The edge of Karuna Island.
With a deafening roar, shattered stones surged backward, broken beams reassembled, and dust swirled as if time itself were reversing. The ruined village battered during the earlier battle restored itself at a pace visible to the naked eye.
At the center of this miraculous spectacle stood Urrutia, one hand raised, a glowing orb suspended above her palm.
She was casting Lost Magic the Arc of Time, which could rewind the age of inanimate matter.
Lucy, witnessing this for the first time, stood frozen in awe.
"So this is… Lost Magic?" she murmured. "She really is Ulu's daughter…"
The sheer power and control on display were unlike anything she'd seen.
Before Lucy could process more, Natsu casually walked up behind Urrutia and clapped a hand on her shoulder.
"Nice job, Blackie!" he grinned. "That was awesome! Kinda reminds me of that masked weirdo's magic but yours smells better. Way better!"
Urrutia's expression twitched violently.
Masked weirdo…? Don't tell me that's supposed to be me…
"And stop calling me Black!" she snapped. "It's Urrutia!"
"Ahaha, same difference," Natsu laughed, scratching his head with his usual carefree grin.
Chase, watching nearby, blinked at the exchange and tilted his head.
Was Natsu playing dumb… or was he genuinely that oblivious?
...Yeah. Most likely the latter.
When it came to anything besides fighting or protecting his friends, Natsu's brain might as well be running on empty.
Suddenly, a furious voice pierced the night.
"You damned wizards! Why haven't you destroyed it yet?!" the village chief howled, his body still warped into a monstrous form.
He pointed a clawed hand at the sky, trembling with emotion.
"Why haven't you destroyed the moon?! It's all because of that cursed purple moon!!"
Despite the restored village around him, he remained fixated on the eerie glow above.
Lucy stepped forward, trying to calm him with a gentle voice. "Like I said before, destroying the moon isn't something humans can just… do!"
She waved her arms defensively, sweat beading on her forehead.
And then it hit her.
The Deliora threat had been neutralized.
But the actual S-Class mission… hadn't been resolved at all!
She was on the verge of panicking when Urrutia, who understood the full truth behind the village's curse, quietly stepped forward.
But before she could speak, Ulu gently raised her hand to stop her.
"It's been a while since I've had any real action," she said softly. "Let me be the one to handle this. It's time I reminded one of my hopeless students how it's done."
As she walked past, she shot a sly glance toward Gray.
A giant vein throbbed on Gray's temple.
"…Don't lump me in with your other students," he muttered under his breath. "You only ever had one, right?!"
Still, he didn't stop her.
Ulu hadn't lost her edge.
Despite being sealed away in Absolute Freeze for so long, the knowledge and experience of a seasoned ice mage still burned brightly in her.
And now, she was ready to show everyone even under the strange light of a cursed moon that her strength hadn't faded at all.
The night breeze stirred.
The purple glow shimmered over Karuna Island.
And in the silence before the next move, the air felt charged with magic.
After getting a grasp on the villagers' situation, Ulu took a moment to piece the puzzle together in her mind.
"So let me get this straight," she began, looking at the village chief who had finally calmed down. "Your transformations started about three years ago around the same time that purple moon began appearing, correct?"
"To be exact," the chief corrected her, "we transform into demons only at night, whenever the purple moon rises."
"Interesting," Ulu muttered. "Despite everyone living on the same island, only the villagers were affected. Leon and his group showed no symptoms at all."
She narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. Compared to Greny and the others, Ulu clearly knew far more about the Moon Drip technique used to counteract Absolute Zero. She analyzed the situation with the calm of a seasoned mage.
"The timelines overlap perfectly, yet the symptoms appear in only a specific group… In that case, the only possible wah?!"
Her analysis was cut short as she suddenly let out a startled yelp, having stepped straight into one of Lucy's pitfall traps meant for Yuka and the others.
It was the very trap Lucy had set up earlier originally intended as a surprise for Erza but somehow, Ulu had been the one to trigger it.
"…Another one's fallen victim?"
"Such a crude trap too!"
"That blonde girl's a genius?!"
The villagers stared, stunned. Even the traps had been restored flawlessly.
Lucy broke into a cold sweat and frantically waved her hands. "I-I didn't do anything! Not my fault!"
"Hey Lucy, you're so juicy," Happy said with a cheeky grin, fluttering next to her.
"That's called sweat, you damn cat!" she snapped, swatting him away.
Ulu climbed out of the hole as if nothing had happened and resumed speaking with complete composure. "As I was saying, one possibility is that everything stems from the moon itself!"
She was determined to pretend the whole thing never occurred. After all, it wouldn't do to show embarrassment in front of her dense apprentice and beloved daughter.
What terrifying mental strength… Lucy thought in awe. She might be on par with Erza…
Taking a deep breath, Ulu suddenly clenched her fists and declared, "Then it's settled! Let's follow the village chief's suggestion and destroy that creepy purple moon!"
"NA-NI?!!!" Natsu, Lucy, Happy, and Gray all shouted in unison.
Seeing their stunned faces, Ulu didn't bother explaining. Words were meaningless when you could demonstrate with action.
She turned toward Gray and Leon.
"Greylion, show me how far your magic has come over these years!" she said with a determined smile.
