Ben gets surprised by what he sees. The villagers are transforming into demons when the purple moon shines on them. He never heard such a thing happen because of the Moon Drip ritual.
The Moon Drip ritual's effect on living beings shouldn't be this, it is affecting their mind. It can alter or erase their memories slowly. It can also make them crazy and berserk that they attack other people.
As far as he knows it, there's no side effect such as demonization by the Moon Drip ritual. It might be the side effect of Devil Slayer Magic, but surely not the Moon Drip ritual. That means there's something else that caused it to happen.
"I want to investigate it, but that can wait. I need to finish my job first and make sure those guys are safe. Hmm? That pink hair, isn't he that little Dragon Slayer? So he is one of the naughty Mages that Master Makarov meant, huh? He also has a cat like me & Wendy. Then there are a blonde girl and a black-haired shirtless guy. Wait! Shouldn't Fairy Tail send Erza too? Where is she?" ponders Ben.
He looks around and doesn't find the scarlet hair at all.
"Strange, wasn't the old man said that Master Makarov has sent Titania to chase these guys before me? Then she should've arrived first, right?" ponders Ben confusedly.
Ben forgets that he has a super-fast car that can move anywhere while Erza needs to walk or ride the old model car and ship to come here. Of course, he will arrive faster than her.
"Well, she will arrive sooner or later, so it's not a problem. I'm very curious about her power that she gets the title of Titania. Let's see her power later when she comes and a problem arises. It's also a good chance to see that little Dragon Slayer's power. For now, I need to find if the reason for this Moon Drip ritual is really Deliora," says Ben while rubbing his chin.
Ben looks around the island to find where the ritual is being held. The ritual should be held now because the moon has appeared. He finds it easily from his high POV as the Moon Drip ritual creates a tall purple light pillar that can be seen very clearly.
The ritual is held on the other side of this island that shaped like a crescent moon. It's quite far, so Ben immediately moves there to stop it as soon as possible. The ritual can finish anytime and it might cause a big problem.
Ben runs to the ritual site as fast as he can while still hiding his presence. He doesn't want to alert the enemies as he wants to gather information first. Information is very important in a job like this, after all.
He arrives close to the ritual site shortly after that and hides behind a tree. The ritual is being held on an old temple that looks like it will break anytime. On the temple's open place, Ben sees a man with dog ears performing the ritual.
He ignores the man and searches for a door or hole to enter the temple. After finding a door, he transforms into a small lizard and goes there. He enters the temple and starts to explore the rather chilly temple.
The temple is very big and it takes time for him to find what he searches for. He finds where the Moon Drip is being sent to and gets very surprised by it. Makarov's assumption is correct, it is Deliora that becomes the target of this Moon Drip ritual.
'What a scary old man, he knows what happens without actually seeing it,' thinks Ben.
Deliora is being covered in thick ice which is the result of Iced Shell. This ice has someone's soul & life in it because this spell cost someone their life. That's why this spell is forbidden and only used as a last resort.
Ben thinks of what he needs to do with the sealed Deliora. He can sense that this monster is still alive and has a strong life force. If the Iced Shell breaks, then Deliora will surely go on a rampage after being sealed for 10 years.
Just when he thinks about that, 2 people come from another room. It's a short man with thick eyebrows and a woman with pink hair. They talk with each other as they approach Deliora.
"The ritual is moving a little faster than we've predicted. It will finish tomorrow," says the woman.
"It's just a day faster, not something that's out of our prediction," says the short man while sweatdropping.
"But it's still faster than our previous prediction that it will finish in 2 days," says the woman persistently.
"Compared to the 3 years since this ritual started, that one day is minuscule," says the man.
The 2 keep having arguments about it while walking toward Deliora. Ben ignores their scuffle and thinks about the fact that they've done this ritual for 3 years.
'To do this ritual for 3 years and haven't succeeded to this day, they're very incompetent. Although they also seem to have low knowledge about this ritual and don't have enough people to do the ritual. This ritual requires many people to perform it, after all,' thinks Ben.
Ben looks at Deliora before thinking again, 'But 3 years, huh? That means this seal has been weakened a lot. If I stop the ritual now, the seal might break anytime in the future. If I let them finish it, Deliora will be released now and I need to fight it. But that will endanger the villagers who live here and the Fairy Tail Mages. Hmm, what should I do?'
As Ben ponders about it, 2 other people appear in the room. It's a man with a metal helmet and a man with a tribal mask. They approach the previous 2 and the woman is excited to see the man with a helmet.
The helmet man asks about the ritual and the woman explains it. She said the same thing that she told the short man before with a flirty tone. The man ignores her flirt attempt and just focuses on Deliora.
"It will finish tomorrow, huh? That's good, let's prepare for it," says the helmet man.
The others nod before then they leave the room and go to the ritual site. Ben is alone in the room now and he ponders about the group.
'That man with the tribal mask is stronger than the rest. Why would he follow the helmet man's order? He must've played something here,' ponders Ben.
Ben makes a clone and the Lazy Clone appears in lizard form too. He sends Lazy to follow the tribal masked man and finds out what he's up to. As for the others, he doesn't care much about them, they're weak, not threats to him.
After Lazy left, Ben approaches Deliora and climbs the ice. He learns the Iced Shell and also the demon inside it. As he has predicted, the Iced Shell has gotten weaker, but it's still tough enough to not get destroyed by magical attacks.
However, Ben is sure that he can melt the ice with his magic. It will take some effort, but that is not impossible. He won't be able to do it if this Iced Shell is still in good condition, but now, it has gotten easier to break.
Then Ben thinks, 'It seems I can't stop the Moon Drip ritual. I need to let Deliora comes out and kill him here. If I stop the ritual now, then Deliora might be released anytime in the future. That will cause a bigger problem because he will have time to recover. But if I fight him right after he gets released, then he won't have time to recover himself first and will be in his worst condition.'
Ben has decided to fight and defeat Deliora after some considerations. It's better for him to know when and where he'll fight Deliora rather than waiting for an unknown time & place to do it in the future. He chooses the option that gives him a chance to make the best preparation, not something with too many unknowns.
'Alright, let's make a plan for tomorrow,' thinks Ben as he leaves the temple.
______________________________________________________________
You can read up to 35+ chapters ahead of this fanfic novel & the other one on my Pa_treon page if you are interested.
Clicking that power stone/like also seem to be a good choice, hehe.
I've uploaded:
1. Chapter 174 of Fairy Tail: Sun Eater
2. Chapter 185 of Transcended as Lord Buggy
https://www.pa_treon.com/CaptMermain
(the web didn't use _underscore_, it's to avoid censorship)