Dimensional Keeper: All My Skills Are at Level 100-Chapter 787: Move or Death

"How is this possible?!" Julio gasped, his eyes bulging as he stared at Max, disbelief written all over his pale face. He stood rooted to the spot, trembling slightly, his palm still outstretched as the remains of his lightning attack fizzled out. Never in his wildest calculations had he imagined that a mere Master Rank genius could cut his attack cleanly in two.

"Level 2 Sword Concept..." June’s voice came softly from the side, her normally distant, mist-like eyes flashing with a sharp glint of interest as she studied Max. There was no trace of mockery in her tone, only genuine curiosity and surprise.

"It is indeed level 2 Sword Concept." Derek muttered, his brow furrowed deeply, his lips pressed into a thin line. He couldn’t wrap his mind around the reality in front of him. Even when they were at the Master Rank, geniuses like him had barely comprehended the rudimentary first level of their concepts. For someone at the sixth level of Master Rank to wield the second level so effortlessly was nothing short of monstrous.

Scott’s face darkened like an incoming storm, his jaw tightening visibly, while Josh’s expression twisted into something downright ugly, fury and disbelief swirling in his eyes. Neither of them had anticipated that Max would possess such terrifying strength, capable of casually obliterating an attack launched with a level 2 Lightning Concept by a peak Champion Rank genius.

All around them, whispers and murmurs erupted like a tide as everyone stared at Max, a mixture of awe, shock, and creeping fear etching itself into their faces. Max simply stood there, his sword lowered slightly, his chest rising and falling as he exhaled slowly, his cold gaze fixed on Julio as if daring him to try again.

Only Gayle and Rose sat there in unruffled calm, unfazed by the stunned silence hanging over the restaurant after Max’s sword effortlessly severed Julio’s lightning palm. They alone were not caught entirely by surprise.

They had witnessed Max kill Brian with a single devastating sneak attack days earlier, and though that victory had come swiftly and unexpectedly, it was undeniable proof that Max possessed the power to fell a peak Champion Rank expert without hesitation.

But more than that, there was something else that kept Gayle and Rose composed while everyone else was reeling. Gayle recalled the conversation he’d shared with Max just before they entered the Hourglass Restaurant that morning.

He had wanted to probe Max’s true strength, seeking reassurance for the perilous venture into Lord Kome’s treasure cave. They were about to throw themselves into a dangerous place rumored to be littered with traps and rival geniuses. Gayle had felt compelled to know what level of strength he could truly count on.

He still remembered how Max had paused, met his eyes squarely, and answered him in a voice neither boastful nor hesitant: "Invincible below the Legend Rank."

At the time, Gayle had blinked in disbelief and let out an awkward laugh, brushing off Max’s claim as youthful arrogance or a joke meant to lighten the tension.

After all, who in the entire Middle Domain could dare to call themselves invincible below the Legend Rank while still standing at merely the Master Rank? Even among Heaven Grade geniuses, such declarations would border on madness.

Yet now, watching Max stand so casually amidst the electric hush of the third floor, his blade lowered but still shimmering faintly with the residue of his Level 2 Sword Concept, Gayle swallowed hard.

His throat felt dry, and for a moment, he struggled to reconcile the young man drinking tea with them moments ago and the fearsome warrior who had just cleaved through Julio’s strongest lightning strike as though it were air.

’Brother Max... how can you be so monstrously powerful?!’ Gayle thought, his mind caught between shock and a dawning happiness. Because even if Max’s strength was frightening beyond reason, the Absolute Sword Palace had somehow stumbled upon an ally who could stand toe-to-toe with the best geniuses the overlord forces could offer.

Rose, too, watched Max silently, her delicate features composed, though her eyes gleamed with an intense light. She felt an inexplicable mix of awe and relief, knowing that the person who had saved her life more than once was even more formidable than she’d dared imagine.

While the others were still struggling to comprehend what they’d witnessed, Gayle and Rose exchanged a brief glance—a silent understanding passing between them. Max might be young, might be only at the sixth level of Master Rank on paper, but the truth was clearer now than ever: he was an existence entirely beyond the normal measure of geniuses in the Middle Domain.

"Come, kill me." Max sneer remained as sharp as ever. "I’m standing right here."

Julio gasped, struggling to breathe as sparks of residual lightning snapped across his skin. But even as pain twisted his features, defiance burned in his eyes. "I... don’t believe you can maintain that level of strength for long... You must have used some secret technique... to fake it!" he spat between ragged breaths, his voice trembling as much from terror as from conviction.

All around them, the others exchanged glances. Josh’s eyes narrowed, his suspicion deepening. It was the only explanation their pride would allow—that Max’s monstrous power was borrowed, a fleeting illusion summoned by some hidden technique.

Josh sneered, folding his arms across his chest. "So, it’s a secret technique after all. Julio, exhaust him. Wear him down and kill him."

Julio swallowed hard, face pale, but forced himself to believe that was the case. "Yes, Senior Brother." In a sudden blur of purple lightning, he lunged at Max once again.

"Storm Conductor Finger!" he roared, thrusting his index finger forward, a spear of condensed purple lightning crackling toward Max’s heart.

But Max only sneered, his eyes flashing with disdain. ’Using moves from the Ten Hands of Lightning God is like asking for death against me.’ Without hesitation, he stabbed his sword forward.

Bang!

The tip of the Blue Dragon Sword collided with Julio’s lightning finger, blasting Julio backward in an explosion of force. Yet Julio refused to give up, blood streaming from his mouth as he hurtled forward again, lightning blazing along his right fist.

"Thunderclap Dragon Fist!" Julio shouted, purple lightning twisting into the shape of a serpentine dragon that lunged at Max with snapping jaws.

Max remained perfectly calm, stepping forward as his sword glowed with the fierce brilliance of his Level 2 Sword Concept. With one swift arc of the Severing Flow Sword Art, he cleaved the lightning dragon in half, reducing it to a rain of purple sparks that hissed into silence.

Julio’s eyes went wide with horror. But he wasn’t finished yet. Screaming in desperation, he raised his arm and gathered a bolt of lightning the color of a storm-cloud sky, howling: "Lightning Blast!"

He hurled the bolt at Max with all his remaining might.

But Max’s figure vanished in a shimmer of blue lightning, faster than the human eye could follow. In the next breath, he reappeared in front of Julio, calmly catching the surging bolt of purple lightning in his bare hand as if it were no more than a child’s toy.

"Quite pitiful, I would say." Max’s voice was as cold as the blade of a knife.

Julio froze, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints. "Impossible!" he screamed.

Max’s sneer deepened. In a flash, blue lightning sparked around him as he shot forward, ramming the captured bolt of Julio’s own lightning directly into his abdomen. A muffled thud echoed through the restaurant as the blast struck home.

Julio choked, a line of blood spilling from his lips as his eyes rolled back.

"You..." he gasped, the word trailing into silence.

Across the room, Josh and Young Master Omar both leapt to their feet, fury blazing in their eyes. "How dare you?!" they shouted in unison, preparing to surge forward in righteous fury.

But before they could take a single step, Max closed his fist around Julio’s throat and lifted him high into the air. His voice was low and deadly as his eyes swept over the room like storm clouds rolling over a battlefield.

"If anyone dares to move, I’ll kill him right here."

Time seemed to stop. The gathered geniuses, warriors, and proud scions of the overlord forces stood frozen, held in check by the sheer, ruthless certainty radiating from Max’s eyes—a certainty that said he was not bluffing, and he feared none of them.