The Dragonkin guards were also mobilized to the front. Arthas led Alleria and the others, following Majordomo Executus into the depths of the cavern. Along the way, elemental minions hid in fear. With several powerful bosses dead, these minor mobs posed little threat. Occasionally, one would dare to rush them, only to be taught a lesson by Arthas's bouncing shield.
The entirety of Molten Core was not small. By Arthas's estimation, it was nearly two thousand square meters, roughly the size of a small town. However, there were many stone pillars requiring constant winding turns, and the area was divided by rivers of magma, making it feel vast.
With the army helping, Arthas didn't need to worry about the mobs and could focus on the King. Killing mobs was just for leveling, and since he was tired, he took a moment to rest.
At the deepest part of the cavern, a massive magma vortex swirled. The glowing vortex flowed slowly toward the center, surrounded by protruding stones arranged in a spiral. The air was thick with the acidic stench of sulfur, and the atmosphere became incredibly oppressive.
The closer they got, the more Executus trembled. Eventually, Nalice had to force him forward with a blade at his back, or he likely would have collapsed.
Onyxia followed behind Arthas, her beautiful eyes filled with gravity. "Husband, something is wrong here. Those runes on the walls are connected to the Elemental Plane."
Arthas looked up and indeed saw flickering runes, bearing their name: "Domain Runes."
"Destroy those runes. Ragnaros is using them to stabilize the link to the Elemental Plane," Arthas ordered. The runes were too far away for his skills to reach.
Whoosh! Nefarian and Sabellian, acting as the heavy lifters again, took to the air and bombarded the flickering runes. Using the raw power of Black Dragons, they smashed the walls to pieces, obliterating the runes along with them.
Boom! The central vortex suddenly erupted. The slowly flowing magma began to boil violently, as if the world were tearing apart. A furious voice echoed out, filled with suspicion and rage. "Who is it! Who dares invade my domain! Executus, you useless wretch, what have you done!"
"It is... the Firelord!" Majordomo Executus collapsed to the ground in terror.
Rumble! A surge of power whipped up a storm in the center of the magma. The surrounding lava boiled over, piling up and rising as if to drown the entire cavern.
A flaming giant, tall enough to nearly touch the ceiling, emerged from the center of the vortex. Standing nearly thirty meters tall, his height was staggering. A massive iron hammer, over five meters in diameter, was gripped in the giant's hand. Magma coiled around his body like a screw, layer upon layer. Finally, the giant appeared—resembling a massive fiery bolt—the Firelord, Ragnaros!
"Executus, you failure! To dare bring outsiders into my domain! You worthless wretch, why should I keep you!" Ragnaros finished speaking and brought his hammer down with a thunderous crash. Majordomo Executus didn't even have a chance to dodge; he was instantly flattened into a pulp. When the hammer rose again, nothing remained but a smear of meat. Being hammered into paste while alive—the mere sight of such a death was agonizing.
Arthas coldly unsheathed his longsword. "Ragnaros, today is the anniversary of your death. You're a has-been, useless. You can die now."
"Hmph! Human! Die!" Ragnaros had been sleeping soundly when he noticed his essence dwindling, and then the runes stabilizing the Elemental Plane rift were destroyed, jolting him awake. His "morning breath" was naturally enormous, resulting in Executus being hammered to death. Even though the subordinate had served diligently for decades, Ragnaros discarded him without a hint of hesitation.
The massive hammer swung down. Arthas activated all his damage reduction skills and charged recklessly. To Ragnaros, it looked like a mantis trying to stop a carriage—pure suicide!
Even Nefarian thought Arthas had gone mad. A strike like that would break his own bones; there was no way to tank it head-on. Only their father could steadily suppress this Firelord. This was an Elemental Lord! A lord born from the elements after eons, existing since ancient times; it was no exaggeration to say he had the strength of a peak Demigod. Even in his weakened state, his combat power was not something a mortal could trifle with. Moreover, this hammer strike possessed both power and speed, locking down all of Arthas's escape routes. It was clear he had to take it head-on. Was raising a shield going to help?
"What a waste. I wonder if he'll die in one hit," Nefarian couldn't help but sneer. He had always viewed this brother-in-law as a disgrace. His sister was the new Queen of the Black Dragons; how could she marry a mortal? His pride as a dragon made it hard to accept, but his mother and sister's orders forced him to suppress his dissatisfaction. Otherwise, he wouldn't have given Arthas a single scrap of respect from the beginning.
"Watch your words, Nefarian. That is the Queen's husband; he is the hope of the Black Dragons! You had better show some respect, or I will twist your head off myself! Times have changed, face reality!" Sabellian was perhaps the most loyal to Deathwing and the most dedicated to the Black Dragonflight.
Everything he did was for the survival of their kind. Currently, Black Dragon eggs were almost impossible to hatch; only returning to the Dragon Isles offered a chance of success. But they couldn't go back; ten thousand years had passed without word. Arthas was far more reliable. At the very least, this human prince was the Queen's husband; with that connection, things wouldn't go wrong.
Human or not, in Sabellian's eyes, the interests of the Black Dragonflight came first. Reviving the flight was every dragon's duty. Thus, he reacted with explosive anger to Nefarian's mockery.