Chapter 231

[As Black Natsu's voice fell, the setting sun in the distance gradually set.]

[Replacing it was the arrival of night...]

["The smell of rot?"]

[After Black Natsu's explanation, Erza's brows also furrowed slightly.]

[She smelled it carefully; indeed, a faint stench permeated the vicinity.]

[It was like... the sour stench of a rotting corpse, very faint.]

[If one didn't smell it carefully, even Erza would find it hard to detect.]

[It was seeping out from the stone statues.]

["Could it be... that something is hidden inside these stone statues?"]

[Erza said as she began to observe carefully.]

["It's also possible that it's a capability similar to Evergreen's."]

[Black Natsu gave his own guess.]

["You mean, these guys are very likely... not just simple stone statues; perhaps... they are things that exist with life, just petrified by some kind of ability?"]

[Mirajane crossed her arms and murmured.]

["Look, the direction these stone statues are facing seems to be the same direction."]

[Seilah, who had been silent for a long time, also stated her discovery.]

["Not only that, if you observe the movements of these stone statues carefully, you can find that they all seem to be running, or reaching out their palms in this direction..."]

[Erza looked in the direction the stone statues were staring at.]

["There's nothing here, is there?"]

["There is one more problem," Black Natsu said, turning his gaze to the twelve doors around the entire circular platform.]

["Twelve doors; we just came out of the door behind us, but think carefully, in the entire ruin, there don't seem to be any other passages, so where do these doors lead?"]

[Black Natsu's words again caused everyone to ponder.]

[Yes, in the entire temple, whether it was Erza and the others who arrived first, or Black Natsu and Seilah who caught up later.]

[Neither found any other doors.]

[Thinking back to the passage they walked for more than an hour.]

["We... entered a special space??"]

[Erza turned her head, looking at the surroundings with some surprise.]

["And the entrance to this space might not be just the Moon Temple on Jiaernadao."]

["It is very likely that there are other places with other entrances," Black Natsu added.]

["Then, the owner of this space... or rather, assuming it is that legendary Black Heavenly Maiden, why did she set up so many passages?"]

["To... attract more creatures to come here," Seilah seemed to understand something.]

["And these creatures all have a commonality, otherwise it would be impossible to explain why we could come in, but Lucy and the others couldn't," Mirajane said.]

["Commonality..." Erza looked at the four people present, and suddenly had an answer in her heart!]

[She looked at Black Natsu with somewhat horrified eyes.]

Outside the sky screen.]

Hades also blurted out this answer that both Erza and Black Natsu tacitly understood!]

["Demons!"]

["Observe carefully; of the four people present, Black Natsu has been confirmed as the strongest demon, E.N.D!"]

["And Seilah is a demon from the Books of Zeref."]

Mavis: "I remember, the Erza of the Black World was a miracle created by Black Natsu and Irene using life-construction technology with Irene's genes."]

["From a certain perspective, she can also be considered a demon; Black Natsu once felt the feeling of a heartbeat accelerating when he was with her."]

Lisanna: "Then... for Mira-nee, it should be because of Satan."]

["Mirajane possesses demonic power within her body."]

[Just from this deduction, countless people widened their eyes.]

[It seems that thinking this way is really flawless, and this is the only common point among the four people present.]

Erza: "So, why did that Black Heavenly Maiden create a passage that only demons can see and touch? What exactly does she want to do?"]

Levy: "Is it possible that those stone statues are actually... the demons or magical beasts that broke in before?"]

Makarov: "Thinking about it this way, observing these stone statues carefully, many are actually very familiar; they seem to be types of demons that frequently appear."]

["And various magical beasts."]

Brain: "So, what happened to these magical beasts or demons after they entered this space? Why... did they become stone statues?"]

Mard Geer: "Things are starting to get more and more interesting; is it a passage aimed at demons and magical beasts?"]

[Inside the sky screen.]

[Under the calm analysis of the few, a general direction soon emerged.]

[In general, it was about the same as the result discussed by the audience outside the sky screen.]

[But what is most puzzling now is what exactly these demons or magical beasts that turned into stone statues experienced.]

[Also, what exactly is that Goddess of the Night named Diana up to?"]

["The difficulty of this mission has far exceeded S-Class," Mirajane couldn't help but complain, her mind full of questions.]

["So, have we triggered a hidden level?"]

["Just like a level-clearing game."]

[Erza shrugged her shoulders at this: "However, this is not a game here."]

["If we take one wrong step... we will probably all be in danger."]

["Speaking of which, what should we do tonight? We can't go back, and we can't figure out what's going on here, and now it's about to get dark."]

[Seilah raised her head and stared at the darkening sky.]

[A crescent moon had been hanging in the sky at some point.]

[Night has fallen...]

[The group raised their heads in turn.]

[The cloudless sky reflected the beauty of the starry sky.]

[The imperfect crescent moon sprinkled bits of moonlight.]

["So beautiful..." Erza seemed to be a bit intoxicated.]

["Speaking of which, in the town, it seems we rarely see such a starry sky, right?" Mirajane also seemed to have some emotion.]

["The moon, I haven't looked up at the starry sky for a long time; I didn't expect it to be so beautiful," Seilah murmured softly.]

["That's for sure; speaking of which, even on the night of the full moon, haven't you enjoyed the moon?" Mirajane asked with some curiosity.]

["Where would I have the time? Besides, whenever I have free time, I'm looking at photos of the Young Master; I'm not interested in the moon at all. Only now do I realize I was wrong."]

[Seilah responded.]

["Hehe, I remember, Fairy Tail has a moon-viewing party every year; it's very happy, right, Natsu?"]

[Erza asked.]

[But she didn't get a corresponding response.]

["Hmm?" Erza, who noticed something wrong, looked at Black Natsu's direction with confusion.]

[But, surprisingly, where Black Natsu was originally standing, where was his figure???]

[Erza blinked her eyes in bewilderment.]

[Her brain even stalled for a moment.]

[But, it was in this moment, a bloody scent... was clearly captured by her.]

[Her pupils shrank instantly!]

["Something's wrong!!"]

[Seeming to have sensed something, she pinched her fair, tender thigh under her ultra-short skirt.]

[The clear pain instantly made Erza wake up.]

[Suddenly, everything in front of her changed!]

[Where was the peaceful scene from just a moment ago in the surroundings?]