The battle was continuously raging around Michael, but he could feel death encroaching on him. Darkened black blood was seeping from his orifices. He was feeling the world around him revolve, as explosions surrounded him.

Looks like I underestimated this war! How terrifying, looks like I have no option except "death"?

Just five minutes earlier, Michael was feeling that the war did not give him enough pressure. But before he knew it, he was already staring death in the face. Explosions reverberated around him as many powerful upper-ascendants were going all out in battle. Ice and Curse clashed together, destroying the forest around them. Trees larger than hundreds of feet were uprooted and flew apart in the aftermath of the battle. All the beasts of the forest, many of which were comparable to the lesser ascendant realm, were running for their lives.

Reverting to five minutes earlier, Michael was still supporting Alexis in battle when suddenly, she turned pale. Michael saw a glimpse of a grey coloured skull above her head before the area she was in was bombarded by several powerful explosions from the war weapons of the devils. Michael could see Alexis' figure thrown off the devils' ship's deck and he rushed without thinking to catch her. But as soon as he caught her, he himself became the target of several bombardments which threw him crashing into another of devils' ships. Michael was prepared to fight for his life to get out when a stray attack from a divinity hit that ship from the opposite side. The entire ship broke into two and fell to the ground hundreds of kilometres below. Alexis subconsciously used her defensive treasure to create an energy barrier around them while Michael did the same. Alas! a fall of that magnitude pretty much crippled them even with their activated defences.

Before he could even understand what the situation was, he was surrounded by the devil soldiers being led by a devil bigshot. This person was wearing a blue armour that was constantly giving out chilling air. His eyes were shining blue and were emitting sparks as well. He had a high nose and white moustache and beard that hung off his face, also emitting blue flaming sparks.

"Michael Rageberg, you owe me quite a lot. I will be taking what you owe me."

This was all he had said. No reason stated, no threats or demands. Michael could only take things as they came. After all, he was very badly injured, as was Alexis, so there wasn't much they could do. But he was not worried till that point. After all, could he take Alexis just like that? Many cultivators were guarding her in the shadows. And sure enough, many of the sects' dao protectors came forward to battle the devils, trying to take her away from danger. Another battle began then and there on the ground.

Seeing this situation, Michael used perfect persona blessing to forcefully control his broken body and started healing Alexis with the water of life. Their situation was dangerous and Alexis was currently unconscious. Michael felt that this might be due to the grey skull shadow he had seen on her, or the calamity fate that she had. He did not know what exactly had happened to her, but adding vitality to her would definitely help. While he was in the middle of it, the blue armour guy returned and grabbed him by the neck before pasting a talisman paper on his chest! Michael immediately felt the difference, as the talisman turned into tattoos that drilled into his body and forcibly anchored his soul. More exactly, the talisman had forcefully anchored his consciousness! Even with his psychic abilities, he couldn't shake it loose!

"I can't have you escaping in the chaos now, can I?", saying so, the guy winked at Michael, giving him a sinister grin before going back to fighting.

Michael grit his teeth and started transferring vitality to Alexis again. At most, he would be anchored to this body, it was not like he was going to try out psychic reincarnation anyway. After all, Alexis was the main person who he had to protect! After some time, she became stable but her temperature was still boiling her blood. Michael had no idea how he was supposed to help her with her condition, but he was relieved that she could become stable for the time being. At that time, one of the sect's dao protectors managed to kill the devil that he was fighting and came to them. Michael was about to thank this person before he was suddenly stabbed in the heart by him! Before Michael could react, the other person tried to run away only to be stopped by the blue-armoured devil who had returned!

"How dare you, bastard!? That guy is the prisoner of us devils! I Drake Ice will kill you for your transgression against the devils' pride!"

"Get lost!"

"Protector Woodrue, why did you kill one of our disciples? Are you a spy of the devils or some other force?"

Several sounds had merged, and he could hardly make sense of them.

And that was how he had gone from being completely at ease on the battlefield to close to dying.

Fuck! This blue bastard has anchored my psyche to my body and the traitor has implanted a very powerful curse in my body. What can I do? What can I do?...

