Chapter 235: Divine Punishment: Season Change! White Tiger Holds Its Child?
Dragon flames roared in the snowstorm, and a crimson breath instantly evaporated the extreme cold frost!
The sword's edge, wreathed in fierce flames, tore through the icy armor like a branding iron, and with a harsh cracking sound, General Winter, man and sword, was sent flying!
Blazing fire burned fiercely on the snowfield, and Arthur pressed forward, surrounded by a large amount of steam!
He watched General Winter get up nimbly, dragon flames still licking at its armor, and ice crystals cracking off from the fissures.
General Winter raised a hand to brush over its wound, silently raising its katana, emanating the purest, bone-chilling killing intent.
"Is it a Great Spirit of Winter, yet it lacks even reason?"
Arthur's eyes turned cold, no longer holding any expectations for this silent aggregate.
His figure suddenly blurred, and four afterimages simultaneously struck from different directions!
Intersecting silver arcs exploded with wind, fire, and thunder, effortlessly piercing through the opponent's armor, and the monster fell to its knees!
But Aqua, seeing this, not only didn't relax but turned pale, screaming at Arthur in alarm.
"Be careful, Arthur!"
"General Winter is immortal! It's just a magical aggregate formed by human imagination!"
As if to confirm her statement, the tattered General Winter suddenly trembled, the snowstorm howled, and its broken body was swept up.
The opponent crushed the half-destroyed tengu mask on its face, revealing its snow-blurred features, and let out a meaningless gasp.
Before she finished speaking, countless snow spirits were absorbed into the broken body, and the reconstructed General Winter's aura surged, becoming more than ten times more violent than before!
Arthur looked up at the blizzard spiraling into the high heavens, deep in thought.
"Killing one snow spirit makes spring arrive half a day earlier, so if I get rid of it, which has merged with all the snow spirits…"
The others in the team paused, startled by his muttering, but Aqua nodded seriously, confirming his thought.
"If the Great Spirit of Winter is driven away, winter will naturally disappear with it, just like the Great Storm Spirit that appears periodically every year."
As she spoke, the snowstorm dissipated, and a monster nearly three meters tall, its entire body covered in grotesque ice crystals, reappeared.
It no longer wielded swords, but instead held two mighty banners, letting out an earth-shattering roar to the sky!
The powerful sound wave flattened all the surrounding snow, exposing the dark brown ground beneath.
After roaring, General Winter stomped its foot, creating a cracked pit in the snowfield, and brandished the two banners with formidable power, charging forward like a whirlwind!
Clang!
Arthur held durandal in a reverse grip, plunging it into the ground, and, anticipating General Winter's slashing motion, he clamped down on the two banners with his bare hands!
Before the impeded opponent could dodge, he abruptly kicked its chest, shattering the newly repaired ice crystal armor.
General Winter, once again severely wounded, flew backward nearly a hundred meters along the ground, and by the time it got up, the wound on its chest had already healed as new.
Seeing this, Arthur gripped one of the banners, raised it high, and a surging azure glow flowed, claiming the bone-chilling weapon as his own!
"Rending the void with thunder, by divine command, pierce the lowly, cleanse all!"
With the azure thunder in hand, the light of destruction pulsed, instantly tearing through space to reach General Winter's chest, pinning it to the snowfield!
The roar of the Divine Punishment Spear completely suppressed the cries of agony, and lightning disintegrated from within its body, creating a dazzling pillar of light!
The violent thunder, accompanied by a terrifying torrent of high heat, exploded into a bottomless crater on the scorched snowfield, as if a divine hand was wantonly reshaping the terrain!
The arcs of electricity lingering in the air gradually dissipated, and in the dead silence, Arthur paced to the edge of the deep pit, looking down.
In the depths of the pit, General Winter, oozing viscous black liquid from its wound, was crumbling into ash.
Arthur couldn't help but raise an eyebrow: "This is an unexpected gain; the Great Spirit of Winter was actually corrupted by an unknown entity? But why?"
