34: The decisive battle for the throne: Legalist laws decree the execution of the chieftain (Part 1)

Inside the core furnace room, the destructive energy surged like a physical tide. The scorching air distorted the vision, and the dark red light reflected on everyone's faces as if they were malevolent ghosts from Hell. Grak Moltencore, suspended above the furnace, had his body already semi-elementalized, merging with the roaring furnace below. His will was the fuse for the detonation, and his life was being transformed into the purest force of destruction!

Bronzebeard Stonehammer, Brook Blackrock, and several elite warriors rushed into the room, immediately feeling the suffocating pressure and the sharp pain of their skin being scorched. Their attacks landed on Grak's semi-elementalized body like stones sinking into the ocean, only stirring up ripples of energy, which instead accelerated his energy convergence!

"It's useless! Ants! Feel the ultimate wrath of the furnace!" Grak's voice was mixed with the roar of boiling lava, filled with a frenzied delight.

In the underground passage, Glick looked at the crazed energy readings on the instrument and shrieked, "No! The energy is out of control! Shunting will only trigger the explosion early! At most... at most it can only be delayed for three seconds!"

Three seconds! For an explosion about to destroy heaven and earth, it was almost a drop in the bucket!

Bronzebeard and the others' eyes nearly split from rage. Were they really going to perish together with this madman here?

Just at this critical moment, when everyone was on the verge of despair—

A completely different, magnificent, ancient, and majestic will, seemingly condensed from countless articles of Order and civilization concepts, suddenly descended upon this doomed space like an invisible canopy!

It was Lin Zhou!

He was no longer merely commanding remotely through Divine Thought; instead, he projected his own divine will and part of the regulatory power contained within the Temple of Civilization directly into this core furnace room!

"Grak Moltencore!"

Lin Zhou's voice was no longer a gentle divine oracle but transformed into a pronouncement like a great bell. Every word contained the absolute authority of the Legalist Edicts and the heavy foundation of the principles of civilization! This voice resounded directly in the depths of Grak's Soul, even temporarily drowning out the roar of the furnace!

"Your actions have violated the bottom line of 'Order' and contravened the Fundamental Great Law of 'Civilization Survival'!"

Along with this sound of pronouncement, the invisible Net of Law manifested with unprecedented intensity. It was no longer a Domain limited to the divine realm or a part of the battlefield, but like an inescapable net, it forcibly enveloped the entire core furnace room and began to define the 'rules' of this place!

"According to Article 1 of the Law: All things operate according to the Law! Energy running wild and disorderly destruction is 'illegal'!"

Buzz—!

The Net of Law trembled violently, and an invisible shackle was instantly placed upon that wild furnace energy! The energy torrent that was originally galloping and roaring, about to break through the critical point, was seemingly choked by an invisible giant hand, resulting in a very brief stagnation and disorder! Grak's semi-elementalized body also stiffened as the process of gathering energy was forcibly interrupted!

This was the terrifying aspect of Legalist thought—within a certain range, defining rules with one's own will, words becoming Law!

However, Grak was after all a powerful LV 35+ existence, and his determination and power to detonate the core furnace had reached the extreme. Although Lin Zhou temporarily hindered it with the miraculous effects of the Temple of Civilization and the Legalist Edicts, he still lacked the strength to completely 'define' away this explosion that was enough to destroy the fortress! That terrifying energy only struggled and accumulated under the shackles of the Law, ready to erupt in a more violent way at any time!

"It's useless! Outsider! Your rules cannot bind the destruction of the furnace!" Grak struggled frantically, and the furnace energy began to boil again!

Lin Zhou's will was as cold as ice. He knew that merely 'defining illegal' was not enough to solve the crisis; he had to find the more fundamental 'name' and 'reality' for a precision strike!

His consciousness was like the most precise scanner, instantly analyzing Grak's current state:

[Target Status Analysis]:

Entity: Grak Moltencore (Gray Dwarves Great Clan Chief)

Current Form: Semi-elementalized, deeply bound with the core furnace.

Core Behavior: Channeling furnace energy for an ultimate self-detonation.

Essence of Power: Violent fire and earth rule power, mixed with his own life Origin and crazed will.

Key 'Name' and 'Reality':

Its 'Name': Lord of Furnace Fortress, Controller.

Its 'Reality': Ongoing self-detonation behavior, essentially 'loss of control' and 'self-destruction'.

Power 'Name': Furnace Power, Destruction.

Power 'Reality': Disorder, chaos, annihilating everything.

He found the key point!

Lin Zhou's will once again turned into a thunderous pronouncement, this time with a more precise target, pointing directly at the core:

"Grak Moltencore! You call yourself the 'Dominator' of Furnace Fortress, yet you commit 'self-destruction'; this 'name' does not match the 'reality'! Your name of 'Dominator' is, at this moment, 'falsehood'!"

"The power you draw is named 'Furnace', yet its reality is 'disorderly annihilation', which contradicts the fundamental nature of the 'Furnace' as forging and creation! The 'name' of this power is, at this moment, 'illegal'!"

Legalist core skill—[Holding Names Responsible for Reality]!

Stripping the legitimacy of its 'name' and denying the legality of its 'power'!

Boom!!!

As soon as these words were spoken, it seemed to trigger some underlying universal rule!

The Luck and rule blessings associated with Grak's status as 'Lord of Furnace Fortress' suddenly collapsed like a punctured balloon! He felt his connection with this fortress beneath his feet and with this core furnace instantly become blurred and distant! The authority of the 'Dominator' was leaving him!

What was even more terrifying was that the destructive furnace energy he was guiding—its weak Origin of 'Order' and 'creation' belonging to the 'Furnace' concept—was forcibly awakened by Lin Zhou's edict and began to violently reject the 'destruction' command Grak had forced upon it! The nature of the energy underwent a violent internal conflict, becoming more unstable, but its direction was no longer a simple outward explosion; instead, it fell into a state of chaotic internal friction and collapse!

"No! This is impossible! My power! My authority!" Grak let out a terrified and desperate roar, feeling that he was losing control over everything! His elemental body began to collapse, revealing his Physical Body again, and his Aura declined sharply!

Opportunity!

"Now is the time!" Although Bronzebeard Stonehammer did not understand specifically what had happened, his combat instinct told him that Grak's defense and that desperate destructive Aura had dropped to the lowest point at this moment!

"Die, you black-skinned scum!" Bronzebeard let out a roar of victory, pouring all his strength into the Runic Battle-axe, triggering the unique Dwarven skill [Heroic Strike] to its limit. The battle-axe lit up with a blinding earthy yellow light, carrying an Aura that could tear everything apart, and hacked fiercely at Grak, who was caught in a brief stiffness and power backlash due to [Holding Names Responsible for Reality]!

At the same time, Clan Chief Brook and the other warriors also seized this fleeting opportunity, and all their attacks poured onto Grak like a violent storm!

Having lost the rule blessings, suffering internal power conflict, and facing a dual backlash of Physical Body and Soul, Grak could no longer withstand this fatal siege!

"I am... unwilling..."

Amidst a wail full of endless resentment and bewilderment, Grak Moltencore's body was completely split open by Bronzebeard's battle-axe and torn to pieces by subsequent attacks! His Soul, which had condensed his lifelong cultivation and crazed will, was also completely annihilated under the backlash of the furnace energy and the purification of the Net of Law!

The last Dominator of Furnace Fortress had fallen!