The grandfather and grandsons got off the train and arrived at their destination, Oak Town. Laxus's complexion finally looked more normal, though his steps still seemed a little unsteady.
Although he had been doing his best to control himself, the time spent riding this time really was a bit long, and his emotional fluctuations had been intense the entire way, which greatly affected his control.
Even so, he still managed to endure it until now.
It had to be said—on this point, Moen truly admired Laxus. An absolute beast.
"Do we go straight there, or rest for a bit?"
Moen looked toward Makarov and took the initiative to ask. As for who the rest was for, Moen believed Grandpa Makarov definitely understood.
"Let's rest for a while, let's rest for a while. I'm old, long-distance travel like this is really exhausting!"
Sure enough, Makarov immediately grasped Moen's meaning. He held his lower back, putting on an act of back pain from sitting too long.
"Riding really is tiring. Let's rest for a bit, recuperate, and then go look for Jose Porla's trouble!"
Moen echoed him, then walked together with Makarov toward a roadside bench. Neither of them looked at Laxus.
"…"
Laxus silently watched this scene. For some reason, he felt like laughing, but he quickly suppressed the corner of his mouth.
As for whether the old man and Moen had noticed his problem, Laxus didn't want to think about it. Things being like this wasn't bad anyway.
Laxus followed and sat down on the roadside bench as well. He quickly adjusted his condition, preparing himself to face Jose Porla. Even though he hadn't yet received permission to fight, he was definitely going to be ready.
Besides, if he was going to fight Jose Porla, did he really need permission? When the time came, he'd just strike first!
Surely the old man and Moen wouldn't gang up on Jose Porla together with him, right?
"How is it? Rested enough?"
After a while, Makarov looked toward Moen, who had his eyes closed and was regulating his breathing, and asked.
"What about you, Grandpa?"
Moen opened his eyes and asked back, while his gaze shifted toward Laxus at the side.
"I'm rested."
Makarov said, giving Moen a meaningful look as he spoke. He had already noticed that Laxus's condition had recovered.
"Then I'm fine too."
Moen immediately stood up and then looked directly at Laxus.
"Laxus, you—"
"I'm fine."
Before Moen could finish his sentence, Laxus stood up directly, looking as though he had already been waiting impatiently for them.
"Then let's move."
Makarov took the lead, heading toward Phantom Lord in the city center. Moen also directly removed the hood from his head, no longer disguising himself. Along the way, to avoid trouble, he had been keeping a very low profile, being too famous was just like that.
In the end, Moen took off his hood a bit too early. Before they even reached Phantom Lord, a large number of people had already recognized him.
However, in this town, the treatment he received was somewhat different. The residents of Oak Town looked at him with extremely complicated expressions.
There was no helping it, this was Phantom Lord's home base, after all. Although Phantom Lord wasn't exactly a people-friendly mage guild, in Oak Town it still had some foundation. And Phantom Lord wasn't a dark guild, it hadn't reached the point of being hated.
Moen, a Fairy Tail mage who had risen by stepping on Jose Porla and Phantom Lord, was naturally unlikely to receive friendly looks from the people of Oak Town. Even some fans of The Great Detective Holmos didn't dare to show themselves here.
"These people don't seem very friendly."
Laxus laughed. It was a dangerous smile—the more hostile these people were toward him, the more excited he became.
"It'd be the same if Phantom Lord's people went to Magnolia."
Moen didn't find it strange at all. Even book fans had to face reality when it came to real life. With the entire town of Oak hostile toward them, a few fans couldn't exactly stand up and object, would they still be able to live in Oak Town afterward?
"What are they doing here?!"
"They actually dare come to Oak Town!"
"Can Phantom Lord beat them?"
"What are you talking about?! Guild Master Jose Porla will wash away his humiliation!"
Voices of discussion rose and fell throughout the crowd.
Some people had already begun to doubt Phantom Lord. After all, Jose Porla had been defeated by Moen, and the Three Elements had been shattered by him as well. Phantom Lord's reputation had been completely disgraced.
If not for the fact that the people of Oak Town had grown up listening to stories about Phantom Lord, there probably wouldn't be many who still believed in them anymore. The guild's reputation had taken a massive blow.
The crowd talked and talked, but there were truly very few who dared to proactively cause trouble.
They might not be familiar with Laxus, but they could still recognize Moen and Makarov. Even if they were given the courage of a bear and a leopard, they wouldn't dare pluck the tiger's whiskers at a time like this, just look at the ugly expression on that short old man Makarov's face.
"Jose Porla! Get out here!"
Arriving at Phantom Lord's entrance, Makarov didn't hesitate at all. He shouted directly, magic power erupting outward. The entire Phantom Lord guild hall seemed to tremble.
This scene frightened the onlookers into quickly retreating, afraid of being caught in the aftermath of the battle. Just from the momentum, it was obvious they were here to cause trouble!
"Makarov!!!"
A furious roar came from within Phantom Lord's guild hall. The hatred in Jose Porla's voice practically surged outward.
A mass of purple magic energy burst out of the Phantom Lord guild hall and arrived at the entrance. A deathly aura rushed forward, Jose Porla's presence pressing straight ahead—
Only to be smashed apart by Makarov. Neither Moen nor Laxus felt any pressure from Jose Porla at all.
"Whoosh—!"
A group of guild members wearing Phantom Lord's standard purple double-horned hats rushed out and gathered behind Jose Porla. Among them was a familiar figure—Sol, the "Earth Element" of the Three Elements, who had clearly mostly recovered.
In addition, there was the short "Iron Dragon" Gajeel. The moment he saw Moen, he immediately shuddered, the fear in his eyes almost overflowing.
There was no helping it—Moen's "Crimson Poison Needle" had left too deep an impression on him. Just seeing Moen made his body feel like it had already started hurting, that fear carved deep into his bones.
"Aria still hasn't been released, Totomaru was locked up by their own people, and out of the Three Elements only one Earth Element is left, this is really something."
Looking at Phantom Lord's pitiful handful of members, Moen couldn't help but complain. This was also his achievement.
Aria, due to repeatedly releasing magic in a crazed state and even indiscriminately attacking civilians, had been taken into custody by the Magic Council. However, given his special circumstances, he was ultimately only sentenced to two years of confinement.
During those two years, the Magic Council would treat his mental condition. The Council believed Aria suffered from mental illness, so the sentence was lighter, with treatment as the main focus.
"MOEN!!!"
Upon seeing Moen beside Makarov, Jose Porla's eyes turned red, the hatred nearly condensing into something tangible. Clearly, Moen was the one he hated most.
"You actually still dare to come to Phantom Lord!!!"
Jose Porla stretched out his hand and pointed at Moen. A terrifying dark magic bullet shot straight toward him.
"Buzz!"
Moen likewise raised a finger. A "Crimson Poison Needle" rapidly condensed and shot out, colliding directly with the dark magic bullet.
"Boom boom boom!"
A terrifying magical explosion erupted. Jose Porla's magic bullet was blocked outright by Moen's Crimson Poison Needle. After shattering the bullet, the needle continued flying toward Jose Porla.
Alarm bells rang wildly in Jose Porla's heart. Magic power erupted as he forcibly crushed the Crimson Poison Needle. Having learned his lesson, Jose Porla truly no longer dared to casually catch things anymore.
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