Dimensional Keeper: All My Skills Are at Level 100

Chapter 333: Meeting Others

They hadnʼt made it far into the forbidden zone when a strange disturbance flickered ahead.

The air rippled.

The fog stirred, unnaturally.

A faint, almost imperceptible tremor ran beneath their feet.

”Everyone, stop moving.”

Harryʼs voice rang out, sharp and commanding.

The entire group froze.

His eyes were locked on the mist ahead, where the fog had grown thicker, heavier—like something was pushing through it from the other side.

”Do you see that?” he murmured, half to himself.

If one paid close attention, theyʼd notice it—a subtle shift, as though the mist itself was peeling back, disturbed by something approaching from the darkness.

Then Harryʼs expression darkened.

”A scent of soul and flesh...” he muttered, barely above a whisper.

His hand drifted to the hilt of his sword. ”Prepare yourselves. It might be a unique variant of infernal being.”

Instantly, tension surged through the group.

Weapons were drawn.

Swords gleamed under the strange ambient light.

Faint glows of elemental energy shimmered around hands and fingertips.

They braced themselves, every heartbeat thudding louder in their ears.

The silence deepened.

The fog curled tighter.

And then—

A figure stepped through.

A single silhouette, cloaked in dim light, emerging slowly as the mist parted.

The group tensed as one. Muscles coiled. Blades rose.

But as the figure took another step forward, the light caught his face—white hair, lightning in his gaze, bloodstained clothes… but unmistakably alive.

”Max?!” someone gasped.

The realization rippled through the group like lightning through water.

What they had been bracing for—an infernal abomination—was instead the very person they had feared lost.

The same one who had been missing from the previous squads.

Max had returned.

Walking alone through the fog… and everyone was too stunned to speak.

”Max?”

Harryʼs brows knitted tightly the moment he saw the familiar figure step out from the thick fog.

Despite recognizing him—white hair, composed steps, that unmistakable air of power—Harryʼs instincts screamed caution. This was the Mourning Depths, after all. Trust could be a fatal mistake.

While Max was known across the continent as the strongest genius of his generation, even he could fall prey to the twisted horrors within this cursed land.

Harryʼs voice turned sharp. ”Prove it. Show me that youʼre really Max. For all I know, you could be an infernal creature that devoured him and took his form.”

The crowd went silent.

A wave of disbelief rippled through the gathered geniuses, but as the seconds ticked by, many began nodding quietly in agreement. It made too much sense.

Max had emerged alone, and not just from any direction—from the other side of the 1,500-mile forbidden zone.

That shouldnʼt have been possible.

They had all crossed through the safe zone together.

And no one had seen Max there.

No one.

So…

Had he entered the forbidden zone before them?

Or… was this something far stranger?

---

Max blinked, thrown off by the demand. ”What?”

But then, as murmurs grew around him, he understood. His expression shifted from confused to resigned.

”Alright then,” he muttered, exhaling softly. ”How about this?”

He slowly raised his right hand. A second later, jet-black flames erupted from his palm—wild, chaotic, and yet completely under his control. The dark fire danced up his forearm, casting eerie shadows across his face.

The crowd gasped.

”Black flames?!”

”Thatʼs Max! It really is him!”

Harryʼs tense shoulders relaxed. His breath came out in a slow sigh. ”Good,” he said, nodding. ”Thatʼs all I needed to see.”

Max continued forward, rejoining the group.

As he walked past familiar faces—Aelric, Alice, Jack, Amelia, and many others—he realized nearly everyone who had entered the Mourning Depths was now gathered here.

Everyone who had survived, at least.

Seeing them all in one place, deep inside the forbidden zone, made his brow furrow.

He had sensed Aliceʼs bloodline, which was how he found them, but… why were they all here?

”Whatʼs going on?” he asked, confused. ”Why is everyone gathered like this?”

Crown Prince Aelric stepped forward, voice steady but serious. ”We had no choice. The safe zone was overrun. An infernal storm hit us—black fog, red lightning, all of it. Old Man Grey warned us in time. We had to flee forward—into the forbidden zone.”

Maxʼs expression darkened with each word.

When Aelric finished, Max stood frozen for a moment.

Then his voice came low and uncertain.

”What do you mean weʼre in the 1,500-mile forbidden zone?”

Maxʼs voice dropped, sharp and heavy with disbelief. His eyes narrowed, and his expression turned grim.

He wasnʼt just surprised—he was certain.

He had been alone with Blob this entire time. No distractions. No chaos. Every step, every decision, had been calculated. He knew where heʼd been walking. He wasnʼt some clueless traveler stumbling through the dark.

He had Blob with him. Blob had been in the Mourning Depths for almost 20 years so even if he didnʼt know some new dangers that had been popping here and there, he was aware of their location all the time in the Mourning Depths.

And according to Blob—

They hadnʼt even gone near the boundary.

In fact—he was sure he had been heading back. Back toward the entrance.

Not here. Not this deep.

Max had been following the faint tug of Aliceʼs bloodline—an echo inside him, one he knew how to track—and it had felt like he was retracing his path. Not descending further into the abyss.

And Blob made also made sure him of that.

Around him, the others exchanged uneasy glances.

Some shifted in place.

The very idea that Max didnʼt know where he was… it unsettled everyone.

Harryʼs voice broke the silence, laced with confusion.

”What are you talking about, Max?” he asked, stepping forward. ”You came from the west. Thatʼs where the boundary deepens. We all crossed that line together.”

Max didnʼt respond immediately. Instead, his eyes narrowed as he took a deep breath, letting his senses stretch out across the strange terrain.

The air here was saturated with infernal energy.

He could feel it pressing against his skin like a thick, oily mist. But more than that—something stirred inside him.

A faint pulse.

It came from his Infernal Demon Tattoo.

Even without focusing, he could feel it—a rhythmic throb coming from his right palm, where the eleven-layered mark glowed faintly beneath his skin.

It wasnʼt subtle.

It was hungry.

Then—just as the realization settled—the pulsing intensified.

Max flinched slightly, his hand twitching at his side.

ʼWhat the hell…?ʼ

The Infernal Demon Tattoo, which had remained dormant since heʼd stopped devouring energy… was now reacting again. Violently. Desperately.

Almost like it was trying to consume.

His heart skipped a beat.

ʼHow is this happening…?ʼ Max stood frozen for a moment, a storm of realization churning behind his eyes.

All this time—while following the pull of his bloodline, while walking alone with Blob through the fog-thickened terrain—he had been steadily absorbing infernal energy. His black flames hadnʼt rested for even a second, devouring every trace of corrupted essence they encountered.

And the Infernal Demon Tattoo had responded, slowly growing stronger.

Then—just before he reached this point, where the others were gathered—it went quiet.

Silent.

As if it had reached its limit.

Max had assumed the energy was stored within.

Waiting. Building toward the elusive twelfth layer.

But now…

Now, the moment he stood here again, surrounded by his peers—the tattoo had awakened once more.

It pulsed hungrily against his skin. A steady beat, dull at first, but rising in intensity with every passing breath. Not just a whisper of power… but a desperate throb, like something inside was screaming for more.