Dimensional Keeper: All My Skills Are at Level 100

Chapter 1266  Finding Demon Lairs

”I will go ahead and scout this area.” Max said to others. ”In the meantime if a situation arises, Victor you should take responsibility.”

”I wonʼt disappoint you.” Victor said solemnly.

Max nodded as his figure disappeared from the scene.

Maxʼs form slipped from sight so smoothly that even the closest squad leaders could not tell the exact moment he vanished. One heartbeat he stood before them, and in the next the space he occupied folded silently as his presence faded completely.

It was not a simple concealment. It was a perfect erasure created through the combined mastery of his invisibility skill and his Black Soul. Together, they produced a state where his physical form vanished, his aura dissolved, and even his existence became a whisper no living being could perceive.

Unless Mark personally descended into Nullaria, no one here would ever sense him.

The moment Max entered that state, the world around him seemed to slow. His senses sharpened into something cold, precise, and omnidirectional as he shot forward like a silent gust moving through a corrupted nightmare.

He flew low over the rotting landscape. The air beneath him vibrated with faint pulses of corrupted energy, but none of it touched him. His Black Soul devoured the interfering forces before they even reached him, allowing him to glide through Nullaria like a shadow slipping between cracks in reality.

He soon found the first signs of life.

Mindless Nulls.

Hundreds of them wandered the terrain like broken puppets. Their bodies were twisted, hollow, drained of even the faintest spark of consciousness. They shuffled endlessly, colliding into each other without acknowledgment, some falling to the ground only to rise moments later with mechanical stiffness.

Max hovered above a group of them. His eyes narrowed as he observed their movements. Their chests glowed faintly with dark red veins pulsing underneath their skin, as if some corrupted force drove them forward like insects drawn to a silent command.

”This world is infested with these mindless nulls,” Max whispered to himself.

But they were not the only ones here.

As he traveled deeper, he found clusters of Ascendants stationed at various points across the rotting plains. Their movements were swift, coordinated, and disciplined—very different from the mindless Nulls.

Some wore robes inscribed with strange shifting patterns. Others carried weapons that pulsed with an eerie crimson glow. They moved in groups of three or five, patrolling specific areas with movements too sharp and focused to be random. They spoke little, if at all. Their expressions were cold, almost emotionless, like soldiers serving a master they could not disobey.

Max watched from the shadows as two Ascendants passed within ten meters of him. Neither gave the slightest reaction. His invisibility skill erased visual presence, and his Black Soul erased spiritual presence. He might as well have been a ghost drifting through their world.

But what truly caught Maxʼs attention came later.

The demons.

He found their first lair hidden within the hollowed trunk of a monstrous black-barked tree. Inside, more than fifty demons were gathered. They sat around a circular platform where bright red symbols pulsed with energy—some kind of formation channeling power from the land.

Max inspected the layout silently, but before he could linger, he sensed more of these concentrated pockets across Nullaria. Not one, not two, but dozens scattered everywhere, hidden cleverly behind corrupted rocks, underneath collapsed temple ruins, inside the twisting limbs of colossal trees, and even burrowed deep into the green-rotten ground.

The demons had anticipated an invasion.

They had split their forces intelligently.

Instead of building one large lair, they had constructed numerous smaller ones, each fully functional and capable of operating independently. This made wiping them out in a single attack impossible. Even if Max destroyed one lair, fifty more would remain scattered across the endless wilderness.

Max floated above one such lair and narrowed his eyes. ”They planned this well. They must have known that if humans ever reached Nullaria, a single strike against a central lair would be their doom. So they adapted.”

He scanned the horizon. More green rot. More twisted trees. More Nulls dragging themselves endlessly. Here and there, Ascendants moved in coordinated sequences, maintaining the balance of this cursed world.

But Maxʼs resolve only sharpened.

He disappeared from sight once more, moving even faster through Nullaria to complete the full map of demon locations.

And all the while, he remained utterly untraceable.

No Null looked up.

No Ascendant flinched.

No demon sensed a shift in the air.

Only Max moved, silent and untouchable, mapping the underworld of Nullaria with calm precision.

By the time he turned back toward the distant void shuttles and the young geniuses awaiting his report, he had already memorized the positions of every demon lair and every major patrol path of both Nulls and Ascendants.

Max returned to the gathered geniuses with silent steps, his expression unreadable. The seven squad leaders had formed a half-circle, waiting for him with anticipation written across their faces. Seraphina was the first to break the silence. She stepped forward slightly, her long silver hair swaying with her movement as she asked, ”So, what did you find?”

Max took a slow breath before speaking. ”First of all, this world is infested with mindless Nulls. They fill the land like crawling shadows. Everywhere I went, they moved in swarms, wandering without purpose. They are almost the largest population in this entire domain.”

A murmur ran through a few of the geniuses, though none dared to interrupt.

Max continued, his tone steady. ”I also found many Ascendants patrolling the area. They move constantly through Nullaria, but they do very little besides that. It seems their only purpose here is to maintain a controlled presence. They do not attack anything. They do not guard anything directly. They simply roam in patterns that repeat endlessly.”

He paused to let the information settle before shifting to the part that mattered the most.

”As for the demons,” he said. ”I found their lairs. Many of them. Not one or two, but hundreds spread across Nullaria. Small pockets hidden in every region. Some are in the open land. Others are buried under the rotten ground. Some are hidden deep inside monstrous trees. They have scattered their forces intentionally. Because of this, it is impossible to wipe them all out in a short period of time.”

Seraphina frowned slightly, but Max held up a hand.

”But you donʼt need to worry about that.” His voice was calm, confident, and firm. ”Your mission is not to exterminate the demon race. That responsibility is mine. I am here for that exact reason.”

He shifted his gaze slowly across all the squads, making sure each genius met his eyes at least once. Their postures tightened under the pressure, but none of them looked away.

”Your purpose in Nullaria is different. You are here to sharpen your blades,” Max said. ”Your strength may be at the peak of Divine Rank right now, but it will not be enough when the real threats appear. Many of you would struggle against the leaders of the Middle Domain who have been at the peak of Divine Rank for thousands of years. Strength without experience is brittle. It breaks the moment true pressure is applied.”

A heavy silence fell over the crowd.

”We are here to fix that,” Max continued. ”You will fight. You will lead. You will make decisions that matter. You will face opponents who can kill you if you let your guard slip. That is how experience is formed. Not from comfort or safety, but from danger where hesitation is punished.”

He waited for the weight of his words to sink in before speaking again.

”I will not stay in Acaris for long,” Max said quietly. A few geniuses stiffened, shocked to hear him say this aloud. ”Before I leave, I want to create a force capable of protecting this world. A group of people strong enough to face whatever calamity comes next. For that to happen, you all must rise far above your current selves.”

His gaze hardened just slightly.

”Do not think about destroying demon lairs to save humanity. That is my job. I will handle the extermination. Your job is to grow stronger. To sharpen yourselves until your blades are worthy of defending an entire world.”

He stepped back slightly, giving them space to breathe.

”Remember this well,” he said. ”The demons are not your true objective. Experience is.”

The geniuses lowered their heads in determination, the atmosphere shifting into something sharper, heavier, and filled with resolve.