He had been trying to use the perfect persona blessing to purge the curse, but it was extremely aggressive. Even his conscient was under constant attack. Even if he was at his peak, this curse would have been extremely troublesome. Now that he hardly had any methods, it was looking like a complete death sentence. Michael had a feeling that the curse should have been even more powerful but something was suppressing it.

Looks like I underestimated this war! How terrifying, looks like I have no option except "death"?

Finally, he concentrated his mind toward his finger. He then started connecting the "death" in his body to the ring that he was wearing. This was a trump card that he had kept to save his life, the fruit of his twenty years worth of labour. As it happened, the power of death in the ring started becoming weaker and weaker as the power of the curse started flowing into it. Soon it cracked open! With the ring breaking, almost half of the curse was gone and Michael could finally move again. His body was completely battered by several injuries and curses, but he could still move with his perfect persona blessing. He had already suffered much worse, and while it was a close save, he still managed to keep his life for now. He opened his eyes to find that both he and Alexis were currently trapped inside an ice prison, and Michael had no way of breaking through it. Thus, he could only heal himself and hope that Alexis' protectors would be able to something in this situation.

"We are currently trapped by the blue alien who is trying to capture us alive. He seems to have some grudge against me. The protectors of the sect are fighting that devil but there are traitors mixed in their team. Do I have any method to break this enclosure of ice?", Michael said to no one in particular.

Alexis, on the other hand, was even worse off. Her entire body was twisting with pain and it looked like she was going to die soon.

Michael started infusing her with vitality while consoling her, "Hey, hey, hey. Don't worry. I am here. Our fates are currently tied together. Nothing will happen to you. Now, you need to focus. Don't lose hope!". He did not know if she could hear him, but he still tried to encourage her just in case.

On the battlefield, Alec Woodrue was feeling extremely mad.

Fuck! Why did the curse weaken at the last moment?! Is it due to the interference of the world, or is it due to something else? It should have killed him in one shot but now he might end up surviving! All these geniuses are of the kind to grow stronger if they don't die early. No, I must kill him!

As his killing intent exploded, he attacked the guy in front of him with even more viciousness. His law started manifesting around him. Alas! He had yet to complete the path that he was researching, thus it was still in its embryonic form.

"Ohoh! How scary?! See, so many trees and animals are dying all around us. Even the ground is drying up and insects are dying too! You are truly trying to poison the whole world, is it? Haha! I can only say that if you had completed your law, it might have been a problem but now, you are not worth mentioning. Goodbye, wielder of curses and poison!"

His opponent manifested his own law. The temperature around him dropped drastically, and soon, a layer of frost appeared on Alec's whole body. Bluish power emerged from the man opposite to him, and Alec suddenly felt that he was being eyed by a predator! The man against him, Drake Ice, a disciple of Ice Devil divinity. Alec quickly brought out the life-saving treasure that he had obtained from the sect, but by then his opponent had already reached him and attacked! An ice dragon shadow emerged from the devil in front of him and attacked in full glory. Alec Woodrue was frozen like an ice sculpture without being able to activate his life-saving talisman. His body had completely frozen, and even his soul was being frozen in ice! He tried to activate his law, but even his law seemed to have been frozen! The ice dragon started slowly transforming and mystically into a sword with a dragon hilt.

"Next time, chose your opponents wisely!"

The sword had already beheaded him. His last thought before dying was:

I couldn't complete the mission of mistress...

Inside the ice prison, Michael and Alexis were still trapped.

Alexis was now stable. Holding her in his embrace, Michael felt pity for the girl. She was born to two powerful divinities, when had she faced any problems in life? Now, she was struggling and barely holding on to her life. Even veterans of hundred battles would become dejected from the odds that she was facing, let alone a child. Michael continued transferring vitality into her and kept encouraging her. Alas, there wasn't much he could do. As they were still inside the ice case, Michael couldn't perceive the happenings outside the prison. After a long time, the ice prison shattered.

Michael and Alexis were surrounded by a group of devils, with the blue armoured devil smiling at them.

"I hope that I did not keep you waiting for a long time. I am Drake Ice, the successor disciple of Ice Devil divinity. I am a rank-7 ascendant, and a follower of the devil dao."

"What do you want with me? I shouldn't have crossed you before.", Michael replied.

"Of course, of course!"

Smack!

