Forget messing with the portal, even the area within ten meters of the portal resisted him! The Space Mage could only perceive helplessly as his second, third, and fourth teammates were brought away from the group and their connections cut off.

No one knew how they'd died, nor did anyone understand why they couldn't protect themselves.

"Protect the injured! He's targeting our weakest!" Su Mian and the others climbed out from the tunnel and regrouped with the team. From start to finish, he sensed everything but was even more helpless than the Space Mage.

With one team standing by with the Array Masters, Su Mian had thirty allies fifteen minutes ago. This mission should have had no casualties, not even an injury, but he had already lost four!

A portal appeared in the open, right next to the next most injured assassin. At this point, everyone was fully alert and waiting for an opportunity. No orders were given before the assassins launched dozens of Spells through the portal, hoping to severely injure William through his own portal.

Their methods were absurdly quick, containing Domain and Territory-level attacks that could wipe out a Mortal World with ease. A rainbow of Elements passed through the portal.

...

The assassins looked at the portal nervously. Surely it should have closed by now if their attacks landed. At the bare minimum, shouldn't William have cut off the portal so they couldn't send more?

Su Mian was about to give an order, but someone beat him to it.

"Behind us! Defend!!"

The rainbow had returned, but this time it was coming from a second portal that no one had noticed until now. Unless the Spells are modified or in special situations, they won't do much damage to their caster, but the same didn't go for allies.

Injuries stacked as personal Spells were turned against their allies, creating chaos among the formation. Those with the Life Element worked on recovering the injuries as quickly as they appeared, but they just couldn't keep up with the number of attacks.

How did they not sense it?

"Fuck! Illusion Magic!" Su Mian had a guess earlier when they lost their sense of direction, but this time it was obvious. Both portals had appeared at the same time, but only one was concealed with the Illusion Element.

They had just attacked themselves!

As someone experienced in leading groups, Su Mian knew that this was a major turning point in William's favor. In exchange for a tiny amount of Mana to create the portals and hide one, William used their own methods against them and wasted a lot of their firepower.

Another portal appeared, but Su Mian fearfully ordered a Sealing Mage to block the portal's exit.

Now, they couldn't carelessly attack the portals, nor did they trust passing through them. They hadn't even seen what William looked like, yet they were already losing psychologically.

From above, another five waves of Starmetal Comet Pellets rained down, though there was no help from the Primary Law of Illusion. That said, the assassins were forced to reposition themselves and defend or hide.

Those who didn't have the ability to defend hid underground, but were whisked away one by one through portals. Su Mian, the peerless genius who thought he could battle his way across the world, was completely helpless.

They couldn't group up, nor could they spread out. William seemingly had infinite Mana, his own personal weapons of war, and a psychological advantage. Between the Earth Elemental Spells from above, Space Magic from the side, and the Illusion Element all around, it was as if William wasn't one, but two or maybe even three!

Su Mian didn't dare go easy or save his Mana. If he didn't do something now, he wouldn't have a team left to catch William later. He ordered the Earth Mage assassins to use their Primary Laws and defend, twisting several colorful rings on his fingers to cast his own.

In his eyes, he is still the peerless genius. But William had become the World!

While the Earth Mages alternated their Primary Laws to create an indestructible barrier above their heads, Su Mian came up with a plan to approach William's position. Primary Laws are highly Mana inefficient, so he didn't waste any time lest his teammates fall from exhaustion.

"Space Mages, get me a portal as close to the cannon as possible!" he ordered.

Before they could give confirmation, he prepared a set of specific instructions for his Fire Element and spoke again, "Fire! Go through the portal and destroy that cannon!"

A wave of flames burst from Su Mian's hand like a phoenix approaching the sun, many times stronger than any Primary Law William had ever seen. Su Mian's 100 percent Comprehension of the Fire Element combined with his Fire Elemental Ring of Laws and other Artifacts led to a severe boost in output.

The Primary Fire Law flew into a portal as soon as it was created, avoiding the one placed directly ahead of it by William as if able to distinguish friend and foe. It traveled with unstoppable force, incinerating everything in its path as it followed the shortest distance from Su Mian to William's Starmetal Cannon.

Even using his own Primary Law of Fire, William knew he couldn't do anything to protect his Starmetal Cannon. He'd need to layer at least two Primary Laws to resist something of that level, which wasn't a worthwhile trade in his opinion.

Much to his regret, William backed away from the Starmetal Cannon and allowed the Primary Law of Fire to complete its mission. Once the Spell was cast, it couldn't gain another purpose so soon, at which point Su Mian would need to spend more Mana.

The fight had become a battle of resources. William's goal was to destroy the group before they reached him, and Su Mian's goal was to keep casualties low and catch up. Su Mian's group was faster and had more people, and William had more total Mana and firepower.

Whoever ran out of Mana first would lose!

Somehow, Su Mian and the assassins' perception had changed from "just another job" to "a strategic struggle to survive", fearing William more and more as the battle dragged on.

Without the Starmetal Cannon blocking their path, the remaining nineteen assassins pressed forward while the Earth Mages retracted their Primary Laws. They actively wiped out any presence of Illusion Magic as they traveled, maintaining a lock on William's position only four hundred thousand kilometers away.

Minor traps barred their way as they moved, but none of these were life-threatening as they reduced their speed. Another hundred thousand kilometers crossed, at which point Su Mian felt somewhat suspicious.

Given what William showed earlier, why was there nothing? If William was out of cards to play, why wasn't he running?

"Something's wrong." Su Mian suddenly said.

The Cultivator responsible for making reports was still alive and responded quickly, "Leader, there's no presence of Illusion Magic. That's his real location and not fake. We aren't lost either."

Su Mian shook his head, "It's not that. It has to be something else."

His eyes widened, "Where are the Array Masters?"

Everyone present felt a chill down their backs. Someone pulled out an emergency communicator and said a few incomprehensible words. No matter the situation, this communicator must be answered within ten seconds, even if it's merely a beep.

From the other end of the communicator, there was no response. Not a word, not a whistle, not even a beep.

The two Array Masters plus the other eight assassins in the other group... they were all gone!