The "Royal Demon Rose," wrapped in a massive amount of stellar magic power, shot out explosively. It was enjoying treatment it never should have received—its basic attack was being used directly as an ultimate move.
However, this "Royal Demon Rose" truly had the qualifications for it. A single rose endured such an enormous injection of Moen's magic power and still remained intact—something even the finest magic crystals could not achieve.
The dark magic filling the banquet hall continuously collided with the magic arrays pushed out by Makarov, exploding into multicolored fireworks like a grand display. Amid this sky-filling barrage of explosions, the "Royal Magic Palace Rose" suddenly darted forward, shooting straight toward Jose Porla's chest.
"Buzz!!!"
The sound tearing through the air was like the furious roar of some creature. By the time the gleeful Jose Porla noticed it, the "Royal Demon Rose" had already passed through the exploding fireworks and arrived right in front of him. Jose Porla's pupils immediately contracted.
At this moment, Jose Porla could still dodge if he forced it. He specialized in short-range instantaneous movement magic. Even if caught off guard, forcibly activating his magic might not result in injury but he knew he could not dodge.
This move was launched by that old dog's little grandson. If he dodged, wouldn't he be mocked by that old dog with his head pressed down?
Not only could he not dodge, he had to neutralize it with ease.
Jose Porla actually had confidence in this. That kid truly was a genius—at such a young age, already possessing this level of strength. Given time, becoming one of the "Ten Wizard Saints" would not be out of reach.
But right now, in front of him, this level of power was still far from sufficient.
"Boom!!!"
Jose Porla erupted with terrifying purple-black magic power. He extended his hand and directly grabbed toward the incoming magic mass. He could tell there was something inside it.
How does one best demonstrate calm superiority? Naturally—by catching it and then casually throwing it back to injure that brat!
Jose Porla thought it through, and that was exactly what he did. His dense, evil-tainted magic surged forth and slammed into the magic mass enveloping the "Royal Demon Rose," producing a violent explosion—the result of two terrifying pools of magic colliding.
Although Moen's magic power far exceeded Jose Porla's expectations, he still broke through that layer of magic without danger, successfully reaching inside and grasping what was there.
It was a red rose.
Jose Porla was stunned.
'What kind of rose is this? It can withstand such immense magic power?'
Holding the rose, Jose Porla pulled his hand back and examined it in surprise. It didn't seem particularly different. Unable to resist showing off, he lifted the rose to his nose and sniffed it.
'The smell doesn't seem strange either.'
After taking a deep breath, Jose Porla thought this.
"Pfft—"
Seeing this scene, Moen finally couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.
"Why are you laughing, kid? That move didn't work. As expected, fighting someone at Jose Porla's level is still too much for you."
Seeing Moen laugh uncontrollably after his move was neutralized by Jose Porla, Makarov was completely baffled.
He could tell that Jose Porla had actually expended a fair amount of effort to deal with that attack—it wasn't nearly as effortless as he made it look. That was why Makarov was already very satisfied with Moen's performance.
After all, Jose Porla was one of the "Ten Wizard Saints," and one renowned for overwhelming magic power—a walking magic artillery. It was perfectly normal for him to counter a move that relied on stacking magic power. One could say it was a direct matchup of specialties.
"No, it's just that…"
Moen suppressed his laughter and started to explain. Jose Porla had really hit his funny bone—sniffing the "Royal Demon Rose" was a classic case of trying to show off and completely overdoing it.
Moen had never expected to blast Jose Porla apart with raw magic power. He only hoped the "Royal Demon Rose" could help him land an assist. But now, with Jose Porla's epic lung penetration, it seemed this was no longer just about getting an assist.
Looking at Jose Porla, Moen figured it was about time for the effect to kick in.
"Don't feel discouraged. Give it another ten years—no, five years and you might be able to knock him flat."
Seeing Moen fall silent after laughing and simply stare at Jose Porla, Makarov thought he had taken a psychological hit and spoke to comfort him—though it wasn't just empty reassurance.
Makarov genuinely believed it was only a matter of time before Moen surpassed Jose Porla, and that it wouldn't even take very long.
"Grandpa, look at him."
Moen didn't argue, instead gesturing for Makarov to look at Jose Porla.
