Strongest Kingdom: My Op Kingdom Got Transported Along With Me-Chapter 370 - 369: Zevran Coming Out

Ruk rolls his shoulders, the sound like boulders grinding together. He plants his hooves, lowers his head slightly, and grips his weapon, a massive halberd whose head alone is larger than a man.

Mana erupts around him.

The ground beneath Ruk fractures as a crimson aura explodes outward, crushing dust flat in a perfect circle.

Alix's voice carries calmly across the battlefield.

"Ruk. Destroy it."

Ruk grins.

"As you wish, my lord."

He slams the halberd's head into the ground.

The skill activates.

"TIER 6 BLOODLINE SKILL: BULL KING'S DOMINION"

The world seems to tilt toward him.

Gravity warps, dragging everything forward. Ruk lowers his head completely, horns blazing with light, and then.

He charges.

The distance vanishes.

Arrows scream toward him, hundreds at once.

They shatter.

Some snap midair. Others glance off his hide like rain hitting iron. Fire spells detonate against his aura and are swallowed whole.

"Stop him!" a mage screams. "Focus fire!"

Too late.

Ruk hits the gate.

There is no finesse.

The halberd comes down in a single, brutal arc.

BOOOOOOM—

The gate does not crack.

It implodes.

Reinforced steel bends inward like soft clay. Runes explode in a shower of sparks as the locking arrays fail instantly. The shockwave punches through the gatehouse, ripping hinges free, tearing stone from its foundation.

A second strike follows immediately.

Ruk drives his horns forward.

The gate ceases to exist.

Metal folds, shatters, and is blasted inward as a tidal wave of debris slams into the defenders behind it. Soldiers are thrown back, crushed beneath flying wreckage.

Silence—

Then screaming.

"The gate is down!"

"Hold the line!"

"Form up, form up!"

Dust pours outward from the ruined entrance like smoke from a furnace.

Ruk straightens, steam rolling off his body, and laughs, a deep, booming sound full of savage joy.

"Gate's open!" he bellows.

Behind him, the monster army roars in response.

On the wall, Hecrad's face hardens.

"…This monster is dangerous," he says quietly.

Kevom raises his blade fully, aura flaring. "All units! Brace for breach! Tier fives, prepare to intercept!"

Hecrad doesn't look away from the battlefield.

Hecrad inhales slowly.

Then he raises his hand.

"Listen," he says, his voice calm, but it cuts through the chaos like a blade. Amplification runes flare, carrying his words across the wall, into the streets, into the very bones of the city. "All units, hold your positions. Generals, listen."

The four peak Tier 6 generals turn at once.

Hecrad looks at each of them in turn, eyes steady, unyielding.

"The monster generals will move next," he says. "If they clash within the city, we lose tens of thousands in minutes."

He points toward the sky.

"You four, intercept them. Take the fight up. Do not let a single peak Tier 6 strike land on the walls or the streets."

One of the generals hesitates. "City Lord… if we leav—"

Hecrad cuts him off. "It's okay." A beat. "Remember if you feel like you're losing, you make sure it will cost them everything."

The four generals bow sharply.

"At once!"

Mana erupts.

They launch skyward in four blazing arcs, wind screaming, stone shattering where they take off.

At the same time, the monster side responds.

Ruk rolls his neck, horns gleaming. "Heh. About time."

A slender figure steps forward beside him, Erel'na. Her eyes glow a cold violet as she lifts into the air. Varesh follows, last is Vordon.

The eight Tier 6 beings meet in the sky.

The clash is immediate.

The first impact sounds like a thunderclap.

On the wall, Hecrad watches only long enough to confirm the engagements.

Then he turns.

His gaze locks onto the black carriage on the plains.

Kevom follows his line of sight, grip tightening on his sword. "That thing still hasn't moved."

"That's what worries me," Hecrad replies.

Mana coils around him, controlled, immense. "That carriage is the true command."

Kevom nods. "Whatever steps out of it won't be below Tier Six."

"Likely higher," Hecrad says quietly.

They step forward together, standing at the edge of the shattered wall, auras flaring in silent challenge.

"If a quasi–Tier Seven emerges," Kevom says, voice hard.

Hecrad's eyes never leave the carriage.

