as one team, Samuel as an independent attacker and Mark Gregory as the long-distance support. Azeer remained in the ship waiting for the signal.

Samuel Joss was extremely overbearing as he attacked the fortification brazenly. This was his normal style. That was why he was given the role to distract the devils' forces as Mark, Michael and Madeline made their way into the centre stealthily. The devils were quite weak as they were all brainwashed puppets. Even demi-ascendants among them could not bring forth combat power of immortal-slayers. Thus, Samuel was able to slaughter them easily. Heaps of bodies flew around as devils were killed by him. He was like a storm of blood that was rampaging unhindered throughout the devils' camp.

Michael and Madeline managed to reach the central region unnoticed due to the havoc created by Samuel. Soon, they managed to locate the area where the anchor was placed.

Michael and Madeline entered easily and went into the huge hall that contained the formation. To their surprise, the anchor was much bigger and more powerful than the ones they had seen before. Michael had a feeling that he might not even be able to destroy this formation. At the centre of the formation was an old-man sitting cross-legged. He suddenly opened his eyes and said, "How unfortunate that only these few rats took the bait. I was thinking of getting a few important people."

Michael had a sense of crisis emerge in his heart. He reacted swiftly holding Madeline's waist and retreating quickly.

That is not a brainwashed person but a true devil! That is at least a rank-3 ascendant being!

But before he could get out of the gate, the formation activated. Soon, several powerful auras emerged. This was an entire squad of powerful devils! Several rank-3 and rank-4 auras merged together blowing apart the entire hall into bits. As the aura travelled outwards, it slammed into Michael, Madeline, Samuel and Mark Gregory.

Michael felt all bones in his body shatter and his organs explode. Blood poured out from his eyes, nose and ears. Madeline was a lot more skilled than him in using law-based arts. She managed to defend herself in time but the power of the blast was not something that a demi-ascendant could handle. Her defences broke and she too coughed up blood.

Samuel was also quite near the central regions. Thus, as the aura-wave slammed into him, his let out a miserable scream and was thrown out like a ragdoll spraying blood and flesh. Shadows emerged from his body and died swiftly. By the time he recovered his senses, a hundred shadow-warriors had fallen dead in the Joss family basement! Mark was the only one far away from the place. Thus, he only suffered minor injuries. But he was also badly startled by the sudden change.

Before they could react, the eight nodes flashed and hordes of devils emerged from within. The eight nodes were actually disguised teleportation anchors as well.

Madeline and Michael ran with all their might. Many devil puppets came at them but they were all blasted away by Madeline's attacks. Michael took out the communication crystal and shouted, "Azeer get in here now! We need to retreat quickly!"

Surprisingly, no reply came back. In the distance, the ship that they had hidden shot towards the horizon. Michael and the rest paled at the sudden betrayal from Azeer. Soon, unbridled rage emerged in Michael's heart but with his vast willpower, he calmed his emotions and started looking for the best path of retreat. Samuel, on the other hand, was screaming and cursing Azeer with all his might while launching attacks and trying to clear a path of blood. But his rage and loud cursing attracted more and more devil puppets towards him.

Michael could see that Samuel was a lost cause. There was no one around to save him from the hordes of devil puppets. The true devils that had teleported just now had yet to make a move. So he immediately took off with Madeline in a different direction. Along the way, they kept killing the devil puppets quickly. Soon, Mark Gregory also provided them cover with his accurate sniping. This made the process of breaking through easier. After a while, Michael, Mark and Madeline emerged from the devils camp covered in many injuries. Michael was certain that Samuel was definitely dead. He was also sure that now, they would be facing the chase from the terrifying true devils. His mind was extremely clear.

He himself was expendable. After all, this was just an experimental clone. Even if he died, he would not lose a lot. But Mark Gregory did not have such liberty. He remembered Mark from his childhood and he truly did not want this person to die here. Madeline perhaps had some arrangements from her sect as well but he was not clear on how the arrangement was set up. Will she be able to survive if she was killed by a devil? Last time, she had self-destructed to open the path. Was this something that she had to actively do? If so, he could definitely not let her die to the devils. Also, did she still have that method or was that method ready now? How much time was needed to cast it? Michael knew nothing. Thus, he could definitely not put either of their life at risk.

Unknown to him, Madeline was thinking along the same lines:

I can't let Mark Strong die. I am here as a reincarnation. The power of samsara had merged with my soul. Thus, even if die, I will return to the sect. Even divinities can't break this power. Thus, I am actually safe. But I can't give up here. I need to survive to make sure this guy doesn't die. Although I have only known him for a while, I already like him. I have the highest combat power here, so I must save him.

