"How could this be? Is it over?" Lucy felt dazed—after doing so much, it all seemed to have been in vain.
"I'll go down and take a look. You stay up here on the ruins—it's still relatively safe here for now." Noel had no intention of letting Lucy take any risks.
"Alchemy—Matter Transmutation: Hollow."
A passage appeared at the top of the ruins, leading straight down into the depths. Darkness filled the hollow tunnel.
An ear-piercing roar echoed up from below. Noel quickly covered his ears and muttered, "That's seriously unpleasant to listen to."
Even though danger lurked beneath, Noel didn't hesitate—he leapt in, his body plummeting downward.
Gray was in the middle of performing some strange movements, the surrounding cold air already solidifying into visible form. The last time Noel had seen something like this was with Ultear.
The magic radiated intense pressure—clearly, it was a high-level spell.
"Gray mentioned this before… Is this Iced Shell? You idiot, do you really think sacrificing yourself will solve everything?"
Using wind magic, Noel descended swiftly. Since Gray was deeply focused on casting, he didn't notice someone appear behind him.
Inwardly muttering sorry, Noel delivered a precise hand chop to Gray's neck, knocking him out cold.
Meanwhile, Natsu was already set on clashing head-on with Deliora. Was he trying to get himself killed? To take such a reckless gamble…
It was too late for Noel to stop him. But Natsu was a Dragon Slayer—his physical resilience was extraordinary. Taking a punch from Deliora probably wouldn't kill him… probably.
Deliora had only just awoken, and as a creature that knew nothing but destruction, it immediately locked onto the closest target.
"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"
Natsu gathered all his magic power, the flames around his fist roaring with ferocity.
Noel summoned every wind element he could command, condensing them into his hands before unleashing a massive blast.
His wind merged with Natsu's flames, becoming a single, unified force.
"Aaahhh—!!"
Deliora's massive body suddenly began to crack apart.
"What's happening?"
"What's going on?"
No one present had expected this—the demon's body disintegrated before their eyes, scattering into fine ash that drifted away with the trickling stream, flowing toward the sea.
"Could Deliora… already have been dead?"
Lyon lay on the ground, staring blankly. It was as if his ambitions had been shattered all over again.
"No time to dwell on it—let's carry these two out first," Noel ordered.
Natsu and Noel each shouldered one person and rushed toward the upper levels of the ruins.
But their earlier attack had destabilized the structure—the entire ruin began to collapse.
"The ruins are falling apart?" Lucy exclaimed.
Happy's wings unfurled, and he grabbed Lucy, carrying her into the air.
The group reunited in the forest outside the village. They exchanged glances—seeing that everyone was safe, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"That was seriously close—I thought my heart stopped for a moment there," Happy grumbled.
For him, what had just happened was probably the most dangerous event of his whole life as a cat.
"But… why is Gray unconscious?" Lucy pointed at the limp figure slung over Natsu's shoulder.
"Because someone thought using a life-for-a-life spell to seal Deliora was a good idea. I knocked him out," Noel replied, waving a hand dismissively.
That "someone" was, of course, Gray. But the more foolish a person was, the more they tended to treasure their bonds. There was something oddly endearing about it.
Standing at the village gates, they looked in—nothing about the villagers had changed. Those with horns still had horns. Those with demon arms still had demon arms.
Nothing was different. But hadn't Deliora been dealt with? Could it be the demon had nothing to do with the village's curse at all?
Naturally, Noel had brought Lyon back as well, though Lyon simply lay on the ground, refusing to speak or move no matter how they tried to drag him.
"How could this be? We defeated Deliora—why haven't the villagers returned to normal?" Noel asked.
Gray glanced at Lyon and said coldly, "You know what needs to be done, right?"
"I don't know," Lyon denied flatly.
"When we came to this island three years ago, we didn't know a village even existed. For those three years, we never interacted. I only learned there were villagers after you people arrived," Lyon explained helplessly.
If what he said was true, then the strange part was the villagers themselves.
Every night, the Moon Drip must have shone on the ruins. With such an obvious phenomenon, why had no one in the village investigated? Could there be something off about the village?
"I don't think the Moon Drip affects humans. I've been here three years without any change," Lyon added.
"What happens from here on is your guild's business. I won't interfere."
"Really no other information?" Noel pressed.
"None," Lyon answered with certainty.
"Here—drink this. It should help your body recover," Noel said, handing him a vial.
"…Thanks," Lyon murmured quietly, his tone still frosty.
"Wow—you take someone's gift and still act so cold," Lucy remarked.
Lyon didn't know how to respond. His face remained stiff, never once showing a smile. Noel briefly wondered if Lyon might actually have facial paralysis—but kept that thought to himself.
"Let's go. We should head into the village—there are still a lot of injured people," Noel suggested.
Gray looked at Lyon, words on the tip of his tongue, but swallowed them.
"What are you staring at?" Lyon asked with disdain.
"Join a guild. You'll find comrades, rivals… maybe even a new goal," Gray said before turning away.
"…Boring. Hurry up and go."
After drinking Noel's potion, Lyon could just barely manage to walk. He gazed up at the sky, a distant look in his eyes.
It seemed Gray had already moved on from that incident. The only one still trapped in the past… was himself.
Now, he finally realized how foolish he had been. Spending all this time trying to revive Deliora… only to be struck down by the truth—it had all been meaningless.
And along the way, he hadn't been happy at all. He had lived every day trapped in fear and in the shadow of that day. Ur had already sealed everything away.
Yet he still clung to his obsession, to his unwillingness to let go. Maybe… it was time to change.
Lyon extended his hand. A stream of violet moonlight poured into it, as though he could grasp something tangible.
What had Gray just said? Join a guild… maybe it really would be fun.
There were so many people in the world—so many powerful mages. And yet he had shut himself away in the small town of his memories, unable to see the road forward until now.
As a senior disciple, had he been a bit unworthy of the title? To need his junior to worry about him…
Lyon rose to his feet, brushing the dust from his clothes. The path ahead lay bathed in light…
drop some power stones supper me at my
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