Chapter 111: Terror

It was as though an invisible hand had seized the heavens and torn away the darkness, revealing a blinding radiance that illuminated the entire world.

Every city, every mountain, every ocean, and every stretch of wilderness was suddenly bathed in an unnatural glow.

People raised their heads in confusion.

"What is that?"

Before anyone could answer, a tremendous cracking sound echoed across the heavens.

CRACK!

The sky split open.

Enormous fractures appeared across the atmosphere, spreading in every direction like cracks in a shattered mirror.

Space itself seemed to be breaking apart.

Through those horrifying fissures, countless monstrous silhouettes began to emerge.

The first creature was so enormous that people initially mistook it for a mountain.

Its body was covered in dark scales, and its four limbs were thick enough to resemble massive pillars. Every movement sent waves of energy through the surrounding space.

Then another appeared.

And another.

Within seconds, the sky was filled with colossal creatures descending through the cracks.

Behemoths as large as mountains emerged from the shattered heavens, their enormous bodies blocking out entire sections of the sky.

Dragons from ancient legends spread their wings across the horizon, their scales gleaming beneath the unnatural light.

A gigantic bird covered in blazing feathers released a piercing cry, its fiery wings illuminating the clouds.

A colossal ape beat its chest and released a deafening roar that shook the surrounding mountains.

The ground trembled.

The oceans churned.

The atmosphere itself seemed to recoil beneath the overwhelming presence of those creatures.

And they were not alone.

Countless smaller monsters poured through the fractures, spreading across the skies like an endless tide.

Everywhere people looked, they saw nightmares descending into reality.

The apocalypse had arrived.

Across the Eastern Region, people stood frozen in the streets.

A man dropped his phone as he stared at a dragon flying above the city.

A child began crying, pointing toward the sky with a trembling finger.

"Mommy, what is that?"

His mother couldn’t answer.

She simply pulled him against her chest and stared at the monstrous silhouette descending beyond the distant buildings.

Inside the fortresses, alarm bells began ringing.

"Unknown entities detected!"

"Multiple spatial disturbances across the region!"

"Energy readings are exceeding all previous parameters!"

"All defensive units, prepare for impact!"

Military personnel shouted into their communication devices as countless warning messages flooded the command centers.

The leaders watched the enormous monsters emerging from the sky, their faces turning pale.

Some had seen these creatures in the game.

Others had only heard the descriptions provided by players.

But seeing them with their own eyes was an entirely different experience.

The monsters were real.

Their overwhelming presence was real.

And the world they had known was about to become a battlefield.

In Aurora City, the president’s bodyguards instinctively moved closer to him.

One of the officers stared at the enormous dragon circling beyond the barrier.

"Your Excellency..."

His voice shook.

"How are we supposed to fight something like that?"

The president remained silent.

For the first time in his life, he had no answer.

Arthur, however, was looking at something else.

His eyes had narrowed as he examined the spatial fractures spreading across the sky.

He had expected the monsters to appear.

He had even prepared himself for the possibility of encountering creatures far stronger than anything he had previously fought.

But the sheer scale of the invasion was beyond what he had anticipated. It was far more powerful than what appeared in his previous life.

There were too many.

Far too many.

And their auras suggested that a significant number possessed strength that ordinary players could scarcely comprehend.

Arthur’s expression finally became serious.

Then, from somewhere beyond the limits of the known world, a different spatial fracture appeared.

Unlike the others, this one did not spread across the sky above a city or a mountain.

It opened above a remote, abandoned island in the middle of the ocean.

The surrounding atmosphere immediately darkened.

The clouds twisted into a gigantic vortex, and the ocean beneath the fracture began to churn violently.

A deep, oppressive aura spread across the surrounding waters.

Even the monsters that had emerged from the other spatial fractures seemed to grow restless.

Something far more terrifying was about to arrive.

The abandoned island had once been home to a small settlement.

Now, nothing remained except ruined buildings, dead trees, and stretches of barren land.

