The door leading to the top floor shattered like paper under the violent impact of magic power.
Makarov stepped straight in, the ground letting out a groan with every step he took.
"Jose!!!" The old man stopped in his tracks, his veins bulging as he shouted sternly, "What on earth do you want, hurting my children?!"
Jose sat firmly in his chair, facing the oncoming fury with a calm expression.
"My, my... this is really... such a big temper isn't good for your health, Makarov."
He crossed his fingers over his knees, a look of hypocritical nostalgia on his face.
"Speaking of which, it's been a long ti since we last t, hasn't it?"
"Let think... the last ti we t was at the Routine eting six years ago, wasn't it? Back then, the masters of all the major guilds were there, and we even had a little drink..."
"I'm not here to talk nonsense with you, Jose!!!"
Makarov was in no mood to listen to the other man reminisce about the past.
Without a word of nonsense, he swung his right fist, crossing the distance between them and smashing it into where Jose was sitting.
"Boom—!!!"
Jose, along with the chair beneath him and the surrounding windows, was instantly blown to dust.
When the dust cleared, Jose stood there unscathed, his body in a translucent, illusory state.
"It's a Thought Projection!"
Makarov reacted instantly.
"You... is your real body not even in the guild? Are you afraid, Jose?"
"Afraid? No, no, no, Makarov, you've misunderstood."
Jose shook his head, his tone arrogant and matter-of-fact.
"You should know very well that a battle between two of the Ten Wizard Saints is a disaster that causes Ishgar to change. Besides, I prefer... a rational victory."
"Enough nonsense! Where are you?! Co out and face like a man!!!"
"Hehehe... indeed, where am I? Makarov, why don't you try and guess?"
Ron, who had co up with him, saw Jose using endless nonsense to distract Makarov and imdiately understood.
'It seems Aria is already in this room.'
'But... where could he be?'
Ron looked around, his gaze scanning every corner. Countless fine runes flowed deep within the pupil of his deep blue left eye.
Wherever his gaze fell, the flow of magic power, the refraction of light, and even the slight distortion of space could not escape his eyes.
As his gaze swept past Makarov's right rear, he suddenly caught a very faint fluctuation of magic power.
Aria was a Wind Elent Wizard but was extrely skilled at concealnt. Even the enraged Makarov hadn't noticed his presence at first.
But before Ron's eyes, he was as conspicuous as a blot of ink on a white sheet of paper!
Seeing Ron looking around, Jose's heart skipped a beat.
'This brat... what is he looking at?!'
Jose was panicking inside.
Aria's sneak attack was the most critical part of his entire plan!
"Makarov!"
Jose raised his voice, breaking the brief silence in the room.
"Don't you want to know why I suddenly moved against you?"
Sure enough, Makarov was drawn in by these words.
Although the two guilds had been in constant friction, sothing like this—attacking directly without a declaration of war—had never happened before.
"What are you trying to say?"
"Hehe, though we are old enemies, I'm not the kind of mad dog that bites without reason," Jose said, feigning depth.
"All of this, in fact, has a reason..."
Just as Jose was preparing a long speech to distract Makarov...
"How about... I take a guess?"
A clear and sowhat mocking voice suddenly cut in.
Having found Aria's trail, Ron relaxed and was happy to play along with Jose.
Hearing this, Jose's expression relaxed imperceptibly.
'Phew... it seems it was just a coincidence. This brat didn't find Aria.'
'It makes sense. How could a common Wizard who just started making a na for himself, even with so talent, possibly see through the concealnt of an S-Class Wizard like Aria?'
His mind at ease, Jose regained his composed manner, waiting for Aria to find an opportunity to strike.
"Oh?"
Jose looked at Ron with interest, his words laced with mockery.
"'Heterochromatic' Ron, the genius who has beco famous in Fairy Tail over the past year. I heard those eyes of yours can see through everything? Why don't you try and guess what my purpose is?"
"Ron?" Makarov asked, puzzled.
Ron gave him a look to stay calm, a sowhat punchable confident smile appearing on his face.
"In that case, I won't be polite."
Ron held up a finger and said unhurriedly.
"First of all, at the Routine eting six years ago, you were taught a lesson by the old man. Since then, you've held a grudge, dreaming of getting back at him. Am I right?"
'I'll endure it...'
Jose's mouth twitched violently. Being called out on his past humiliations to his face by a junior made him very unhappy.
"Hmph, that's just an old..."
"Don't be in a hurry, I haven't finished yet."
Ron interrupted him, a sense of excitent from spoiling the plot flashing in his heterochromatic pupils.
"Even though you were itching with hatred, you didn't dare to act because of the Council's ban, until recently... soone gave you a reason."
"The head of the Heartfilia Conglorate gave you a request, to bring back the conglorate's young lady. And she just happens to be in our guild."
"What?!"
The smile on Jose's face froze instantly, and his gaze toward Ron was full of astonishnt.
How did he know?!
No one else knew about this request except for himself and a few trusted subordinates!
"Can't you listen seriously..."
The impatient voice brought Jose back to his senses, and he heard Ron continue his 'deduction'.
"With this request, you had an excuse. On the surface, you're helping the conglorate bring back their daughter, but in reality, you're using this opportunity to openly attack our guild!"
"Because you know the old man would never betray his own family."
"I guess a greedy fellow like you never intended to honestly complete the request either, did you?"
A mocking curve hooked at the corner of Ron's mouth.
"Even if you caught that young lady, you wouldn't send her back. Instead, you'd use her as a hostage to blackmail the Heartfilia Conglorate, or even... swallow the Heartfilia fortune!"
"Fa, money, revenge—you want it all! That's your filthy plan, isn't it, Jose!"
Silence.
A deathly silence.
Jose froze in place, his expression completely collapsing. It was the sha and horror of soone who had been stripped bare.
This kid actually got everything right!
Even his darkest blackmail plan, which he hadn't even told his subordinates, had been guessed by this kid.
It was like he was reading a script!!!
Beside him, Makarov now understood as well. He looked at Jose with eyes full of contempt, as if looking at trash.
"I didn't expect this, Jose..."
Makarov shook his head, his tone full of disdain.
"You're one of the Ten Wizard Saints, yet you want to blackmail a client? You'd actually think of such underhanded thods? You've truly brought sha to all Wizards!"
"Shut up!!!" Jose roared in humiliation and anger, his eyes fixed on Ron. "You... how did you..."
"Don't be in a hurry, I'm not done yet."
"While your plan is perfect, there's one difficult point—my old man."
Ron grinned and glanced to the side, intentionally drawing out his words.
"After all, he is also one of the Ten Wizard Saints like you. In fact... after being taught a lesson by him six years ago, you must still have a psychological shadow, right?"
Hearing this, Makarov quietly straightened his back, his hands behind him and his chin slightly raised.
He looked as if it was all a trivial matter that didn't need to be ntioned.
Seeing this made the veins on Jose's forehead bulge.
"So... in order to smoothly carry out your plan, you had to first eliminate the obstacle that is the old man. But how to do it?"
Ron's voice suddenly rose, his gaze becoming incredibly sharp.
"I guess..."
"Enough!!!"
Jose finally snapped. His Thought Projection fluctuated violently as he pointed at Ron and let out a hysterical roar.
"You... can you stop guessing already?!!!"
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