While Baron Glutt's torment continued in the carriage and Melioris reveled in her game of chess, the exterior battlefield had been reduced to a brutal three-way war, an elite dance upon a carpet of sleeping bodies.

(CHING! CHI-CHI-CHI-CHI! KLIING! CLANG-CLANG! ZIIIING! CLACK! KLIING!)

In the center, Shija and Olivia (Vargas) continued their frantic duel of speed and skill, their swords creating a whirlwind of steel that kept the narcotic spore cloud at bay.

"Hahahahaha!!"

"!!"

(CLANG!!)

Their confrontation was the personification of the clash between emotional impulse and rational strategy.

(THOOM! BOOOM! WHUMMP!)

Furthermore, on the periphery, Boudica, now a machine of blind fury, was charging violently, relentlessly pursuing Elizia (Rex).

"How much longer can this last?!"

Who, in turn, was using her speed to stay one step ahead of the destructive force.

(FWIIIISH-SKITTER-CHOMP!!!)

And in the most critical position, Fortea (Gordon) was facing hundreds of carnivorous jaws, serrated tendrils, and Venus flytraps descending upon her, fired by the cheerful fairy Flora like a rain of living ammunition.

(SHHHIIIING-SNAP! CHEW! GRRRRR!)

Therefore, seeing the situation, Fortea (Gordon), with a clear mind and savage instinct, responded with the weapon she best understood: brute force.

"GRRR..."

With a grunt, she channeled the Herculean strength of the princess's body under her control into her arms.

(KRZZZZZZZZT! WHIIRRRR-SMASH!)

Upon lifting her War Mace, a brutal and heavy tool, she brandished it in an ascending circular motion, covering the space just above her head.

(KRZZZT-CLANK-WHIRR!!!)

This is how the mace became a blurred disk of steel and spikes, blocking the rain of carnivorous plants launched from the sky.

(ZRRRRRRRRRMMM-WHAP!!)

The impact was a cacophony of crushing: wood, plant flesh, and leaves were torn to shreds as they collided with the spinning surface.

(ZRRMMMM-FWOOSH!!!)

But the movement not only disintegrated the frontal attack; it also created a gust of wind of its own, a defensive barrier that deflected the rest of the assault to the sides.

"If you want to play, little one, let's play hard!"

Thus, Fortea (Gordon) stood tall, protected by the whirlwind of her own weapon, amidst a rain of green sap and organic fragments.

"Yes, yes! Playing hard is fun! I love it!"

However, in response to the provocation, Flora spoke in a cheerful, almost musical tone, brutally contrasting with the violence she was about to unleash.

(DOOOOOOOM-KRACKEN!!!)

Well, the next instant, the remnants of shattered plant material fell and, upon touching the earth, triggered a massive tremor.

(CRRRRK-SHRRRRK-RIIIP!!!)

It was not a natural earthquake, but a controlled burst of Natural energy.

"?!"

The ground beneath her feet tore open with a deafening roar.

(GRRR-CLUMPF-KRACK!!!)

And so, from the depths of the earth, immense stalks erupted, thicker than ancient tree trunks and as rubbery as gum.

"Is this a joke?!"

These stalks extended at a dizzying speed, traversing the entire combat zone.

(DOOOOOOOM-KRACKEN!!!)

The massive stalks and vines intertwined and grew, rapidly rising toward the sky, traversing the entire area, lifting the ground in their wake.

"Grow, grow, and grow!! Bigger and bigger!"

The Midnight Lily Bud, the point of origin that had initiated such a situation, served as a central mast, its stalk extending even higher, now surrounded by this vegetal architecture.

(SHWIIISH-RATTLE-ZIIIING!!!)

In the end, the battle zone transformed into an ascending labyrinth of obstacles formed by all kinds of floral fauna.

"What...?! The ground is rising!"

And in a matter of seconds, everyone present was elevated into an immense, floating vertical garden.

(CRASH-CLANG!!)

"?!"

The vines created organic platforms, stairs, and walls, while gigantic and exotic flowers opened at the top of the stalks, perfuming the air with a sweet, narcotic aroma.

"Ignore that, samurai! Focus on my blade!"

But, despite the momentary interruption of the duel between Shija and Olivia (Vargas), caused by the sudden alteration in the field.

(CHING-CHING-CHING-CHI-CHI-CHI-CLANG-CLANG-CHING!)

In the end, both jumped and landed on different massive stalks, resuming their duel in a new unstable setting.

"Damn it!"

In turn, the pursuit between Boudica and Elizia (Rex) was also affected...

"Grrrr...!!"

(DOOOOM!!)

Elizia (Rex), using her speed, was able to cling to a giant leaf that acted as a makeshift parachute, while Boudica, on the other hand, found herself on one of the upper platforms, tearing her way through once more using pure violence.

"What the hell...!!"

Thus, the battlefield had been reconfigured: from a flat road, it became an unstable, vertical Garden, where Fortea (Gordon) looked around incredulously with a mixture of fury and disbelief at the absurdity of the new terrain.

"Here I go!"

But Flora, completely ignoring the surprised reaction and the chaos she had unleashed, clapped her tiny hands cheerfully, a squeaking, high-pitched sound that traveled through the vast space of the new garden.

"!!"

However, perceiving the danger, Fortea (Gordon) reacted instantly, jumping backward.

(BLOP! BLOP! BLOP!)

Whereupon, immediately, an eruption of growing water lily occurred on the vine platform that held Fortea (Gordon), forcing gigantic floral buds to emerge violently beneath her feet, narrowly avoiding being impaled.

