Under the slack-jawed gazes of everyone in the village, the massive Ki blast first collided with a shimmering purple barrier high in the atmosphere. The barrier shattered like glass, offering no resistance as the beam continued its ascent, piercing the void and slamming squarely into the moon.
*BOOM!*
A world-shaking explosion echoed across the continent, causing people spanning the entire land of Ishgar to look up in synchronized confusion. A second later, their faces went pale.
"The moon... it's gone?!"
Back on the island, the reaction was even more visceral. The villagers and mages had watched with their own eyes as Goku's Kamehameha erased a celestial body from existence.
"It's gone. He actually destroyed the moon... this is impossible. It's..."
That was the moon—an ancient entity hanging high in the heavens. Forget destroying it; most mages couldn't even dream of reaching it. Even the most advanced magical airships couldn't breach that altitude. Yet, a boy had just vaporized it. The sheer destructive scale of that "magic" was beyond any known classification.
"Oh no... we'll never be able to have moon-viewing parties again!"
As the initial shock wore off, the logistical nightmare began to set in for the Fairy Tail mages.
"We won't be able to eat the Guild's special Moon-Viewing Steaks anymore!"
"Or the Moon-Salt Grilled Fish!"
Finally, they all screamed in unison: "WE'RE IN HUGE TROUBLE!"
Whether or not the curse was lifted was secondary to the fact that they had just deleted a global asset. If the Magic Council found out, Goku would likely be sentenced to life in a magic-sealing prison. Master Makarov would probably have a heart attack on the spot.
Fairy Tail mages were famous for property damage—leveling buildings, occasionally half a town—but destroying the moon? The moon belonged to the entire world.
"Goku, listen to me," Lucy said, grabbing him by the shoulders with a terrifyingly serious expression. "Whatever happens, you must never admit you destroyed the moon!"
After drilling the "don't talk" rule into Goku, Lucy and Gray turned to Chief Moka and the villagers. They needed to ensure a total information blackout.
"Wait... what?"
However, when they looked at Moka, their eyes nearly popped out. They had assumed that with the moon gone, the curse would break and the villagers would return to their human forms. Instead, the curse seemed to have accelerated. Where they were once half-human, half-demon hybrids, they had now fully transformed into monstrous, winged demons.
"Great. Not only did we not finish the job, but we also committed a cosmic crime for nothing," Gray groaned.
"AAARGH!"
Suddenly, the demonized Chief and his villagers clutched their heads and let out a collective roar.
"Watch out!" Lucy grabbed her keys, Natsu's fists ignited, Gray's hands frosted over, and Happy took to the air. They braced for a demonic assault. Even Goku looked excited, dropping into a fighting stance, ready for a high-level brawl.
But the violence never came. After the roar, the villagers suddenly went quiet. A look of profound embarrassment washed over their demonic features.
Chief Moka stepped forward, scratching his head awkwardly. "Um... so, slight misunderstanding. It turns out we weren't cursed. We're actually just... naturally demons."
"HUH?" The four mages and one cat faceplanted simultaneously.
Moka explained that they were a tribe of demons who had lived on Galuna Island for generations, using magic to maintain human appearances. Three years ago, a mysterious purple mist had enveloped the island, refracting the moonlight into a violet hue. This mist didn't curse them; it messed with their memories. It made them believe they were humans who were turning into demons, rather than demons who were losing their human disguises.
When Goku's beam shattered the purple "lid" over the island and the moon behind it, the mental fog cleared instantly.
"Even though it wasn't a curse, we're grateful you restored our memories. We'll pay the reward in full. And as for the moon... well, we didn't see anything."
"So that's how it is," Lucy sighed, rubbing her temples. It wasn't a curse at all. They wouldn't have needed to destroy the moon; they just needed to break the mist barrier. The moon had been a complete scapegoat.
"To celebrate our return to our true selves, we shall hold a grand bonfire feast tonight in honor of our mage guests!" Moka announced.
"Well, at least there's a feast," Goku said, his disappointment at not getting to fight fading the moment his stomach growled. A good meal was a worthy consolation prize.
"Father!"
In the distance, a winged demon flew rapidly toward the village. Moka burst into tears. "Bobo! It's Bobo! My boy, you're alive!"
It turned out the Chief's son, Bobo, was the only one whose memory hadn't been affected. Because the others thought they were humans, they had attacked him, forcing him to flee. With the village back to normal, the family was reunited.
...
The Temple of the Moon
Meanwhile, at a temple in the center of the island's mountain...
A group of dark mages stood around a complex purple magic circle. They had been performing a ritual to harvest moonlight, condensing it into droplets of liquid to drip onto something below. Now, they were staring at the empty sky in sheer horror.
"The moon... the moon is... GONE..."
"Quick! Inform Lord Realion!"
A mage wearing a horned helmet—the man known as Lyon, the Cold Emperor—rushed out of the temple, followed by several subordinates.
"What is the meaning of this?! Why is the sky dark?"
"Lord Realion... a white light shot out from the village, hit the moon, and... it just vanished," a ritualist stammered.
"DAMMIT!" Lyon snarled, his face contorted with fury. "We were only two days away from fully unsealing Deliora! Who is interfering? I should have slaughtered those villagers when I had the chance!"