Fairy Tail: All Magic Converges in One Body

Hope carefully recalled what she had seen and heard on Galna Island today, and said, "Village Chief, you said that the curse started three years ago when the moon turned purple one night, and that the villagers who were exposed to the moonlight would turn into demons at night, right?"

"Yes, during the day everyone will return to their original state, but..."

The village chief's face showed a sorrowful expression. "Some people can't recover. They are affected by the curse and lose their minds. Their bodies and souls have completely turned into demons. They keep shouting that we are all demons."

“They couldn’t be kept in, nor could they be cured. In the end, in order to prevent the villagers from being harmed by those who had completely fallen into demonic possession, we had no choice but to harden our hearts and kill them, including my son… Bobo.”

Bobo?

Lucy and Natsu suddenly remembered that the boatman who brought them to Galna Island also seemed to have this name.

It might just be a coincidence of names, after all, the village chief said he killed his son.

Seeing the village chief break down in tears at the end of his speech, the group became even more determined to break the curse of Karna Island and prevent the tragedy of family members killing each other from happening again.

Only Hope remained completely unconcerned, continuing her analysis as if nothing was amiss.

“I also saw the purple moon and was exposed to the purple moonlight, but I can confirm that my body did not change at all, which means that the curse may not be caused by the purple moonlight alone... There must be some prerequisite for it to act on the human body.”

Erza gave Hope an approving look. "A very rational judgment. Do you have any suggestions for breaking the curse?"

Hope pondered for a moment and said, "I think before we look for a way to break the curse, let me examine the villagers' bodies first. Perhaps I can find some clues."

Erza thought it was feasible, but it still needed the village chief's approval.

What could the village chief say? It concerned the lives and livelihoods of everyone in the village, so he couldn't agree more.

So late at night, with the help of the village chief, Hope conducted a thorough examination of several volunteer villagers.

In the vacated room, Hope channeled his magic to sense the abnormalities in each villager's body.

Sure enough, he found a faint, unusual energy within each of these villagers, carrying a hint of coldness. This energy was perfectly integrated with the villagers themselves, as if it were something they were born with.

If Hope hadn't possessed the same energy, it would probably have been difficult to detect.

Demonic curse power.

These villagers actually possessed "cursed power," a power that only demons or those who practice demonic spells could possess!

Frowning, Hope conducted another thorough examination and was certain that the villagers had not mastered demonic magic; the meager magical power within them was simply insufficient to support the magic's requirements.

This leaves only one possible explanation for the cursed power within the villagers.

They are demons!

This village is actually a village of demons!

However, due to the influence of some force, the demon villagers mistakenly believe that they are human. Those villagers who have completely "fallen" into demons in the eyes of the villagers are the ones who are truly awake.

Hope looked out the window at the purple full moon hanging in the sky. What could be more suspicious than this purple moonlight than the so-called "curse"?

In the end, Hope did not choose to tell everyone her conjecture, and used the excuse that she was tired and needed to rest to get through it.

The next morning, Hope, under the pretext of investigating clues about the curse, led a group of people away from the village.

On the way, Natsu, Gray, and Lucy each shared their opinions.

"Speaking of which, can we really break the curse? It seems like none of us are good at this..." Lucy said with her usual slight worry.

Compared to Lucy, who was still struggling with her decision, Gray was clearly much more rational. "In the end, a curse is just a kind of magic, as long as we..."

Natsu interrupted Gray like a schoolchild, forcefully declaring, "Since it's all the moon's fault anyway, let's blow the moon up!"

“Yes! That’s it!” Happy chimed in.

Lucy: ......

Gray: ......

Erza, unlike the two who remained silent, immediately flicked Natsu on the forehead to prevent his thought process from becoming even stranger.

After dealing with Natsu and the little blue cat who followed suit, Erza looked at Hope, who was leading the group and hadn't said a word. "Hope, did you find something out about those villagers last night?"

"As expected of Erza, you noticed that."

Hope stopped and turned to her companions. "I suspect the villagers' demonized bodies aren't due to any curse... they are the demons themselves."

"Eh!!" ×4

Four synchronized exclamations startled the birds perched in the trees.

Even Erza couldn't hide her surprise, "You mean, those villagers are actually demons?!"

Hope nodded calmly. "That's right. I suspect some kind of magic has confused their memories, making them think they are human, which causes their instinctive demonic forms to be mistaken for a curse."

Although it sounds strange, compared to Natsu's wild idea of ​​"blowing up the moon," Erza and the others felt that Hope's explanation was quite reasonable and well-founded.

"Then why don't you just tell the villagers the truth?" Lucy asked.

Looking at the innocent blonde girl, Hope said with a sigh, "Aren't you afraid that the villagers are actually evil demons? There are dozens of them."

When traveling, Hope doesn't mind assuming the worst about others, especially when it's a village that might be a den of demons.

"But why would anyone do that? Who would cast a spell that could distort memories on an entire village of demons?" Lucy couldn't help but ask, unable to reconcile the seemingly kind and simple villagers with demons.

"This is what we need to find out."

