Chapter 91: The Sky Cracked Open
"Oh, oh! How lucky!"
"He's really going to do it! To actually witness the moon being destroyed..."
"Finally! Finally, we can return to normal!"
The villagers, all in their demonic forms, looked up at the towering, six-meter-tall form of Ren with absolute anticipation and worship.
"Destroying the moon..." Gray whispered, his voice full of dread. "Even if Ren is strong in this form, it's still too much to ask him to destroy the moon, isn't it?"
"Yeah!" Lucy agreed, her body trembling. "The moon is so far away! It's... it's impossible to attack it, right? What if he misses and hits a town? What if he succeeds? What happens to the tides?!"
Gray and Lucy, the more rational members of the group, were incredibly anxious. If Ren failed, the villagers' hope would be crushed. If he succeeded, they wouldn't know how to clean up the world-altering mess.
"So exciting!"
"I'm all fired up—!!!"
Happy and Natsu, however, didn't consider any of that. They just wanted to see something explode.
Ren, in his Whitebeard form, ignored their chatter. He had finished charging his power. He looked up at the sickly purple orb in the sky. He then swung his massive, trembling fist, striking the empty air in the direction of the moon with all his might.
— — — — — ! !
There was no sound, only the now-familiar shattering of the air itself.
Crack, crack—!
The space in front of his fist shattered like a mirror, and a terrifying, invisible shockwave rushed from his fist, traveling up, up, up... towards the moon.
Boom— — — — — ! !
The shockwave struck its target.
Crack, crack— — — ! !
To everyone's disbelief, visible cracks appeared on the surface of the purple moon.
"Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!"
Seeing the cracks appear on the moon, all the villagers cheered, their monstrous voices rising in a symphony of joy.
"You've got to be kidding me— — — — ! !
Gray and Lucy were both completely, utterly stunned. He... he actually did it. He hit the moon!
But soon, they noticed something strange. The cracks didn't stop. They spread, quickly, from the moon's center... but they weren't just on the moon. They were spreading across the sky. In an instant, the entire night sky was covered in a spiderweb of cracks.
"The... the sky... the sky is cracking— — — — ! ! !"
Seeing this scene, everyone was dumbfounded. Even Natsu was silent, his jaw hanging open.
Suddenly!!
Bang— — — — ! !
The sky shattered.
It fell apart like a giant, broken glass bowl. But the scene of the world ending didn't appear. Behind the shattered purple fragments, a pure, gentle, white full moon still hung in the sky, unharmed.
The shattering purple fragments, which were now revealed to be a massive, crystalline dome, scattered in the sky, catching the true moonlight and emitting a dazzling purple light as they rained down like glittering dust.
"What... what in the world is going on?!"
Natsu was a bit confused at this moment, not knowing what exactly had happened.
Whew!
Ren, his job done, released his Take Over stance. The massive, god-like form of Whitebeard dissolved, and he returned to his original appearance, letting out a long, tired breath as he landed softly on the ground.
"It's just as you see," Ren said, his voice back to normal. "Above this island, there was a giant crystal that looked like glass. If I'm not mistaken, it was a byproduct of Lyon and his group collecting the 'Moon Drip' every night. The moonlight was forced to shine through this layer of crystal onto the island, which is why the moonlight turned purple. As long as this layer of crystal is destroyed, the moon returns to its original color."
The clean, white light of the real moon now shone upon the entire island.
"But..." Lucy said, her voice trembling as she looked at the villagers. "They... they haven't returned to normal..."
At this moment, the villagers, who had been cheering, looked at their own demonic, clawed hands in the white moonlight. They were still demons.
"How could this be..."
"The curse... it's not lifted..."
Happy, his wings drooping, thought the curse couldn't be lifted and that the villagers would remain in this form forever.
Ren, however, just smiled and said, "No, they have already returned to their original state. The curse is lifted. This," he gestured to the demonic forms, "is their true form. The purple moonlight didn't change their appearance... it confused their memories. It made them believe they were humans who would turn into demons at night. It was a mass, mistaken memory."
Natsu was still a bit confused, scratching his head. "So... they forgot they were demons?"
But Lucy reacted, and the hairs on her body stood on end. "No... no... it can't be..."
Lucy had a terrible, dawning guess.
Ren gave Lucy a brilliant, almost cruel, smile. "That's right. They were demons all along."
"What— — — — ?!"
Natsu, Gray, and Happy were all stunned when they heard this.
Lucy was even more terrified, collapsing onto the ground. She could accept a curse. She could accept magic. But demons? Was she... was she actually in a village of real demons? This was too frightening.
"Is... is that true?" Gray cautiously asked the demonic villager chief next to him.
