298: Chapter 233: Legalism Breaks the Curse, the Web of Law Defines Illegality

The roars of berserkers, the whistling of troll spears cutting through the air, the screeching of magical energy, the collision of metal and flesh... various sounds mixed together, playing a cruel symphony of war in the narrow Void Realm surrounding Watchtower No. 7. Although the [Radiant Virtue Domain] successfully dispersed fear and weakened part of the curses, the heavy shackles originating from the three [Weakening Totems] still firmly suppressed Lin Zhou's melee forces. Wang Meng and his Behemoth Warriors roared repeatedly, barely resisting the orc berserkers—who were twice their number and had strength attributes breaking through the heavens under the dual buffs of [Bloodlust] and [Berserk]—through sheer will and excellent equipment. However, every parry numbed their arms, more and more cracks appeared on their shields, and their defensive line was as precarious as a dam in a rainstorm.

Even more troublesome were the shamans. After being harassed by the Red Dragon for a round, they quickly adjusted their tactics. Several elite shamans, protected by more assistants, began a joint chant, their bone staves all pointing toward the watchtower. The chaotic energy permeating the air gathered rapidly, turning into visible streams of dark red, dark green, and pale white energy, snaking out like poisonous serpents! This was not a direct attack, but an even more vicious, continuous area-of-effect curse!

[Advanced Pain Curse] in effect! Within the range, the Behemoth Warriors felt doubled burning pain and numbness from their wounds; their life recovery speed decreased by 50%, and their attack movements were deformed by the intense pain.

[Mass Slow] in effect! The draw speed of the Literary Heart Elves' marksmen, the reload speed of Li Mo's Ballista platforms, and even the Red Dragon's maneuverability were significantly affected.

[Doom Gaze] marked! An orc berserker captain charging at the front was heavily marked by the shamans. His eyes were as red as blood as he locked onto Wang Meng; his next attack would carry additional armor-piercing and bleeding effects!

The shamans' tactical intent was clear: use continuous negative status effects to slowly wear down the defenders' condition and combat effectiveness, creating an absolute advantage for the berserkers' frontal Breakthrough. Meanwhile, the Troll Spear Throwers watched like tigers from the rear, ready to deliver a devastating blow to any units showing fatigue or gathering together.

"Boss! We can't hold on like this! Two Behemoth brothers are already heavily injured! Those green-skinned witch doctors' evil Spells are too annoying!" Wang Meng roared into the communication channel, his voice carrying suppressed anger and anxiety as he parried a giant axe swinging down at his head, the impact splitting the webbing between his thumb and forefinger.

"The Red Dragon doesn't dare to dive too deep; those trolls' spears are too vicious! The protection around the shamans is also very tight!" Zhao Hao's voice came through, accompanied by the Red Dragon's angry and somewhat frustrated roar.

Li Mo's tone remained fast and calm, but the content was not optimistic: "The enemy shamans' joint casting efficiency is very high, and the curse stacking effect is significant. Our purification speed can't keep up. The troll positions are temporarily suppressed by smoke and Ballistas, but they are adjusting their positions to find weak points in the smoke. It is estimated that the next round of precision throwing will arrive in three minutes."

Lin Zhou stood in the center of the observation platform, his gaze like lightning as it swept across the entire battlefield. He could clearly feel the layers of negative status effects stacked on his units, like maggots on a bone, constantly consuming their strength and will. Relying solely on the passive dispersal and area purification of the Confucian Vast Righteous Qi was no longer enough to deal with this organized, continuous curse offensive.

"I must sever the source of their curses, or at least temporarily paralyze the shamans' casting ability," Lin Zhou decided in his heart. Conventional long-range attacks or small-scale raids were unlikely to be effective, as the orcs were already prepared for them. In that case, he would use power at the level of rules to directly negate their 'curses' from the root!

He thought of the Legalists. One of the cores of Legalist thought was 'defining portions and stopping disputes,' using clear Laws to define what is legal and what is illegal, and imposing punishment for illegal acts. In this world where deities manifested and thoughts could be realized as rules, this power of 'definition' possessed incredible strength!

"Even though Qin Qing isn't here, the [Chains of Order] runes she left behind and our joint study of Legalist classics during this time have made my embryonic Legalist divine office clearer... It's worth a try!" Lin Zhou's eyes turned sharp, and he no longer hesitated.

He took a deep breath and sank most of his mind into the depths of his godhead, resonating with the divine office mark representing the prototype of [Law]. Simultaneously, he communicated with the Temple of Civilization, drawing upon the rule-based intent of the Legalist principles of 'matching names to realities' and 'strictness of Laws and decrees' precipitated within the river of civilization. His own civilization divinity also vibrated slightly, providing the core power for this rule-level interference.

