Strongest Kingdom: My Op Kingdom Got Transported Along With Me-Chapter 359 - 358: Heavenfall Cataclysm, Siege Weapon (part 2)

A runner shouts from the wall, "Mana density is spiking! It's not just charging—it's stabilizing!"

Outside the city, mages scramble.

Dozens of tier 5 mages take their positions around the weapon, slotting glowing mana stones—crate after crate—into massive conduits. Each insertion makes the runes flare, then settle, greedily drawing power.

A nearby soldiers swallows. "That's… that's a lot of stones."

Another mutters under his breath, "Each attack costs a million low-grade mana stones. Gods above…"

On the command platform, Stegran watches the process, expression unreadable.

His fingers tighten slightly at his side.

A million per shot.

Even for the kingdom, that is ridiculous.

Stegran raises his hand.

"Fire."

The Heavenfall Cataclysm answers.

The rings lock.

The pillars align.

For half a heartbeat, the world goes silent.

Then—

The sky drops.

A column of compressed mana descends like a falling star, not blazing wildly but contained, refined, screaming with pressure. It slams into the barrier dead center.

The impact does not explode.

It hits.

The barrier convulses.

The entire dome bends inward, runes flashing chaotically as shockwaves ripple across its surface. A thunderous boom rolls outward, flattening grass, kicking up walls of dust, rattling armor and bones alike.

Inside the city, monsters stagger.

Ruk digs his claws into the stone. "Whoa—!"

It holds.

For a heartbeat, silence reigns.

Then the battlefield erupts.

On the human side, soldiers stared on the shield, breath caught.

A junior mage blurts out, "I-is it broken?"

"No," an older Tier 6 mage snaps, eyes wide. "It's still standing—barely!"

Inside Plison City, the monsters feel it immediately.

The air hums, thick and oppressive. Cracks of light crawl across the inner surface of the barrier like veins of lightning frozen in glass.

Erel'na clicks her tongue. "You can't really underistamate these humans."

Vordon's eyes are locked on the sky, pupils tight.

He turns sharply to the others. "Everyone, prepare yourselves. This isn't over."

Ruk snorts, forcing a grin that doesn't quite stick. "Hah. So they finally stopped knocking politely."

Above the battlefield, Stegran lowers his hand.

The Heavenfall Cataclysm's rings slowly disengage, heat bleeding off the massive structure in shimmering waves. The conduits dim from blinding white to a dull glow.

Mages immediately rush in, replacing shattered components, slotting in fresh mana stones by the crate. Sweat pours down their faces as they work.

A captain whispers, horrified, "That shot alone burned through a million stones…"

Another answers grimly, "And it didn't even crack it."

On the command platform, a general steps closer to Stegran, voice low. "Lord Marshal… the barrier endured the first strike."

"I know," Stegran replies calmly.

His eyes never leave the city.

"Status of the weapon?" he asks.

"Operational," an engineer reports, swallowing. "But… another firing will consume the same amount."

For the first time, Stegran exhales through his nose.

Pain flickers across his expression, gone in an instant.

"A million stones per shot," he murmurs. "You better work this time."

He raises his hand again.

"Reload."

The order ripples outward.

Inside the city, Vordon feels it.

The pressure doesn't just return, it doubles.

"The sky's charging again," he says sharply. "They're not stopping."

Erel'na's gaze hardens. "They're betting everything on this."

The Heavenfall Cataclysm realigns.

Rings rotate faster. Runes ignite brighter than before, screaming as power is forced through channels never meant to be gentle. The ground beneath the weapon fractures, spiderweb cracks racing outward.

An officer yells, "Second cycle nearing completion!"

Stegran's fingers curl slowly.

"This one," he says softly, "ends it."

He brings his hand down.

"Fire."

The second shot descends.

It is heavier.

Denser.

The sky itself seems to bow as the column of compressed mana falls, space warping around it. When it strikes the barrier, there is no thunder at first—

Only resistance.

The barrier pushes back.

For one terrifying moment, light and pressure grind against each other, locked in a silent struggle.

Then—

CRACK.

A sound like the world breaking.

The barrier fractures from the point of impact, glowing lines ripping outward in every direction. Runes shatter mid-rotation, exploding into shards of light.

Ruk's eyes widen. "It's—!"

The dome collapses.

