Ayanokouji raised his head, and suddenly heavy snowfall descended from the sky, almost covering his entire field of vision.
"Are you here?" He squinted his eyes slightly.
Such thick snowfall truly exceeded the scale that could be caused by natural rules, but he had asked Otto and others to prepare in the village. They temporarily reinforced the houses, and food and firewood were relatively sufficient at the moment. If it was just a snowstorm, everyone should be able to support it for a long time.
Next, Ayanokouji asked Beatrice that weather-controlling magic requires great magic power, so it cannot last long. Just like when he conquered the White Whale, how many witches did Crusch have? Magical tools to release night repelling magic. Even if Roswaal was the strongest magic user in the kingdom, he could not prevent the heavy snowfall.
In just a few minutes, there was already snow on the ground.
"This is snow, such beautiful snow! It feels like a dream to see such a beautiful scenery with Ayanokouji-sama." Emilia said with a smile.
"Sorry, Bubby." Beatrice said softly, then raised her hand, and several magical swords appeared in the air, and immediately struck the ice wall in front of Emilia, shattering it into pieces.
"Betty, what are you doing?" Emilia looked at Beatrice with a puzzled look, "Betty, are you jealous of Ayanokouji-sama's relationship with me? You've been to the Forbidden Library, maybe you don't have much experience with other relationships!"
"Ayanokouji belongs to Betty! Even though Betty has been alone for four hundred years, it's still worth it!" Beatrice said with a serious face, "On the other hand, what's wrong with you!"
Ayanokouji felt he couldn't stay outside for too long, but Emilia was currently in the ruins, and her qualifications for the trial had been taken by Echidna. He had no way to force her into it.
At that moment, he heard a strange sound coming from behind, as if a group of objects were crawling quickly.
"Ayanokouji..." Beatrice's expression gradually hardened, "Something is coming!"
Ayanokouji turned and looked up, and saw a group of white waves in the distance rushing towards him.
Was this an avalanche? It seemed unlikely. Although the snow was very large, it was very unlikely to cause such a massive avalanche in just a few minutes.
And as the white waves approached him, and a strange chewing sound was heard in his ears, he could finally see clearly what formed the white waves.
A group of snow-white rabbits.
Their red eyes and small bodies were no different from the rabbits he knew.
But Ayanokouji could see a kind of greed in the eyes of these creatures, a desire for food. These were not a group of startled rabbits, but a kind of terrifying creature that looked like rabbits.
"Great Rabbit!" Beatrice's eyes widened, and she immediately knew what these beings were.
Although the individual cute white rabbits that could fit in one's palm, they were actually cruel monsters. They moved in groups and had insatiable appetites. They would continue to hunt the creatures around them, and after devouring them all, they would move on to the next place to find food, like a natural disaster like locusts.
The power of one entity was not high. Although it was a group of monsters, there was no concept of a leader. As long as there was only one Great Rabbit left, it could split and reproduce at an incredible speed with just one shared consciousness, and there was no wisdom of separate individual consciousness. When there was no prey, they would eat each other to survive.
"What is this?" Ayanokouji immediately asked.
"Great Rabbit, like the White Whale, is a creation of the Witch! It devours all creatures around it!" Beatrice explained.
"Creation of the Witch..." Ayanokouji recalled his previous conversation with Echidna, who had asked him if he wanted to meet other witches.
Had Echidna foreseen the Great Rabbit long ago?
If that was the case, it also meant that the Great Rabbit was likely attracted to the magic emitted by Roswaal.
But why exactly, Ayanokouji had confirmed with Beatrice before, Roswaal only emitted magic to create thick snow. It was clear that these rabbits were not created by this magic.
Was it due to the low temperature caused by the snowstorm?
Or was it a large amount of magical power contained in this magic?
"Ayanokouji, quickly behind me!" Beatrice immediately shouted, then released countless magical arrows, "El Minia!"
As she used her hand for a moment, arrows flew down from the sky and landed on the group of rabbits.
As they were hit by the magical arrows, the bodies of these rabbits turned into purple crystals in an instant, and then shattered into pieces – with just one attack, hundreds of rabbits vanished.
But this was just a drop in the bucket.
Facing a large horde of rabbits, the part that had just been destroyed meant nothing. More rabbits flooded the plains in an instant.
"Shamak!" Beatrice cast a spell, releasing black smoke that enveloped the rabbits within it.
The rabbits in the black mist seemed unable to distinguish their friends at all, biting them ferociously, and blood splattered.
But the black mist had limited use, and the number of rabbits was large, so it could not cover all the rabbits.
And the rabbits that had just eaten their own kind began to split and quickly transform into new individuals. The number that Beatrice had just eliminated had been replaced in an instant.
Ayanokouji began to think. It was clear that creatures like this had a special ability to split. If he wanted to eradicate them, he might have to kill them all in a short time.
However, he also noticed that the individual strength of these rabbits seemed very average, and their bodies were also very fragile. If not for their ability to split, Beatrice's power should be able to destroy them.
