"How will we know if we don't try?!" Sherry was still unconvinced.
She straightened her back, her eyes full of stubbornness.
They had given up their comfortable lives and bright futures in the Lamia Scale guild to follow Lyon to this desolate island, enduring hardship and loneliness.
What sustained them was the obsession for revenge in their hearts.
If there was even the slightest chance to completely destroy "Deliora," even if that chance was as faint as a candle in the wind, they were willing to bet their lives on it.
Even if it meant their own demise, it was a choice they made themselves, a way to answer to their departed loved ones!
Sherry's voice sounded particularly tragic and heroic in the vast cavern.
"Deliora!"
Just as they were arguing fiercely, a hoarse roar suddenly broke the stalemate.
Lyon, who had been knocked out by Gray and was lying on the ground, abruptly sat up.
His eyes were bloodshot as he shouted the name of the demon that had become the entire meaning of his life.
"Lyon, you're awake!"
Seeing Lyon wake up, Sherry face was instantly replaced by concern.
She quickly ran over and helped the swaying Lyon to his feet.
Although Lyon was awake, his body had clearly suffered heavy damage.
He could barely stand, his footing unsteady, even with Sherry's support.
"..."
Lyon panted heavily, wiping the lingering trace of blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.
With Sherry's help, he managed to stand firm.
He looked around in a daze, and when his gaze finally landed on Gray not far away, his pupils contracted violently as memories flooded back.
"Damn you..."
Seeing Gray, Lyon squeezed two words through his gritted teeth, his face turning even uglier.
He remembered what had just happened.
He had lost.
He had been defeated head-on by Gray, his junior!
His "Ice-Make" magic, which he took the most pride in, had seemed so clumsy in front of Gray.
He couldn't even match Gray's molding speed.
It was clear that the ever-arrogant Lyon had taken a huge blow.
He seemed to have lost all his spirit.
If he couldn't even beat Gray, how could he possibly defeat "Deliora"?
He wanted to defeat "Deliora" to prove he had surpassed his master, Ur, but now he couldn't even beat his junior disciple, Gray...
"Lyon, who told you about this Moon Drip ritual?"
Seeing that Lyon was too crushed to get back up, Marco frowned and asked.
It was obvious that Lyon and his followers were just pawns being used.
Only this time, instead of mind control, their desire for revenge had been exploited.
"..."
Lyon didn't answer, still lost in his own world.
"Lyon! Was it Ultear?! Was it Ur's daughter?!" Gray was more direct.
He questioned Lyon loudly, refusing to let him evade the issue at a time like this.
"What? Ur's daughter? Gray, what nonsense are you talking about?"
Gray's question finally got a reaction out of Lyon.
He looked up at Gray, his eyes filled with clear surprise, as if he had misheard, but that was obviously impossible.
"Didn't Ur's daughter die a long time ago?"
Lyon frowned, confused as to why Gray would bring up Ur's daughter.
"Not... necessarily."
Gray shook his head, his expression grave.
He had actually remembered it too; Ur had once mentioned to them that she had a daughter.
Of course, Ur hadn't gone into detail, only saying she had a gifted daughter who died young...
But now, it seemed there was likely more to the story.
This Ultear... her name, her appearance, they were all highly connected to Ur.
There had to be a relationship between them.
"What the hell is going on?!"
Lyon violently shook off Sherry's supporting hand and staggered a step, roaring in frustration.
Where did this "Ur's daughter" suddenly come from?
What did this have to do with his goal of revenge? The confusion and unease gave Lyon a splitting headache.
"Wasn't it Ultear who was giving you ideas?" Marco's brow was tightly furrowed.
He could already tell that Lyon... seemed to have no idea who Ultear was.
This didn't align with the information provided by the system's quest.
"No..."
Lyon shook his head, as if trying to clear the chaotic thoughts from his mind.
He took a deep breath and said with a sense of weary resignation:
"It was Zalty... Zalty told me about the Moon Drip ritual. That guy's an old priest, an old man! Not a woman! And he couldn't possibly be Ur's daughter! You must have gotten it wrong!"
Lyon emphasized the other person's characteristics, his tone certain.
"Zalty..."
Gray turned to look at Marco in surprise.
The information about Ultear was a key piece of intelligence Marco had brought up, but now there seemed to be a major discrepancy.
Marco was frowning too, but his intuition and logic told him that the system's quest prompt shouldn't be wrong.
This quest was closely linked to the previous one and concerned the present, not the future. Its credibility should be very high.
He suppressed the doubt in his heart, his gaze growing sharper.
"This Zalty is either Ultear in disguise or someone she sent."
Marco's voice was firm and decisive, carrying an unquestionable certainty.
"Where is he? Is he still on the island?"
Marco firmly believed the system's information was correct.
He looked at Lyon and pressed him about this Zalty, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"He..."
Lyon felt a little uncomfortable under Marco's gaze.
He fell silent for a moment before speaking with a hint of uncertainty.
"He hasn't shown up for a while."
This answer stunned Sherry and Yuka as well, as if they had only just realized it.
That annoying old man really hadn't been seen for some time.
"When exactly did he disappear?" Marco continued to ask.
This was slowly starting to add up.
"Half a month ago? Or... maybe a little longer?" Lyon tried hard to recall, his brow furrowed.
"It has been a while... Before, when he left to prepare ritual materials and such, he would be back in a week or so at most."
After saying this, Lyon himself noticed that something was off. Zalty's "disappearance" this time had exceeded the norm.
"As I thought." Marco nodded slowly, his suspicions confirmed.
The system quest had clearly indicated that Ultear had already withdrawn.
This so-called "Zalty" was either Ultear herself in an elaborate disguise or one of her trusted subordinates.
"Sigh~" Marco let out a soft sigh.
Looking at the dejected Lyon, who was completely clueless about key information, it was clearly an unrealistic fantasy to expect to trace Ultear's whereabouts through him.
It was better to focus on finishing the quest at hand.
However, the truth behind this "Moon Drip" quest, like the mist shrouding Galuna Island, had not become clearer through the confrontation.
Instead, it had grown even more baffling and confusing.
Ultear's disappearance was within Marco's expectations, but if the "Moon Drip" ritual wasn't the real reason the villagers were turning into demons, then what was?
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