Gray fell silent. He knew Kael was incredibly powerful—the man had taken down a dragon by himself, after all. But Gray hadn't witnessed the dragon's power firsthand. He had seen the devastation Deliora was capable of. Deep down, he wasn't sure if even Kael could stand against a disaster like that.
But the bigger question weighed on him: why bring Deliora here?
"I don't get it," Natsu grumbled, pacing back and forth. "Who would drag that thing all the way out here, and what do they want with it?"
He pointed toward a set of stairs leading to an upper passage. "This is easy. We chase after those weirdos from earlier. They're bound to have the answers."
"No. Stay here," Gray countered. "We wait until the moon comes out."
Natsu looked like he'd been slapped. "The moon?! It's still broad daylight! No way, no way! I'll die of boredom! Besides, Kael's deadline is tonight. If we don't finish this by then, we fail the mission!"
"Think about it, Natsu," Gray said, his voice steady. "The island's curse and Deliora—they're both connected to the moon. The villagers mentioned a purple light, and those people mentioned 'collecting the moon's light.' This cavern is the heart of the curse. Once night falls, we'll see exactly what they're doing."
Gray glanced at Kael, looking for a nod of approval.
Kael just leaned back against a rock, stretching his arms. "I told you, I'm just the observer. This is your show."
Lucy nodded with Gray. "He's right. I'm worried about what those people are planning. We need to see the ritual in action to understand how to stop it."
"Then it's settled," Gray concluded.
"No! I want to go punch them now!" Natsu protested.
"That's two against one, Natsu," Lucy said. "Majority rules."
"And Happy! What about Happy?!"
Happy stood beside Lucy and raised a tiny paw, looking a little sheepish. "I'm with Lucy on this one."
"Traitor cat!!" Natsu wailed, devastated by the betrayal of his lifelong partner.
With no other choice, Natsu slumped against a wall. Kael, meanwhile, sat cross-legged and closed his eyes, his breathing turning deep and rhythmic. He had been practicing Sun Breathing for about half a year now. While he had mastered the basics of Total Concentration: Constant, he knew he still had a long way to go to reach the peak.
Lucy watched him, fascinated. "Kael? What are you doing?"
"Training my Breathing Style," he replied without opening his eyes.
"Breathing Style? Is that a kind of magic?"
"Not exactly. It's a technique that pushes your physical limits through specific breathing patterns."
"Wow... Can you teach me?"
"Nope. You wouldn't be able to do it."
"Stingy!" Lucy huffed.
Happy chimed in from the side. "It's true, Lucy. Kael tried to teach the whole guild once, but nobody could get the hang of it."
"Well, maybe I'm a once-in-a-generation prodigy!" Lucy argued.
Happy stared at her flatly. "Sometimes I think you're even more delusional than Natsu."
"What did you say, you mangy cat?!" Lucy lunged for Happy, pinching his cheeks until he squealed.
They bickered and played for a while, but eventually the long day caught up with them. One by one, they drifted into a light sleep.
Time passed in silence. The sun sank below the horizon, and night settled in as the moon rose over the sea.
Rumble—!
The sound of heavy stone shifting echoed through the cavern, jolting everyone awake.
"What was that?"
"Is it night already?"
"Look at the ceiling!"
High above, a circular opening in the ruins lined up perfectly with the moon. A concentrated beam of eerie purple light shot down through the hole, cutting through the darkness and bathing Deliora's icy prison in a chilling glow.
"The purple light! That's the pillar the villagers saw!"
"Why is it shining directly on Deliora? That can't be a coincidence."
"Come on," Gray said, his expression hardening. "Let's find the source."
Kael stood up slowly, brushing dust off his pants. He took one last look at the frozen demon before following the others up the stairs. If he was going to oversee this mission, he might as well see it through to the end.
They climbed floor by floor until they reached the very top of the ruins, then hid in the shadows of the crumbling walls.
"Look at that..." Lucy whispered.
In the center of the roof, a group of robed figures stood around a ritual circle. They chanted in a low, steady rhythm. As they moved, the moonlight above seemed to twist and funnel into a concentrated stream of energy. This was the Moon Drip—the ritual used to gather the moon's essence.
"They're sending the energy down into the cavern," Lucy whispered. "They're trying to melt the ice! They're trying to resurrect Deliora!"
"Impossible," Gray hissed. "Iced Shell is absolute. It doesn't just melt."
"Then why else would they go to all this trouble?"
"Shh! Someone's coming!"
They ducked behind a low wall as the trio from earlier—Sherry, Yuka, and Toby—walked over to a man standing at the edge of the ritual. He wore a silver chest plate and a helmet with long, curved horns.
"We searched all day, but those intruders are nowhere to be found," Yuka grumbled, rubbing his tired eyes.
"It's a tragedy, Lord Lyon," Sherry added, bowing to the man in the horned helmet. "I wanted to show them my love, but they seem to have vanished into the night."
"Intruders..." Lyon murmured, his voice cold.
A short, masked man stepped out from the shadows of the ritual pillars. "Lord Lyon."
"Zalty," Lyon said, acknowledging him. "I didn't think you'd show your face."
"I wouldn't miss this historic moment for anything," Zalty replied with a strange, sly chuckle.
"Hmph. How much longer until Deliora is free?"
"At this rate," Zalty said, glancing at the pillar of light, "if not tonight, then by tomorrow evening. The ice is already starting to destabilize."
"Finally!" Lyon's eyes flashed with ambition. "I don't care for unnecessary bloodshed, but I won't have anyone interfering at the final hour. Aside from that village on the coast, there shouldn't be anyone else here. Go. Destroy the village and make sure no one is left to stop us."
"As you wish!" Sherry and the others turned to leave.
"What?!" Lucy gasped. "The villagers have nothing to do with this!"
Natsu's face twisted with rage. Gray, however, looked like he had seen a ghost. "That voice... No... It can't be him."
"I've heard enough!" Natsu roared.
He didn't wait for a plan. He leaped from their hiding spot and landed in the center of the roof, his fists wreathed in fire.
"The intruders you're looking for are right here!"
To make sure he had everyone's attention, Natsu took a deep breath and fired a massive Fire Dragon's Roar into the sky, lighting up the ruins like a second sun.