Erza chimed in, her gaze sharpening. "If Hope's speculation is correct, then there must be a hidden secret behind the 'Curse of Karna Island'."

Chapter 32 Temple of the Moon

It will take about ten minutes.

Hope led the group through the jungle to the mountain peak in the center of the island.

Previously, in order to pick the Moonflower, he had basically explored the entire northern part of the island. Later, Natsu, Lucy, and Happy searched the southern part of the island, but found nothing unusual.

Whether it's affecting the memories of the demon villagers or the purple moon covering the entire island, it's enough to illustrate the complexity of that "curse" magic.

Such magic requires more preparation; according to Hope's analysis, at least a large enough space is needed to set up the magic circle.

So he set his sights on the central mountain ranges that had not yet been explored.

"We've arrived."

Hope pushed aside the last vine blocking her path and stopped.

Before the crowd stood an ancient temple built of gray-white megaliths, its surface adorned with crescent-shaped patterns, some of which had weathered away but still hinted at its former grandeur.

"There's actually a temple here."

Gray frowned as he looked at the temple before him. "The village isn't far from here, so why didn't the village chief mention it to us?"

Erza surveyed her surroundings and analyzed, "Perhaps they can't get close. The moon represents the sacred, and this temple is clearly dedicated to the moon."

"If those villagers were truly demons, then they would indeed be unable to approach the temple protected by divine power, and due to their confused memories, they would have temporarily forgotten the existence of the temple."

The group entered the temple, looked around, but found nothing.

Only Natsu and Happy found a stone tablet and a skeleton leaning against it, but unfortunately, no one could understand the ancient text written on it.

That's when you need the help of a learned scholar.

Under the silver-white Protoss key that Lucy had drawn, the Protoss Crooks of the Southern Cross slowly emerged from the Protoss Gate.

With the help of this most learned Protoss, the ancient text on the stone tablet was quickly deciphered. Through the words of the old man Kru, the group finally learned the contents of the stone tablet.

Karna Island is an island "blessed" by the moon, where countless moonlight converges, making it the only place in the world where "drops of the moon" can be condensed.

About 300 years ago, a priest of the Moon Temple, who was the only one in the lineage, saved a group of humans who had been forcibly transformed into demons from the great demon "Star Lord Kuanghua".

Because of the changes in their bodies, these victims were unable to return to normal life in human society, so the severely injured priest took them back to Karna Island to live.

The inscription on the stone tablet ends here.

After learning about the villagers' origins, everyone sighed. Judging from the dilapidated state of the temple, it had not been maintained for at least 200 years.

The kind priest will most likely die from his injuries, while the demon he saved will be unable to even be buried because he cannot get close to the temple...

Looking at the withered bones of the priest behind the stone tablet, and thinking that this good man had ended up like this, Natsu couldn't help but feel furious and slammed his fist heavily against the stone wall.

"Damn demons! Don't let me touch them!"

However, the next second, cracks suddenly appeared in the stone wall that Natsu had hit, and in the blink of an eye, the cracks had spread to his feet.

Then... the ground collapsed.

Natsu lost his footing and fell uncontrollably. As usual, Lucy and Happy were also caught in the crossfire and fell down as well.

Erza and Gray, worried about their companion, jumped off the cliff. Even the Southern Cross Celestials, who had little fighting ability, followed Lucy.

Only Hope was left behind. With Erza, a strong woman, around, Natsu and the others' safety was not something he needed to worry about.

Upon reaching the stele, Hope carefully picked up the frail, time-ravaged skeleton. The severely weathered temple was no longer suitable for his rest.

There's a saying in my hometown, "To be buried in peace is to be laid to rest," and a good person like the priest deserves to be buried in peace even more.

Outside the temple, Hope found a scenic spot, used magic to dig a pit, shaped a wooden coffin, and gently placed the priest's skeleton inside.

Just as Hope was about to close the coffin lid, a small ball of light suddenly flew out from between the brows of the withered skeleton and rushed towards him, as if trying to convey something.

But time is the most ruthless killer in the world. 300 years is enough to erase many things. As soon as the ball of light fell into Hope's hands, it collapsed and scattered.

The priest's last remaining possessions simply vanished into thin air.

However, Hope had already obtained what the skeleton wanted to convey in another way.

【ding~】

[The host has come into contact with extraordinary power—the lost magic 'True Moon Godslayer']

[Analysis in progress—]

Analysis complete. Estimated time required to crack "True Moon Godslayer" is 360 days.

One of the three major annihilation magic types—God Destroyer.

This was the magical inheritance that the priest Kugu wanted to give to Hope. Although the process was wrong, Hope did indeed "receive" it.

After placing the newly acquired magic into the decryption slot, Hope silently closed the coffin, conjured a shovel, and personally filled it with yellow earth, erecting an unmarked tombstone for the priest.

"I have received your gift, thank you very much."

After taking one last look at the priest's tomb, Hope turned to chase after her companions who had fallen into the temple's underground.

Activating his Wing Magic, he followed the underground passage where Natsu had fallen and arrived at an underground space. Roughly calculating the location, this underground space should be directly below the temple.