Seeing Qi Yan's relaxed demeanor, Natsu gritted his teeth. He still had an s-class mission to complete; how could he possibly fall here? Absolutely not.
"It's not over yet!!"
Natsu roared, slammed his palms on the ground, leaped up, and formed two fiery blades with his flame-wreathed hands, spinning rapidly.
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Crimson Lotus Exploding Flame…"
Before Natsu could finish shouting the name of his move.
Snap!
One of Natsu's ankles was caught by a large hand.
Immediately after, he felt an irresistible force dragging him and slamming him towards the ground.
Boom—!
"Ugh ah ah!"
Then!
Boom boom boom boom boom boom!!
Qi Yan grabbed Natsu's ankle and repeatedly slammed him into the ground, each terrifying impact causing the earth to tremble.
"Natsu!"
Lucy couldn't bear to watch this scene, and at the same time, she was incredibly afraid, fearing that she would be treated like Natsu.
Happy also trembled with fear. After all, although Natsu was the mastermind behind stealing the s-class mission, he was the main accomplice in the theft.
Qi Yan in this state recognized no one.
After a while, Qi Yan stopped. Natsu was already bruised and swollen, his face resembling a pig's head.
Qi Yan let go, and Natsu fell to the ground, motionless. Everyone was unsure of his condition.
"I gave you a chance, but you didn't seize it! It looks like this quest still belongs to me."
"Qi... Qi Yan... you didn't do anything to Natsu, did you?"
Gray asked with some concern. Although he and Natsu were rivals, he didn't want Natsu to be killed.
"Don't worry, I knew what I was doing. He looks a bit miserable, but they're all just superficial injuries, just a bit painful. He'll be bouncing back in two or three days."
Fushiguro Toji was incredibly familiar with human anatomy. He knew exactly where to hit to cause pain, where to cause injury, and where to kill.
A bit miserable? He looked absolutely terrible, but Gray still said, "That's good! That's good!"
Qi Yan's gaze fell on Lucy and Happy.
"Eeek—!!"
The person and the cat immediately trembled with fear.
"You two…"
Before Qi Yan could finish his sentence.
Lucy and Happy quickly bowed their heads and apologized: "Sorry! Sorry! We won't dare to do it again! Never again!!"
"Hmph! I'll let you off this time. Wait until you get back to face the Master's punishment!"
Qi Yan snorted coldly, then released the Fushiguro Toji transformation and returned to his original appearance.
Lucy and Happy slumped to the ground, but a sigh of relief escaped their hearts. Qi Yan in that state was too terrifying.
"We finally survived…"
"Aye~!"
Qi Yan stepped into the village, and all the villagers secretly watched him from behind their houses.
After releasing the transformation, Qi Yan immediately felt sore all over. This was the after-effect of every transformation into Fushiguro Toji; forcefully raising his physical capabilities to that level, his body couldn't quite handle it.
Fortunately, his current physical fitness had greatly improved, otherwise, one transformation might have put him out of commission for a while.
Qi Yan picked up a chair, sat on it, and crossed his legs: "Everyone, come out!"
"…"
All the villagers remained still. They had just witnessed how Qi Yan brutally beat Natsu. If they were beaten like that, they would have died long ago.
Qi Yan's voice turned cold: "Do you want me to personally invite you out?"
Swish swish swish!!!
All the villagers, hearing this, immediately ran out in fear.
The village chief cautiously asked: "This... Mages…"
"My name is Qi Yan, and I am the person in charge of this s-class mission. I am the Mage who officially accepted the quest. Those three idiots stole an s-class mission request from the guild and secretly ran out to do the quest, so I taught him a lesson."
"So that's how it is!"
The villagers now understood why Qi Yan had beaten Natsu so severely. It turned out that the other party had stolen his job.
"I apologize for the damage caused just now. These damages will be deducted from the quest reward after the quest is completed."
The village chief quickly waved his hand and said: "It's fine! It's fine! They're just some cheap pieces of wood, found everywhere in the forest, and can be repaired quickly."
"Alright, now tell me about the quest situation."
Although he already knew how to lift the so-called curse, some procedures still needed to be followed.
"Okay!"
The village chief turned and instructed: "Everyone, take off your cloths."
Swish!
Everyone in the village removed the cloths draped over their bodies.
They saw that parts of everyone's bodies were in an altered state. Some had scales growing on their arms, some had horns growing on their foreheads, and others were covered in various carapaces, looking like parts of a demon's limbs.
"This is…"
Gray was very surprised to see this.
"Gulp!"
Lucy involuntarily swallowed, even though she had seen it on the boatman and was mentally prepared, seeing this situation still made her feel a shiver down her spine.
"You're very surprised, aren't you? All living creatures on this island, even dogs and birds, have fallen under such a curse."
Gray asked his question: "Where is the basis for you saying this is a curse? Couldn't it be some kind of illness?"
"We've had over a dozen doctors look at it, and they all said there's no such disease. Moreover, our transformation is related to the 'Moon's Magic Power'."
"Moon's Magic Power? What is that?"
Lucy couldn't help but ask.
"This island, since ancient times, has accumulated the light of the moon. The entire island used to shine like the moon. However, a few years ago, the moonlight suddenly turned purple."
"Purple?"
Gray and the others were a bit surprised. Aren't moons always white? How could it turn purple?
"The moon is out!!"
Happy pointed to the sky, and the moon slowly rose from behind the clouds, casting purple moonlight upon the earth.
"It really is purple!!"
"This is the curse of the Moon's Magic Power... Ugh... Ugh ah…"
"Ugh ah ah ah!!"...All the villagers had expressions of pain.
"Hey! What's wrong with you?!"
Seeing the villagers in such pain, Gray and Lucy both panicked a little.
In a flash, all the villagers began to transform, and soon, their entire bodies turned into terrifying demonic forms.
Gasp—!!
Lucy and Gray were utterly stunned. Qi Yan was also startled. To be honest, at night, any one of these people alone could scare someone to death, let alone appearing together. Even though he knew they were all demons, it was the same; who wouldn't be afraid?
"I'm sorry to have startled you. When the purple moon appears, we turn into these ugly forms. If this isn't a curse, what else could it be?"
"By morning, everyone will return to their original appearance, but some people whose minds have been devoured will not be able to change back. If left unchecked, everyone will be killed by them. Out of desperation, I even killed my own son."
The village chief, tears streaming down his face, held up a photograph.
"That person... Eh?!"
Lucy and Happy's faces changed when they saw the photo. Wasn't that the boatman who brought them here?
"Because of this purple moon's magic power, we became like this, and gradually our minds were also devoured, turning us into true demons."
"So there's only one way to help us break this curse, and that is…"
"Destroy this moon!"
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