---
title: "Chapter 574: Defeat"
slug: "ch-574"
novel: "Dimensional Keeper: All My Skills Are at Level 100"
number: 574
views: 0
likes: 0
wordCount: 1267
createdAt: "2026-04-15"
---

’He’s too weak,’ Max thought, his gaze cool and emotionless as he watched Garry struggle to rise from the shattered arena wall. It wasn’t arrogance—it was observation. In that instant, Max had already analyzed everything he needed to know.

Either Garry was simply too weak... or Max was far too strong... or perhaps, more accurately, it was both. The gap between them was glaring, and Max understood exactly why.

On paper, Garry stood at the peak of the Expert Rank, while Max was still at the seventh level of the Seeker Rank—a full realm below. That alone should have made Garry the superior fighter, but reality said otherwise.

The reason, Max knew, wasn’t just raw strength or talent. It came down to how they had grasped their inheritances. Both of them were using powerful inheritances in this battle, tapping into the legacies they had comprehended in the true inheritance trial.

But where Garry had barely scratched the surface, only managing to learn the foundational level of the Overlord Armor inheritance, Max had gone much further. His own inheritance—no, inheritances—had been mastered to perfection, polished enough until they became extensions of his very being.

That level of mastery wasn’t just a boost in power—it was transformation, allowing Max to fight as if the inheritance was his birthright.

The disparity was clear in every clash, every swing of the blade, every exchange where Max blocked or countered with ease while Garry struggled to keep up. And yet, Max wasn’t blind to the truth.

Deep down, he believed that if they had fought without using their inheritances—just a straight fight, weapon to weapon, skill to skill—then maybe, just maybe, Garry wouldn’t have been defeated so thoroughly.

He might have lost, but he wouldn’t have been humiliated like this. The problem wasn’t just strength. It was understanding. One fought with borrowed power not fully understood. The other had made that power entirely his own.

"What do you say? One more move?" Max asked with a relaxed smile, his sword vanishing back into black flame as he watched Garry slowly rise from the rubble, his breathing ragged but steadying.𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Garry wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and gave a tired, bitter chuckle. "No," he said, shaking his head, voice hoarse but resolute. "I admit defeat."

There was no shame in his tone—only clarity. He had come into this duel thinking he could prove himself, but now he understood the truth.

The gap between him and Max wasn’t something that could be overcome with one desperate technique or a lucky strike. It was a chasm carved not just by difference in strength, but by mastery, by depth, by understanding.

Max had gone easy on him, and Garry knew it. Had Max truly intended to end the fight, he could’ve done it in a single move. Knowing that, Garry chose to bow out with his pride intact rather than pretend there was still a fight left.

The moment the words left his mouth, both their figures shimmered with light and vanished from the battle hall, the conclusion of the duel leaving behind silence that quickly turned into whispers and stifled gasps across the arena.

But not everyone was quiet.

"No, no, no, no...!" Simon groaned, grabbing his head with both hands, his face a mixture of disbelief and humiliation.

Rage twisted inside him like a storm. He felt like the ground had been pulled from under him. He had walked straight into a trap... no, run into it—and now he had nothing to show but disgrace. He couldn’t believe it. He had axed his own foot with a grin on his face.

And then came the voice that made his blood run cold.

"Simon, the Counter Mirror. Give it to me," Lady Virelia said, her tone calm on the surface, but laced with unmistakable chill.

Simon’s head snapped toward her, his face pale and lips trembling. He turned, jabbing a shaking finger toward her and Lord Harthorne. "You... You two set me up!" he shouted, eyes burning with fury and betrayal.

Lord Harthorne raised an eyebrow and gave a look of mock confusion. "Set you up?" he said innocently, as if the idea itself was absurd. "Wasn’t it you who claimed my Obsidian Dragon City was mismanaged? And wasn’t it you who demanded proof of strength?" He paused, smiling faintly. "So, I arranged a simple duel between Max and Garry. That’s all."

His words, so composed and perfectly delivered, made Simon’s fury boil over.

"You—!" he barked, fists clenched so tight his knuckles turned white. He wanted to scream, to strike, to explode from the pressure building inside him—but he knew he couldn’t. He had walked into this challenge with his head high, made boasts he couldn’t back, and now everything—everything—was being thrown back in his face.

"Now, the Counter Mirror," Lady Virelia said again, this time her hand outstretched with elegant finality.

Simon clenched his jaw so tight it hurt. He knew he couldn’t back out now. The duel had not been made public but it was only a matter of time. Every word, every challenge, every boast—recorded by the viewing runes from start to finish. Even if he tried to twist the truth, the evidence would betray him.

With trembling hands, Simon reached into his spatial ring and pulled out the treasure—a mirror with a green-hued frame that shimmered faintly with spiritual light. His expression twisted in silent fury as he handed it to Virelia, feeling as though he had just surrendered a part of his soul.

He had lost the duel, lost face, lost the Counter Mirror—and perhaps worst of all, lost control of the narrative.

Just then, from opposite ends of the grand hall, both Max and Garry stepped in, their figures emerging with composed expressions—though for vastly different reasons.

Garry’s face was unreadable, a mix of emotions flickering beneath his calm exterior as he watched the heated exchange unfold before him. He didn’t know how to feel—he had lost, yes, but it wasn’t just defeat that sat heavy on his chest. It was everything—the expectations, the pressure, the truth about his own limitations.

Max, on the other hand, was grinning from ear to ear, his sharp eyes gleaming with satisfaction. He had seen Simon’s outburst, the reluctant handing over of the Counter Mirror, and every second of it fed into the quiet vindication he now carried.

"Let’s go, Garry. We’re leaving," Simon said through gritted teeth, having finally gathered enough composure to not explode again.

Garry gave Max a small nod—one of quiet respect, not bitterness—and Max returned it with a simple, calm nod of his own.

Without another word, Garry walked toward Simon.

But before they vanished, Simon turned to Virelia with a look that sent a chill through the air. "This isn’t over," he hissed, his eyes flashing with sinister promise.

Then, with a swipe of his hand, he touched Garry’s shoulder and the two vanished in a ripple of space, leaving only silence behind.

Lady Virelia turned to Max, her expression back to its usual calm grace, and extended her hand with the green-framed mirror. "Take this," she said. "It’s yours now."

Max didn’t hesitate. He reached out and accepted the Counter Mirror, its frame pulsing faintly in his grip. Without wasting a moment, he examined it right there.

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[Counter Mirror]

– Rank: [ - ]

– Description: A mirror formed from holding on to the roots of a counter Cosmic Path, allowing it the ability to defend and reflect most attacks depending on the user’s strength and the mirror’s rank.

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