With that, Ulu brought her fists together and shifted into the signature stance of an Ice Make mage, arms lowering to her waist.
Her breathing slowed.
Despite the years spent sealed in ice, her instincts and focus were as sharp as ever. Her magic had stabilized, and now…
She was ready to let loose.
Gray and Leon instantly recognized the spell Ulu was about to cast. Despite still not understanding what she meant by "destroying the moon," they grinned with excitement.
"No problem!" they replied in perfect sync.
Wearing nothing but leggings, the two stood on either side of Ulu, mirroring her stance as cold air began to swirl from their palms.
The formation, the posture, the magic everything about the scene brought them back to the past, to simpler times filled with rigorous training and frozen mornings.
"…I'm joining too." Urrutia stepped forward quietly, her cheeks a faint pink.
Beyond her mastery of Lost Magic like Arc of Time, she had also inherited her mother's Shaping Magic. And she had taken it even further.
"Shaping Magic: Ice Spring!"
All four pressed their palms to the ground at once.
A white magic circle slowly spun beneath them. Then
Boom!!
A violent eruption of cold surged outward. Frost burst into the air, and the temperature around them plummeted.
Jagged icicles burst upward from the earth, overlapping and twisting together as they shot toward the sky toward the purple moon glowing overhead.
With an ear-splitting crack, the mighty spire of ice crashed into the moon with unstoppable force.
Lucy watched in awe and terror as fractures spread across the violet surface. Cracks fanned out in all directions until finally, with a shattering sound
Crack!
The false moon splintered apart, fragments dissolving into glittering particles.
In an instant, the sky was cleared. The true moonlight poured down gently, revealing a clear, star-studded night.
"The moon's… still there?" Lucy gasped. "Wait, that purple one… it was an illusion?!"
Chase nodded as he watched the last of the magical debris fade away.
"The Moon Drip ritual gathers moonlight over long periods. Eventually, the residual energy creates a magic membrane that blankets the island. What you thought was a second moon was really just distorted light reflecting off that barrier."
"So you knew this all along, Brother Chess? Then… the villagers should be back to normal now, right?"
Relieved, Lucy turned back to check
And screamed.
"AHHH! Why are they still demons?!"
The villagers, who had been cheering moments ago, looked down at their clawed hands and twisted faces… and the horror hit them.
Their joy turned to despair.
"No… No! Why?!"
Lucy, trembling, backed away and ducked behind Chase.
"B-But Ulu said Leon and the others never changed! Shouldn't the magic membrane have been the cause?!"
Chase pointed calmly toward the entrance of the village.
There stood Yuka, Toby, and the other cultists, looking around in confusion.
"They've been here all along," Chase said. "And yet, they weren't affected. Which means…"
He paused for just a beat before delivering the truth.
"The transformation wasn't caused by the membrane. That was only a distraction."
His tone was quiet, but it hit like thunder.
"These villagers aren't humans affected by a spell. They're demons who took human form."
Lucy's blood ran cold.
She clutched Chase's sleeve and whispered, "You mean… they were demons from the beginning?"
Urrutia walked forward calmly, her expression gentle, and confirmed the final piece of the mystery with a faint smile.
"The Moon Drip's lingering magic… it didn't transform them. It simply altered their memories."
"Huuuh?!" Lucy nearly lost her balance.
…
After a series of explanations, the truth slowly came to light.
As the villagers' memories began returning one after another, the fog of illusion lifted.
The key piece of the puzzle came from Bobo the same boatman who had ferried Natsu and the others to the island, and the very son of the village chief who was believed to have been killed by his own hands.
With Bobo's heartfelt account, the missing memories clicked into place. The villagers finally remembered who they were.
They were not cursed humans turned into demons.
They were demons real ones who had, for years, lived in human form under the veil of lost memories and false identities.
Now, as the truth returned, so did their wings.
One by one, the villagers unfolded magnificent, otherworldly wings bat-like yet ethereal and took to the skies, spinning and twirling in the moonlight with tears of joy on their faces.
What followed was a breathtaking sight.
Demons, once bound by the chains of falsehood and grief, now soared beneath the stars with the innocence of children. Their laughter echoed through the night like music.
It was a scene that felt straight out of a fairytale.
Even the most cynical heart would've softened at the sight.
"…Even if they're demons, they look like fairies dancing under the moon," Lucy whispered, her voice tinged with awe.
Chase stood beside her, arms folded, watching the spectacle with a contemplative look.
"Hm. It's not every day you see this. I wonder if I should catch one and gift it to Mira as a souvenir?"
"…Excuse me?" Lucy turned to him slowly, as if unsure she'd heard right.
"Oh, what's wrong? Don't want one for yourself too?" Chase asked casually.
Lucy's jaw dropped. "No!! I absolutely do not want one! And stop making such terrifying comments while we're watching something so beautiful!"
"Love~! Lucy, you dummy. Chase was teasing you the whole time," Happy floated by, snickering.
"SHUT UP, YOU DAMN CAT!!" Lucy snapped, flailing in frustration.
The warmth of laughter, sarcasm, and chaos filled the air.
This was Fairy Tail.
Even on an island of demons beneath a broken illusion, their hearts remained the same.
...
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