"Hm?"
Makarov immediately turned his gaze toward Jose Porla, then his eyes widened—because Jose Porla's condition was clearly wrong. The man stood frozen in place, still holding that brilliantly vivid red rose.
"Stellar Rose—a rose laced with severe poison. As long as you are lightly pricked by its thorns or inhale its pollen, you will lose your five senses, your bodily functions will rapidly decline, and you will gradually die without feeling any pain. Looks like Guild Master Jose inhaled quite a lot just now."
Moen spoke calmly. He had renamed the "Royal Demon Rose." Having both "Royal" and "Demon" in the name sounded strange and was hard to explain, so he simply renamed it Stellar Rose for external use.
"Ah?"
After hearing Moen's explanation, Makarov's eyes widened even more.
"Where did this Stellar Rose come from?"
Makarov looked at Moen and couldn't help but swallow. Such an overbearing rose—how had he never seen it before?
"It's an ability of my Celestial Spirit Magic."
Moen spoke calmly. Celestial Spirit Magic was basically a bottomless pit—anything could be stuffed into it. Saying this was also a clever move; no one could be sure whether he still had more "Royal Demon Roses" in his possession. This was "rose deterrence"!
"Your Celestial Spirit Magic… really has a lot of tricks."
Makarov couldn't help but click his tongue. He hadn't expected even himself to underestimate Moen. This kid had far too many surprises on him!
"Boom!"
At this moment, Jose Porla finally reacted. Magic power surged wildly in his hands as he directly crushed that "Royal Demon Rose" completely into nothingness, not even leaving behind a trace of ash.
"My five senses are being lost…"
Jose Porla had already realized he was poisoned. Although the poison didn't take effect quickly, it was extremely domineering, going straight for the elimination of his five senses. He could already feel his senses rapidly deteriorating.
He immediately mobilized his magic power to circulate within his body, trying to stop the poison from continuing to damage him. Magic power was closely tied to vitality and could indeed provide resistance against foreign substances invading the body. Otherwise, mages wouldn't live so long, nor would they so rarely be troubled by illness.
"What's wrong with Jose? Why is he just standing there?"
"Did Moen knock him stupid with a single move?"
"Was that thing the kid threw just now a rose? Why throw a rose? What kind of weird move is that?"
"That should be some kind of magical item. A normal rose couldn't possibly withstand such powerful magic! Did Jose Porla get hit?"
Jose Porla suddenly standing there without moving naturally drew discussion. The guild masters all had sharp eyes and rich experience and could immediately tell something was wrong, making guesses that were actually pretty close.
"…"
Jose Porla clenched his teeth, but he still didn't act rashly. He was fully resisting the poison inside his body. At this moment, he actually hoped his hearing would be taken away first.
"Jose, you're feeling pretty bad right now, aren't you?"
When Makarov's annoyingly smug voice rang out beside his ear, Jose Porla's desire to lose his hearing first grew even stronger.
"Who would've thought? A dignified Saint Ten Wizard, the master of Phantom Lord, Jose in the prime of his life in his thirties, actually falling for the tricks of a kid barely in his teens. Tsk tsk tsk~"
Although Jose Porla tightly shut his mouth and ignored him, Makarov would never miss such a good opportunity to mock him. He circled around Jose Porla, clicking his tongue repeatedly, the words coming out dripping with sarcasm.
Moen could see that Jose Porla's body had begun to tremble, clearly furious from the taunts.
"President Jose, don't get too emotional. Strong emotions will make the poison spread faster. You don't want to become a cripple who's lost all five senses, do you? And there will be even more severe symptoms later. If you don't resist the poison properly, you could die."
Seeing the agitated Jose Porla, Moen kindly offered a reminder. This immediately caused Jose Porla to stop trembling. Facts proved that this man was still afraid of death.
"You brat, can't you help our Guild Master Jose out a bit? We're all on the same side here. You went a little too hard."
Makarov continued speaking in that annoyingly smug tone. By now, everyone had gathered around, staring at Moen in shock.
None of them had expected Moen to actually restrain Jose! Jose Porla was a "Saint Ten Wizard"!
Although the process was hard to watch, just tell me—was he restrained or not?!
And this kid was only twelve or thirteen years old!
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