Checkmate
(KRA-WHOOOOOOMP!!! SHATTER!!!)
"PFFFTTT!!!"
Elizia (Rex) lay unconscious, her inert body floating amidst the fall along with the trace of the impact's wind blast echoing as the final note of the battle.
(THUD!)
Boudica had used her total strength to knock out Elizia, depleting the last bit of strength and energy she had left.
"BLEEEEEERGH!!!"
Barely an instant after the impact, Boudica, covered in sweat and blood, vomited a large mouthful of blood.
"A-ahn..."
The terminal effort of the technique, added to her previous internal injuries, had shattered her inside.
(... I wagered... Everything... Me...)
But as Boudica plummeted alongside the inert Elizia, unable to move, only one thought crossed her mind...
(Was I interesting...?)
... A simple question that would define everything.
<"Definitely~!!">
And Melioris immediately replied...
(KRA-SHING-SNAP!!)
.... When thick floral stalks sprouted from the descending broken fragments, acting as elastic and cushioned tentacles.
"... I knew it."
These trapped Boudica mid-fall, cushioning the fatal impact against the ground.
(SHWIIISH-RATTLE-ZIIIING!!!)
In turn, the elastic and cushioned tentacles trapped Elizia (Rex) while, parallel to the descent, the roots extended at dizzying speed, weaving through the air and over the debris, restoring the garden in seconds.
(After... all...)
The destruction caused by Boudica and the massive collapse had been a violent pruning, not death.
(... It was... Impossible...)
Flora used the energy from the debris itself to instantly reconstruct her labyrinth.
(... That that... Monster... Would release... Something... Interesting...)
Thus, Boudica's exhausted body, suspended in the network of regenerating stalks, finally surrendered to the pain.
The anemia caused by blood loss overcame her.
"It's... beautiful... but... cold..."
Thus, as her consciousness faded, Boudica looked up at the sky, where a rain of pale pink petals descended, like a cloak that covered the sky, fainting and immobilized in the network of flora that was reconstructing itself.
(KRZZZZT-CLANK-ZUMBIDO!!)
In parallel, the sound of the mace grinding a vegetal zombie resonated while Fortea (Gordon), the naked Knight Princess, had used the forced pause of the collapse to gain some precious seconds.
(CLACK-CLACK-SLLIDE!!)
In which Fortea deftly slid down a floral stalk that had regenerated, maintaining her momentum.
(P-TANG! P-TING-TANG!)
In her hand, the War Mace spun in a defensive blur, ready for the next assault.
(P-TANG! P-TING-TANG! P-CHAK!!!)
The spinning weapon served as a perfect shield, blocking a barrage of bullet-seeds that Flora fired from the air, laughing cheerfully.
(This cannot continue!!)
So, in response, Fortea (Gordon), maintaining constant motion, combined movement with attack, using the mace not only to defend herself but also to drive back the vegetal zombies that were besieging her.
(CRASH-BANG!)
And by impacting a blow to the ground, she sent wooden fragments toward the feet of the horde, while a horizontal swing swept the legs of the closest ones.
(But what can I do?!)
Thus, Fortea (Gordon) was observing the environment. The Garden was no longer falling, but was in constant motion; platforms and stalks were slowly weaving and growing beneath her feet, making every step a tactical decision.
(WHISPER-WHOOSH!!)
Around her, the atmosphere was saturated, being surrounded by a swarm of illusory petals floating in the air, a product of Flora, who, dancing in the air among replicas, maintained pressure, waiting for the moment when Fortea (Gordon)'s exhaustion would allow the illusions and the zombies to coincide in a coordinated attack.
"I love playing!!"
In turn, she heard the cheerful fairy with her bright, chirping voice, enjoying the chaos she had orchestrated.
(SHAKKA-SHAKKA-SHAKKA!)
But, despite this, Fortea (Gordon) ignored her opponent's cheerful shout. While maintaining the movement and spin of her mace to keep distance from the constant attacks, her analytical mind worked at full throttle.
(She must have a weakness!)
Fortea (Gordon) then proceeded to analyze the battlefield and the nature of her adversaries.
(WHACK-WHACK!!)
Quickly reviewing the situation mentally, she discovered that all the vegetal zombies were, in reality, resurrected from those who died in combat before her appearance.
(Maybe she can only reanimate the dead and not those who are asleep?!)
Thus, she reached a vital conclusion upon seeing a group of mercenaries and White Lily Bandit Knight Princesses sleeping harmlessly on the ground, while she faced a massive group of reanimated foes.