Above the island, the spatial fracture widened.

A gigantic red eye appeared within the darkness beyond it.

The eye was as large as a passenger bus.

Its vertical pupil slowly contracted as it surveyed the world beyond the fracture.

For several seconds, the creature remained hidden within the darkness.

Then a massive claw emerged.

Covered in dark scales and surrounded by an ominous crimson glow, it reached through the fracture and seized the edges of space itself.

The creature pulled.

CRACK!

The fracture widened violently.

The surrounding space trembled as though reality itself were struggling to resist the intruder.

Then came another claw.

A gigantic head emerged from the darkness, followed by a long neck covered in overlapping black scales.

Two enormous horns curved backward from its skull, while crimson light flickered between the gaps in its armor-like hide.

Its wings unfolded slowly, stretching across the heavens like two enormous curtains of darkness.

The creature descended toward the island with horrifying majesty.

The ocean beneath it sank under the pressure of its presence, creating a vast depression that spread for kilometers.

Its claws touched the ground.

The entire island shuddered.

At last, the Dark Dragon of Apocalypse had arrived.

Xaltherion.

The monster lifted its enormous head and looked toward the distant horizon.

Its crimson eyes glowed with an ancient, merciless intelligence.

Then it opened its jaws.

"ROOOOOOOAAAAAARRRR!"

The roar erupted across the world.

It swept over the oceans, crossed continents, and penetrated the deepest valleys. Buildings trembled beneath its resonance, and countless creatures instinctively lowered their heads.

Every human being heard it.

Every monster felt it.

Even the most powerful players inside the fortress cities felt their hearts tighten as an indescribable pressure descended upon their bodies.

Arthur’s pupils contracted.

He knew that roar.

Or rather, he recognized the unmistakable presence behind it.

Xaltherion had finally descended into the world.

But the dragon’s roar was only the beginning.

A crimson radiance suddenly erupted from its body.

The energy spread outward in every direction, expanding across the island before surging into the surrounding ocean and atmosphere.

It resembled a nuclear explosion without a central blast, a seemingly endless wave of destructive radiation that swept across the world.

The crimson wave crossed the oceans.

It surged over mountain ranges.

It swallowed forests, deserts, plains, and cities.

Within moments, the entire world was engulfed by the terrifying energy.

The process continued for ten minutes.

Ten minutes in which the laws of the world began to change.

Ten minutes in which humanity’s worst nightmare became reality.

"What’s happening to me?"

A man standing outside a fortress suddenly collapsed to his knees.

His skin began to change as the crimson energy swept through his body. His breathing became ragged, and his terrified cries echoed through the deserted street.

Nearby, a pack of stray dogs began convulsing.

Their bodies expanded unnaturally, their bones shifting beneath their skin as they transformed into grotesque creatures.

Their eyes turned crimson.

Their teeth grew longer.

Their once-familiar forms became something that no longer belonged to the natural world.

Similar transformations occurred everywhere.

Wild animals mutated into horrifying monsters, their bodies adapting to the energy that had flooded the planet.

Birds grew enormous wings and developed razor-sharp beaks.

Predators became stronger and more aggressive, their instincts consumed by an overwhelming urge to hunt.

Creatures that had once lived peacefully in forests and mountains transformed into entities capable of threatening entire settlements.

But the animals weren’t the only ones affected.

Outside the fortress cities, millions of humans began to experience the same horrifying transformation.

Some fell unconscious before they could understand what was happening.

Others screamed for help as their bodies reacted violently to the crimson energy.

Families who had been separated from their loved ones tried desperately to find one another.

Parents searched for their children.

Children cried for their parents.

People rushed toward the fortress gates, pounding against the metal barriers with renewed desperation.

"OPEN THE GATES!"

"PLEASE! LET US INSIDE!"

"HELP US!"

Their voices echoed through the streets.

But the defensive barriers had already been activated.

The fortresses remained sealed.

Inside those protected cities, people watched the terrifying scenes unfolding beyond the barriers.