"Pegasus Meteor Fist!"
Marco's figure lunged forward with a punch, like a flying horse spreading its wings!
In that instant, he seemed to clearly see the star chart in the sky before his eyes.
Pegasus and Equuleus were tightly adjacent, with Equuleus revealing a bright horse head, while Pegasus flickered slightly.
The magic power of the stars was drawn down, tightly wrapping around Marco's body, forming a visible blue light garment.
"Ahhh!!!"
Marco roared out loud.
Extremely pure magic power infused his body, clinging to it, giving him a feeling of fullness, as if there was inexhaustible strength throughout his body waiting to be released.
"BOOM!"
Driven by the violent magic power, his fist thundered out like thousands of horses galloping.
With the enhancement of the star magic power from those two constellations, this "Pegasus Meteor Fist" finally looked somewhat like it should, far more stronger than when he used it against Natsu!
"Crack crack crack!"
Gildarts didn't dodge or evade.
He raised both arms to guard in front of him, bursting out magic power to forcefully take Marco's full-power strike head-on.
Although his figure was still standing steadily, he kept retreating backwards, his legs plowing two deep marks into the ground.
"Huff~ Huff~ Huff!"
Marco panted heavily.
He looked at his own fist, almost unable to believe that strike just now was thrown by himself.
At this moment, even if he tried to find that feeling from earlier, it was completely gone.
That vague connection seemed to have been severed.
But Marco had an intuition that he was on the right track!
This was how it should be!
In that fleeting moment just now, Marco felt like he had finally touched the "Cosmo".
Of course, this was just an illusion.
This punch may have achieved a semblance of a Saint's destructive power, but it hadn't touched the essence at all.
The reason Saints could tear apart the earth and shatter stars was by burning their inner Cosmo, destroying matter at the atomic level.
It wasn't relying on brute physical force to smash things.
The difference between these two was the difference between Seiya and Cassios.
This marvelous experience made Marco understand one thing - his compatibility with the Cloth was still far from high enough.
He had only unlocked some basic functions of the Cloth for now.
The Cloth still had other functions waiting to be unlocked.
And the condition for unlocking was to establish a connection with the constellations in the sky, like what just happened.
"Ha! You kid! What magic is this exactly?!"
Gildarts, who had been forced to retreat far away by marco's punch, walked back.
He asked Marco with a surprised and curious expression.
Those arms that had blocked Marco's attack were now hidden under his cloak, looking as if they weren't injured at all.
"Celestial Spirit Magic." Marco reflexively answered.
"Bullshit! You call this Celestial Spirit Magic?!"
Gildarts bared his teeth and made a motion as if to kick Marco.
Marco dodged with a grin.
This time he didn't feel that "killing intent" from earlier.
"Do you think i dont know what Celestial Spirit Magic is?"
Gildarts said with a smile.
What Marco used definitely wasn't Celestial Spirit Magic.
Celestial Spirit Magic was a holder-type summoning magic.
Even the spirits of the "Zodiac" probably didn't have the power of that strike.
His hands were still faintly aching.
However, before Marco threw that punch, he did seem to draw out a star chart and indeed established a connection with the stars in the sky.
Gildarts had been immersed in the ways of magic for many years.
His perception of magic power fluctuations was very keen.
He saw clearly the anomaly that occurred on Marco's body just now.
That extremely pure magic power came from the stars beyond the sky.
This child actually managed to draw the magic power of the stars!
Magic power exists within the human body, and also exists in all things in the world.
Those distant celestial bodies naturally possess magic power too!
'This kid, he really is a rare talent!'
Gildarts inwardly clicked his tongue.
It must be noted that Marco was only just turning twelve years old!
Thinking carefully, Gildarts felt he definitely didn't possess such a strong power when he was twelve.
At this time, Marco was already too preoccupied to pay attention to the shocked Gildarts.
Because he discovered a pleasant surprise - it turned out that in a corner he hadn't noticed, a task was triggered during the battle just now.
Obviously, when he was fully focused on the battle, the [Saint System] thoughtfully activated background mode.
The triggered task didn't pop up, but only came out for settlement after the battle ended.
[Task Name: "The Strongest Person!"
Task Content:
Gildarts! The ultimate destroyer of Fairy Tail! The undefeated legend! The pinnacle of S-Class Mages! An unprecedented formidable foe!
Repel him! Earn his recognition!
Quest Progress: Completed.
Quest Reward: One Royal Demon Roses.
Claim the quest reward?]
Seeing the reward, Marco's eyes instantly widened.
"Royal Demon Roses," the signature skill of Pisces Gold Saint!
A crimson rose imbued with deadly poison.
When infused with Cosmo, the "Royal Demon Rose" can be used for physical attacks, powerful enough to pierce through Cloths.
Although Marco hasn't awakened his Cosmo yet, he can substitute it with Magic Power, infusing the rose to wield it.
As a poisonous rose, the "Royal Demon Rose" boasts an overwhelmingly potent toxin.
Enemies merely pricked by its thorns or inhaling its pollen will lose their five senses, their bodily functions rapidly deteriorating, dying painlessly in gradual decline!
Additionally, the rose petals can achieve invisibility effects.
This "Royal Demon Rose" is versatile and highly effective, with only one drawback—there's just only a single plant!
However, this quest wasn't particularly difficult by strict standards.
It didn't even require defeating Gildarts, merely repelling him and earning his recognition, so the modest reward is understandable.
Marco claimed the quest reward and the "Royal Demon Rose" was directly stored in his system space.
One advantage of keeping it there is that it will never wither.
'This adds another weapon to my arsenal. If used at the right moment, killing with this rose would be effortless. Even powerful opponents could easily fall victim to it.'
"Marco, what are you spacing out for? Do you still want to learn Crush magic?"
Gildarts waved his hand in front of Marco's face, snapping him out of his thoughts.
His hand had already mostly recovered.
"Of course!"
Marco answered immediately—this was extremely important to him!
Gildarts' super-class destruction magic, "Crush," in Marco's eyes, was the very key that could help him unlock the door to awakening his Cosmo!
The principle of "Crush" is to use Magic Power to instantly shatter the atomic bonds of any material it touches, reducing it to fragments.
In other words, nothing in this world can withstand this magic!
This atomic-level control is precisely what Marco desires most.
The Super Magic "Crush" is very difficult to master and Marco can't use non-system-provided magic anyway.
So, he isn't exactly learning it but rather comprehending it, trying to grasp the principles behind it to awaken his Cosmo.
Gildarts remained silent, stroking the stubble on his chin before suddenly having an idea.
"How about I let you experience the effects of this magic firsthand?"
"???"
Faced with this suggestion, Marco looked utterly bewildered.
He began to wonder if he had punched Gildarts too hard earlier—was the old man holding a grudge?