Knock knock knock!
"Esteemed Mages, breakfast is ready. The village chief invites you all to join him."
"We're coming!"
Creak—
The door opened to reveal an incredibly cute girl standing outside—so adorable that no one could imagine she had transformed into a terrifying demon the night before.
The group followed the girl to the dining hall, where the village chief was already waiting.
"Good morning, honored Mages! You all don't look too well—couldn't sleep because of all the demons around?"
Lucy quickly waved her hands. "No, no, it's not that!"
"Hahaha, don't worry. Even we villagers get scared when we see our own demon reflections in the mirror. Now then, what are your plans for the day? I can send some villagers to assist."
Lucy replied, "We plan to investigate the island. Since things were normal here three years ago, something must've happened during that time—something that turned the moon purple. Village chief, is there anywhere suspicious on this island?"
Kaien's eyes flashed with a hint of approval. As the saying goes, three heads are better than one—counting Happy, that made five brains thinking all night, and they'd clearly come up with something.
"Well... if I had to say, there is one suspicious place… but…"
Natsu and the others instantly perked up. "There is?! Where?!"
This could be the key to completing their S-Class mission—they couldn't let any lead slip past.
"There's a ruin up on the mountain. Three years ago, every night, a purple light would shine from that place."
"A purple light?! That's definitely suspicious!"
The group couldn't contain their excitement.
"You didn't go check it out?" Gray asked. If they'd seen something that strange, shouldn't they have investigated?
"Well… to be honest, we tried several times. We armed ourselves with whatever weapons we had and set out, but no matter how many times we tried, we just couldn't get near it. We'd start walking toward the ruins, but somehow we'd always end up back at the village gate. It was like we couldn't approach at all."
"Couldn't get close? What the heck?"
"I know it sounds unbelievable, but it really happened—more than once. No one's ever been able to reach it."
"A barrier, maybe?" Kaien murmured.
If the villagers couldn't get near, it was probably due to some sort of magical barrier. A barrier spell on such a remote island? That was definitely suspicious.
Natsu and the others exchanged looks, their eyes gleaming with anticipation. The problem was obviously at the ruins.
After finishing their meal, the group set off toward the ruins the villagers had mentioned.
"No wonder it's an S-Class mission—I'm fired up already!" Natsu shouted.
"Aye~!"
Gray added excitedly, "If there's a barrier, I'll just freeze it solid!"
Although Lucy was also eager to complete the S-Class mission and improve her status, her cautious personality kicked in. "Let's not get reckless. If someone went through the trouble of setting up a barrier, they're definitely hiding something shady."
"By the way, Kaien—didn't you say you could lift the curse without knowing about the ruins?"
"The curse is one thing. Lifting it doesn't necessarily mean taking down the caster."
"That makes sense."
Just then, a rumbling sound echoed through the forest. Whatever it was, it sounded big.
"Hm?"
"What's that?"
Rustle—!
A giant rat—several dozen meters tall—burst out of the forest. Bizarrely, someone had dressed it in a frilly maid outfit as some kind of twisted joke.
"A rat!!"
"IT'S HUGE—!!"
Everyone froze at the sight of the enormous rodent, cheeks puffing up like it was about to do something nasty.
"I think it's about to spit something out…"
"You damn rodent—ICEMAKE: Ice Shield!" Gray shouted, forming a wall of ice in front of the group.
PFFFFT—!!
A blast of horrible stench erupted from the rat's mouth.
"Ugh!!"
"IT STINKS—!!"
"Squeeeeee!!"
The giant rat screeched in delight, clearly proud of its disgusting prank.
"Why is it so stinky?!"
Kaien covered his nose, feeling like he might pass out. He hadn't smelled anything this bad in his past or current life. Next to him, Natsu had already fainted from the stench.
"Natsu, come on! That's so embarrassing! Ah… right, your nose is sensitive…"
"Run for it!!"
The group bolted through the woods with the massive rat chasing after them.
While fleeing, Lucy yelled to Happy, "Happy, aren't you a cat?! Go catch that mouse!"
"As if!!"
Sure, he was a cat, but that didn't mean he liked catching mice. He preferred fish—and even if he did like catching rats, that thing was huge! It wasn't clear who would catch who!
"Kaien! You're an S-Class Mage—why are you running too?! Where's that badass aura from last night?!"
"I'm weak when I don't use Take Over Magic, okay?!"
He was decent in a fight when he had a weapon in hand. But with no sword and no magic active, his combat ability was average at best. The only reason he could go toe-to-toe with Erza was because she was holding back.
"Tch—Ice Bed!"
Gray slammed his palm to the ground, freezing the surface into a slick, icy sheet.
THUD!
The giant rat slipped and crashed to the ground.
"Nice one!!"
"Great! Let's run while we—"
"Let's beat it up!!"
Kaien, Natsu, and Gray shouted in unison, then rushed the fallen rat, pummeling it with fists and kicks.
Once they'd thoroughly thrashed the rat, the group continued on.
"The ruins!" someone called as they spotted their destination.
They approached and entered the ruins, noticing no resistance at all.
Lucy frowned. "Huh? Didn't the villagers say they couldn't get in? Why can we?"
"No idea… but this place looks like a wreck. Is this ground even safe?"
Natsu stomped on the floor a couple of times to test it.
"Wait!" Kaien warned. "Don't stomp like that! It already looks unstable. If you crack it—"
CRACK—!!
The floor suddenly gave way beneath them, sending them plummeting.
"You idiot!!"
"Kaien, you jinxed us!!"
"How is this my fault?!"
"Who knew there was a giant hole under the floor?!"
"Happy!!"
"Aye!"
Happy instantly spread his wings.
Lucy grabbed onto Happy's paw. Kaien grabbed Lucy's leg, Gray grabbed Kaien, and Natsu grabbed Gray.
With all five of them hanging on him, Happy's tiny face turned red as he flapped his wings furiously.
"I can't… hold on…!"
THUD THUD THUD!
One after another, they all crashed to the ground below.
Natsu sat up quickly. "Hey, everyone okay?!"
Gray snapped, "You moron! Why do you always act before thinking?!"
"I'm fine," Lucy said.
Just as the words left her mouth, a muffled grunt came from beneath her.
"I'm not okay!"