After defeating Deliora, Ben took a moment to rest and get something to eat and drink. Then he dispelled the barrier dome and left the location. He felt bad about destroying the temple, so he went to the village.
"Damn, how should I tell them this? Should I repay them with money? What if they want me to build a new temple? Ugh, I should just run away." Ben thought about what to do.
On the way back to the village, Ben crossed paths with Gray who had just defeated Lyon. He didn't know what to say so he just walked past Gray, but the Ice-Make mage called out to him.
"Hey, what about Deliora?" Gray asked.
"Dead." Ben answered simply.
Gray had a conflicted expression on his face after hearing that. He was happy that the demon that destroyed his home is dead. But he wasn't happy that someone else managed to kill Deliora when his master couldn't.
"How was his strength?" Gray asked.
"Not as strong as the stories say. It was probably because he spent the last 10 years sealed in Iced Shell. I wouldn't be surprised if he died right after being released. But he had enough life force to survive that. He's called a immortal demon for a reason." Ben replied.
"Is that so? That means the Iced Shell contributed a lot, right?" Gray asked while looking at the sky.
"It is, so be proud of your teacher. But don't do the same thing as her. She wouldn't like it one bit. She didn't teach you magic just so you can die like her, she taught it to you so you can survive in this dangerous world."
"Tell your fellow disciple that if he wants to surpass her, he needs to outlive her. Being too arrogant like this just means that he is far from her level. A mage's quality isn't just from their strength, there are other factors as well." Ben said while looking at Lyon.
"What factors?" Lyon asked weakly as he weakly laid on the ground.
"That's for you to find out." Ben replied as he walked away.
Gray and Lyon were now silent as they look at the destroyed temple while Ben continued walking to the village.
'Damn, that's too cool. I never thought I would say something deep like that. This can be addicting.' Ben thought, praising himself.
[You are just talking nonsense to prevent them from talking to you any longer.]
'Yeah, but I still said some cool things.' Ben protested.
[Whatever.]
After walking for a few minutes, Ben finally reached the village. Erza stopped him in front of the gate like a guard.
"Are you the Devil Slayer that fought Deliora? Have you defeated him?" She asked with a strict tone and pose.
"Yeah and yeah. Now move. I want to talk to the villagers." Ben replied nonchalantly.
"Let me ask you one more thing? Who are you? And what's your motive?" Erza asked.
"That's 2 questions, not one." Ben responded.
"Just answer it." Erza demanded, pointing a sword at him.
"Let me tell you something. You need to ask someone you don't know questions in a nicer tone. You also shouldn't point your sword at others, they will be offended. And if they're offended, they'll become angry and attack you...like this." Ben said as he teleported right in front of Erza and grabbed her face.
Erza was surprised and wanted to slash Ben with her sword. But then she stopped when Ben released his Devil Slayer Magic and pointed it at her. She saw the image of a very menacing demon behind him that made her tremble and drop her sword.
Ben thought it was good enough and released Titania then walked to the village. Erza dropped to her knees and breathed frantically. She never felt such an ominous power before. It wasn't an evil power, but it is very scary and strong.
Happy and Lucy who were also in the village hiding behind a pillar become scared, so they hide again. Ben just sighed, but he really didn't care. He did that to Erza because she needed to learn she can't act that way to everyone otherwise she would put herself and her friends in danger.
Ben finally met up with the villagers who gathered in the plaza. The villagers had turned into demons as it was night already and the moon had appeared. They have various shapes and colors in their demon forms.
"Who's the chief?" Ben asked.
"Me." A purple old man answered.
"Well, first of all, I want to apologize. Your temple was destroyed during my battle with a strong demon from the Book of Zeref, an Etherious." Ben said.
The villagers murmur after hearing that and Ben scratched his head because he can hear them clearly because of his enhanced hearing. They are wondering what will happen after the temple was destroyed and about Deliora.
"Is that demon the reason for this curse?" The village chief asked as he looked at his demonic hand.
"In a way, yes. Some people wanted to do something with that demon and they performed a ritual. That ritual is the one that caused this strange thing. It is known as the Moon Drip ritual, but this kind of side effect is something I've never heard of before." Ben replied.
"But you can release us from this curse? If you do that, then we will forget about what happened to the temple." The chief said.
"Really?! Alright, leave it to me." Ben happily said in relief.
Ben then looks up at the purple moon and raised his right hand towards it.
"WAIT!" Natsu shouted after running from the village gate.
Ben stopped and looked at the pink-haired Dragon Slayer, confused. "What do you want?"
"You said it yourself that this is our job, so we will do it." Natsu said.
"Well sorry, but I need to do this so they'll forgive me for destroying the temple." Ben apologized.
"But we need to finish this job so we can prove that we're qualified to take S-Class jobs." Natsu protested.
"Then become a S-Class mage. Being childish like this proves you're unqualified to be one." Ben pointed out.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?! I'LL SHOW YOU THAT I'M QUALIFIED! FIRE DRAGON IRON FIST!" Natsu shouted as he threw a flaming punch at Ben with his right hand.
Ben looked at it and grabbed Natsu's flaming fist like it was nothing. The fire from Natsu's magic burned his hand, but he didn't feel anything.
'So his fire doesn't affect me at all. Is it because he's fire while I'm sun? Hmm, I wonder if my Sun Dragon Slayer Magic's fire element will affect him.' Ben thought.
"DAMN! NOT YET!" Natsu shouted as he tried the same attack with his left hand.
Ben just sighed and sent a kick at Natsu's stomach. He sent Natsu flying to the village gate with a single kick. Erza and Gray who were standing there, catch Natsu to stop him.
"Just stay there and let a professional do his job. Watch and learn, kids." Ben said as he raised his right hand to the sky again.
A reddish-gold magic circle appeared on his right hand. Then a volleyball sized reddish-gold solar ball appears on top of it.
"Sun Devil Bomb: Super Mini Supernova!" Ben yelled as he fired the ball into the sky.
The reddish-gold ball flew into the sky really fast. Everyone looks at it fly to the moon and it looks like it will keep flying. But it suddenly stopped as it hit a wall in the sky.
BOOM*
Suddenly the solar ball explodes in the sky and it brightened the island for a moment. Everyone closed their eyes briefly and then reopen them. They all look at the sky and were surprised to see it shatter like glass.
"That layer is a result of the Moon Drip ritual. It created a purple layer in the sky, that's why the moon was purple." Ben explained as the purple layer shattered and the real moon appeared.
The villagers were excited and look at their bodies. They hoped to turn back into normal humans, but that didn't happen. They were still in their demon form even after the moon returned to normal.
"What's going on? Are they still affected by the curse?" Lucy asked, worried.
"No, they're not. Right, guys?" Ben asked the villagers.
"Yes, now I remember everything. We were never human. We've been demons the whole time." The chief happily said.
"EH?!" The Fairy Tail mages exclaim in surprise.
The villagers are happy now and they all fly up to the sky with a new sense of freedom. The Fairy Tail mages, except Erza, are very confused. Just what happened here?