Just then, thump, thump, thump!
"Mages, breakfast is ready. The village chief invites you to eat."
"Coming!"
Creak!
The door opened, and a very cute girl appeared at the entrance, making it hard to imagine she had transformed into such a terrifying demon last night.
The group followed the girl to the dining hall, where the village chief was already waiting.
"Good morning, Mages! You all look a bit pale. Is it because of the demons all around, making it hard to sleep?"
Lucy quickly waved her hands, "No, it's not like that."
"Hahaha, it's alright. Not just you Mages, even we ourselves get startled when we see our demon forms in the mirror. What are your plans next, Mages? I can send villagers to help."
Lucy said, "We plan to investigate the island. Since this island was normal three years ago, something strange must have happened in these past three years. Something on the island caused the anomaly, turning the moon purple. Village chief, are there any suspicious places on this island?"
Qi Yan heard Lucy's words, and a hint of admiration flickered in his eyes. Three heads are better than one. Counting Happy, there were four of them, and discussing all night would naturally yield some results.
"This... to speak of suspicious places, there is indeed one... but..."
Natsu and the others' eyes immediately lit up, "There really is! Where is it?!"
This concerned their ability to complete the S-Class Quest, so no important clue could be overlooked.
"It's on the mountain over there, where there's a ruin. Three years ago, a purple pillar of light would appear there every night."
"A purple pillar of light?! Isn't that extremely suspicious?!"
Natsu and the others couldn't help but get excited upon hearing this.
"You didn't go to investigate?!"
Gray asked. Since they discovered a purple pillar of light, they should have gone to investigate.
"This... honestly, we tried to investigate the ruins several times. Everyone took up unfamiliar weapons, geared up, and went countless times, but we just couldn't get close. We'd walk towards the ruins, but unknowingly, we'd find ourselves back at the village entrance. We just can't approach the ruins."
"Can't approach? What's going on?"
"We know it's hard to believe, but we really went several times, yet no one could get close."
"A barrier?"
If others couldn't get close, it was very likely that a barrier magic had been cast. Applying barrier magic on such a remote island would certainly be highly suspicious.
Natsu and the others exchanged glances, a hint of excitement flashing in their eyes. It seemed the problem was indeed at the ruins.
Soon, after eating their fill, the group headed towards the ruins the villagers had described.
"As expected of an S-Class Quest, my whole body is tingling with excitement!"
Natsu shouted excitedly.
"Aye!"
Gray also said enthusiastically, "A barrier? Watch me freeze it solid!"
Although Lucy also wanted to complete the S-Class Quest and elevate her status, her cautious nature still made her warn the others, "We should still be careful. After all, if the opponent cast a barrier, they must have some unspeakable secret."
"Oh, right, Qi Yan, you don't need information about the ruins to lift the curse?"
"A curse is a curse. Lifting a curse doesn't necessarily mean you have to defeat the caster."
"That's true too."
Just then, a rumbling sound echoed through the forest. From the sound, one could tell that whatever it was, it was massive.
"Hmm?"
"What is it?"
Whoosh—!
A giant rat, dozens of meters tall, suddenly burst out of the forest, wearing a maid outfit that someone had mischievously put on it.
"A rat!!"
"It's huge—!!"
The sight of the enormous rat startled everyone.
The giant rat's cheeks puffed out.
"It looks like it wants to spit something."
"Damn it! Ice Make: Ice Shield!"
Gray spread his hands, creating an ice shield to block in front of everyone.
Pfft—!!
A foul odor sprayed from the rat's mouth.
"Ugh!!"
"It stinks—!!"
"Squeak, squeak, squeak—!!"
The giant rat let out an ear-piercing cackle, pleased with its prank.
"It stinks! Why does it stink so much!!"
Qi Yan covered his nose, feeling as if he was about to faint from the stench. In this life and his previous one, he had never smelled anything so foul. Beside him, Natsu had already fainted from the smell.
"Natsu, you're such a disgrace!! Oh, right, your nose is too sensitive..."
"Run—!!"
The group began to flee quickly, with the giant rat chasing after them.
Lucy, while running, said to Happy, "Happy, aren't you a cat? Go catch the rat!"
"How could I?!"
He was a cat, but he didn't like catching rats at all. He only liked eating fish. And even if he did like catching rats, with a rat this big, it was hard to say who would catch whom.
"Qi Yan, aren't you an S-Class Mage? Why are you running too! Where's your imposing demeanor from last night?"
"I'm weak when I'm not using Take Over Magic!!"
It would be fine if he had a sword in hand, but without a sword and not using Take Over Magic, his combat power was very ordinary. The only reason he could fight Erza back and forth was because Erza was going easy on him.
"Tch! Ice Bed!"
Gray pressed his palms to the ground, which immediately froze, turning into a slippery ice surface.
Boom!!
The giant rat's feet slipped, and it fell directly to the ground.
"Nice job!!"
"Great, let's escape while we can..."
"Let's beat it up while we can!!"
Qi Yan, Natsu, and Gray said in unison. The three of them started punching and kicking the giant rat.
After dealing with the giant rat, the group continued forward.
"It's the ruins!"
Upon seeing the ruins, the group immediately knew they had reached their destination.
Stepping into the ruins, they felt no obstruction from any barrier.
Lucy wondered, "Huh? Didn't the villagers say they couldn't get in? Why can we?"
"I don't know, but it looks very dilapidated here. Is this ground really solid?"
Natsu stomped hard on the ground with his foot.
Qi Yan advised, "Wait, stop stomping. This place already looks unstable! If it breaks..."
Crack—!!
The ground shattered with a crash, and the group instantly lost their balance, falling downwards.
"You idiot!!"
"Qi Yan, you're such a jinx!"
"Can you blame me for this?!"
"Who would have thought there'd be a big hole in the ground!!"
"Happy!"
"Aye!"
Happy immediately spread his wings.
Lucy grabbed Happy's hand, Qi Yan grabbed Lucy's leg, then Gray, and finally Natsu.
The weight of four people pressed down on Happy, the small cat, making his face turn crimson.
Happy used all his might to flap his wings vigorously.
"I can't do it!"
Thump, thump, thump!!
One by one, they all fell to the ground.
Natsu immediately sat up, "Hey, is everyone okay?"
Gray complained, "Damn it, why do you always act without thinking of the consequences!"
Lucy said, "I'm fine."
As soon as Lucy finished speaking, a muffled groan came from beneath her.
"I'm not!"