Marco turned back and exchanged glances with Gray and Lucy.
They all saw the surprise in each other's eyes.
This proved one point: the "guide" who brought them here earlier had actually already passed away.
"Is he... a g-ghost?"
Lucy whispered to Gray beside her, her voice trembling a bit.
Actually, even if it were a ghost, she could beat it, but speaking of such existences, she couldn't help but be afraid.
"Maybe he died with regrets and wanted us to avenge him." Gray replied in a whisper.
He was calmer than Lucy.
Anyway, it was already in the past, so thinking about it was useless.
This explained very well why that uncle suddenly disappeared; he had already brought "Fairy Tail" here.
"So what exactly are we supposed to do?"
The clueless Natsu hadn't thought about these things at all.
He asked straightforwardly, what was their mission objective?
"This is all the moon's curse. Please destroy that moon!"
The village chief was direct, stating their perception.
Regarding the mutations on their bodies, they naturally sought doctors to solve it at first.
But after inviting dozens of doctors, none could find any problems with them.
They were all healthy, this wasn't a disease.
Thus, they naturally suspected the only change, which was the "Moon," that suddenly turned purple.
"Ahhh!"
While they were talking, the purple "Moon" in the sky shone brightly again.
Under that moonlight, these villagers underwent mutations.
Originally, only small parts of their bodies were non-human, but now, every one of them turned into a monster.
"Why are we fine?" Gray frowned and asked.
Of course, they were also under the illumination of this purple "Moon," but unlike those villagers, they didn't undergo any mutation.
"Maybe the time isn't long enough. We didn't change much at the beginning either." The village chief answered.
Although they turned into monsters, it was obvious they still retained their reason.
Only those who couldn't turn back during the day would go completely mad.
"Mm, that's indeed possible." Marco nodded.
He could feel that this moonlight was mixed with magic power. Of course, it was all blocked out by him.
"But... destroying the moon or something..."
Natsu scratched his head beside them.
Even he felt this statement was unreliable.
How could one just destroy the moon?
"Of course not. Didn't Master say it? This is the effect of that Moon Drip Ritual. We just need to find and destroy that ritual. After the ritual is dispelled, this moon will also return to normal, and everything will go back to normal." Lucy whispered an explanation.
This guy Natsu understood nothing when he should have been listening carefully.
"Let's rest for now and act tomorrow morning." Marco made a decision.
At night, he would send out crows to start a big search, turning the whole island upside down.
"Please follow me. We have prepared a room."
The village chief, now turned "demon," led the way.
Their village could still spare a room to accommodate these four people and one cat.
After bringing Marco and the others to a wooden house, the village chief left.
"Only one bedroom?"
Looking at the layout of this empty wooden house, Marco shook his head with a smile.
He didn't ask for anything more.
Coming out on a mission, having such accommodation conditions was actually quite good.
Often, they even slept directly in the wild.
Lucy found this completely acceptable.
Honestly, in this situation, if she were asked to sleep in a room alone, she wouldn't be willing.
Things here were too weird and scary; she didn't want to be separated from everyone for a moment.
...
They made do for the night, and it passed quickly.
Early the next morning, Marco woke up Lucy, Natsu, Gray, and Happy beside him.
Since they slept in one room, they naturally slept in their clothes.
As soon as Marco called them, the three people and one cat got up immediately.
On a mission outside, there was no need to be so refined.
They ate some dry rations casually and left the village directly.
"I found the enemy's stronghold last night." Marco led the way.
The crows searched all night, naturally yielding fruitful results.
He led everyone all the way to a temple.
"Deliora is right here."
Standing in front of the temple, Marco said.
That's right, he had even found the location of that "Deliora."
"Where are the enemies? Where are they?!" Natsu got excited instantly, fire starting to emerge from his fists.
"Where are the enemies of the S-Class mission? Where are the people guarding this Deliora? I can't wait to fight!"
Natsu took the lead, rushing directly into the temple.
He was afraid if he was a step late, all enemies would be finished off by Marco.
"Let's go, we go in too."
Marco shook his head with a laugh, signaling the heavy-faced Gray and Lucy, who was waiting for his instruction, to follow Natsu into the temple.
Marco didn't plan to act rashly.
Instead, he prepared to let Natsu, Gray, and Lucy fight first.
He would be responsible for holding the line and being the safety net.
The news brought back by the crows yesterday was straightforward: the enemies on this island were quite average in strength.
The four people and one cat entered this "Moon Temple."
Inside this "Temple," mysterious "crescent symbols" were everywhere, obviously related to that "Purple Moon."
"Where are they?! Where are they?!"
Natsu rushed into the temple, shouting excitedly, but didn't see anyone at all.
This seemed to be a completely abandoned temple with no one guarding it.
"What's going on?" Natsu scratched his head and asked Marco.
This was different from what he imagined!
"Deliora is down below." Marco smiled and pointed at the ground.
This abandoned temple was just a camouflage; the real secrets were hidden beneath the temple.
"Boom!"
Marco stomped his foot, and the temple floor collapsed immediately.
The ground beneath their feet gave way, and they were falling rapidly downwards.
"Caw, caw!!!"
Several crows flew up from below, catching the four steadily.
Happy had wings himself, so he flew down easily.
"Did those people dig this out?" Lucy looked shocked.
These people had dug right through the bottom of the temple! It was like a network of caves down here.
"Follow me. Deliora is right here." Marco continued to lead the way.
After the crows found the place yesterday, quite a few stayed to guard this cave.
"Their defense is very lax, almost non-existent. They only came in to check once last night, and just took a glance before leaving. Maybe they didn't expect anyone to invade."
While leading the way, Marco complained.
Lyon was definitely not cut out for big things.
He wasn't strict with his subordinates, wasn't cautious himself, and his strength was average.
It could be said that he was a true early-game mob.
But in front of the current Natsu, Gray, and Lucy, he couldn't stir up any waves.
Marco didn't even need to act personally.
As he spoke, the four people and one cat arrived in front of a huge ice sculpture.
Looking at Gray's expression, one knew this big ice sculpture was "Deliora."
The demon frozen in that ice was the "Deliora" that destroyed Gray's life twice.