He said calmly. "If it emerges… we stop it. Even if we use that artifact."

The battlefield rages below them.

Above them, the sky is being torn apart.

And on the plains.

The carriage remains still.

Inside the carriage, the world is calm.

Too calm.

Alix sits comfortably, one leg crossed over the other, chin resting on his knuckles as he watches the battlefield through layers of translucent, floating screens. Every movement, every mana fluctuation, every rising spike of fear is laid bare before him.

His gaze drifts, not to the chaos, but to the wall.

To the two figures standing there.

"So," Alix murmurs, eyes narrowing slightly. "The human leader is watching us now."

Though Hecrad cannot see through the carriage, Alix can see him perfectly, every tightening muscle, every measured breath, the way his aura coils in preparation.

Alix exhales softly.

"We shouldn't drag this out any longer," he says, more bored than irritated. "I wanted to use this battle to toughen the monsters. Let them sharpen themselves." A pause. "But I'm getting bored."

He turns his head.

"Zevran."

Silence.

Then a small, scaly shape twitches.

Zevran, curled up on a cushion far too small for him even in this form, cracks one eye open. His tiny wings twitch.

"…Yes, Master?" he mumbles, still half-asleep.

"You should go out now," Alix says casually. "And end this battle."

Zevran's eyes snap open.

Both of them.

"…Really?"

"Yes."

A grin splits Zevran's small, rounded face. "Finally. Some action."

He stretches, bones popping softly, then hops off the cushion. His little wings flap once, twice, stirring the air like a playful breeze.

"Do not to destroy the city," Alix adds mildly.

Zevran laughs. "Don't worry, master."

The carriage door unlocks.

On the wall, Hecrad stiffens.

The carriage, silent since the battle began, moves.

Runes crawl across its surface as the door slowly opens, hinges whispering rather than creaking.

Kevom's eyes sharpen. "My lord," he says low. "Something is coming out."

Hecrad raises his hand slightly. "Be ready."

Mana surges through both of them, their auras flaring to full output. The air around the wall hums, stones vibrating under the pressure.

Then—

Something small hops out.

It is… cute.

Barely taller than a large dog. Rounded body. Smooth scales that glimmer faintly. Two tiny wings flap awkwardly as it stretches, yawning.

Silence falls.

Kevom blinks. "…My lord?"

Hecrad frowns. "…Is that a pet?"

Zevran tilts his head, looking up at the wall. His big, bright eyes lock onto the two humans.

"Oh, it's just two peak tier 6" he says, quite disappointed.

The battlefield seems to hesitate.

Soldiers pause mid-motion. Even spells falter as casters stare, confused.

"…That's it?" a human soldier mutters. "That's what came out of the carriage?"

Zevran sighs.

"Master," he calls over his shoulder, "they're looking at me funny."

"That's to be expected, you look like someone's pet." Alix replies calmly.

Zevran's smile fades.

"Alright."

The change is instant.

He stops suppressing his aura.

The world locks.

An overwhelming pressure crashes outward, not like mana, not like killing intent, but something older, deeper, absolute. The sky darkens. The ground groans. Air thickens as if reality itself is being forced to bow.

Soldiers drop to their knees as an instinct they do not understand screams at them to submit. Mages lose control of their spells, mana dispersing in panicked wisps.

Kevom's legs buckle. He catches himself on his sword, teeth clenched. "What… is this… pressure…?"

Hecrad's heart slams violently in his chest. His aura flares desperately, barely keeping him standing.

"This isn't Tier Six," he realizes, voice tight. "This is a quasi–tier 7…"

Zevran's body begins to change.

His small form stretches. Wings unfurl wider. Scales darken, gleaming with an iridescent sheen as ancient power rolls off him in suffocating waves.

He looks up at the wall again, eyes now glowing like twin suns.

"Oh," he says softly, almost apologetic. "I forgot how fragile humans are."

The battlefield is silent.

Hecrad's breath catches.

Not from fear.

From recognition.

His mind races, dragging memories up from dusty shelves he has not touched in decades. Ink-stained pages. Crumbling parchment. A book he read as a child, no, as a student, hidden deep within the restricted archives.

A chronicle.

A warning.