Moka, the chief, looked at his own clawed, purple hands in the white moonlight. The fog in his mind, which had been there for three years, was finally clearing. Memories... true memories... were returning.
"Um... um... it seems... so..."
Crack— — — — ! !
Hearing the villager admit it personally, Natsu, Gray, and Lucy all gaped. They really were demons.
"Remember that ruin?" Ren explained, filling in the blanks. "We originally thought there was a barrier, but there wasn't one when we went. That's because the ruin itself is blessed by holy light, or some ancient, good magic. It was designed so that all dark creatures cannot approach. But humans... humans are fine. You couldn't get in because you're demons. We could."
Lucy looked at Ren, her mind reeling. "Ren... did you... did you discover they were demons a long time ago? Is that why you were so calm?"
"How could I!" Ren bluffed, putting his hands behind his head. "I only discovered that giant crystal in the sky. The rest was just my deduction."
'Actually,' he thought, 'I just remembered the plot. But I can't very well tell them that.'
"That's amazing! It was truly good to ask you all for help, Mages. Thank you... thank you for giving us back our minds!"
At this moment, a new voice, one that Lucy and Natsu recognized, called out. A male demon with a square, kindly face walked over from the crowd.
"Bo... Bobo..."
The village chief immediately became excited when he saw him, his voice cracking. This was his dead son.
"Isn't that the boatman uncle?!" Natsu and Lucy shouted. It was the same man who had brought them to this island.
"Eh? But... weren't you... killed?" one of the villagers asked, confused. "Your father... he told us..."
"Killed?" Bobo laughed, his voice warm. "Can a demon be killed by a simple sword to the chest? Hahaha! Everyone thought they were human, which was what made the curse so terrifying. I... I recovered my memory a while ago, all alone, and I left the island. I was so scared. I didn't know if I was a monster, or if my family was... I just... fled."
"Bobo..." The village chief, with tears streaming down his demonic face, embraced the boatman.
"Dad... you're finally back to normal! Your mind... it's clear!"
"Bobo, you're alive!"
"That's great!"
"Let's celebrate!"
"Let's have a feast tonight! A real demon's feast!"
Even though they were all demons, the sheer, unadulterated joy of the "curse" being lifted, of their minds being freed, and the emotional reunion of a father and son... it infected Lucy and the others, relaxing their previously tense moods. These weren't monsters. They were just... people.
Soon, the feast began. At the feast, the demons sang and danced, and the atmosphere was very lively, not unlike a party at the Fairy Tail guild hall.
At this moment, in a distant, large tree, a woman with a sexy figure, dressed in a simple white cloak, sat on a branch. Beside her was a communications crystal ball, transmitting all the events—including Ren's transformation and his destruction of the "sky"—to another place.
"Did you see everything, Siegrain?"
The image of the blue-haired, tattoo-faced man appeared in the crystal. "Yes, Ultear. I never thought Deliora was already dead. It's such a pity. If we could have obtained Deliora, we would be one step closer to our ideal."
"I'm sorry, Siegrain-sama," Ultear said, her voice cold. "I didn't expect that woman's—Ur's—magic to be so powerful."
"You shouldn't say that," Siegrain said, a small, knowing smile on his face. "I greatly admire your mother. If she were still alive, she would undoubtedly be one of the Ten Wizard Saints."
"You flatter her," Ultear said, her voice laced with a hidden, deep-seated bitterness. "Mother was merely a pathetic woman who was passionate about magic... and was abandoned by her father."
"However," Siegrain said, his expression turning serious as he re-watched the image of Ren's attack, "I never expected Ren's strength to be so great. He truly lives up to his reputation as someone who can kill a Giant Dragon. This new 'Whitebeard' form... this is the first time it has been displayed. And its power is truly terrifying!"
"Indeed," Ultear agreed.
Hearing Siegrain mention Ren, Ultear's expression couldn't help but become serious. She had witnessed firsthand, through Zalty's eyes, how Ren had split mountains and seas. That terrifying power, that Haki, had left even her utterly shaken. So, when she felt things were going south, she had slipped away at the first opportunity.
"Fortunately, he also has a weakness," Ultear said, her tactical mind analyzing the situation. "The stronger the person he takes over, the faster his magic power is consumed. That final attack nearly drained him. He's a glass cannon. Otherwise, I really wouldn't know how to deal with this monster."
Ultear, through her agents and her own observations, knew Ren's data inside and out. She was aware that while Ren was formidable, he lacked endurance. As long as they wore him down in shifts, his magic power would quickly run out.
Siegrain touched the Ten Wizard Saints' exclusive emblem hanging on his own chest. "A monster, huh... I hope he doesn't hinder my plans. Otherwise... I'll have no choice but to eliminate this 'monster' myself."
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