Reborn with Infinity Skill Points, I Enslaved All Universes-Chapter 82 --he Survivor

"Artist?"

The Human Emperor furrowed his brow instinctively.

He hadn’t heard that name in a long time, but he remembered the organization clearly enough—once, they had caused an enormous stir throughout the entire continent.

Back then, they were a rogue group of lunatics obsessed with forbidden technology and godly remains. Their twisted experiments nearly tore through the balance of the world. In response, the ten great races had banded together, and under that unified front, the Artists had been completely eradicated—or so it had seemed.

And yet now, at the cusp of the Millennium Apocalypse, they had resurfaced again?

It didn’t make sense.

What baffled the Human Emperor most was this: how had these maniacs gotten their hands on a god’s corpse?

The ten great races had jointly sealed and stored all godly remains long ago. Every trace of those ancient entities had been catalogued, secured, and hidden from public reach.

After a moment of silent contemplation, the Human Emperor spoke in a low voice.

"Have you found out where these lunatics got the god’s corpse from?"

He didn’t wait for a reply before following up with another cold demand.

"And contact the Prophets’ Guild. Ask them why they didn’t foresee this catastrophe. Wasn’t the annihilation of the gnome race disastrous enough? We pour how much funding into them every year? What exactly are we paying them for?!"

Frankly, his rage was justified.

After all, five hundred years ago, it was he who had led the joint military operation to destroy the Artists completely. And to ensure none had slipped through the cracks, he had personally commissioned a prophecy from the guild. The result had been clear:

"The Artists have been permanently erased from this world."

And now?

Not only had they reemerged, but they had also wiped out an entire fortress city in a single instant—Terra Fortress, no less.

Suppressing the surge of frustration in his chest, the Human Emperor gradually composed himself. His voice dropped an octave, deadly serious.

"So you’re saying you’re certain the Terra Fortress Apocalypse was caused by the Artists?"

There was a pause on the other end of the communicator.

Roughly thirty seconds of silence passed before the other voice replied carefully.

"Your Excellency, based on extensive cross-analysis and source comparison, we are ninety-nine percent certain that the event was the result of the Artists and... their creations."

There was a chilling pause, then the voice added,

"Of course, there remains a one-percent chance... that it was a direct attack by a god."

That final possibility darkened the Human Emperor’s expression considerably.

His voice turned low and sharp.

"Are you able to determine what method these self-proclaimed Artists used to destroy the entire fortress?"

The reply came promptly.

"They likely used what they themselves called their masterpiece weapon—the Primordial Core Weapon."

"According to confiscated archives from the past, a Primordial Core Weapon is powered by forcing two god corpses to collide, thereby unleashing an uncontrollable burst of divine energy."

"This is god-level destruction. Only a god—or a tool built on divine remains—could have caused such devastation."

The Human Emperor went silent.

His face grew visibly grim, like a storm was brewing behind his eyes.

This wasn’t just a tactical crisis. This was existential.

After a long pause, he asked another chilling question.

"Do they have the capability to mass-produce these weapons?"

There was hesitation on the other side, then a measured response.

"In theory, mass production is possible. The principles behind the Primordial Core Weapon are not especially complex. However..."

The voice lowered, as if grappling with the gravity of the statement.

"...what makes these weapons so dangerous is that they completely drain the energy within the god’s remains. It’s a permanent and irreversible process, even by divine standards. Once depleted, the god’s corpse can no longer be used."

"So even for lunatics like them, making another one would be extremely difficult. God corpses are limited in number, and even those that have fallen may retain traces of divine will and defenses."

"Besides, with so few Artists left—assuming any survived—their resources must be stretched thin. I believe the Terra Fortress incident was likely... a one-time event."

But instead of relaxing, the Human Emperor’s expression only grew darker.

"No," he said coldly. "That kind of analysis is irresponsible."

"Even if there’s only a one-in-ten-thousand chance they have another weapon, we must take that possibility seriously."

"You’ve seen what it can do. So don’t treat this lightly. If another Primordial Core Weapon is launched, it could spell doom for any race—even the humans."

"Therefore, as the Human Emperor, I command you: track down every last member of the Artist faction! Leave no stone unturned!"

Ruins of Terra Fortress

The once-mighty fortress was now nothing more than a gargantuan crater.

And from within that lifeless abyss, a tiny figure slowly crawled out—limping, coughing, his body barely clinging to life.

A gnome.

His robes were torn to shreds, his flesh riddled with burns and lacerations. His aura was unstable, flickering between life and death like a candle in the wind.

Yet the fact that he had survived such a catastrophe—one that had erased an entire race—meant this gnome was no ordinary figure. frёewebnoѵēl.com

In truth, many powerful awakeners like Daniel had their own trump cards—ways to survive even the direst battles. The stronger the individual, the more they invested in survival.

But this was a different story.

The sheer destructive power of the Primordial Core Weapon left no room for escape. Even elite awakeners with powerful life-saving abilities could hardly withstand its blast.

That this gnome had survived—however barely—meant he was truly exceptional.

"What... just happened?"

At the base of the crater, the gnome gazed around, his mind reeling.

Only moments ago, he and his team had been deep in the underground labyrinth, fighting their way through waves of monsters. After hours of grueling battle, they had finally reached the final boss.

But before they could even make a move—

A wave of unimaginable destruction erupted.

The entire labyrinth collapsed.

The world turned to light, then to silence.

He had only survived due to sheer luck—and the desperate activation of a one-time-use life-preservation artifact.

But even then, he had paid a steep price.

His Talent’s Specialization had been permanently damaged—one of the core components of his strength as an SS-tier Awakener. His combat ability had dropped drastically.

Still, he had survived.

That was all that mattered now.

"...Where am I?"

"I should still be near Terra Fortress, but... this place looks completely unfamiliar..."

"Can anyone tell me what the hell happened?!"

No one answered.

Suddenly, a terrifying thought struck him.

He activated his communicator, hoping to contact his comrades.

But as he opened the friend list, his entire body froze.

His screen was filled with gray names.

Dozens. All his gnome allies... all grayed out.

Unreachable.

In this world, that could only mean one thing—

They were dead.

Other friends, from different races, still had green signals—online and active.

Only his gnome friends... every single one had vanished into gray.

"...What really happened here?"

Multiracial Commerce League

Elsewhere, Daniel was doing everything in his power to gather the materials required for learning new God Rank Skills.

The reason was simple:

With the passive effect of [Divine Breakthrough], the more God Rank Skills he mastered, the longer he could sustain his invincibility duration.

At present, he had only seven minutes of invulnerability.

That might be enough to barely survive a single apocalyptic disaster like the one that hit Terra Fortress.

But that wasn’t enough.

If he wanted to truly stand tall in the face of the incoming Millennium Apocalypse, he needed more strength—and more invincibility time.

And so, he was pouring everything he had into acquiring the materials needed for more God Rank Skills.

No matter the cost.

He would pay any price for survival.

And when the world ended, he would still be standing.