Reborn with Infinity Skill Points, I Enslaved All Universes
Chapter 69 -69-Apocalypse?

Chapter 69: Chapter69-Apocalypse?

The gnomes had lived their entire history beneath the surface of the world.

Deep underground, hidden beneath layers of bedrock and reinforced structures, they had constructed sprawling cities unlike anything on the surface. And among them, none were more grand or renowned than Terra Fortress—the pride of the gnome race.

When it was first constructed, Terra Fortress was hailed as the ultimate bastion, a city that would never fall. For over a thousand years, it stood as a symbol of unbreakable strength, a masterpiece of engineering, and a testament to the gnomes’ mastery over subterranean architecture and steam-powered technology.

But now, in a single day, a group of maniacs who called themselves "The Artists" had erased it from existence.

Completely.

Utterly.

Gone.

It wasn’t just a tragedy—it was a cataclysm, a force of destruction that likely touched upon godly authority itself.

Ten seconds after the explosion began, the monstrous surge of energy from the circular steam construct finally subsided. The shockwave slowed, and silence descended.

But the silence only made the devastation more evident.

What was once a vast underground metropolis had become a landscape of ruin and desolation.

Of the several million inhabitants who had called Terra Fortress home, 99% had been reduced to powder before they could even react.

In place of the great fortress now lay an enormous crater, so deep that its bottom was lost to darkness.

Massive chunks of stone fell endlessly from what remained of the domed ceiling. Anyone with eyes could see that Terra Fortress was no more. From this moment forward, it existed only in history books.

And the devastation didn’t stop there.

The weapon unleashed—clearly some kind of proto-nuclear device—continued to unleash aftershocks as the structural integrity of the cavern collapsed.

The earth continued to sink inward.

This second collapse was even greater in scale than the first.

Its effect rippled outward, reaching Castle Mington, the heart of the human domain. Even there, the ground quaked.

By the time the joint investigation teams from various races arrived at the site, what greeted them left them speechless.

Where Terra Fortress had once stood, there was now only a bottomless chasm.

The land surrounding it—spanning hundreds of kilometers—had caved in, swallowed whole.

Even the southern borderlands of the human race had been heavily impacted. Casualties among ordinary civilians were staggering.

And staring into the abyss, none could comprehend what they were seeing.

How?

Why?

What in the world had happened here?

Far away, the Human Emperor suddenly raised his head and looked southward.

An eerie sensation crawled across his skin.

At the same time, a devastating notification spread across his communicator—his contacts were vanishing one by one.

The Gnome Communicator, a unique device crafted by the gnomes themselves, was capable of detecting the life status of its users. And now, contact after contact was disappearing from the interface.

[Gnome Patriarch: Harando]

[Gnome Grand Scholar: Quinn]

[Gnome First Warrior: Visi]

...

All of them—heroes of their people, names known across the multiracial world—gone.

The sight defied belief.

It didn’t take a genius to understand what this meant.

The gnomes had just lost their finest minds, their most powerful defenders, their cultural and scientific leaders.

With this single blow, the gnome civilization had essentially been pushed from the technological age back into the stone age.

Their defenses, their knowledge, their advancements—all gone.

The Human Emperor’s expression turned grim, darker than it had been in decades.

He immediately contacted the human prophet, his voice low and dangerous.

"Prophet, what do you see? What happened at Terra Fortress?"

"Why was the gnome race struck by such an apocalyptic disaster?"

Simultaneously, frontline scouts began streaming back data—raw footage, energy readings, and fragmented reports.

And when the top brass of the human leadership reviewed the images, every single one of them fell silent.

Less than half an hour ago, they had been in contact with Terra Fortress. All systems were operational, communication clear, and no warning signs had been detected.

Now?

Nothing but a hole.

A void.

A grave.

The prophet wasted no time. He grabbed his crystal orb and began channeling energy into it, seeking glimpses of what had occurred.

But even he was struggling to make sense of it.

Castle Mington

Daniel, too, had sensed the eruption.

A sudden, unnatural energy pulse that chilled him to the bone.

A heavy, suffocating premonition crept into his chest.

He abandoned his plans to enter the underground labyrinth and instead immediately pulled out his communicator.

As expected, the networks were already flooded with posts.

All eyes were now on one place:

Terra Fortress.

"According to frontline reports, Terra Fortress has been completely obliterated."

"Millions of residents dead—what exactly happened down there?"

"Is this the beginning of the gnome race’s decline?"

"I have video from the scene. It’s... horrifying."

Daniel clicked open one of the videos.

It had been filmed from above ground, likely near the southern border.

At first, the land appeared perfectly normal—quiet and still.

Then, suddenly, blinding white light erupted from cracks in the earth, bathing the entire region in artificial daylight.

Next came the shockwave, the earthquakes, and the collapse.

The gnome race had spent generations fortifying the domed ceiling above Terra Fortress.

But in this single moment, all of it came crashing down.

And no one could say how or why.

Ten seconds into the footage, the former location of the fortress was already a massive crater.

And it was still growing, swallowing the land around it like a maw of endless hunger.

Nearby towns and castles along the human border also collapsed and slid into the abyss.

Daniel instinctively swallowed hard.

The video’s cameraman could be heard sprinting northward, panic in his voice as the earth crumbled behind him.

By some miracle, he survived.

After nearly five minutes of desperate fleeing, he looked back—and the land that once lay behind him was gone.

Replaced by a void.

A hole so wide and deep it seemed to swallow the sky.

It wasn’t just Terra Fortress.

Nearly two-thirds of the southern territories had been buried.

Daniel’s heart pounded. He could no longer remain calm.

Those people—millions of them—had been his fellow humans.

Even if he hadn’t known them personally, even if they weren’t part of his circle, they were his people.

He clenched his fists tightly.

At his current level, there was still little he could do to stop such a disaster. But maybe—just maybe—he could at least reduce the death toll.

Do something. Anything.

He didn’t hesitate.

[Time Stream] – Activate!

Time twisted.

Daniel rewound the flow, pushing himself back to the earliest moment possible—the first time he had awakened the ability.

22:30

The moment Daniel opened his eyes, he moved without pause.

He immediately sent a message to the Human Emperor:

"Evacuate everyone living in the southern borderlands—as fast as possible!"