Destroy the Moon

A few seconds passed, but nothing happened.

"Emmm, that's it?" Gray asked doubtfully.

Before Gray could finish speaking, a massive explosion suddenly rang out.

"BOOM—!!!"

A huge mushroom cloud shot into the sky, leaving Gray completely dumbfounded.

"Th... this..."

Ye Yang waved a hand.

"Basic stuff, basic stuff."

Meanwhile, Gray's expression slowly shifted from shock to terror.

"A... a... a tsunami!"

"Huh?" Ye Yang turned around and saw that the explosion had kicked up waves dozens of meters high.

"Holy crap! Gray, row faster!!"

"Ye Yang, screw you!!"

"Relax, relax. Leave it to me."

As he spoke, Ye Yang gathered energy at his fingertips.

"Cero!"

"WHOOSH—!!"

"BOOM!"

The energy blast shattered the tsunami, but massive amounts of seawater continued to surge violently.

Seeing that things were going badly, Ye Yang turned into a streak of light and vanished from where he stood. Gray could only cling desperately to his ice boat as the crashing waves carried him rapidly toward the small island ahead.

Meanwhile, Natsu and the others had already arrived on Demon Island and were speaking with the village chief.

While they were talking, a huge sound suddenly rang out, and the entire village began to tremble faintly.

Lucy panicked. "W-what's going on? An e-e-e-earthquake?!"

The village chief explained, "Impossible. Our village has lived here for generations, and we've never encountered an earthquake."

Before long, the island stopped shaking. Just as everyone thought it was over, the village gate was smashed apart, and an ice boat crashed through it and flew inside.

"What now?!"

Natsu sniffed the air.

"I smell Gray!"

Lucy complained, "What are you, a bloodhound?!"

Happy said, "Aye~ We're done for, Lucy! The Guild Master sent someone to catch us!"

Natsu said confidently, "It's fine. It's only Gray."

Just then, a voice reached everyone's ears.

"Oh? Is that so? Then what if you add me to the mix?"

Ye Yang's voice entered everyone's ears. They turned around and saw a figure radiating a terrifying aura, crimson eyes glowing as he walked toward them step by step.

"Happy and Lucy couldn't help swallowing."

"Gulp~"

Happy flew straight onto Ye Yang and burst into tears. "Natsu made me do it!"

(〝▼皿▼) "You disloyal rotten cat!" As soon as Lucy finished speaking, she grabbed Ye Yang's leg and said,

"Natsu forced me too!"

Ye Yang looked at the two troublemakers and slowly said, "Happy, your punishment is no dried fish for a week."

"Aye~!"

"Lucy, you'll be responsible for cleaning the guild for a month."

"Aye! I guarantee I'll complete the task!"

"As for Natsu..."

The moment Natsu heard Ye Yang mention his name, he shouted,

"I'm doing the S-Class Mission! I won't go back even if it kills me!"

"Since that's the case, I can only fulfill your request."

As he spoke, Ye Yang appeared directly in front of Natsu and sent him flying with one punch, smashing through several houses in a row.

A golden light behind him formed into an arm and grabbed Natsu out of the rubble.

After raising his template to 80%, Ye Yang had become far more adept at using the Glint-Glint Fruit. Although he had no Magic Source and therefore could not learn magic, it was easy enough to imitate those shaping techniques.

"Don't you know how serious it is to accept an S-Class Mission without permission?!"

"What if something happened to you?! Have you forgotten what happened to Lisanna?!"

"Rather than let everyone cry because you died on a mission, I might as well beat you to death right now!"

After the arm pulled Natsu out, it split into several fists that continuously rained blows down on him.

"Say something! Why aren't you saying anything?!"

Lucy complained, "You should at least give him a chance to open his mouth."

Before long, Natsu was bruised and swollen all over, lying on the ground unconscious.

When Ye Yang turned to look at Lucy and Happy, the two immediately hugged each other.

"An angry Ye Yang is so scary!"

Seeing that he had achieved the desired intimidation, Ye Yang stopped paying attention to them and directly ordered Lucy and Happy to take the unconscious Gray and the beaten-unconscious Natsu away to rest.

When he looked toward the village chief and the others, everyone in the village silently took a step back in perfect unison.

Ye Yang hurriedly retracted his aura.

"Hahaha, sorry about that. Members of our guild accepted this mission without permission and caused you unnecessary trouble."

The village chief gathered his courage and stepped forward. "It's all right, sir. How do you plan to handle things next?"

Ye Yang could see the village chief's concern.

"Don't worry. Since our members have already made contact with you first, we'll take this commission. Can you give us somewhere to rest now?"

Seeing that the mages were not planning to leave and were instead willing to accept their commission, the village chief immediately relaxed.

He then instructed several villagers to carry Natsu and Gray inside.

By evening, both Natsu and Gray had awakened.

Gray was startled when he saw the bruised and swollen Natsu beside him.

Before long, the two walked out of the room. A banquet was being held outside.

When Gray saw Ye Yang, he immediately stormed over angrily.

"That was too much! You just threw me there and ran off by yourself."

"Hahaha, sorry, sorry. I'll teach you a few little tricks next time."

Upon hearing that, Gray nodded in satisfaction.

Seeing that everyone was present, Ye Yang spoke. "Village Chief, tell us the details now."

The village chief sighed. "A few years ago, no one knows why, but our entire village was cursed. Whenever night falls and the moon appears, we turn into Demons. It has caused us all great suffering."

Just then, the dark clouds obscuring the moon drifted apart, and purple moonlight appeared before everyone's eyes.

As the Purple Moonlight shone upon the villagers, the entire village immediately showed expressions of pain. Before long, every villager had developed Demon-like features.

The village chief said painfully, "Sir, you have seen it too. That is what happened. After turning into a Demon and losing control, I even killed my own son."

As he spoke, the village chief took out a photograph of himself and his son and could not help bursting into tears.

"Boohoohoohoo X﹏X!"

When Lucy and the others saw what the village chief's son looked like in the photograph, they were all shocked.

Lucy whispered, "Th... that's the boatman who brought us here, isn't it?"

Happy said, "Aye~ Lucy, don't tell me we ran into a ghost."

"Don't scare me, you rotten cat."

After crying for a while, the village chief wiped away his tears and stated his commission. "So, our commission is to destroy the moon!"

After hearing the contents of the commission, Natsu and the others all stared at the village chief in shock.

"What! Destroy the moon?!!"