With a solid slap, he had dislocated Michael's neck! A mortal would have already died from such an impact. Through his twisted head, Michael saw Alexis get captured by other devils who brought her to the side.

"You bastard!", Drake's bellow directly ruptured Michael's eardrums.

"You killed my brother. Do you remember killing him? Or was he just someone you killed for fun? Huh? Just as you killed him, I could already picture you through the life mark I had put on him, so don't bother lying to me!"

"Heh, heh! *Cough* *Cough*". Spitting out blood, Michael was smiling.

"What is so funny? Huh?", asked Drake.

"I don't even remember killing your brother specifically. So you can imagine that he died like fodder. How foolish!? *Cough* *Cough*"

"Right, right. He was only cannon-fodder in the Aterna war. What can I say, it was just the way it was. Just as you are nothing special to me!"

Drake held Michael's skull and started to freeze his entire head! He then proceeded to peel apart his skin layer by layer!

Even Michael who had suffered through many tortures shivered in pain when Drake started peeling his body and soul layer by layer after freezing them with his law.

"Don't worry, I am going to torture you for a long time!", Drake said.

"Why, don't you want to take my life?", Michael asked between the torture.

Drake's expression turned gloomy. Grabbing Michael's frozen head with his hand, he stared into his eyes and said, "You have some use for the higher-ups. So I can't take your life, unfortunately. But it shouldn't be a problem to torture you till I am satisfied!"

"Hehe, whether you want it or not, I will give my "life" to you!", replied Michael through his soul voice.

As soon as he said this, Michael's eyes shone as black lightning emerged from his eyes, directly entering Drake's eyes!

"Aaah!", Drake tried to open his eyes, only to find that they were rotting extremely fast! He had to utilise his own ice law to prevent this curse from causing any further damage. He roared, "Michael Rageberg! How sly?! Even in front of me, you managed to control the curse inside your body and use it as a weapon. You truly are incredible! But so what!? That guy himself was killed by me, how long do you think would his curse stop me?"

Michael gave a hideous smile, "Long enough!"

He then used the strongest psychic blast possible on the devil around! The psychic power rippled and the entire world seemed to have vibrated with it! All devils had to use their personal laws to prevent themselves from certain death. Lower-ascendants died instantly. At this juncture, Michael moved as quick as lightning and held Alexis in his grasp. Looking at the hostile group of devils around him, he said, "Farewell bastards!"

He rammed his entire willpower inside the volcano sitting quietly in his conscient! This forcefully activated his volcanic bloodline power beyond its limits. This was not a proper activation, but a powerful, violent and uncontrolled activation. In short, Michael had detonated his bloodline!

The impact of detonating a divine bloodline was enough to send ripples across a hundred-kilometre radius! The power of primal volcanic eruption swallowed all the devils present in that small camp, the recoil throwing Michael and Alexis to kingdom come! It was unknown if any of the devils were alive, neither were Michael's or Alexis' states known. The aftermath even attracted divinities of both sides to take a look. When they reached the spot, they found that a hundred-kilometre radius of the forest had been turned into an impact crater with a terrifying forest fire burning for thousands of kilometres.

.

.

.

Michael was trudging while carrying an unconscious Alexis on his back. Looking at his figure, even his mother might not recognize him. He was missing his entire right arm. There were terrifying wounds all over him. Half his face was destroyed with frostbite whereas the other half seemed to be melted with fire. His appearance could shock adults and give children nightmares! Alexis was also no longer the charming proud geniuses that she once was. Currently, she had a grey aura all around her, and her life force was dwindling constantly. Michael looked at Alexis again before making his final decision.

"I have already detonated my bloodline, so what is the point of having any stops."

He then placed her on the ground and started the ritual that he had learnt in the Samsara sect. Using the power of all his law marks, he was going to put her in suspended animation, where she would be between life and death for a period of time. Michael did not know if it would help her with her calamity, but it would definitely extend her life. As he completed the ritual, he could feel the power of his law marks vanish as they started engraving her body and soul to force her into a period of suspended animation.

After completing the ritual, he again took her and started to follow the sound of water that he had heard a while back. Currently, Michael was out of options and did not know how long he had to live. Given that he was still anchored to this body, he might truly die here. But he was not going to just lie down and die. After all, as a cultivator, he had to fight death till the end.