Lucy looked down and found that she was sitting on Takeshi's face again. No wonder she didn't feel any pain falling from such a high place. It turned out someone was cushioning her fall.
"Ah—!"
Lucy quickly stood up, her face flushed, holding her bottom.
Takeshi rubbed his face, then looked at Lucy and seriously said, "I really don't want to smell it."
He didn't know why he always ended up with Lucy on his face, but he really didn't want to smell it. He was so stifled he could barely breathe.
Lucy was immediately enraged by his words, and hit Takeshi with a straight punch at his face, baring her teeth and shouting at him, "This is sexual harassment!"
Gray looked up and said, "This seems to be below that ruin from earlier. I wonder how there's such a big hole here."
"A secret cave! Since we're down here, let's explore."
Natsu seemed very excited, there must be incredible secrets in a secret cave.
Gray said, "Hey, don't mess around anymore. We're here to find a way to break the curs..."
"Wow!"
Gray's words were cut short by Natsu's exclamation. Takeshi and Lucy also stopped.
"What's wrong?"
"Wh-What is this?"
Their eyes widened as they looked ahead, only to see a giant monster sealed in ice.
When Gray saw the monster's appearance, his pupils constricted, his face became extremely panicked, and his eyes were filled with unspeakable fear.
"Deliora!!!"
"Huh?"
Hearing Gray's shout, Lucy, Natsu, and Happy were a bit confused. Meanwhile, Takeshi was surprised by the frozen monster's size, not expecting it to be so huge.
"Deli... You know this thing?"
"Impossible! It can't be here! That's... that's..." Gray was flustered.
Takeshi glanced at Gray and lightly said, "Gray, calm down."
Hearing Takeshi's voice, Gray calmed down slightly. Although Takeshi usually seemed unreliable, almost everyone in the guild unconsciously regarded him as a pillar of stability. His words held great weight in everyone's hearts.
Lucy came to Gray's side with some concern and asked, "Gray, are you okay? What exactly is this monster?"
"Deliora, the demon that brings disaster. It's exactly like it was back then. How did it end up here?"
Gray was very puzzled, this thing should absolutely not be here.
Just then, footsteps sounded.
Takeshi's ears twitched. "Someone's coming."
They immediately hid, wanting to see what was happening.
Soon, two people, one tall and one short, walked over. The tall one looked like a dog, shirtless and wearing jeans. The short one had thick eyebrows and a blue and white trench coat.
"It sounds like someone was talking here."
"Oh."
"It's daytime, I am feeling sleepy."
"Oh."
"Are you a dog? Why do you have dog ears?"
"Where?! These are decorations! Understand!"
"I was just joking, do you have to get so angry?"
"Hmph!"
At this moment, a girl walked over and said, "Yuka, Toby, I have sad news for you. Angelica was beaten up by someone."
"That's just a mouse."
"Not a mouse. Angelica is a hunter running in the darkness. This is love."
The girl was wearing a gothic lolita style outfit, with heavy makeup, looking worried.
Lucy couldn't help but say, "A strange human has arrived."
Natsu stared at the three and said, "They're not villagers from this island. Their scent is different."
Natsu's nose was very sensitive and could easily distinguish everyone's scent.
Yuka frowned. "Are there intruders?"
Although he was a bit speechless about Sherry naming a large mouse Angelica, that large mouse was a guard they had placed around the ruins, mainly to prevent others from breaking into the ruins.
Now that the large mouse was beaten, coupled with the sounds they heard earlier, it meant that it was very likely the intruders had already entered here.
"We're almost done collecting the Moon's Magic Power. Really, this is such a sad thing. Before Sub-zero Emperor finds out, let's drive them out."
"Okay."
"Oh."
"Since they've seen Deliora, we can't let them leave alive. Let the intruders sleep forever, this is love."
"It's death, kill them."
As the three spoke, their footsteps gradually faded away.
Takeshi and the others emerged from behind the rocks.
Natsu asked, "Why did we hide? Wouldn't it be better to just catch them and ask for an explanation? Isn't that right, Takeshi?"
Takeshi waved his hand. "Don't ask me. Didn't I say? Since you want to do an S-Class Quest, the decision-making power is temporarily yours. If I act, the quest will be counted as mine."
Natsu quickly said, "Then no."
He finally had a chance to do an S-Class Quest, he didn't want to waste it for nothing.
"Damn it, why did those guys move Deliora here? And how did they find Deliora's sealing place?"
Natsu then remembered that Gray seemed to know this monster and asked, "By the way, Gray, how do you know this thing?"
Gray explained, "This guy was originally sealed in the ice mountains of the Northern Continent. Ten years ago, it committed all sorts of atrocities in Isvan and was immortal. Ur, my master who taught me magic, sacrificed herself to seal it."
"Although I don't know what it has to do with the curse of this island, it absolutely shouldn't appear in this place."
"Syb-zero Emperor... Who is he? If he dares to defile Ur's name, I will never let him go." Gray clenched his fists, his eyes becoming sharp.
"Could the island's curse be related to this demon?" Lucy guessed.
After all, the villagers had all turned into demons, looking like children of this demon.
"It's very possible. This demon is still alive."
"Good. In that case, we just need to try and defeat this demon."
Natsu swung his fist. If they defeated this demon, perhaps the villagers' curse would be lifted.
Bang!
"Ugh!"
Natsu had just finished speaking when his face took a solid punch.
"Gray, you bastard, what are you doing?!"
Gray said, "Fire Mage, get away from here. What if the ice melts and Deliora wakes up?"
Natsu asked, "Is this seal that easy to melt?"
Gray was stunned, then realized he was being overly sensitive. This was a magic applied by his Master, even the strongest flames couldn't melt it.
Takeshi patted Gray's shoulder. "Alright. Gray, you're a bit too nervous. I know this monster might have left a significant shadow on your childhood, but as long as I'm here, even if this monster revives, I can make it die again."
It was just a demon from Zeref's book, it was easy for him to deal with.