"It looks like it's about to spit something out," Natsu said, taking an interest when he noticed the mouse's movements.
"In that case, I'll join in! Let's see who's stronger!! Fire..."
Bang!
A huge cloud of gas blasted straight out of the mouse's mouth.
"Argh..."
The gas smelled foul to Natsu. With his nose far more sensitive than an ordinary person's, he collapsed on the spot.
"Huh? Natsu, what's wrong?? Huh? Huh?"
Seeing Natsu fall to the ground, Lucy hurriedly called out to him, but just then, the clock Celestial Spirit dismissed his own magic.
"What on earth is going... urgh..." While Lucy was still puzzling over it, she caught a whiff of the gas and felt her stomach churn.
"Squeak, squeak, squeak..."
The mouse seemed delighted by the state of Lucy and Natsu. Then a vicious gleam entered its eyes, and it raised its claws at them.
"Ah!! Run!!"
Seeing what the mouse was doing, Lucy grabbed Natsu and fled, shouting, "Someone, please save us!!"
"Ice Make: Lancer!"
Just then, Natsu and Lucy heard a familiar voice. A barrage of ice spears flew past them and hurtled toward the mouse behind them.
"These are!!" Lucy was thrilled at the sight of the spears.
With a boom, the ice spears slammed into the mouse. Unable to bear the intense pain, it passed out on the spot.
"Natsu, you're really useless! You can't even beat a mouse."
Gray stepped out of the bushes nearby, making sure to get a jab in at Natsu.
"I..." Hearing Gray's words, Natsu instinctively turned to argue, but when he saw Xi Feng and Wendy beside him, his whole body turned to ash.
"Xi Feng..."
"Big Brother Xi Feng is here! And Carla, too!"
Even Happy trembled a little when he saw Xi Feng. He quickly flew over to him and pleaded pitifully, "Big Brother Xi Feng! Lucy and Natsu talked me into taking the mission. They threatened and bribed me! You know I'm just a little cat. I couldn't possibly fight back!! Isn't that right, Carla?"
"Hmph." Carla snorted and ignored Happy. Lucy's face darkened, and she shouted straight at him.
"When did I ever threaten or bribe you!! You and Natsu were the ones who tempted me!!!!"
"Lucy, Natsu, do you know how serious it is to take an S-Class Mission without permission?" Xi Feng asked, his expression stern.
"I..." Natsu stammered, nothing like his usual self. Lucy did not know what would happen to them, but Xi Feng's stern expression told her they were in serious trouble. She cautiously asked, "What will happen to us?"
"The master already knows about this. Taking an S-Class Mission without permission can get you expelled from the guild!!"
"Expelled from the guild!!"
Xi Feng's words drained the color from Lucy's face. Then she asked quietly, "What should we do now?"
"What else can we do!" Xi Feng glared at Lucy before continuing, "I've accepted this mission myself. Tell me what's going on on this island."
"What! Xi Feng accepted the mission!!" Hearing that, Natsu immediately perked up and shouted.
Bang! An instant later, Xi Feng punched Natsu on the head, sending him straight into the ground. "It's not your turn to interrupt."
"Yes..." Natsu answered weakly from the ground.
Seeing this, Lucy swallowed before saying, "After we arrived on this island..."
Lucy then began explaining what they had learned on the island.
"Destroy the moon!! You're kidding!!"
Gray, Wendy, and Carla looked shocked by Lucy's account. Only Xi Feng's expression remained unchanged.
"All right, I understand." Xi Feng nodded, then said, "Whether we need to destroy the moon or not, we still have to investigate this island. I saw some ruins on the way here. They looked very old. Let's go take a look."
"Okay."
"Got it."
Chapter 41: Deliora
"Wow, it's huge!"
"This place is really run-down."
"It looks ancient."
"This place feels a little creepy."
After entering the ruins, everyone looked around, each with a different impression. Xi Feng, however, kept studying the moon symbol on the wall.
