Compared to the two fairies, Natsu is truly slaying a dragon!

"Thank you so much... Master!"

Outside the sky.

Gray's eyes were already blurred with tears.

No matter how many times it happens, whenever I recall this incident...

My heart is always touched.

Gray: "Really... thank you, Master."

Uru: "It is my duty. Seeing you grow up healthily proves that my choice at the time was not wrong."

Gray: "I...I really don't know how to thank you. Back then...it was my own impulsiveness...I didn't listen to you and insisted on challenging Deliora..."

"That's what led to... led to your death. I'm such a bastard..."

Uru: "Okay, okay, why is your voice still breaking? You're not crying, are you?"

"She's such a grown-up, she wouldn't have really cried, would she?"

Gray: "I...I just..."

Uru: "Stop, stop! Gray, I've never regretted my decisions, so you don't need to worry about it. Besides, I'm perfectly fine now, aren't I?"

"Even I, in the underworld, have a chance to be resurrected, right? Honez said it himself, so... it's nothing at all."

"If you keep crying, I'm going to laugh at you, you're such a big person."

"You're my apprentice, after all. How can you cry so easily? What kind of behavior is that!"

Inside the Fairy Tail guild, under the curious gaze of countless people.

Gray suddenly raised his arm.

I wiped my wet eyes.

"Look...what are you looking at?"

"Uru is right, I'm a grown man, how could I possibly cry!"

Makarov crossed his arms: "What a dishonest little brat."

The footage is still playing.

With the collapse of Deliora, Leon was defeated.

This mission is finally coming to an end.

The group has left the ruins and entered the surrounding forest.

"Wow, this is exciting! Is this what an S-rank mission is like?"

Perhaps because she had completed her first S-rank mission, Lucy, who had previously shown little interest in such tasks, felt a great sense of accomplishment.

[I'm currently in a state of high excitement.]

[He kept muttering to himself the whole way.]

Even Gray, who was helping Leon out from behind, let out a long sigh of relief.

"I never thought we could actually complete an S-rank mission on our own!"

Mirajane, walking ahead with her hands behind her head, curled her lip in disdain.

"You guys don't think this is really over, do you?"

Gray and Lucy were both stunned!

"Huh? But Deliora is already dead, and the enemies have been mostly wiped out. Is it... not over yet?" Lucy asked curiously.

Erza shook her head: "Think carefully, what is your mission? It's to lift the curse."

"But... with Deliora's death, shouldn't the curse have ended?" Gray said.

"Who told you the curse was because of Deliora?"

[Henazu turned his head and looked at Gray.]

"To be precise, it should be the negative effects caused by magic like the Moon Drops."

"How could this be?" Lucy exclaimed in shock.

"But... how are we supposed to solve this?" Gray asked, looking at Leon.

Seemingly understanding Gray's meaning, Leon stopped in his tracks.

[He shook his head: "To be honest, I don't know what's going on."]

"We've been here for three years, and we've never had any contact with the villagers of that village. Moreover, they haven't come looking for us at all in these three years."

Erza looked at Leon, seemingly having grasped some crucial information.

"Not even once in three years?"

Leon shook his head.

"Speaking of which, if you're looking from the village, you should be able to see the moonlight falling on the ruins every night. Since those villagers have been suffering so much, they couldn't possibly not have come to investigate, right?"

Harpy stroked his chin, asking in confusion.

Honez, Erza, and Mirajane exchanged glances, seemingly understanding something.

They nodded to each other.

“Let’s go to the village first,” Henaz said.

"Hey... but how are we supposed to solve this?" Gray asked, looking at HyunAz's retreating figure with a puzzled expression.

"You'll see when you get here."

[Honatsu's voice came from ahead. Gray was about to take a step, but then seemed to remember something.]

[His gaze fell upon Leon, who had already walked to the side and sat down.]

Leon was taken aback, then snapped, "What are you looking at?!"

"I think you should join a guild too."

"With new partners or new rivals, you might find new goals," Gray said.

Leon paused, gritted his teeth, and turned his head to the side.

"Shut up! Get lost!"

Gray smiled and waved to Leon.

"Well... goodbye!"

【…】

[On the other side, in the village.]

As soon as Henna and the others returned, they gathered all the villagers together.

"Before we destroy the moon as you wish, there is one more question that you must answer truthfully."

Looking at everyone present, Henaz said this.

Lucy's lips twitched, and she whispered to Happy beside her, "Destroying the moon is an impossible mission, how could we agree to it?"

Happy scratched his head, then said firmly, "This is Natsu!"

Lucy was exasperated: "What kind of answer is that?"

At this moment, the village chief, who had transformed into a demon, spoke first.

"What other problems are there? It's all the moon's fault. Destroy the moon, and everything will be restored!"

[Henaz gazed at the distant ruins, then said:]

"We will destroy the moon. My question is simple: can you tell us why you haven't explored the area all this time?"

For some reason, even Lucy could tell.

The village chief panicked when faced with this problem.

"Um...that's because there's an ancestral rule in the village that no one in the village should ever go near the ruins..."

Before the village chief could finish speaking, he saw Black Natsu's clearly speechless expression.

"Do you really believe such words? What ancestral precepts could be so powerful as to restrain you who are on the verge of despair?"

[Henaz shook his head: "If even the host won't cooperate during a mission, then tell me, do you really want to solve the problem?"]

[Honatsu's barrage of questions seemed to have completely broken down the village chief's defenses.]

He sighed heavily: "Actually, it's not that we want to hide it intentionally, it's just... no one would believe us if we said it."

"To be honest, over the past three years, we've wanted to visit that place and investigate it more than once."

【"but……"】

At this point, the village chief's face showed some fear.

"For some reason, we simply cannot reach the ruins."

"No matter where we start, no matter when, as long as we want to get close to the ruins."