Noel scanned the surroundings. The terrain around them was rather complex, but on the right side stood a building.
It looked like an ancient ruin, and judging by its appearance, it might be an altar.
"There's an altar up ahead," Noel pointed toward the structure. "Why don't we go in and have a look first?"
"I agree," Lucy voted immediately.
"I agree too," Natsu added, unable to contain his excitement, already poised to rush inside.
With the final decision made, the vote passed unanimously, and the group headed into the altar together.
As soon as they stepped inside, they were stunned by the structure.
"It's huge!" Noel couldn't help exclaiming.
He ran his hand along the bricks worn with the marks of time, sighing.
"It's already this dilapidated… I wonder which era it came from!"
The Moon God Temple also contained strange murals, telling fragments of some story. The murals were still somewhat decipherable.
The characters were unusual. Noel knew a bit of the ancient tongue, but he couldn't recognize a single word carved here.
From his deduction, it was likely a language belonging to some minority race.
Still, the murals clearly showed a depiction of the moon — that much was certain.
"That's the moon… This island was originally called Moon Island," Noel noted.
"Moon Island, combined with the Moon's curse… and tying that to these murals — there might be some connection," Lucy analyzed.
"Indeed. This temple is suspicious. There's a good chance it holds the information we're looking for," Noel added.
"This ruin gets stranger the deeper we go. And shouldn't a temple be venerated by the island's inhabitants? Why does it look like no one has been here for ages?" Gray questioned.
Natsu, meanwhile, was exploring the temple enthusiastically — in his own way.
He had no interest in brainwork like deciphering murals. Instead, he began stomping heavily on the floor nearby.
"There's nothing wrong with this floor, right?" he said, putting even more force into it.
"The environment is unfamiliar — it's best not to do things like that," Noel warned.
But the words came too late.
The moment he spoke, the floor beneath Natsu cracked open — and not just under Natsu's feet. The fissures spread rapidly, reaching under Noel and the others, until the entire section gave way.
"Ah—!" they all screamed.
Noel used wind magic to create a simple cushion, so even after they landed, no one was hurt.
Truthfully, it wasn't all that necessary — they were mages, after all, and their bodies were trained. From such a height, they wouldn't be gravely injured; at worst, the impact would hurt like hell.
"Is everyone alright?" Noel asked, checking on them.
"No problem," Lucy replied.
"This is all your fault — stomping the floor for no reason! Now we've fallen down here," Gray snapped at Natsu.
"But nothing happened, right? Besides, we found a hidden underground passage," Natsu replied nonchalantly.
"Happy, can you fly us out?" Noel turned to the Exceed.
"No good — the opening's too high," Happy said helplessly.
"Noel, don't you use wind magic? Can't you get up there?" Lucy asked quickly.
"No can do. It's too high. I can hover, but my so-called flight is just technique — not true flying," Noel shook his head.
The group found themselves in a dilemma.
Natsu, however, didn't see it as a bad thing at all. On the contrary, he was thrilled. Ignoring the others, he dashed further in.
"It's a mysterious cave! Let's explore! There might be something fun!"
"Let's keep going," Noel decided. "No point sitting here waiting. Better to see what's inside — we might find important clues."
They continued forward. The cave was dark and deep, and the further they went, the more unsettling it felt.
When they finally caught up to Natsu, they found him frozen at the entrance to another chamber, his expression stiff with fear, unwilling to step inside.
Whatever could scare Natsu like this instantly piqued Noel's curiosity.
"What happened?" Noel asked.
Natsu said nothing, just staring blankly ahead.
"Natsu?" Lucy called uncertainly.
"That…" Natsu finally came to his senses, pointing toward an ice sculpture.
The others walked up beside him.
Before them stood a massive block of ice, within which was sealed an enormous monster.
Gray stared at the frozen creature — and memories flooded back.
"It's Deliora!" he shouted.
"How? Why is Deliora here? Impossible!" Gray's eyes widened, his voice trembling with disbelief. He kept denying it to himself, but still, he stepped closer and laid a hand on the ice. The cold, solid touch confirmed it.
"There's no way it could be here…" Gray's voice was loud, but tinged with complex emotions.
Noel had never seen Gray like this. Normally so composed, why was he so shaken now? Natsu, too, didn't understand — he had never seen this side of Gray.
"What's going on? You know this monster?" Lucy asked curiously.
"It's…" Gray began sweating profusely, his speech breaking into stammers from the tension.
"Gray, calm down," Noel urged.
Hearing Noel's voice, Gray forced himself to breathe and regain composure.
"So… what exactly is this monster?" Natsu pressed.
"Deliora is a demon of disaster. This is exactly like that time back then… What the hell is going on?" Gray said.
He didn't know how or why, but one thing was certain — this demon should never be here.
Noel also remembered something about this demon — it was said to have been created by Zeref, the same as the cursed song he had destroyed not long ago. They were of the same type.
"…This is going to be trouble," Noel sighed.
"So what do we do now?" Lucy asked.
"For now, let's observe the demon. I think we can find some clues from it," Noel instructed.
PS: Access the complete chapters/series at