Lucy looked down and found that she was sitting on Qi Yan's face again. No wonder she didn't feel any pain falling from such a high place. It turned out he was cushioning her fall.
"Ah—!"
Lucy quickly stood up, her face flushed, holding her bottom.
Qi Yan rubbed his face, then looked at Lucy and said seriously, "I really don't want to smell it!"
He didn't know why Lucy always ended up on his face, but he really didn't want to smell it. It was stifling him.
Lucy was instantly furious upon hearing this. She directly gave Qi Yan a straight punch to the face, baring her teeth and shouting at him, "This is sexual harassment!!"
Gray looked up, "This seems to be below that ruin from earlier. I wonder how such a large hole got here."
"A secret cave! Since we're down here, let's go explore."
Natsu seemed very excited. A secret cave must hold an incredible secret.
"Hey, stop messing around. We're here to find a way to break the curse..."
"Whoa—! !"
Gray's words were cut short by Natsu's exclamation. Qi Yan and Lucy also stopped.
"What's wrong?"
"What... what is this?"
Their eyes widened as they looked ahead, only to see a giant monster encased in ice.
When Gray saw the monster's appearance, his pupils constricted, his face filled with extreme panic, and his eyes were full of unspeakable fear.
"Deliora! ! !"
"Huh?"
Hearing Gray's shout, Lucy, Natsu, and Happy were all a bit confused. Qi Yan was only surprised by the frozen monster; he hadn't expected it to be so huge.
"Deli... you know this thing?"
"Impossible! It can't be here!! That's... that's..."
Gray was completely flustered. Qi Yan glanced at Gray and said calmly, "Gray, calm down."
Hearing Qi Yan's voice, Gray calmed down a bit. Although Qi Yan usually seemed unreliable, almost everyone in the guild unconsciously regarded Qi Yan as a pillar of stability. Qi Yan's words carried a lot of weight in everyone's hearts.
Lucy came over to Gray with some concern and asked, "Gray, are you okay? What exactly is this monster?"
"Deliora, the demon that brings disaster. It's exactly the same as back then. How did it end up here..."
Gray was extremely puzzled. This thing should absolutely not be here.
Just then, footsteps sounded.
Qi Yan's ears twitched, "Someone's coming."
They immediately hid, wanting to see what was happening.
Soon, two people, one tall and one short, walked over. The tall one looked like a dog, shirtless, wearing a pair of jeans. The short one had thick eyebrows and was wearing a blue and white trench coat.
"It sounds like someone was talking over here."
"Oh, oh."
"Daytime, so sleepy."
"Oh, oh."
"Are you a dog? Why do you have dog ears?"
"What?! These are decorations!! Understand!!"
"I was just joking. Do you have to get so angry?"
"Hmph!"
Just then, a girl walked over, "Yuka, Toby, I have some sad news for you. Angelica was beaten by someone."
"That's just a mouse!!"
"Not a mouse. Angelica is a hunter who runs in the darkness. This is love~~!"
The girl was dressed in a Gothic Lolita style, with heavy makeup, looking worried.
Lucy couldn't help but retort, "A strange human has arrived."
Natsu's gaze fixed on the three and he said, "They're not the villagers on this island. Their scent is different."
Natsu's nose was very sensitive; he could easily distinguish everyone's scent.
Yuka frowned, "Are there intruders?"
Although he was a bit speechless about Sherry naming the big mouse Angelica, that big mouse was indeed their guard placed around the ruins, mainly to prevent others from breaking into the ruins.
Now that the big mouse was beaten, coupled with the sounds they heard earlier, it meant that the intruders had very likely already entered here.
"We're almost done collecting the Moon God's light. Oh, how sad this is. Before Lord Lyon finds out, let's drive them out, before the Moon God appears."
"Yes, indeed."
"Oh, oh."
"Since they've seen Deliora, we can't let them go back alive. Let the intruders sleep forever. This is love."
"It's death, kill them!!"
As the three spoke, their footsteps gradually faded into the distance.
Qi Yan and the others also emerged from behind the rocks.
"Why did we hide? Wouldn't it be better to just capture them and ask them clearly? Right, Qi Yan?"
Qi Yan waved his hand, "Don't ask me. Didn't I say, since you all want to do an S-Class Quest, the decision-making power is temporarily yours. If I intervene, the quest will count as mine."
"Then no!"
It was hard enough to get a chance to do an S-Class Quest; he didn't want to waste it for nothing.
"Damn it, why did those guys move Deliora here? And how did they find Deliora's sealing place?"
Natsu then remembered that Gray seemed to know this monster, "Oh right, Gray, how do you know this thing?"
"This guy was originally sealed in the ice mountains of the Northern Continent. Ten years ago, it wreaked havoc in Isvan and was immortal. Ur, the master who taught me magic, sacrificed herself to seal it."
"Although I don't know what it has to do with this island's curse, it absolutely shouldn't be in this place."
"Lyon... who is he? If he tries to defile Ur's name, I will never let him get away with it!!"
Gray clenched his fists, his eyes becoming sharp.
"Could the island's curse be related to this demon?"
Lucy speculated, after all, the villagers had all turned into demons, looking like children of this demon.
"It's very possible. This demon is still alive."
"Good! In that case, we just need to try and defeat this demon."
Natsu swung his fist. If they defeated this demon, perhaps the villagers' curse would be lifted.
Bang!
"Ugh!"
No sooner had Natsu spoken than he took a solid punch to the face.
"Gray, you bastard, what are you doing?!"
"Fire Mage, get away from here!! What if the ice melts and Deliora wakes up?!"
"Is this seal that easy to melt?!"
Gray was stunned, then realized he was being overly sensitive. This was a magic of Absolute Zero cast by his master; no flame, no matter how strong, could melt it.
Qi Yan patted Gray's shoulder, "Alright! Gray, you're a bit too nervous. I know this monster might have left a considerable shadow on your childhood, but as long as I'm here, even if this monster revives, I can make it die again."
It was just a demon from Zeref's book; he could handle it easily.