Lucy clenched her fists in excitement, her eyes practically sparkling with dollar signs.
"($v$) All the enemies are down! Once we break the curse, we're getting that reward! Seven million jewels, here I come!"
She was already picturing the money waving at her, a blissful smile plastered across her face.
Roger raised an eyebrow. "Lucy, which way to the ruins where Deliora's sealed?"
"The ruins?" Lucy snapped out of her money-fueled daydream, tilting her head in confusion. "Roger, aren't you coming with us to investigate the village?"
He smirked. "Didn't you guys say you wanted to handle this mission on your own? If I step in, it'll count as a failure for you."
"So… you still want me tagging along for the investigation?"
Lucy, Natsu, and Happy shook their heads in perfect unison, practically shouting, "No, no! You go ahead!"
Lucy quickly pointed west. "Just follow the path over there, and you'll hit the ruins."
Mirajane raised her hand with a cheerful smile, her white hair catching the sunlight in a dazzling shimmer. "I'm kinda curious about what the villagers look like when they turn into demons, so I'm gonna check out the village~"
Erza nodded, arms crossed. "I need to head to the village too, to confirm a hunch of mine."
Roger gave a curt nod. "Alright, let's meet up in the village at dusk."
With that, he turned and headed toward the ruins.
Soon, a dilapidated structure came into view, its weathered walls still bearing traces of intricate carvings. Faint crescent moon patterns were etched into the stone.
"I think the original story called this the Moon Temple," Roger muttered, his eyes scanning the worn walls. "The villagers, cursed as demons, can't come near this place. The Moon Drip ritual was performed here too."
Could there be records about the gods here?
He stepped forward, his slender fingers brushing over the faded carvings.
"For years, I've scoured books for anything about the gods, but I've come up empty," he said softly, his brow furrowing. "It's like their traces have been wiped from this world. Outside of the gods worshipped by the church, there's barely any mention of them."
"Even the guild master only knows scraps about the gods, and none of it's been useful."
"Here's hoping I find some solid leads here."
Inside the temple, broken gray-white stone pillars lay scattered across the floor, covered in thick dust and dark green moss. Dim light filtered through cracks in the back wall, casting faint shadows on the ground. The floor was riddled with fissures where plants had pushed through, and the surrounding walls were adorned with countless faded red crescent moon emblems.
A wisp of cyan wind appeared beneath Roger's feet, lifting him off the ground. He floated over a fallen pillar and a seemingly bottomless pit, arriving at the entrance to a long, shadowy corridor.
As he entered, he noticed the walls on either side were carved with depictions of the moon transitioning from new to crescent to full.
Nearing the end of the corridor, he stopped abruptly in front of the right wall and raised his hand. A faint blue glow emanated from his index finger, and as it passed over the area beside a full moon carving, the dust cleared, revealing deeply etched, unfamiliar symbols.
"Ancient script?" he murmured, tracing the characters. "Looks like Porlyusican."
"'At the full moon… the gods… will grant us… blessings,'" he read slowly, a thoughtful glint in his eyes.
"Blessings from the gods? Is the Moon Temple tied to a Moon God?"
He pressed forward, soon entering a spacious circular hall filled with the musty scent of dust and ancient stone.
The room was nearly empty, save for a crudely carved white stone throne on the western side. The throne's backrest was adorned with four sickle-shaped crescent moon statues—one large, three small.
Roger approached but stopped short, speaking without turning. "How long are you planning to tail me?"
The empty room offered no response, his voice echoing in the silence.
He turned, raising a hand and flicking it toward the corridor. Countless blue ice needles materialized, rushing toward the entrance like a storm. Just as they reached the doorway, they froze in midair, then clattered to the ground with a sharp ding as if they'd lost all momentum.
"Well, well," came a raspy, low voice. A short old man wearing a red mask stepped out from the shadows. "Not bad for the Demon King of Fairy Tail to sense me."
Roger's lips curled into a slight grin at the sight of the comical mask. "I didn't just sense you. I know your name, too—Ul, tear, ia."
The old man's steps faltered for a split second before he let out a low chuckle. "That's a bold guess. Ultear's a woman's name, isn't it? I'm just an old man."
"Didn't think the Demon King would get it wrong."
"Oh, really?" Roger's voice shifted, mimicking the tone he'd used back in Rosemary Village. "Reporting to Lady Ultear! We've successfully captured 52 children!"
"WALKO!" The man's voice morphed into an enraged feminine one, the eyes behind the mask widening. "It was you who killed Walko!"
"Oh? So Lady Ultear remembers me," Roger said, his tone dripping with mockery. "I'm flattered, truly."
That bastard! Ultear glared at him, her eyes blazing behind the mask.
Because of him, her first mission had ended in failure. What should've been a simple task dragged on for over two weeks, and several kids even escaped.
Her thoughts turned to his guild, and her brow furrowed.
Could he be why the Council cracked down harder on the dark magic cults? So many of our people got arrested, slowing down the R-System's construction.
Fairy Tail—what a pain of a guild.
With the Demon and the Fairy Queen both on this island, the three of them together could easily trap her. Risking herself for a maybe-dead Deliora wasn't worth it.
She pulled out a dark green crystal orb and smashed it against the ground.
Bang!
Thick smoke instantly filled the space.
"Deliora's all yours, Roger. I'll remember you," Ultear's voice echoed through the haze. As the smoke cleared, she was gone.
Roger rubbed his chin, lost in thought.
Judging by her reaction, killing that dark mage back then hit her hard. But she didn't rush into a fight with me, which means the R-System mission hasn't failed.
Pushing the thought aside, he approached the throne. "Usually, thrones like this have some kind of mechanism. I wonder if this ruin has anything like that."
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