"Don't scare me," Jehfrit quickly said. "You know me, I'm a coward. If I accidentally drop this photo, it might end up on Natsu's face. He'd probably be quite surprised by it."
"You—" Laxus gritted his teeth so hard they nearly shattered.
"Alright, that old schemer Jose is strong. Fighting alone and getting defeated would be embarrassing!" Jehfrit said seriously.
"..."
Laxus fell silent.
He had just fought Jose.
Though he hated to admit it,
Unless he used *that* move, defeating Jose would be difficult.
But Jose wouldn't give him the time to slowly execute that technique.
"You have to listen to me!" Laxus growled through clenched teeth.
"Okay, Laxus. The attack's coming; you dodge left," Jehfrit nodded, then immediately tossed the photo to Laxus as he ran to the right.
Laxus snatched the photo, but at that moment, Jose's long-range attack magic was already upon him, forcing him to dodge left.
Only after dodging did he realize something was off.
'Boom'
A massive hole was blasted into the roof.
Jehfrit looked toward the darkness where Jose slowly materialized.
He raised his hand and fired a "Cero."
'Whoom'
A three-meter-wide black beam tore through the darkness. But someone like Jose, a member of the Ten Wizard Saints with near-maximum combat experience, wouldn't be hit by such an obvious shot.
"Phantom Soldiers—"
Countless dark soldiers charged toward Jehfrit.
An overwhelming surge of magical energy pressed down from above.
Jehfrit retreated, vanishing from sight.
"Deceiving the five senses, huh?" Jose sneered, his magical energy surging. His shade magic spread out like a net, covering the entire battlefield.
Having already circled around behind Jose, Jehfrit switched to bombardment mode and fired another shot.
'Boom'
The massive explosion of magical energy blew a gaping hole in the dark web.
Taking advantage of the opening, Jehfrit slipped through.
Although he hadn't managed to catch Jehfrit, Jose naturally realized he was nearby since he had destroyed part of the net.
Without hesitation,
Jose unleashed a torrent of magical energy.
"Ghost Arrows—"
Hundreds of dark arrows completely covered and bombarded the breach—a saturation attack!
Fortunately, Jehfrit's flight speed was incredibly fast, and he had already escaped the range of the attack.
'Boom'
A massive demon suddenly crashed into the sea, sending waves dozens of meters high.
Fierce, terrifying!
It was Deliora!
Deliora's body was even larger than Phantom Lord's headquarters. As soon as he appeared, his massive demonic eyes locked onto Jose.
"Roar—"
Deliora let out a thunderous roar, swinging a colossal fist toward Jose.
"Hmph, deception." Jose ignored it entirely, knowing that Jehfrit's magic only tricked the senses.
Wait!
Something's wrong!
There's magical energy fluctuation!
At the last moment, Jose reacted and hastily dodged to the side.
'Bang'
A magical bullet grazed past his cheek!
That was close—he almost got his head blown off!
Jose broke out in a cold sweat.
"Death Wave—"
A black-purple beam swept across a wide area.
Facing such a powerful enemy from the Ten Wizard Saints, Jehfrit adhered to the principle of striking once and moving to a new location, never staying in one spot to get hit.
Thus, he wasn't struck by the attack.
But he couldn't help but marvel.
This was indeed a member of the Ten Wizard Saints.
The oppressive presence was overwhelming!
Far beyond what someone like Vade or Reed could ever compare to!
As both the guild master of a super-guild and a member of the Ten Wizard Saints, Jose possessed an immense reservoir of magical power. Additionally, he had extremely rich combat experience and an unyielding fighting spirit!
Jehfrit's Deception Magic had two applications.
One was deception, which didn't weaken in effect regardless of the opponent's strength.
The other was manipulation, guiding emotions to control the opponent's feelings.
Perhaps because Jehfrit hadn't delved deeply enough into the second application, or perhaps due to the nature of the magic itself, his emotional manipulation was limited by the strength of the opponent's willpower.
If the opponent's willpower was strong, the effectiveness of the emotional manipulation would diminish.
Thus, for someone like Jose, the emotional guidance wouldn't work too well.
On the other hand, deceiving Jose's five senses worked flawlessly, achieving perfect deception.
However, when Jehfrit attacked, his magic wasn't covertly influencing like Deception Magic usually did—it was direct magical force applied in attacks.
Deception Magic was foolproof in deceiving the five senses because of its subtle, undetectable influence, affecting even Master Makarov.
But when Jehfrit truly attacked, he relied on Teal and Hani.
Teal's six functions were all about detonating magical energy, similar to how Natsu burned flames or Gray created ice with his magic.
And Hani's sharpness was also enhanced by magical energy, akin to how Erza wielded her weapons.
Neither of these belonged to the original application of Deception Magic.
Simply put, Jehfrit would expose a tiny flaw during the instant of an attack.
Even though the flaw was minuscule and lasted only for a split second,
S-Class mages might struggle to detect it.
But Jose was different.
With his extensive combat experience, Jose could evade and counterattack the moment he detected the flaw.
Such was the power of a member of the Ten Wizard Saints!
Whether it was magical energy, fighting spirit, combat experience, or reaction speed, all were top-tier!
"Troublesome brat." Jose, constantly under the influence of Jehfrit's magic, furrowed his brows.
Sometimes, powerful enemies appeared before him, including Makarov transformed into a demon larger than life.
Other times, the ground beneath him collapsed, creating a genuine sense of weightlessness.
Occasionally, everything went pitch black, and he couldn't hear or feel anything.
And sometimes, he "saw" traces of Jehfrit.
Jehfrit used every imaginable scenario and combination to deceive Jose.
Yet Jose always managed to distinguish between deception and real attacks.
The moment Jehfrit exposed a flaw, Jose would snap out of the illusion, defend himself, and counterattack simultaneously.
Such was the combat prowess of Jose—nothing to scoff at!
"Fairy Tail brat." Once again ignoring the deception, Jose evaded an attack and countered in the same instant, then praised with admiration, "I must say, you possess a terrifying magic."
"Complete deception of the five senses, even attempting to seep into my mind and manipulate my emotions."
"If given time to grow and improve your magic further, I might find myself struggling against you."
"Or if you teamed up with Makarov, I'd surely be defeated."
"But there are no 'ifs' in reality."
"Enough. I've figured out your tricks. Now, it's my turn." Jose asked, "Brat, where does darkness hide most easily, most overlooked?"