"Xi Feng, what are you looking at?" Gray walked over and asked quietly. Then he looked at the moon symbol on the wall as well. "Wasn't this island once called Moon Island?"
"Moon Island, the Cursed Island, the Moon Chapter... Something about these ruins feels strange," Lucy said, rubbing her chin as she voiced her thoughts.
"But this place looks so battered!! Is the floor really that sturdy?" As he spoke, Natsu kept stamping on the floor.
"Natsu...!" Xi Feng was just about to stop him when the floor suddenly cracked, opening into a huge hole.
"Ah!!"
Caught off guard, all five people and two cats fell through. Fortunately, Xi Feng reacted quickly, gathering Wendy, Lucy, and Carla into his arms. After hopping lightly across the falling rubble, he landed safely. Natsu, Gray, and Happy were not so lucky; all three slammed straight into the ground.
After setting Lucy and the others down, Xi Feng walked over to Natsu and Gray. "Are you two dead? If not, get up already."
"Is that any way to ask whether someone's okay...?" Lucy muttered nearby.
"Seriously, doesn't this floor have any backbone? It just broke like that," Natsu said, standing up and brushing the dust off himself.
"Are you an idiot? How could a floor have a backbone!!" Gray got up as well and immediately laid into Natsu.
"All right, stop arguing, you two. I spotted an opening just now. Let's go take a look."
At Xi Feng's words, Natsu and Gray stopped talking and followed behind him.
"Gray, don't get too worked up in a moment." As they neared the end, Xi Feng suddenly turned and said this to Gray, leaving him baffled.
Gray froze briefly, then hurried forward. But when he saw what lay before him, disbelief filled his face, and his entire body began to tremble.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What is that!! How is there such a huge monster here?" Natsu and the others also saw what was ahead, their faces filled with shock.
"What is that? It feels so frightening," Wendy said, knitting her delicate brows.
"Deliora!" Gray's voice rang out, low enough to be frightening. Then he grew agitated and shouted, "Impossible!! Impossible! How could Deliora be here! This is impossible!!"
"Deliora? You know what this thing is, Gray?" Everyone turned to him.
"Gray, calm down first!!" Lucy tried to soothe him.
"What exactly is this thing?"
"Deliora! A demon that brings disaster."
Gray stared at the frozen Deliora, his face full of fury.
"It's exactly the same as back then, but how did it get here!!"
Tap, tap, tap...
Just then, Xi Feng heard footsteps and hurriedly addressed the others.
"Someone's coming. Let's hide for now."
"I thought I heard someone talking nearby. I'm so sleepy during the day." From their hiding place, Xi Feng and the others saw a blue-haired man in a samurai outfit and a person with a doglike head gradually approaching.
"Toby! Were you exposed to the Moon Drop? You've grown ears," the blue-haired man said to his dog-headed companion.
"No, I wasn't, you idiot, Yuka!"
"The Moon Drop? Is that connected to the curse?" Lucy whispered from the side.
"Aye!"
"Very possibly. Let's keep listening," Xi Feng whispered.
"Yuka, Toby. This is so heartbreaking." Just then, a woman's voice came from behind the pair.
"Sherry?" The two turned to look at a girl whose long pink hair was tied into two small pigtails.
"Someone beat Angelica up terribly," the girl named Sherry said, looking heartbroken.
"She's a mouse! Don't give her such a weird name," Toby roared on the spot.
"Another unusual person has shown up," Lucy whispered, watching the three in the distance.
"Lucy, are you jealous because that woman is prettier than you?" Happy whispered beside her.
"You... Stupid cat, I'll deal with you later." Lucy's face darkened.
"These people aren't from the island. They smell different." Natsu carefully sniffed the air.
"Could they have something to do with the curse on this island?" Xi Feng narrowed his eyes at the three talking in the distance.
"Looks like we've had intruders?" Yuka said, looking at the icebound Deliora.
Before you continue