But the premise was to find a way to gather these rabbits to ensure that Beatrice's magic could cover them completely.
At this rate of division, even if only one rabbit remained, it might fully recover in a short time.
Ayanokouji also concluded that this type of Witchbeast should not be able to split indefinitely, or else the world would be overwhelmed by this type of Witchbeast.
If he could find a way to contain the rabbits in one area, and then let Beatrice release large-scale destruction magic to cover them all at once, he might be able to eradicate them all at once.
But this could not be done alone and with Beatrice alone. They needed help from others.
"Emilia, I need your help." Ayanokouji turned to her. Now the only suitable candidate was Emilia, "Let's stop the Great Rabbit together."
"No." Emilia smiled and looked at him with empty eyes, "Being with Ayanokouji-sama is enough."
"Didn't you say you would fully obey me? Why are you changing your mind now?" Ayanokouji looked at her. Although Emilia was very abnormal now, he was ready to use words to guide her.
"Sorry, denying your promise is like betraying Puck, just like betraying Ayanokouji-sama who is close to me and Betty. But Ayanokouji-sama helped me in everything, so you can surely forgive me for this!" Emilia's smile showed no intention of taking action.
"If you continue like this, we will all die."
"Being able to die with Ayanokouji-sama is surely an extraordinary happiness!"
Ayanokouji stopped talking. Now Emilia's thoughts were completely distorted. It was impossible to guess her thoughts with the thoughts of a normal person.
His mind raced, and he could only think of ways to deal with the Great Rabbit in the future.
Could he use the trial ruins to escape temporarily?
Although it might be possible to endure severe pain and break through the ruins, it was clear that creatures like the Great Rabbit could not feel pain at all, and they would most likely force their way into the ruins.
He had to find a way as soon as possible. Although Beatrice could kill the Great Rabbit on a large scale, the Great Rabbit would soon be able to split to fill the killed parts, and Beatrice's magical power alone was clearly not enough.
Previously, when Ayanokouji and Beatrice killed the White Whale together, the White Whale had spent a large amount of magical power, but now Beatrice still maintained high-intensity magical output, temporarily blocking the progress of the Great Rabbit, but it would not last long.
"Betty, stop attacking, let's leave here for a while." Ayanokouji immediately said, but Beatrice did not answer him.
"Beatrice?"
"Ayanokouji." Beatrice did not look back, but said slowly, "I will hold back the Great Rabbit here. You must leave here immediately."
"What are you talking about?" Ayanokouji asked.
"Although I felt a day like this would come, I was prepared." Beatrice said, "As long as I stop, the rabbits will immediately gather."
"Betty..."
"Thank you very much, Ayanokouji, for saving Betty, you made a white lie for Betty." Beatrice's voice choked as she spoke, "Betty always knew that Ayanokouji was lying to me, you have lied to me. Although no one else can feel it, Betty can feel that Betty, who is with Ayanokouji every day, can understand you better than anyone else. It's not just because of our coexistence."
Ayanokouji did not speak, and was rarely silent. He thought his acting ability was very good and did not realize it at all, but Beatrice could keenly feel it.
"Although it's just a trick, Betty is also very happy. Betty has been very happy during this period! It's not because of anything else, but because Ayanokouji was willing to play the role of 'that person' and you appreciated Betty, and Betty was very happy." While speaking, Beatrice raised her hand and pointed it at him.
"Goodbye." Beatrice turned and smiled at him.
And in the next moment, Ayanokouji's eyes suddenly widened. He was already in another place – his temporary residence in Sanctuary.
He looked around, stunned for a few seconds, then rushed out of the room.
He clearly knew that Beatrice used the ability to pass through the gate at the last moment and moved him back to the village.
Beatrice herself did not return, perhaps because her magic power could no longer be sustained.
He came to the village, which was gradually covered in heavy snow. The villagers had already hidden in their homes, but the Great Rabbit had not arrived yet.
Otto and Garfiel were not here, and the likelihood of them being eaten by the Great Rabbit was very high. Now the best way Ayanokouji could think of was to drive the dragon carriage and leave Sanctuary immediately.
He had previously mastered the technique of driving the dragon carriage, not to mention he was not affected by Sanctuary's barriers. He should be able to leave Sanctuary before the Great Rabbit arrived in the village.
Emilia might be gone. If Ayanokouji escaped, he wouldn't have to worry if he chose to support Felt. Seeking reinforcements in the capital of the kingdom should be able to drive away the Great Rabbit.
This was the best choice he could think of at the moment.
But at this moment, his steps stopped and he turned to look towards the ruins.
He could faintly hear angry roars.
Then, the heavy snowfall from the sky became heavier, and the air temperature dropped rapidly.
"It seems I can't escape." Ayanokouji said calmly.
Emilia was already dead, and Puck, who had signed a contract with her, was fully awake now.
Perhaps someone would come to stop Puck who was preparing to destroy the world, but before that, Sanctuary had already turned into an ice hell.