"This place is an outpost extending from my divine kingdom, a domain protected by my divine office!" Lin Zhou's voice was not loud, but it carried a strange majesty that reached directly to the level of rules, penetrating the clamor of the battlefield and echoing clearly in the hearts of every friendly unit, while also faintly causing ripples in the rules of the Void Realm.

"Now, in the name of Lin Zhou, I exercise the authority of the Legalists to establish a temporary wartime decree—"

He raised his right hand, palm upward, as if holding an invisible legal code. Boundless Divine Power mixed with civilization divinity and Legalist rule intent surged out with him as the center!

"Article One: Any use of continuous negative status Spells, rituals, or totem powers against friendly parties within this domain without permission shall be deemed an 'Illegal Curse'!"

"Article Two: The energy forms, rule structures, and applied effects of all 'Illegal Curses' within this domain shall have their efficacy reduced!"

"Article Three: Any unit casting or maintaining an 'Illegal Curse' shall be regarded as having violated the Law and shall suffer a rule-based backlash!"

"Net of Law—Deploy!"

With the final shout, countless fine and brilliant silver lines of light erupted from Lin Zhou's palm! These lines were not physical entities but the manifestation of highly condensed rules of Law! They instantly spread out, weaving into a translucent but real silver giant net that covered the entire Watchtower No. 7 and the surrounding five-hundred-meter battlefield!

This net was not a physical barrier; it was intangible and formless, yet it acted directly on the underlying rules of the combat zone! It was like a mandatory 'legal provision,' forcibly written onto this temporary battlefield by Lin Zhou using Divine Power as his pen and his divine office as his seal!

[Divine Spell Activation: Net of Law · Define Illegal (High-Intensity Temporary Version)]

Caster: Lin Zhou (Rank 249, mid-stage Lesser Divinity).

Consumption: Instant consumption of 3,000 units of Divine Power! Continuous maintenance costs 500 units per minute.

Core Rule: Forcibly defines the 'act of applying continuous negative status effects without permission' as an 'Illegal Curse'.

Effects:

Efficacy Reduction: All Spell/totem effects within the range defined as 'Illegal Curses' (including Weakening Totems, Pain Curses, Slow Spells, Doom Gaze, etc.) shall have their intensity forcibly weakened by 40%-60% (depending on the caster's Rank and the intensity of the curse itself)!

Structural Interference: Generates continuous interference with the energy structures of curses being formed or maintained, increasing casting difficulty and decreasing stability.

Caster Backlash: Curse casters and direct maintainers (shamans, shaman assistants) will suffer a slight rule-based backlash, manifesting as sluggish Divine Power circulation, mental stabs of pain, and an increased Spell failure rate.

Duration: Until Lin Zhou actively cancels it or his Divine Power can no longer maintain it.

Range: A spherical area with a five-hundred-meter radius centered on Lin Zhou (focusing on the main battlefield).

"Buzz—!"

The moment the Net of Law opened, everyone on the battlefield felt a subtle change.

The dark red pain energy entwined around the Behemoth Warriors quickly faded and dissipated by more than half, like snow under direct sunlight! The intense pain from their wounds suddenly eased, and their life recovery speed returned to normal! The [Weakening] effect applied to them also plummeted from a suffocating -12% to a mere -5%! Wang Meng and the Behemoth Warriors instantly felt lighter, as if a thousand-pound burden had been lifted. With a roar, they slammed their shields, knocking back the stunned berserkers in front of them by several steps!

The draw speed of the Literary Heart Elves' marksmen returned to its smooth flow, and the reload indicator lights on Li Mo's Ballista platforms began flashing rapidly again. The Red Dragon felt that invisible sluggishness vanish, and its maneuverability was restored!

In contrast, the orc shaman side was in a state of chaos!

"Argh!" Several shamans who were jointly maintaining the [Pain Curse] suddenly let out muffled groans. The light on their bone staves flickered wildly, and the originally stable streams of curse energy instantly became disordered and collapsed as if they had hit an invisible wall! They felt the connection between themselves and the released Spell power become blurred and filled with 'resistance,' as if their actions had violated some supreme taboo and were being condemned and rejected by the unseen! Their Mental Energy suffered needle-like pain, and their Divine Power circulation became obstructed.

The greyish-white light on the surfaces of the three [Weakening Totems] planted in the void flickered violently and inconsistently, and the range and intensity of the weakening fields they emitted plummeted! Even the totem poles themselves developed fine cracks!

"What's going on?! The power of the Ancestral Spirits... is being rejected?!"

"It's that human deity! He... he changed the rules!" An older shaman was filled with shock and anger as he tried to restabilize the totems, only to feel an even more violent backlash.

