Chapter 50: FTRJ: Chapter 50

Finn and the others looked at the villager with puzzled expressions.

The villager, unsure how to explain further, simply stated, “Just come back with me and see.”

With that, he led the group towards the remains of the village.

Upon seeing the tall walls and the houses, completely restored to their former glory, Natsu and the others’ mouths dropped open in utter disbelief. Their eyes widened in astonishment.

“Wh-what’s going on here?” Lucy rubbed her eyes, half-convinced that she was experiencing some sort of visual hallucination.

“But…yesterday, this place was completely leveled!” Happy exclaimed, clutching his head in disbelief, unable to comprehend the scene before him.

Bang-bang-bang!

Natsu relentlessly pounded on one of the now perfectly restored houses, his frustration evident in his actions.

“Yesterday, these buildings were all completely destroyed!”

Finn, observing the miraculous transformation of the village, recalled the only individual with the power to accomplish such a feat: Ultear.

Ultear’s mastery of Time Arc magic made this seemingly impossible feat entirely plausible.

A subtle smile touched Finn’s lips as he looked towards the sky. “Thank you, Ultear!” he murmured, his voice filled with gratitude.

Meanwhile, Natsu continued his relentless pounding on the house, completely oblivious to the others’ reactions.

Lucy, well aware of Natsu’s penchant for destruction, facepalmed and muttered under her breath, her voice laced with exasperation.

“Seriously, Natsu, it’s already been completely restored. I really think you should stop hitting it now.”

Natsu, startled by Lucy’s words, instantly flared up in anger. “What did you say?! What do you mean by that?!” he roared, his voice filled with indignation.

Lucy sighed wearily, her voice devoid of any emotion. “Exactly what I said.”

After considerable contemplation, Natsu, unable to make heads or tails of Lucy’s seemingly simple statement, simply shrugged and gave up on trying to understand.

“Whatever,” he said dismissively, his anger dissipating as quickly as it had appeared.

With a carefree grin, Natsu skipped away from the house, his earlier frustration completely forgotten.

“Aye!” Happy, clearly agreeing with Natsu’s assessment of the situation, followed suit, his tail wagging enthusiastically.

Lucy, watching Natsu’s lightning-fast mood swing with a mixture of amusement and exasperation, muttered under her breath, “That’s just like you, Natsu.”

The group soon arrived at the village square, a large open space at the heart of the village. The village chief, along with the remaining villagers, were waiting patiently for their arrival.

As Finn and the others approached, the village chief stepped forward to address them. “It was you who restored the village to its former state, wasn’t it?” he asked, his voice filled with gratitude.

Lucy, feeling slightly embarrassed, attempted to explain the situation, but the village chief interrupted her before she could even finish her sentence.

“Regardless of the details,” he said, his voice filled with genuine appreciation, “we are eternally grateful for your assistance.”

The village chief’s gaze swept across the group, before he posed a rather unexpected question.

“However, esteemed mages,” he continued, “I must ask: precisely when do you intend to destroy the moon?”

Lucy’s face paled at the chief’s question. Destroying the moon? That was utterly impossible!

Just as Lucy’s mind raced to formulate a response, Finn spoke calmly and confidently. “Destroying the moon isn’t entirely outside the realm of possibility,” he stated.

The village chief’s gaze fixed intently upon Finn, his eyes filled with a mixture of hope and anticipation.

Gray, however, expressed his utter disbelief. “That’s completely impossible,” he exclaimed, his voice laced with incredulity. “Even Finn wouldn’t be capable of destroying the moon!”

“Aye! That’s Finn for ya!” Happy chirped from above, his voice brimming with excitement.

Finn exchanged a subtle glance with Erza.

Erza nodded, stepping forward to address the villagers. “There’s something we need to confirm,” she said, her voice measured and calm.

“Did the transformations begin after the appearance of the purple moon?”

The village chief nodded in response. “To be precise,” he explained, “the transformations occur during the period when the purple moon is visible in the night sky.”

Erza nodded thoughtfully, taking a step forward. She seemed to find that walking helped to clarify her thoughts. However, she failed to notice Lucy’s expression of sheer terror as she observed Erza’s direction of travel.

“Based on your account,” Erza stated, continuing her slow walk, “this condition has afflicted you for three years.”

“Yes, three long years,” the villagers echoed in unison, their voices filled with a sense of weariness and despair.

Erza continued, “But during those three years, the Moon Drip ritual has been performed within the ruins every single night. I believe you all must have witnessed a beam of light emanating from the ruins each night.”

“Lucy, are you alright?” Finn asked, noticing the growing terror etched on Lucy’s face.

Before Lucy could respond, Erza, who had been walking steadily forward, inadvertently stepped onto a patch of seemingly innocuous grass.

To everyone’s surprise, it turned out to be a cleverly concealed trap, and Erza plunged unexpectedly into a hidden pit.

“Aaah~~” Erza cried out in surprise.

Gray and Natsu’s hair stood on end in alarm.

“Even the traps are self-repairing,” Happy stated, his voice laced with a hint of despair.

“She’s not going to kill us, is she?” Gray whispered, his voice trembling slightly, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

Lucy, clutching her head in her hands, began to rock back and forth, muttering to herself, “This is definitely not my fault! I didn’t do anything!”

Finn paused for a moment, a surprised expression on his face. “Erza just…’Aaah’ed? How cute!” he commented, his voice laced with amusement.

Erza, emerging from the pit, brushed the dust off her clothes, then calmly folded her arms.

“This means,” she declared, her voice regaining its usual authority, “that location is the most suspicious place on this island.”