(PFFFT-WHOOSH!! POP!)

But the buds reacted to her movement.

"Shit! I can't see...!"

And they exploded upon the slightest contact, releasing a dense mist of intensely sweet-smelling hallucinogenic gas.

"Illusion magic?!"

The gas was not lethal, but it fulfilled its purpose: it momentarily confused Fortea (Gordon)'s mind, making the stable vines appear to writhe and the Midnight Bud to duplicate.

"SNF! HUFF!"

It was in that moment of temporary confusion that Flora inhaled and flew, charging at full speed around Fortea in a vicious circle, like a brilliant buzz.

(SHAKKA-SHAKKA-SHAKKA!!!)

Thus, while flying, she released a torrent of dark seed projectiles from her mouth.

"?!"

(P-TANG! P-TING-TANG! P-CHAK!!!)

The burst was like the fire from a biological machine gun.

(TAT-TAT-TAT-KLINK!!!)

In this way, the seeds impacted the War Mace that Fortea was using as a shield and the heavy breastplate of her armor.

(CHHHH-GRRAAAASP!!!)

Upon impact, the seeds did not detonate with fire, but instantly germinated with incredible force. Instead of an explosion, there was an eruption of forced life.

"Damn it!!"

Each seed became a vortex of rigid branches that coiled and squeezed. On Fortea's chest, the branches pressed tightly against the steel plates. On the mace, they wrapped the handle and the head, attempting to immobilize the Knight Princess's main weapon.

"It's... tightening! My arm!"

Then, Gordon, sensing how the muscles of Fortea's body fought against the plant force that was instantly growing and hardening, while the confusion of the hallucinogenic gas subsided, made a desperate decision.

"YOU WRETCH!!"

If the branches were targeting the armor, then the armor was the problem.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"

Therefore, reaching a conclusion with a roar of pure fury, Gordon simply leveraged the superhuman physical strength of her Knight Princess body and, instead of fighting piece by piece, applied an explosive and radial tension to her own body.

(KRA-KAAAAW!!! RIP!!)

Whereupon, the armor, already compromised by the branches digging into the plates, was shattered. Fortea's muscles swelled, tearing the straps and metal of her own armor with an uncontrolled release of power. The rigid branches instantly snapped and splintered, unable to withstand the burst of energy.

"Great! Amazing! This is fun!"

Fortea (Gordon) was left completely naked, her skin now exposed, but with her War Mace firmly in hand, revealing the Princess's muscular body, now unrestrained, which exuded a devastating fury.

"Die, damn plague!"

And so, without losing a millisecond, the strategist lunged toward the fairy Flora, who was still fluttering nearby.

Turning the War Mace into a visual blur, Fortea concentrated all the weight, speed, and force of her breakout into a single blow intended to impact the small fairy and put an end to her game.

"Amazing!!"

However, just instants before the blow connected, Flora did not move.

(SHING-SHING-FWOOSH!!)

Instead, she surrounded herself with a rapid, swirling blast of energy.

"Is this a damn joke?!"

This blast was not made of branches or spores; it was a rotating force field composed of delicate, bright, and translucent pink cherry blossoms.

(KLIING-CRACK!!)

Immediately afterward, Fortea's heavy and forceful mace impacted the barrier, but the blow did not fully connect. The cherry blossom force field deflected the impact, causing the mace to bounce laterally with a metallic clang that echoed across the garden.

(PFFFT-WHISPER-WHOOSH!!)

And immediately, the floral shield dissipated in a burst.

"Tsk! Magic tricks!"

The energy release was not destructive, but illusory. The cherry petals exploded in a swirling dance, creating multiple illusions of Flora around her. These illusions were not static; they instantly fluttered, capable of interacting with the environment by landing on leaves or stalks, making it almost impossible to distinguish which was the fairy's real body.

"What?!"

However, before Fortea (Gordon) had time to recover from the confusion of the illusions and her own nakedness, she suddenly sensed danger behind her.

(WHOOSH!!)

Whereupon, the survival instinct of the princess's body fired up, ignoring vision to focus on the physical threat, abruptly moving her body sideways to avoid the blow, seeing something that profoundly terrified her.

"W-what... The hell...?"

The attacker was one of the Bandit Knight Princesses who had fallen in Boudica's offensive.

But she was different now, with a grotesque appearance; with flowers violently sprouting from her eyes, mouth, and ears. Her body was now covered in all kinds of flora—thick vines, blood-colored moss, and parasitic flowers—writhing beneath her broken armor.

"!!"

The creature moved erratically, without its previous martial discipline, but with an unhinged ferocity, as if the plant were moving through the corpse.

(SKKKRRT-CRUNCH!!)

Thanks to this, despite still being in shock, Fortea (Gordon) managed to narrowly dodge the first claw swipe.

(SKRAK-CLANK... KREEEK!!!)

But in that critical moment, a movement around her caught her attention.

"Impossible..."

Fortea (Gordon) quickly turned, the mace ready to strike, for what she saw was the confirmation of her nightmare.

As along the vines and platforms of the Garden, both the slain mercenaries and the possessed Bandit Knight Princesses who had died or succumbed in the unexpected intensity of the battle rose up as if they were zombies.

With all of them exhibiting the same horrible characteristics: bodies covered in parasitic vegetation, flowers sprouting from their orifices, and a dead, erratic, and hungry gaze.

"Hehe, let's play!"

The fairy Flora had not only changed the terrain and created illusions; she had collected the harvest of corpses to join her game....