Chapter 217: Natsu: I'm a professional at causing destruction!

【Galuna Island.】

【As the main location for this mission.】

【And also the specific target of the mission.】

【This is a cursed island.】

【Legend has it that on this island, there exists a strange purple moon.】

【The moment the moon appears, the native inhabitants living on this island are forced to mutate into terrifying demons.】

【And the goal of the mission is to investigate this bizarre phenomenon.】

【After being transported by the ship of a strange ghost, Natsu and the others successfully arrived at Jiaernadao.】

【The reason it is called a ghost is that, on the island, within the village here, they saw that person's grave.】

【According to what they learned, that deceased person was the son of this village's chief.】

【But, because of that moon, he was forced to turn into a demon and completely lost his sanity.】

【For the sake of the village's peace, the chief painfully ended his own son's life.】

【Whenever this matter is mentioned, the chief always has a look of heartbreak.】

【They believe this is the curse of the moon; starting a few years ago, when the moon turned completely purple, this curse descended upon their village.】

【Whenever night falls and the purple moon appears, everyone will turn into demons.】

【By the morning of the next day, they will return to their original state.】

【Following this, the chief also proposed his mission request to everyone: to destroy the moon!】

【For Natsu and the others, destroying the moon is almost an impossible task.】

【Although Natsu is somewhat eager to try.】

【But, impossible is impossible.】

【Fortunately, in this temporarily assembled team, there are still normal people like Lucy.】

【Therefore, they decided to rest for the night and wait until the next day to explore the island, attempting to find other ways to solve the problem.】

【The next day, the temporary team set out.】

【It is worth mentioning Gray; ever since he was knocked unconscious and brought here, he no longer had the idea of forcibly dragging Natsu back.】

【According to him, when in Rome, do as the Romans do.】

【In fact, deep down, Gray himself is also very eager to challenge an S-Class mission.】

【Anyway, since this is Natsu's mess, he also plans to follow along and complete this S-Class mission.】

【The exploration of the island was quite smooth at first.】

【Until they encountered that giant rat that could spray foul odors.】

【Once that smell, like a sewer that had been fermenting for dozens of days, came out, it directly caused Natsu, a guy with a sensitive sense of smell, to be the first to collapse, losing his combat ability instantly.】

【However, it was fortunate that Gray was in the team.】

【The group fought while running until they reached a place with ancient ruins, where they finally completely dealt with that giant rat.】

【And those ancient ruins clearly also attracted the attention of Natsu and the others.】

【The name of the ruins is the Temple of the Moon.】

【Inside the simple and unadorned building, all kinds of ancient characters were spread everywhere.】

【None of the group understood them, but for the sake of investigation, everyone still pretended to study them.】

【Until... Natsu, unable to hold back his curiosity about whether the floor was sturdy, stomped hard on the floor with both feet.】

【Instantly, the floor collapsed, and the group fell straight down into the depths of the underground.】

【However, perhaps it was a blessing in disguise, as they were stunned to discover that beneath the ruins...】

【...was an unknown cave.】

【Or perhaps an underground passage would be more accurate.】

【Upholding the idea of exploration, the group began to move along the passage.】

【Until... they discovered that... behemoth frozen in ice!】

【The moment he saw that giant figure!】

【Gray froze.】

【His pupils trembled, and sweat instantly covered his cheeks.】

【Unbelievable!】

【Gray could not believe this matter!】

【Under the questioning of the others, Gray also spoke of the origin of that giant figure.】

【Deliora!】

【The immortal demon known as the Calamity!】

【A terrifying monster that ravaged the north of the continent years ago.】

【At the same time, it was also the culprit that destroyed Gray's family and even caused Gray's Master to lose her life to seal it.】

【Just at this moment, another group approached, and Lucy immediately decided to lead everyone to hide first.】

【From the mouths of this group, they managed to gather some clues.】

【Moon Drip!】

【A mysterious ritual.】

【Also, the previous giant rat was their pet.】

【And the giant Deliora before their eyes was brought to this island by them.】

【Furthermore, they spoke of gathering the light of the moon onto Deliora.】

【And their leader, a guy named Reitei.】

【After these analyses, everyone guessed that the villagers on the island who had turned into demons were very likely related to Deliora.】

【After all, this terrifying demon, Deliora, had not died.】

【Until today, it could only be considered in a sealed state.】

【A state sealed by the life of Gray's Master, Ur!】

【After that group left, Gray and the others had no intention of chasing after them.】

【Instead, they planned to stay where they were and wait for night to fall.】

【They wanted to see what this so-called Moon Drip really was.】

【Time flowed by like the tide.】

【Gradually, the sky turned dark, and immediately after, the entire underground space began to tremble.】

【Above Deliora, rows of neatly arranged purple magic circles appeared out of thin air.】

【Purple radiance fell from top to bottom onto Deliora.】

【Noticing this, everyone immediately prepared to follow the magic circles upward.】

【Until they arrived at the top of the ruins and saw that group of people wearing cloaks chanting around the purple magic circles.】

【Only now did everyone understand this ritual called Moon Drip.】

【It was a ritual capable of melting the ice that sealed Deliora, which was formed by Ur's life.】

【In other words, what this group of people wanted was to resurrect Deliora.】

【And the series of strange phenomena on the island was likely caused by this Moon Drip.】

【Even including the mutation of the villagers.】

【Having seen through all of this, the group had no need to hide anymore.】

【Coincidentally, the so-called Reitei had also appeared here now.】

【The battle erupted at this moment!】

【However, this battle was a failure.】

【First, Reitei ordered his subordinates to destroy that village.】

【Lucy and Happy went ahead to intercept them.】

【The remaining ones, whether it was Natsu or Gray, did not gain any advantage in front of Reitei.】

【Natsu was frozen, and immediately after, he was kicked off the cliff by Gray.】

【The purpose was to fight the guy in front of him one-on-one.】

【Only because this person was actually Gray's senior fellow apprentice, Lyon!】

【In this battle, Gray was defeated, but at the same time, he learned of Lyon's goal.】

【That was to resurrect Deliora and defeat it, in order to prove that he had surpassed Ur!】

【A ridiculous idea, but Gray could not stop it.】

【After the defeat, Gray, who was lying alone on the ground, was carried back by Natsu, who had climbed back to the top of the ruins.】

【In the village, they encountered another attack from Lyon's subordinates.】

【In this battle to defend the village.】