As he pondered, a slit tore open in the gloomy sky, and warm sunlight streamed down.
The accumulated snow melted at a visible rate, and even the blowing wind carried the warmth of spring.
With the departure of the Great Spirit of Winter, winter was receding, and all things were reviving.
While his teammates were still marveling at the rapid change of seasons, Arthur and Aqua simultaneously looked into the distance.
On a low hill, a giant snow-white tiger stood against the wind, sacred and majestic, beautiful enough to steal one's soul.
From the white tiger's emerald eyes, a high degree of intellect and reason could be felt, and its gaze shifted back and forth between Arthur and Aqua.
At this moment, Kazuma and the others followed their gaze and finally discovered this sacred beast.
"Hiss—!"
"Th-that, could it be…?"
"Shh! Don't make a sound!"
Although the opponent showed no malice, its pressure, far exceeding that of General Winter, made them afraid to even breathe.
Arthur subtly shifted his feet, blocking in front of everyone, and asked Aqua, who was deep in thought.
"You must know it, right?"
Aqua nodded and then shook her head: "Don't you know, Arthur? That's the White Tiger, one of the super-giant bounty monsters that guard the four directions."
Arthur frowned slightly; he naturally knew the legends of the Four Sacred Beasts, but he hadn't expected to see one for the first time in another world.
As he pondered, the White Tiger, having already made its decision, gracefully leaped down the low hill, paced to Arthur, and lowered its head slightly.
Just as everyone was confused, a palm-sized white, sticky ball slid from its mouth and rolled to Arthur's feet.
"Awoo~~"
Having done all this, the White Tiger let out a low growl full of reluctance.
Its emerald eyes looked deeply at Arthur, seemingly conveying some silent entrustment.
Then, it resolutely turned and disappeared into the depths of the mountain forest in a few leaps, leaving behind only a spring of reviving life.
Everyone stared blankly as the White Tiger departed, and Aqua, who had rushed to Arthur's side, looked at the white, sticky ball at his feet and said in a daze.
"Is this a White Tiger cub?"
...
On the way back to Axel, the Adventurers' Guild, hearing about the changes in the snowfield, dispatched internal personnel to investigate.
The result was that, apart from the scorched crater, no abnormalities were found, and the departure of winter was also confirmed.
As soon as the news broke, the adventurers, who had been cooped up and slacking off, collectively lost their composure.
After all, they had already prepared the supplies needed for winter in advance.
But because the season in this other world changed so suddenly, all their coats, heaters, strong liquor, and so on, were now useless?
Aqua, who was happily guzzling a bottle of high-grade sparkling wine in the mansion after incidentally hearing about the Adventurers' Guild's current situation from Megumin, expressed her inability to understand.
When it comes to drinking, what does season matter?
Like her, even if General Winter disappeared and winter receded, she would still eat and drink as usual, most comfortable curled up on a soft sofa.
Arthur gently stroked the little tiger cub the White Tiger had forcibly given him, feeding it wisps of azure glow from his fingertips, and said.
"According to you, sacred beasts like the White Tiger give their children divine power by feeding them breast milk? But I didn't sense any divine power from that White Tiger."
Aqua pouted and mumbled: "It must have used up all its divine power giving birth, which is why it rushed over so desperately after sensing a deity nearby."
"Seriously! Why didn't it ask me, who has super amazing divine power! Instead of choosing to entrust it to you!"
Hearing her complaints, Arthur shrugged indifferently, not even bothering to retort.
Fou and Douzhinosuke gathered at his feet, looking up at the new little brother, and after realizing it couldn't even open its eyes, they wisely walked away.
The mansion's front door was slammed open from the outside, and Kazuma rushed in, panting.
He clutched a request form tightly in his hand, his voice trembling.
"B-brother! Is this right?"
He slapped the request form onto the table; the writing on it seemed to carry an ominous magic.
[Quest: Subdue the Mysterious Bounty Monster — The Strong Emissary!]