Dimensional Keeper: All My Skills Are at Level 100-Chapter 802: A Challenge

Princess Lyra’s eyes turned sharp and cold as she fixed Kael Drakemantle with a piercing stare and demanded, "Are you questioning my choice?"

At once, Kael’s face grew slightly pale, and he raised his hands in a hasty gesture of denial. "I wouldn’t dare," he said quickly, but before he could say anything else, Lyra cut him off with icy authority, snapping, "Then you should shut up."

Kael hesitated for a moment, then let out a frustrated sigh, clearly unwilling to drop the matter as he insisted, "I would keep silent, but someone has to say this, right? He simply isn’t qualified to enter the secret domain. His strength isn’t enough, and I believe everyone here thinks the same as I do. Besides, the number of members each force can send into the secret domain is strictly limited, and I believe we should use those precious spots wisely. Sending someone who’s only at the Master Rank is nothing but a foolish decision."

As he spoke, Kael’s eyes swept around the grand hall, seeking support from the other gathered geniuses who stood watching the tense exchange with varying degrees of interest and discomfort.

Seeing Kael continue to argue even after she had told him to be quiet, Princess Lyra’s face darkened, her brows drawing together as anger flickered dangerously in her eyes, while Emperor Hermes merely watched the scene unfold with a faint, amused smile on his lips, clearly curious about how his daughter and Max would handle such an open challenge.

Meanwhile, Max stood silently, reading the room and noticing how several people seemed uncertain or even discontented that he had been granted a spot in the secret domain, and as he sensed Princess Lyra’s fury ready to explode at any second, he took a steadying breath and swiftly began thinking of a way to resolve the situation before it turned even uglier.

"I wonder what this senior’s name is?" Max asked, voice casual, as though speaking of weather, and the question cut through the charged silence like a subtle jab.

"You...you don’t know me?" Kael blinked, taken aback, his expression shifting between surprise and indignation, as though Max had just casually forgotten the sun existed.

"Should I know the name of every member of the empire?" Max said with a slight shrug, his tone light but carrying an undercurrent of challenge, a spark that made a few of the other geniuses raise their eyebrows in interest.

Kael’s face turned a shade darker, scales on his forearms flickering iridescently as his aura surged, and he crossed his arms with a sneer. "I am Kael Drakemantle."

"I see." Max nodded, flashing a brief, polite smile that seemed to only deepen the scowl on Kael’s face. "Senior Brother Kael, according to you, I’m not qualified to enter the secret domain... Is that it?"

Kael nodded sharply, the corners of his lips twisting upward into a contemptuous grin. "Right. You’re too weak for that."

Max merely chuckled, shaking his head, eyes glinting. "I don’t believe it. What you’re saying is completely going against Princess Lyra. According to her, I am qualified, and to you, I am not. But we all know whose judgment matters here, so there really isn’t a need to talk about my qualifications further."

Then he turned to Lyra, tilting his head slightly as though inviting her confirmation. "Isn’t that right, Princess Lyra?"

Princess Lyra’s crimson eyes gleamed with a mix of approval and faint amusement as she nodded. "You are right, Max. Since I have chosen you, there really isn’t a requirement for any more judgments about your qualifications." Her voice was calm yet authoritative, silencing murmurs that had begun to ripple among the assembled figures, and a few of the elders nodded in agreement, though others still wore wary frowns.

Kael’s face darkened once again, his scaled fingers drumming against his arm in agitation, and he sneered, his eyes flicking around the hall. "I am good with it—but I wonder if other members will also agree with Princess Lyra." His gaze swept meaningfully across the other geniuses, his expression inviting challenge, his tone taunting as if daring the others to stand beside him in opposition.

At Kael’s words tension gathered like storm clouds as murmurs rippled through the gathered crowd, and just as the buzz of uncertainty grew, a tall young man stepped forward, his robes edged with silver patterns and his eyes sharp as blades, speaking with a respectful yet firm voice, "I respect Princess Lyra very much, but I don’t think sending someone in the Master Rank is a wise decision," his words echoing off the high ceiling and drawing nods from several others.

Immediately another youth, voice tinged with concern and a trace of disdain, chimed in, "I believe so too. He would only bring humiliation to our Empire."

And as if the dam had burst, more voices followed in rapid succession, opinions pouring forth like water from a broken jar, "He’s too weak. He shouldn’t enter the Secret Domain."

One insisted, his face twisted with scorn, while another scoffed, "Yes, in place of him, an actual 3-star genius would do better."

And yet another added harshly, "Master Rank experts can only be killed once they enter the Secret Domain. They’re too weak for that."

Amidst the chorus of disapproval, Max stood silent, a faint sigh escaping his lips as his sharp eyes swept across the hall, inwardly thinking, ’I didn’t want to reveal my strength here, but I guess I’ll have to,’ and finally, with a calm yet steely voice, he turned his gaze toward Kael, whose lips curled in a sneer as Max asked evenly, "Senior Brother Kael, according to you, what is the strength needed to qualify to enter the Secret Domain?"

Kael crossed his arms arrogantly and reply with a scoff, "1st level of Legend Rank is the least requirement."

Hearing this, Max merely nodded once, his expression as cold as ice as he raised his chin slightly, his voice ringing clear and sharp as a sword stroke as he looked around at the gathered geniuses and declared, "I wonder who among the geniuses who is at the 1st level of Legend Rank is willing to battle with me?"

His challenge hanging in the air like thunder as silence fell over the hall, the disbelief and curiosity on every face as countless eyes shifted toward him, waiting to see whether the young man so casually dismissed as "too weak" would truly dare stand against a Legend Rank expert.