As Ur faced Ryoma's invitation, Gray held his breath, his eyes filled with unspeakable anticipation and pleading.
He hoped Ur would return with them.
Ur's gaze shifted from Ryoma and landed on her disciple's face. She saw Gray's expression, so tense he looked like he was about to cry.
Ten years.
This child had carried too much alone. Now he had a new family and new companions.
A gentle smile slowly bloomed on Ur's face.
She nodded lightly. "Alright."
A simple word, yet it seemed to possess infinite magic.
"That's great!"
Gray shouted excitedly, looking like he was about to jump.
"Yosh!"
Natsu and Happy were even more exaggerated, hugging each other and dancing with joy, starting a half-time celebration.
"We won! We won! We won!"
"S-Class Quest completed!"
"Aye!" Happy echoed.
Lucy's eyes sparkled, turning into money symbols.
She clasped her hands together, her face full of anticipation as she spoke, "Then, from now on… can we openly go up to the second floor of the guild?"
The second floor was the domain of S-Class Mages.
However, no sooner had she spoken than a bone-chilling cold instantly enveloped the entire cave.
"Oh?"
A low, calm yet infinitely dangerous voice sounded.
Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Happy all stiffened simultaneously. They turned their heads slowly, like wind-up puppets, with jerky movements.
Erza stood there, a "kind" smile on her face, but it felt terrifying.
"You seem to have forgotten something?"
Boom!
A thunderclap exploded in the minds of the three people and one cat.
They instantly remembered. They had taken an S-Class Quest without permission and Erza was here to bring them back.
According to guild rules, this was a serious crime.
"Ahhhh—!"
Natsu and Lucy screamed, clutching their heads, their joy instantly replaced by terror.
Gray's recently brightened face was instantly clouded over, cold sweat trickling down his temples.
It's over!
Completely over!
They were so busy being happy they forgot the most important thing.
"Um… Erza…"
Lucy tried to force out a fawning smile,
"Look, didn't we resolve the incident perfectly? Deliora also…"
"Hmm?"
Erza's smile grew brighter, but the killing intent also grew thicker.
Lucy immediately shut her mouth, not daring to say another word.
Ur looked at the atmosphere, which had instantly done a 180-degree turn, and tilted her head in confusion.
She looked at Ryoma, who was the only one still relatively calm.
"What is going on?"
Ryoma shrugged, explaining in the most concise words, "They stole an S-Class Quest and ran off. Erza was ordered by Master to bring them back for punishment."
"Stole… stole an S-Class task?"
Ur's brows instantly furrowed, and her gaze sharply locked onto Gray.
Gray's body trembled violently, a very ominous premonition welling up in his heart.
The next second, Ur's figure flickered and she appeared in front of Gray.
She pulled Gray over, her arm like an iron clamp around his neck, and her other hand formed into a fist, mercilessly delivering a heavy blow to his head.
Thump!
"Ow!" Gray cried out in pain.
"You brat!" Ur's voice was filled with anger, the kind that comes from seeing potential wasted.
"It's been so many years, and you haven't changed your habit of causing trouble at all?! How dare you do something like this! Do you have a death wish?!"
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Ur's fists rained down, and Gray saw stars but dared not resist at all, only clutching his head and constantly begging for mercy and explaining.
"No! Ur! I didn't do it on purpose!"
"I was knocked out and forcibly brought here by them!"
He was truly innocent.
However, it would have been better if he hadn't said that, because as soon as he did, Ur's temper flared even more.
"What?!"
The force in her hand increased a few points.
Thump!
"You were knocked out and brought here by others? You have the nerve to say that?! You were so easily overpowered, what happened to everything I taught you before?!"
"Ahhhhh! It hurts! It really hurts! Ur!"
Gray's pained cries echoed through the cave, sounding incredibly miserable.
Natsu and Lucy, watching from the side, were terrified, shrinking their necks and not daring to make a sound.
This woman named Ur is really scary.
Indeed, a master who could teach someone like Gray was no ordinary person.
Erza, watching this scene, actually reined in her killing intent, a faint smile appearing at the corner of her lips.
Just as Gray was receiving his 'love education,' Ryoma's leisurely voice sounded, pouring another bucket of cold water on them.
"Speaking of which, have you forgotten the most important thing?"
His gaze swept over Natsu and Lucy, who were still congratulating themselves on escaping punishment.
"The quest."
"Quest?" Natsu was startled.
Ryoma said, "Deliora actually doesn't have too direct a relationship with this quest, you know."
Lucy spoke with some confusion, "But isn't Deliora already dead? If it's dead, shouldn't the villagers' curse also disappear?"
Isn't that a very logical progression?
However, Ryoma looked at her with the gaze one would give an idiot. "How could you ask such a naive question?"
Lucy's face instantly flushed red, so embarrassed she wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
"Did… did I say something wrong?"
Ryoma withdrew his gaze and explained flatly, "I already said, the quest has little to do with Deliora. The group of people who performed the ritual didn't turn into demons, you know."
Erza added, "Rescuing the villagers who turned into demons is the real purpose of this quest, right?"
"…"
"…"
"…"
The cave once again fell into a deathly silence.
Natsu, Lucy, and Gray were all stunned.
They seemed to have gotten the direction wrong from the very beginning?
They fought tooth and nail, stopping the ritual, but the real problem wasn't solved at all?
"Then what do we do?" Lucy's voice was tinged with a sob. "Did Deliora die for nothing?"
"Not necessarily."
Ryoma waved his hand. "The current focus is how to lift the curse on the villagers."
Just as everyone was at a loss, a flash of lightning seemed to strike in the mind of the usually silent Natsu.
He suddenly clapped his hands and shouted excitedly, "I've got it!"
Everyone's gaze instantly focused on him.
Natsu raised his flame-engulfed fist high, revealing a confident smile, and said something that made everyone present's brains crash.
"We just need to destroy the moon, right?"