Not explosively, but catastrophically—light imploding inward before bursting outward in a storm of shattered energy. A shockwave tears through Plison City, flattening structures, ripping tiles from walls, hurling monsters off their feet.

The barrier is gone.

Dust and light fill the air.

On the human side, stunned silence lasts half a second.

Then—

"It's down!"

"The barrier's down!"

A roar erupts from the army, morale surging like a tidal wave.

Stegran does not give them time to celebrate.

His hand slices forward.

"Advance," he orders coldly. "All units. Crush them."

War horns scream.

Formations surge.

Infantry breaks into a run, shields locking. Cavalry thunders forward, hooves shaking the ruined plain. Tier 5 and Tier 6 beings take flight, skills and spells already forming.

A human commander laughs, exhilarated. "They'll scatter now! The shield's gone!"

Another shouts, "Press them! Don't let the monsters breathe!"

They expect panic.

They expect retreat.

Instead—

The gates of Plison City open.

Not cautiously.

Not slowly.

They slam outward.

From the shadowed interior pours a tide of monsters, ranked, armored, disciplined.

The charge does not hesitate.

It answers the human advance head-on.

Human soldiers falter mid-step.

"What—?" someone gasps. "They're coming out?!"

On the walls, Vordon stands tall, cloak snapping violently in the aftermath wind. His eyes burn as he looks at the oncoming human sea.

"Now," he roars. "Use the talisman—now!"

Across the monster ranks, hands move in unison.

The talismans flare.

Not outward—

But inward.

Light erupts from every monster bearing one, threads of radiance ripping free from their bodies and lashing toward the sky. The air vibrates violently as those threads twist together, weaving into a vast, invisible lattice above the battlefield.

Ruk grunts as power slams into him. "Hah—there it is!"

Erel'na spreads her wings, gasping as her aura surges. "Everything's connecting… I can feel them. All of them."

The monsters roar as the shared power crashes into them, not as raw energy, but as reinforcement—strength stacking atop strength, speed upon speed, instincts sharpening into perfect synchronization.

A hundred thousand heartbeats align.

The ground cracks under their feet.

A flying monster surges upward, laughing wildly. "My body—! It's light!"

Another monster flexes, claws screaming through the air. "This is five times—no, more!"

On the human side, joy drains into dread.

A Tier 5 mage stammers, "Their pressure—why is it multiplying?!"

The monster vanguard hits.

The collision is apocalyptic.

A single monster punches forward—and a shield wall collapses as if struck by a siege ram. Shockwaves ripple with every blow, tossing armored humans through the air like broken dolls.

The sky fractures under their presence.

Four battlefields form at once—overlapping, colliding, tearing the clouds apart as peak Tier 6 beings unleash everything they have.

Ruk roars first.

His massive frame swells with earth power, muscles locking like living mountains. The halberd in his hands hums, veins of brown-gold light crawling along its shaft.

"Tier 6 Skill—World-Anvil Descent!"

He brings the halberd down.

The halberd falls.

The ground answers.

Earth erupts upward in a towering wave, not loose soil but compressed stone and metal-hard bedrock, surging like a rising continent. The shockwave alone flattens hundreds of human soldiers and tears siege lines apart.

A human general intercepts.

He is tall, clad in crimson-gold armor, a massive tower shield locked in front of him. Runes blaze as he slams the shield into the rising earth.

"Don't think brute force will break me, beast!"

The collision detonates.

Stone shatters into shards the size of buildings. The human general is driven back through the air, boots carving trenches into the ground as he skids to a halt.

Ruk snorts, hooves cracking the earth as he advances.

"Good," he rumbles. "At least you won't break easy."

The human general snarls and throws the shield aside, drawing a greatsword that glows with layered defensive and offensive skills.

"General Har," he declares. "Peak Tier 6. I'll be your end."

Ruk's eyes burn.

"I am Ruk," he answers simply, "and the earth stands with me."

They collide again.

High above, lightning splits the clouds.

Varesh is already moving.

Thunder wraps around his lean beastman frame, arcs snapping from fur to air as he vanishes in a deafening crack.

"Too slow," he says, appearing behind a human general wreathed in wind and steel.

The human general barely twists in time, blade up, lightning crashing against his guard.

"Fast," the man admits grimly. "But speed alone—"

Varesh grins, fangs flashing.

"Who said it's alone?"

Thunder explodes outward.