On the western coast of Galuna Island, the twilight glow had long faded, and deep purple moonlight enveloped the entire island, casting an eerie and oppressive hue over everything.
The sea breeze carried a bone-chilling coldness and a strong, damp, salty scent, and a faint, unsettling evil aura permeated the air.
Gray, Elfman, and Juvia stood on the cold reef, vigilantly surveying the island shrouded in ominous moonlight.
Their nerves were taut, and the familiar, cold, and sinister magical fluctuations they perceived were faintly emanating from the direction of the central mountain range of the island, growing clearer and clearer.
"Man! This place is full of evil!" Elfman clenched his fists, his thick arm muscles bulging, "It feels like falling into a demon's nest!"
"Lord Gray, please be careful!" Juvia stayed close to Gray, surrounded by swirling water vapor, ready to enter her elemental state at any moment, "Juvia feels very uncomfortable! The evil here... it's so heavy!"
Gray's eyes were as sharp as knives, scanning the dense and eerie forest ahead and the faint outlines of the mountains visible in the distance.
Deliora... that name was etched into his soul like a brand, bringing with it deep-seated hatred and an indescribable heaviness.
He unconsciously clenched his fists, his knuckles slightly white from the effort. "Let's go!"
Just as the three were about to set off deeper into the island's interior—
"Rustle rustle rustle—"
"Snap—"
"Roar—woo—"
A series of hurried and chaotic footsteps, snapping branches, and... suppressed growls and whimpers came from the dense forest ahead!
Gray's eyes narrowed, and he instantly took up a fighting stance, cold air condensing in his palm!
Elfman roared, his arm muscles bulging, and lizard-like scales appeared on his skin!
Juvia's body instantly blurred, transforming into a swirling current of water to shield Gray!
"Who?!" Gray demanded sharply, his voice like cracking ice!
The next moment, a group of figures stumbled out of the dense forest!
Under the purple moonlight, the appearance of these "people" made Gray and his companions' pupils contract sharply!
Leading them was a short, hunched figure.
His skin was a dull grayish-blue, with two small curved horns growing on either side of his forehead, his face covered in wrinkles, and his cloudy eyes filled with terror and exhaustion.
It was the village elder, Moca!
At this moment, he looked completely like an old demon!
Behind him followed dozens of villagers, men, women, and children, but all of them now displayed demonic forms!
Some had crimson skin and ox horns;
Some had indigo skin and slender, claw-like hands and feet;
Some were covered in scales and dragged tails;
And some were tall, muscular, and had ferocious faces!
Even the children were not spared, their small bodies bearing horns, discolored skin, or scales, their eyes filled with confusion, emitting suppressed whimpers.
Most of their clothes were tattered, stained with dirt and grass, looking disheveled, as if they had just escaped from some terrifying place.
"Mage! Help!" When Moca saw Gray and his companions, especially the conspicuous Fairy Tail emblem on Gray's hand, a strong will to survive instantly erupted in his cloudy eyes, and he stumbled to a spot not far in front of Gray.
He fell to his knees with a thud, crying out in a hoarse voice, "Mage! Please! Save us on Galuna Island!"
The demon villagers behind him also fell to their knees, their cries, pleas, and low growls blending into a cacophony:
"Help! The demons are going to kill us all!"
"Please! Help us!"
"We don't want to die!"
Gray, Elfman, and Juvia were stunned!
What... what was going on?
A group of diverse demons, crying out for their help? Saying there were demons on the island?
But weren't they demons themselves?!
Gray frowned, vigilantly staring at Moca on his knees, cold air condensing in his palm: "Who are you? What happened? Where are the demons?"
"We are the villagers of Galuna Island!" Moca cried tears of despair, his voice filled with hopelessness, "I am Village Elder Moca! We... we were all ordinary humans! But... but everything was destroyed!"
He pointed a trembling finger towards the central mountain range of the island: "It's all because of that demon envoy! And that Undead Demon Deliora! They are the ones who harmed us!"
"Demon envoy? Deliora?" Gray's pupils contracted slightly, and he pressed, "Explain clearly!"
Moca took a deep breath, as if suppressing immense fear and grief, and began to recount the "truth":
"About three years ago... a man calling himself a 'demon envoy,' with his subordinates, came to our island. His name was... Lyon!"
"Lyon?!" Gray's heart jolted!
"Yes! It was him!" Moca gritted his teeth, his face filled with hatred, "They occupied the sacred place on the island—the Moon God Temple! They carved an evil magic circle in the temple, called... the 'Moon Drip' magic circle! They used that magic circle to frantically absorb moonlight and refine an evil liquid called 'Moon Drip'!"
"Moon Drip?" Gray was somewhat unfamiliar with this name.
"It's that liquid!" Moca's voice was tearful, "During the refining process, Moon Drip releases terrifying evil energy! That evil energy permeated the entire island, polluting the water, land, and air... We, who live on the island, inhaled the evil energy day after day, and our bodies... our bodies slowly began to change!"
He painfully clutched his grayish-blue skin and the horns on his head: "We started growing strange horns, our skin changed color, our strength increased, and our tempers became irritable... We... we all turned into demons! And every night, under the moonlight, we would completely transform into demon forms, unable to control ourselves! Although we still have human consciousness, our bodies... are no longer human!"
"What?!" Elfman's eyes widened, "You were infected by evil energy?!"
Juvia also covered her mouth, her eyes filled with shock and sympathy: "How... how pitiful..."
Gray's brows furrowed even tighter.
Moca continued to lament, his voice even more sorrowful and indignant: "And that's not all! That demon envoy Lyon, with his subordinates, would come to the village every now and then to grab able-bodied men, forcing us to go to the Moon God Temple to work for them, building evil altars! Any disobedience would result in beatings, curses, and even... murder!"
"We endured in silence for three years! We thought they would leave once they had collected enough Moon Drip... But... but just a few days ago!" Moca's voice suddenly rose, filled with terror, "That demon envoy Lyon, he came back!"
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