The villagers looked at each other, their faces a mixture of bewilderment and exasperation. “She’s just acting like nothing happened,” one of them muttered under his breath.

“Truly impressive,” another villager whispered, his voice filled with awe.

Erza’s expression remained serious. “I still can’t understand why none of you attempted to investigate what was happening,” she said, her voice firm and unwavering.

The villagers exchanged uneasy glances, unsure how to respond.

Finally, the village chief, his face beaded with sweat, stepped forward to offer an explanation. “It’s because,” he explained nervously, “there has always been a strict prohibition within the village, forbidding anyone from approaching the ruins.”

Finn’s voice cut through the air, his tone laced with a mixture of impatience and understanding.

“You’re all afflicted by this curse,” he pointed out, his gaze fixed intently on the village chief. “Yet you still cling to this outdated prohibition? Furthermore, I’ve already heard that one of your villagers has perished, and that the victim was your own son.

Under these circumstances, what possible justification could there be for adhering to such a meaningless rule?”

“Let me make this perfectly clear,” Finn continued, his voice firm and unwavering. “If you truly desire to lift this curse, then you must reveal the truth to us.

Otherwise, we are powerless to assist you.” Finn’s gaze remained locked onto the village chief, his expression unwavering.

The village chief, unable to withstand Finn’s intense gaze, began to sweat profusely.

Finally, he let out a long, weary sigh. “The truth is,” he confessed, his voice barely above a whisper, “we don’t fully understand what’s happening.

We’ve attempted to approach the ruins on several occasions, but every time we try, we find ourselves inexplicably transported back to the village entrance, despite our best efforts to reach the ruins.”

“What? You mean you can’t get close to the ruins?” Lucy exclaimed, her face etched with confusion.

“But we can get there without any problems,” Natsu added, his voice filled with bewilderment.

“We knew you probably wouldn’t believe us,” the demonized villager said, his voice laced with a hint of resignation. “That’s why we didn’t tell you sooner.”

“It’s all true,” the villager confirmed.

Erza nodded, her eyes gleaming with understanding. “As I suspected,” she murmured. With a sudden flash of light, a set of black and yellow armor materialized upon her body, the massive gauntlet on her right arm particularly striking.

Turning to Finn, Erza declared, “Finn, let’s go destroy the moon.”

“Let’s go,” Finn replied, his voice firm and resolute, and he followed Erza’s lead.

“Eh???”

Gray, Lucy, and Happy, however, were far from convinced. Their eyes widened in disbelief, their jaws dropping open in astonishment. “You’re actually going to try and destroy the moon?!” they exclaimed in unison.

Upon hearing that their salvation depended on the destruction of the moon, the villagers erupted into a chorus of excited cheers.

“Oh!!”

“Will we get to witness the moon being destroyed?”

“We’ll finally be able to return to normal!”

The villagers’ excited chatter filled the air.

“Destroying the moon? Even Erza and Finn can’t do that,” Gray stated incredulously, his voice laced with disbelief.

“I can’t even begin to imagine how they plan to accomplish such a feat,” Lucy whispered to herself, her mind racing to find a plausible explanation.

Happy, perched upon Lucy’s shoulder, chirped excitedly. “I think this is going to be awesome!” His small face was practically beaming with excitement.

Erza, her voice firm and confident, explained her strategy. “The Giant’s Armor will enhance my throwing power,” she said, a pink magic circle materializing in her hand.

“And,” she continued, as a magnificent spear materialized in her grasp, “this is the Exorcism Spear, capable of repelling even the most formidable darkness.”

The spear’s towering point radiated a chilling aura, its wide base particularly striking.

The group watched in awe and wonder as Erza displayed her powerful equipment.

Erza and Finn quickly reached the top of the observation tower.

“Erza, are you sure you can reach it? Will it be enough?” Finn asked, his voice laced with a hint of concern.

“With your assistance, it will be more than enough, Finn,” Erza replied confidently.

“Alright, then, let’s begin,” Finn said, moving to stand behind Erza, his body radiating a powerful surge of magical energy.

Erza positioned herself as far back as possible, her right hand firmly gripping the Exorcism Spear, striving for maximum leverage.

“Here it goes,” Erza declared, launching the Exorcism Spear with all her might. “Finn!”

Finn’s body erupted in a blaze of intense flames, the energy converging in his right hand as he unleashed a devastating blow to the base of the Exorcism Spear.

Boom! The explosion of magical energy within the confines of the observation tower was immense, shattering the structure completely.

“Ugh…more destruction,” Lucy muttered under her breath, her voice laced with exasperation.

Happy, however, was ecstatic, his paws raised in the air. “That was amazing!” he exclaimed excitedly.

Propelled by the force of Finn’s explosive magical attack, the Exorcism Spear shot skyward like a rocket, quickly transforming into a brilliant streak of light.

The villagers watched with bated breath as the spear streaked across the night sky.

Finally, with a resounding crash, a crack appeared on the surface of the purple moon, visible to everyone’s astonishment.

“No way!!” Gray and Lucy exclaimed in unison, their faces etched with disbelief. They felt as though their intelligence had been utterly crushed.

Finn, his hand raised in a gesture of observation, kept his gaze fixed upon the crack spreading across the surface of the moon, a subtle smile playing on his lips. “Erza,” he said, his voice laced with confidence, “it seems we’ve succeeded.”

“Indeed,” Erza replied, her voice filled with quiet satisfaction.

The crack rapidly spread across the surface of the purple moon, and just as everyone braced themselves for its complete disintegration, the crack began to extend outwards, spreading into the very fabric of the night sky itself.

Bang~~

A deafening sound, like the shattering of a colossal pane of glass, reverberated through the air.

The sky itself had shattered.

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