Afterwards, all three of them started running back towards the fortifications. Meanwhile, at the devils' camp, a devil was soul-searching Samuel. After that, he gave the order:

"The one who escaped on the ship, Azeer, is not very important. He has also left early, so there is no way to catch him. The other three are all great talents. So, we must kill them! Else they will grow into powerful experts later and come looking for revenge. Ranga, your team will be the one responsible for killing them. They are only demi-ascendants. You should be able to handle this task right?"

"Don't worry Captain! No matter how much of geniuses they are, how can they escape a team of battle-tested ascendants?"

"Very well, kill them and meet with us at the fortification. It is time we give these bastards a smack they will remember."

Michael, Mark and Madeline formed a formation as they travelled through forests. Mark Gregory was good at scouting. Thus, he was trying to keep a lookout for devils. Michael had been badly injured, so he was recuperating. Madeline was currently the main damage dealer.

"They have begun the chase. They are not even bothering to hide their presences, these bastards! All of them have the aura of ascendance. What should we do?"

Michael's eyes shone with a bright light. He looked at Madeline and said, "Madeline, now is not the time to keep any secrets. There are lives at stake here. Tell me honestly what is your combat strength. I may have kept quiet but we both know that you are definitely not a demi-ascendant."

Mark Gregory gawked at Michael's words. Madeline simply said, "My true strength would have been enough to kill all those devils by myself. But due to some reason that I can't explain, my strength is sealed to the demi-ascendant stage. But my understanding of laws and arts remain. So, it should not be much problem fighting a rank-2. Rank-3 will be troublesome and we will have to retreat. Rank-4 and all of us will die."

Mark Gregory spoke, "Wait, you are that powerful? Why are your powers sealed then? Anyway, can you unseal your strength?"

"I can't tell you more but unsealing my strength is not possible. I do have my ways to survive thus even if I die, I will not truly die. Thus, to make sure that you guys survive, I will sacrifice myself in the end.", she replied.

"How coincidental. I also have some trump cards. Basically, I won't die easily. While I might still die in the war, at least these devils won't be able to kill me.", Michael spoke.

Mark Gregory paled with fright, "Do you mean I am the only one who will truly die? Bastards! Why tell this before we are about to die?"

"Don't worry, while I have my trump cards, I don't want to court death. Also, in the worst case, we both will try that you survive.", Michael reassured Mark.

"Very well, let's begin then. Mark, tell us the weakest link in their encirclement. We will breakthrough from there. Their speed is faster and they are more numerous. Thus, we need to reduce their numbers when possible. That's why we are going to hunt them one by one if they give us the chance.", Michael said.

Following that, they soon found the devil expert with the weakest aura. Unfortunately, he was also a rank-2 ascendant. Before they could launch their ambush, he suddenly spoke:

"Haha, you guys thought that I am the weakest so you came running here? But you see, I also know that I am the weakest in the squad. Thus, I have already prepared!" Saying so, he cast the spell he had prepared beforehand. Soon, fog covered the area. It hindered the senses of Michael's group while the devil merged with the fog.

"You are an exalted ascendant and yet you attack first? How shameless!", Michael shouted. But there was no reply. Suddenly, the fog around him thickened and he was swept away!

"You have a sharp mouth, kid. Pity that it won't save you." The devil expert appeared like a ghost and attacked Michael's heart.

But Michael greeted him with a smile. "Gotcha!" Before he could understand, an unimaginable amount of power assaulted his mind directly breaking his spell as well as his connection to his soul and body. His conscient was ripped apart! The reflex directly broke his soul as his body exploded on the spot! Dead!

This was the first time Michael was using psychic power as Mark Strong. Over the past year, he had brought his psychic ability to his peak. Psychic power was currently his greatest weapon. After merging his willpower with psychic path, he was confident in facing anyone below upper-ascendants. But while he was strong in this aspect, he was quite weak in other aspects. Even a dying blow from a law master would destroy the original Michael's body and soul, let alone Mark Strong's. There was no benefit to a mutual kill. He was successful this time because it was an ambush. The enemy did not know about his ability and hence was not prepared. If he had protected his soul before-hand, the attack would have only led to a severe injury. Killing an ascendant with a single blow was easier said than done.

Madeline smiled towards him, "So this is your trump card? Your psychic power is really off the charts. I wonder how you managed to train to this level. Anyway, I am quite relieved and impressed with you Mark Strong."

"You don't need to praise me too much. I only have powerful psychic energy. My manipulation abilities are quite lacking."

Mark Gregory was still gawking with his mouth wide open, "Wow! You killed that devil in one blow!"

"Don't waste time, we need to move and kill a few more. Only then will there be a chance to survive", Michael replied.

Soon they set out towards their new target.