Dimensional Keeper: All My Skills Are at Level 100

Chapter 977: Tailing the masked men

Max stepped out of the obelisk with the same quiet grace he had entered with, his every movement measured and controlled. The air outside felt thinner, freer—yet he knew it wasn’t safety. Not yet.

Still, a faint breath of relief escaped his chest. The most difficult part was done. Escaping was easier than infiltrating, since he already knew the path out. The placement of the guards, the locked doors, the rune checkpoints—all imprinted in his memory.

All he had to do was retrace his steps with patience, slipping into blind spots, pausing for long minutes at times until the guards opened the heavy spiritsteel doors with their fingerprints. His Three Dimensional Body mapped their movements flawlessly, guiding him out without a trace.

When the final gate shut quietly behind him, he melted back into the night’s shadows. His figure blurred and vanished into the surrounding ridge where the hidden city lay buried beneath layers of rune formations. For the first time since he entered, Max allowed himself to stand still and think.

’Lenavira is safe now,’ he reminded himself, though the weight in his chest did not lift entirely. His eyes narrowed, sharp with determination. ’Now... it’s time to see what secrets those masked men are hiding.’

His mind replayed the faint glimpses of them. Black hoods, faceless, radiating a pressure so deep and raw that even members of the Seven Overlord Forces quivered like prey before them. That alone was enough to make his instincts howl. He trusted his instincts. They had never been wrong.

He reached for his communicator that Elder Liam had given him, sending a brief but firm message across the link to Elder Liam. ’She is secured. Keep monitoring me. Do not relax. Things aren’t done yet.’

The communicator was a special treasure of Elder Liam. It could send messages from anywhere in the world even from secret domain without an issues. Most importantly, it couldn’t be traced making it very suitable for the situation Max found himself in.

The reply came almost instantly, the elder’s steady voice filling his ear: ’Understood. I’ll remain on watch.’

Max exhaled, but his jaw tightened. ”For some reason, I feel those masked men... they are no good,” he muttered under his breath. The words tasted like iron. His instincts weren’t whispering now—they were roaring, warning him of danger, danger so sharp it made him feel a bit fear againt them.

”They are dangerous.”

The voice did not come from outside. It coiled inside his head, low and calm, but carrying a gravity that made his heart skip. Blob.

Max stiffened, eyes narrowing. ”Blob, you... know them?”

”I have a guess,” Blob admitted slowly, his voice echoing like ripples across water, ”but I am not certain. When you first saw them, I already sensed their peculiarity. But since you were focused on saving Lenavira, I remained silent.”

Max clenched his fists. The memory of that bone-deep fear those men projected surfaced again, and his gut twisted tighter. ”Peculiarity? What do you mean?”

Blob paused, as if weighing every word. ”Their presence isn’t just strong—it distorts. It eats at the space and soul around them. If my guess is right... if they truly are who I think they are, then you—no, the entire Middle Domain—will be thrown into chaos.”

The words struck like a thunderclap. Max’s face hardened, his usual calm expression now carved with solemnity. The Middle Domain was already turbulent with the presence of Nulls and Mark. And yet it had remained balanced—stable—only because Lucien’s shadow loomed above everything like a silent deterrent.

For something to still threaten chaos despite all of that...

Max’s breath came slow and heavy. He lifted his gaze back toward the city hidden under layers of rune mist. His heart pounded, not with fear, but with grim resolve.

’What in the hells are you... masked men?’ He wondered before shaking his head.

”Blob, do you have any idea where I should begin gathering information about them?” Max asked in a low voice, his eyes narrowing as they scanned the cityscape from the shadows.

”I suggest you find one of them and follow him,” Blob answered, voice steady yet edged with caution. ”See if they lead you anywhere... or to anyone. That will tell us more than speculation ever could.”

Max gave a short nod. ”Makes sense.”

Without wasting another breath, he pushed off the ridge and dropped back into the city. His movements were liquid, noiseless. He slipped between alleys and leapt from roof to roof, each jump precise, his figure nothing more than a flicker against the pale glow of rune lamps that faintly lit the hidden streets.

Finally, he scaled the tallest structure in the immediate area, a tiered spire carved with faint runic wards that hummed softly in the night.

From that vantage point, Max let his Three Dimensional Body unfold to its full extent. His perception bled into every corner of the city, tracing guards on their rounds, patrol teams cutting across the avenues, civilians huddled in their quarters... and then—there..

Not far from him, moving as if the city itself bent around them, were three figures. Masked. Hooded. Their presence weighed down the air even at a distance, like cold iron pressing against his soul.

”Got you.” Max’s lips curved faintly.

He crouched low, eyes gleaming with focus. Already, possibilities were racing through his mind. If they gathered somewhere, he could overhear them. If they split apart, he could tail one without drawing attention. Either way, information was within reach.

He rose, silent as mist, and shot across the rooftops, shadowing them from above. Every movement was calculated: never directly in their line, always hidden behind stone ridges or chimneys, his aura sealed tight beneath layers of restraint.

’Good. If I can catch even scraps of their conversation, I might finally know who they are.’

His body tightened with anticipation, but his face remained calm, expressionless. This was not the time for impatience. One mistake could cost him everything.

He slowed as he drew closer, his eyes narrowing on the trio’s dark figures slipping down a side street toward a quieter quarter of the city.

’Now... let’s see what you’re hiding.’