(But that information is not enough!!)
Thus, while still maintaining her defense, Fortea reviewed the characteristics of the zombies she had gathered during the confrontation.
(They do not possess the skills or reflexes they had when they were alive!)
The first thing she had discovered during the battle was that the zombies did not have the skills or reflexes they possessed when they were alive, behaving more like puppets, performing clumsy or simple movements, despite the physical strength they had.
(But they still have great regeneration!)
However, in turn, they possessed a great regenerative capacity. She regenerated instantly thanks to the flowers and vines attached to her bodies.
(Brute force without intelligence. Infinite regeneration, but limited to vegetal tissue.)
It was due to this that, despite crushing or destroying them, they simply got back up or reformed.
(I must separate them from their power source, or from the control source.)
Thus, Fortea (Gordon) smiled briefly.
(I can't kill them, only dismantle them...)
The situation was dire, but at least she already had a plan...
"Yes, yes! So fun! This game is lovely! Let's play, let's play!"
... But before Fortea could execute any move based on her analysis, Flora demonstrated that her control went beyond the predictable.
(SHAKKA-SHAKKA-SHAKKA!!! ZOOOOOM!!!)
For at that moment, the petals surrounding the environment in the air—the tiny, shimmering cherry illusions—began to spin at a dizzying speed while the entire platform where Fortea and the horde stood was caught in a swirling whirlwind, like a force field of dancing petals.
"It can't be!!"
Thus, the movement of the illusory blades drastically limited Fortea (Gordon)'s movements, forcing her to focus on avoiding contact with the cutting vortex, or being sliced by the sharp edges.
(FSHOOOOM!!!)
Immediately afterward, the whirlwind of petals opened precisely upward, creating a direct aperture to the light of the sky.
(Now what?!)
And then, the real assault began.
"Hehehe..." "Hehehe..." "Hehehe..." "Hehehe..."
Each copy of Flora fluttering in the air executed a coordinated movement, manifesting a small parasitic plant on each one's chest.
(GLOW-GLOW-GLOW!!)
These plants began to absorb the light entering through the opening, condensing it into natural energy of an intense emerald green color.
(ZZZZT! ZZZZT! ZZZZT!!)
And so, the condensed light shot out...
"Fire!" "Fire!" "Fire!" "Fire!"
... Then Flora's copies launched a coordinated rain of omnidirectional rays towards the center of the vortex.
(VZZZZT-VZZZZT!)
"Damn it!!"
The attack came from all angles, further cornering Fortea (Gordon) inside the minuscule space she could defend with her War Mace.
"!!"
With no other option, Fortea (Gordon) reacted purely by instinct, desperately dodging the condensed light rays, her body moving in a deadly dance inside the petal cage.
(ZZZT-CLANG!! ZZZT-CLANG!! ZZZT-CLANG!!)
She used her mace to block and deflect the rays closest to her vital organs.
(How the hell can one face something like this?)
The bombardment was incessant. In her mind, a question of pure and primal survival resonated non-stop.
(...I have to escape!)
The thought of flight, so obvious and vital for a bandit's survival, had just crossed her mind.
"...Flee?"
But at that moment...
"Why...?"
... Fortea stopped abruptly, her eyes widening in shock.
(Why did I never think of fleeing until this very moment?)
The mace dropped slightly as she realized that, despite the evident extreme danger, the option to retreat had never existed in her mind.
(ZOOOOOOM!!! WHOOSH!!!)
In that instant of panic and revelation, the siege abruptly ceased.
"?!"
All the petals surrounding the area, the entire vortex that had immobilized her, gathered and ascended rapidly toward the sky, freeing Fortea.
She looked up, watching the scene in disbelief.
<"Did you notice?">
And it was then that she heard a voice...
"What?!"
The voice was feminine, as if a child and an adult were speaking at the same time, filled with condescending mockery.
<"Thank you for playing with my baby.">
Thus, Fortea (Gordon) could only watch, trembling, as the immense concentration of petals now floating high above began to plummet, a rain of deadly blades that gave her no escape while the truth hit her harder than any attack.
<"I really appreciate you.">
Someone had restricted her thoughts and the thoughts of everyone present to prevent the option of fleeing.
"W-who... the hell are you?!"
And before being consumed by the destructive rain of petals, Fortea (Gordon) heard the answer...
<"I'm Melioris dear~">
(SHOOOOOOM!!! KRASHHH!!!)
.... As the rain of petals impacted.