Staring at the massive rat lunging straight at her, Lucy's pupils constricted sharply. She was just about to flee when her legs suddenly went limp.
"Oh no, my legs won't listen to ..."
Drained of all strength from the earlier battle, she could only sit helplessly on the beach, watching with wide eyes as the rat's hideous face lood ever larger in her vision.
"It's over... I'm a goner..."
Lucy cried out, waiting in despair for death to claim her.
However, the pain she expected never ca.
"Thwack!"
A loud bang, accompanied by the whistling of wind, rang out as Angelica—the giant rat—was kicked flying like a tattered sack; she tumbled several tis across the sand before passing out cold.
"Well, well... what is a beautiful blonde young lady like you doing lying here in such a sorry state?"
Ron's heterochromatic eyes turned toward the dazed Lucy; a smile played on his lips, and his tone was teasing.
"Ron?!" The familiar voice snapped Lucy back to reality, leaving her both surprised and bewildered. "You... how did you get here?!"
"I'm not the only one who ca, you know, Lucy."
No sooner had he spoken than a thunderous crash erupted from the sea; before their ship could even reach the shore, Erza leaped straight down from it.
"Erza..."
Lucy instinctively waved with excited enthusiasm, only to see Erza approaching with a face as grim and still as water. She suddenly snapped back to reality.
That's right... We broke the Guild's rules by taking on an S-class mission without permission...
The more she thought about it, the more cold sweat trickled down Lucy's back. By the ti Erza drew near, Lucy was standing frozen in place, stiff as a board.
"Lucy." Erza's voice was laced with coldness and an overwhelming sense of pressure, striking a heavy blow against Lucy's heart. "You know exactly why I'm here, don't you?"
She paused, glancing left and right across the deserted beach.
"Where are Natsu and Gray? Take to them. Then... we're returning to the Guild to face our punishnt."
At the ntion of punishnt, Lucy trembled instinctively, but thinking of what was happening on the island, she put aside her fear of Erza.
"Wait a minute, Erza!"
She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, her voice filled with sincerity and determination.
"I apologize for our unauthorized actions! But... the situation on this island right now is truly urgent!"
"Soone wants to revive a demon sealed in ice, and the people in the village are suffering from the torture brought by their magic. In short, the situation is very bad, and we... we want to save this island!"
Lucy's anxious explanation did not move Erza.
"I'm not interested."
"Then... at least, let us finish the job..."
Lucy tested the waters cautiously, her eyes full of pleading.
Just then, an excited call ca from the distant sky.
"Lucy! Great, you're not... Whoosh—!!!"
Approaching, Happy saw Ron and Erza. Without a hint of loyalty, he abandoned Lucy and turned tail to run, his wings flapping so fast they created a sonic boom.
"Naughty little kitty, where do you think you're going?" A teasing voice floated into Happy's ears.
A mont later, at the original site of the demon village, it was now empty.
Ron held the tied-up Lucy with one hand and released the similarly tied-up Happy to scout in the air with the other, with Erza following behind as a supervisor.
"Erza, Ron, there are a lot of people gathered over there."
Happy the Scout fluttered down from the sky, pointing in a certain direction.
"Mr. Wizard, you're so handso, your eyes are truly srizing..."
"Does Mr. Wizard have a girlfriend?"
"Please take a look at too, Mr. Wizard—"
"..."
"Natsu?!"
Gray was woken up by the noisy voices outside. He sat up abruptly and looked around in confusion.
"Where is this...?"
As soon as he stepped out of the tent, he saw a group of won gathered together, their eyes misty, their cheeks flushed, and their bodies twisting constantly.
"Yo, you're awake, Gray."
Ron poked his head out from the crowd and gave a smiling greeting, "You certainly kept us waiting."
"Ron!!!"
Seeing Ron suddenly, Gray was startled, completely not expecting to see him here.
"Why are you here?"
"It's not just , Erza is here too, and she's waiting for you."
"Erza?! She... she's here too?!"
Hearing Erza's na, Gray's body stiffened and his face turned pale.
Seeing him so scared, the smile on Ron's lips deepened. He gestured for Gray to follow and walked into a tent first.
"Erza, guess what I discovered about that group of people outside."
Ron walked to Erza's side, ignoring her silence, and pointed to his blue and gold Heterochromia eyes.
"With these eyes of mine, I saw through them at a glance, they aren't human."
"Not human?!"
Gray, who had just walked into the tent after taking deep breaths outside to ntally prepare himself, heard these shocking words.
"But they clearly..."
"Look like humans, that's what you were going to say, right?"
Ron added, finishing Gray's sentence. "While waiting for you to wake up, we've already heard about the situation here from Lucy."
He pointed to Lucy, who was tied up nearby, and Lucy nodded aggrievedly.
"Based on my observation of them just now, I can be certain that their human appearance is just a shell."
"In other words, they are a group of... demons wearing human skins."
Ron's voice was light, but it carried an unquestionable certainty.
And why wouldn't he be certain? These were things already clearly revealed in the original plot.
Galuna Island was originally called the Moon Island or Demon Island, both because it was a gathering place for moonlight and because the residents living on the island were demons left over from ancient tis.
But these demons were not like the ones created by Zeref; they were weak, possessed no magic, and their technology was very backward. Their only ability was to transform into humans.
However, since the demon race existed, did a similar race of gods also exist?
Lucy's eyes widened as she tried to digest the shocking information Ron brought.
"If they really are demons, then why did they lie to us and say they beca demons because of the moon's curse? And the villagers' behavior..."
"It's likely that sothing influenced their... my deduction is... mory."
"They should have the ability to transform into human form, but with mory impairnt, they mistakenly took their transford human form for their original form, thus firmly believing they are human."
"Is it that purple moon?"
Lucy rembered the village chief's words and suddenly realized.
"The village chief ntioned that they only started changing after the purple moon appeared."
"So, our mission is complete? Then the key..."
Lucy showed an excited smile, but in the next second, she was shut down by Happy, who was also tied up nearby.
"Stupid Lucy, did you forget the village chief's request?"
"The village chief's request?"
Lucy tilted her head, then suddenly realized.
"That's right, the village chief wanted us to... destroy the moon!!!"
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