The orcs' curse offensive was abruptly halted by Lin Zhou's 'Defining Illegality' through the Net of Law!

However, Lin Zhou knew this was not enough. The Net of Law mainly weakened and interfered with curses currently in effect or newly applied, but it wasn't direct or thorough enough for purifying curse residues that had already penetrated individuals deeply, nor for the chaotic evil aura permeating the battlefield (including the withered black gas emitted by the strange totem left by that apprentice earlier).

Just then, another card Lin Zhou had pre-arranged was activated.

In a corner of the watchtower's observation platform, a complex rune array—personally carved and infused with her Divine Power of Order and a trace of the Judgment Angel's essence by Qin Qing before she left—suddenly lit up with a brilliant, holy golden light! This was an emergency communication and support beacon Qin Qing had left for Lin Zhou, containing a one-time powerful purification force.

Within the golden light, a slightly blurred but majestic and holy phantom of a Judgment Angel condensed! Although it was not Qin Qing's true body, nor even a complete Heroic Spirit projection, but merely a wisp of a power mark she had left behind, it manifested after resonating with Lin Zhou's [Net of Law]. Its essence was extremely high—representing the purification power of the legal principles and Order that Qin Qing pursued!

The phantom's face was unclear, but its pure white wings and the sword of condensed light in its hand were incredibly distinct. The wings spread, and countless soft yet resilient golden rays of light fell like feathers. These rays contained the rule-based power of [Legal Principle Purification], interweaving and complementing the silver light of Lin Zhou's [Net of Law]!

Confucian Vast Righteous Qi dispersed evil, the Legalist Net of Law defined illegality and imposed punishment, and this Judgment Angel's [Legal Principle Purification] represented the final judgment and removal of 'illegality' and 'chaos'!

The golden light first fell upon the friendly units, quickly dissolving the last traces of curses remaining on them and forming a brief protective halo. Immediately following that, the light spread outward like a tide, focusing its wash on the tottering orc curse totems, the shaman gathering areas, and the strange totem on the ground that was emitting withered black gas!

Sizzle—!!

It was like a red-hot iron pressed onto foul snow! Wherever the golden light passed, the dark red curse energy let out an overburdened wail and rapidly evaporated! The cracks on the surface of the [Weakening Totems] expanded, finally snapping completely with a 'crack' and turning into ordinary wood! The shamans were hit as if by a heavy blow, all spitting out a mouthful of green blood, their auras becoming withered as their joint casting was completely interrupted!

The most obvious change was the strange totem left by the apprentice on the ground. After being defined as 'illegal' by the [Net of Law] and continuously weakened, it was then illuminated by this [Legal Principle Purification] light specifically targeting 'chaotic evil.' It was like a vampire exposed to high noon sunlight, making a 'sizzling' sound as its dark red light dimmed rapidly and the withered black gas it emitted was largely purified and dispersed! Its range of influence quickly shrank from a fifteen-meter radius to less than five meters, and the black gas became much thinner.

The small number of orc warriors directly illuminated by the golden light (mainly those near the base of the tower) let out shrill, miserable howls! The [Bloodlust] red light that had originally inspired them turned into Soul-burning flames under the purification light. Blisters rose on their skin, their movements became slow and painful, and beyond rage, their eyes were filled with fear—this was the natural restraint and damage of the power of Order against the essence of Chaos!

"Now is the time! Counterattack!" Lin Zhou seized this fleeting opportunity and shouted sharply.

The pressure on Wang Meng's Behemoth Warriors was greatly reduced, and their morale soared. They roared as they launched a counter-charge, pushing back the berserkers who were slightly panicked due to the interruption of shaman support. Zhao Hao's Red Dragon let out a long cry, seizing the chance provided by the shamans' chaos to dive again, its Dragon's Breath focusing on the blood-spitting, withered shamans and their assistants. Li Mo commanded the Ballista platforms to perform a round of even more precise rapid fire while the Troll Spear Throwers were momentarily distracted by the changes at the front.

The battlefield situation was instantly reversed because of Lin Zhou's decisive use of the 'Defining Illegal' Net of Law and the purification backup left by Qin Qing!

However, Lin Zhou's expression became even more solemn. Maintaining such a large-scale, high-intensity rule interference consumed Divine Power like flowing water. In just this short while, he had already consumed nearly five thousand units of Divine Power. More importantly, behind the orc army, several War Behemoths bound by chains began to move forward slowly with heavy steps under the roars and lashes of the orc commanders. And in the shadows further away, something else seemed to let out a low, malicious growl, stimulated by the Net of Law and the purification light...

The Legalist curse-breaking had only won them one round. The real test might have only just begun.