The villagers, originally busy with their own tasks, were startled by the village chief's old and mournful shout.
Just as they were about to scatter and flee, a massive shadow from the sky descended.
The Shadow Direwolf flapped its huge black wings, landing remarkably lightly. The gust of wind from its wings blew the village chief and the honest-looking man next to him away.
But before they could hit the ground, two plumes of black smoke flew out from the Shadow Direwolf's mouth, enveloping them both and pulling them back in front of the giant wolf.
The surrounding villagers, who had been scattering, saw their village chief captured and immediately grabbed various tools as weapons, circling around.
Even the old, weak, women, and children, holding scissors, flowerpots, and chairs, nervously approached.
"Evil demon, release the village chief and the village committee member!"
"Demon, release the village chief and Big Iron Pillar!"
"Demon, release the village chief and Big Rustic Guy!"
Everyone shouted loudly.
It sounded like they were quite respectful to the village chief, but much more familiar with the honest middle-aged man. They called him all sorts of names.
However, the more they shouted, the more nervous the village chief and Moca became. They were very close to the Shadow Direwolf, almost able to smell the foul breath from its mouth.
And most importantly, there seemed to be an aura on the Shadow Direwolf's back, like a natural predator, that made them shiver uncontrollably.
Ezreal listened to the villagers' shouts and finally stood up from the giant wolf's back.
Even on all fours, the Shadow Direwolf was nearly four meters tall. He had been lying on the wolf's back, so from below, he was in a blind spot, and the villagers hadn't noticed him immediately.
It wasn't until he stood up from the wolf's back and took two steps to the wolf's head that the villagers realized there was someone else on the wolf's back.
"Look, there's someone on the demon!"
"It's a young man!"
"And he's quite handsome, this little hottie!"
"Get lost, you fangirls, he must be the demon's messenger!"
Ezreal listened to the villagers' chatter, finding it incredibly noisy, and a vein in his forehead twitched slightly.
He could finally understand why protagonists always had to fight antagonists so fiercely.
From the residents of Galuna Island, Ezreal sensed an aura that made him extremely uncomfortable, or rather, a feeling.
If he had to describe it, it was like a rotten, spoiled dead fish, smelling awful, with maggots crawling all over it.
From sight to smell, it was intensely unpleasant.
A double discomfort, both psychological and physiological.
In Ezreal's perception, these villagers were like large sources of pollution.
Moreover, besides this, a strong evil aura permeated the island.
This evil aura wasn't dense, but it was very pure.
The source of the evil aura was in the temple on the small mountain at the very top of the island.
Ezreal stood on top of the giant wolf, looking down from above, and said with a frown, "I am Ezreal, a Mage from Fairy Tail. I accepted the mission to lift the curse."
As he spoke, Ezreal displayed the white Fairy Tail emblem on the back of his right hand to everyone.
"So it's a Mage from Fairy Tail?"
"That guild name sounds familiar? Have I heard it before?"
"It's the strongest Magician Guild in the Fiore Kingdom, we're saved!"
"His emblem, there's no mistake, it must be a Mage from Fairy Tail, we're really saved!"
Those with sharp eyes immediately recognized the guild emblem on Ezreal's hand. The villagers' panic instantly dissipated, and they immediately cheered.
Ezreal lightly tapped the giant wolf's head.
The Shadow Direwolf took a gentle breath, and the black mist wrapped around the village chief and the honest-looking man was immediately sucked into the wolf's mouth.
The honest-looking man helped the village chief, who was leaning on a cane, stand steadily on the ground.
The village chief wiped the sweat from his forehead, carefully avoided the Shadow Direwolf's gaze, and leaning on his cane, stepped forward and said, "Hello, young Mage, I am Moca, the chief of this village."
Ezreal looked down at the seemingly frail old man in front of him, a flash of white light glinting in his eyes.
"His aura is roughly C-rank, and the somewhat foolish-looking guy next to him actually has nearly B-rank power. The other villagers are mostly D-rank, with the better ones at C-rank."
"Even the chickens, ducks, geese, and dogs are D-rank. Although these demons are a bit foolish, together they have the strength of a small Magician Guild."
Ezreal's gaze swept over the villagers, pondering in his mind.
The Galuna Island arc, as an early chapter opening the main storyline, was not difficult.
Its main content was that the residents of Galuna Island believed they were cursed and would turn into bloodthirsty demons under the moonlight.
Even livestock would turn into demons.
However, during the day, they could transform back into humans.
The moon over Galuna Island also suddenly turned purple one day.
The villagers, however, mistakenly believed they were cursed by the moon.
So they posted a mission to solve the curse, hoping someone could shatter the moon or find another way to resolve their curse.
The reward was 2 million Jewels, and one of the only twelve Zodiac keys in the world.
Specifically, the key to the Sagittarius Celestial Spirit, Sagittarius.
This was the entire summary of the mission.
Of course, this was the content of the mission brief.
Ezreal, having watched the original anime, was well aware of the situation.
This island was actually inhabited by demons.
Whether human, livestock, or other animals, they were all demons.
There was no curse on this island.
It wasn't due to any external force that these lives were demonized.
The moon turning purple was because Gray's senior, Lyon, was leading his subordinates to collect moon energy to create the Moon Drip, which could unseal anything.
And the magic circle that absorbed a large amount of moonlight wasn't entirely without side effects.
During the absorption process, the purifying moonlight energy would clear some of the evil aura from the island's life forms. This evil aura dispersed, forming an invisible atmospheric film above Galuna Island.
It was the presence of this film that caused the moonlight to turn purple.
Under the moon's purification, these demons mistakenly believed they were originally human.
However, at night, under the influence of the moon's energy, a portion of their demonic power would be purified again, which would lead to their minds becoming confused.
In a state of mental unclarity, some demons would randomly attack those around them.
Therefore, the island's residents thought they were affected by the moonlight and posted a request for someone to solve the curse.
Seeing Ezreal looking at the villagers without speaking, Village Chief Moca cleared his throat and continued, "Powerful Mage, we residents of Galuna Island are cursed. Under the moonlight…"
Ezreal didn't want to listen to the NPC's nonsense. He raised his hand to interrupt the village chief's speech and said expressionlessly, "I already know the specific situation, and I have a solution. I came here just to confirm whether you have killed anyone. But it seems you are all quite clean."