Marco guessed right.
The reason this "middle-aged man" didn't step forward immediately was that he was assessing their strength and determination.
It was Marco's appearance that made him make up his mind.
"Get on board."
Marco was the first to get on.
Although Gray still wanted to ask questions, he could only get on board obediently first.
Natsu, Happy, and Lucy also boarded successively.
The middle-aged man deftly untied the mooring rope and raised the sail.
His boat wasn't big; it was just enough to fit the few of them.
The boat began to drift.
Marco changed into the [Crateris Silver Cloth].
He waved his hand gently, and the small boat immediately glided smoothly away from the dock of "Hargeon" like an arrow leaving the bow string, heading towards the vast sea.
"Now you can tell us about it."
Sitting on the boat, Marco signaled the middle-aged man to talk about "Galuna Island."
They could have reached the destination faster, but Marco still chose to take a boat.
Naturally, it was to hear this involved party's view on what happened on "Galuna Island."
This person should be the "Guide NPC" that was supposed to be there.
"Galuna Island is cursed. Cursed by the moon."
The middle-aged man spoke with a heavy face.
He lifted the robe on his upper body, revealing an arm like a withered tree branch.
"Looks a bit familiar..."
The corner of Marco's mouth twitched because he thought of Mira when she first arrived.
At that time, Mira also had a demon arm.
Of course, the demon arm of this middle-aged man in front of him couldn't compare with Mira's demon arm; they weren't on the same level at all.
His looked more like some kind of mutation, rather than "Take Over Magic."
The two were different concepts.
"Every night, under the illumination of that purple moonlight, people on the island turn into monsters. They won't turn back until dawn. But not everyone turns back. Some are unharmed, some have certain body parts mutated, and some... might even completely lose their reason and become monsters." The middle-aged man continued.
His words made everyone look at each other.
Clearly, the problem lay with that Purple Moon.
"Moon Drip Ritual..."
Marco frowned and said the name of that ritual.
Before coming, he had naturally done detailed research, mainly asking the old man and the knowledgeable Levy.
From them, he learned the effect of this "Moon Drip Ritual."
"This is a Moon Magic that can dispel all magic. By collecting purple moonlight through a special ritual magic circle and shining it on a designated target, it can dispel magic acting on the target..." Marco spoke, which made Gray understand instantly.
The target of this "Moon Drip Ritual" was obviously the demon "Deliora."
"No wonder... No wonder!"
Gray was somewhat agitated.
"Iced Shell" was naturally not something just anyone could undo; it could even be said that no one could undo it.
He had wondered before how exactly Lyon planned to resurrect Deliora.
It turned out this guy got hold of a magic like "Moon Drip Ritual."
If personal power couldn't undo "Iced Shell," then use a magic circle, a magic circle that directly nullified all magic!
"So, as long as we destroy this magic circle, the curse will resolve itself."
Marco nodded and summarized the mission objective.
This gave everyone a clear idea and a definite goal.
Of course, they all understood that things wouldn't be that simple.
Someone must be guarding this magic circle; it wouldn't just be Lyon alone.
Everyone was prepared for battle.
...
The entire voyage took much longer than expected because the location of Galuna Island was actually further south than the "Tower of Heaven," deeper into the sea, quite far from "Hargeon."
And Natsu, who was lively before getting on the boat, wilted quickly as expected.
He lay on the gunwale, his face a sickly green, vomiting his guts out, groaning weakly.
"I hate vehicles..."
"Almost there."
Seeing Natsu like this, the middle-aged man was somewhat uneasy.
But with Marco present, he didn't doubt their strength.
He guided the direction all the way, and finally, they were about to reach the destination.
"It's getting foggy." Gray frowned.
The closer the boat got to the destination, the thicker the fog on the sea seemed to become.
It was already night.
Starlight and moonlight were blocked, and the color of the seawater became darker and deeper, as if harboring something ominous.
An invisible sense of oppression began to envelope everyone's heart.
Even Natsu, weak from vomiting, felt something strange.
He struggled to sit up, looking ahead vigilantly.
"Is that... is that the Purple Moon?!"
Lucy's eyes widened, looking towards the sky.
Not far away, on the small island that was already visible, a purple moon hung high, emitting an incredibly eerie magical aura.
"Very good. Seems the intelligence was correct." Marco nodded.
He looked at the middle-aged man, only to be surprised to find that the middle-aged man who was on the boat just a moment ago had disappeared.
"..."
Lucy, Gray, Natsu, and Happy obviously noticed this too.
Their faces looked terrified as they started searching around the boat.
They thought the guy had fallen from the boat into the sea.
Just now, everyone's attention was attracted by that purple moon, and they didn't pay attention to that guy at all.
He just vanished into thin air like that.
"What... what exactly is going on?!" Lucy's expression was somewhat horrified.
If you asked her to fight head-on, she wouldn't be afraid.
But this—curses, vanishing into thin air—was really challenging Lucy's courage.
"Forget it. Let's get on the island first."
Marco didn't hesitate at all and chose to charge forward directly.
Although it felt a bit like a spooky ghost movie right now, even if there really were ghosts, they'd have to see if his fists were hard enough first.
The boat sailed for a while pushed by the water current.
The gray fog finally thinned gradually.
The outline of an island loomed in the mist, finally appearing clearly before their eyes.
Galuna Island, finally arrived.
The four people and one cat abandoned the boat and went ashore.
The coastline of this island was full of rugged black reefs, giving a cold and hard feeling.
The terrain was rugged, full of strange-shaped trees everywhere, with twisted branches and dull leaves.
"Let's look for people first." Marco said.
This was necessary because they had to find the client first.
"This island sure is weird enough." Lucy followed closely behind Marco.
Being behind her master really gave her a full sense of security; no ghosts or demons could get close.
"There are obvious signs of human life here."
After walking a distance and going deeper into the island, the four soon discovered traces of human life and quickly found a village.
This made even Marco breathe a sigh of relief.
Marco didn't sigh in relief out of fear; he was glad.
Glad there were still living people on this island.
At least they weren't too late.
"Let's go, take a look. It should be these people who issued the request."
Marco took the lead, approaching the village surrounded by walls.