Transform into a magical girl after getting off work

The sacrifice of Stonegarlic won valuable time for Cornflower and her group, allowing them to retreat towards the Rose Palace with the wounded.

The magical power fluctuation at the Boundary Gate was so intense in everyone's perception, bringing a shameful sense of security to the already demoralized team.

Most were silent, with only a few Magical Girls whispering encouragement to one another. Everyone tacitly avoided discussing Stonegarlic's current condition.

For this was the nature of the ephemeral bloom, the more brilliant the flowering, the shorter its lifespan.

Until the team had traveled far in the Garden, the magical power fluctuation burning at the Boundary Gate finally stopped like extinguished firewood.

Some soldiers who were close to Stonegarlic showed slight changes in their expressions, but no one stopped; mourning is a task for after survival, there's no time for tears in a crisis.

Mo He, however, appeared visibly worried.

Evidently, retreating into the Garden also meant leaving Luennolay, and to Mo He, it seemed that for a long time now, she wouldn't have time to worry about Nim's safety.

Cornflower observed everyone's reactions but said nothing, simply quickened her pace.

The death of Stonegarlic meant that the Boundary Gate of Luennolay had completely fallen, and at this moment, the enemy forces probably had already stepped into the Garden, following behind them.

If they couldn't rendezvous with the Royal Court Guards before being caught, then even Stonegarlic's sacrifice would lose its meaning.

Flying low over the boundless sea of flowers, a sight that should inspire awe and relaxation became insignificant to Cornflower; all she could do was silently pray that things wouldn't turn for the worst.

Fortunately, their luck wasn't all bad.

After marching for dozens of minutes, with the enemy's magical power fluctuation drawing closer, they finally saw the ones they wished to meet:

—Magical Girl Knights clad in dark and gray uniforms, armored. They were the mysterious Royal Court Guards in the eyes of commoners.

Even apprentice knights must be at Leaf Level, with the main force being Bud Level and above. In terms of average quality, they were the top elite fighting group in the Kingdom.

Even if there were only a few hundred of them, it represented an extremely formidable combat force. The combat power these hundreds could exert on a high-level battlefield might be on par with, or even surpass, the Luennolay Army before the city fell.

To avoid being mistaken for deserters, the remnants decided to send a Flower Level member affiliated with the Royal Court to communicate with the Royal Court Guards. Upon briefly explaining the situation in Luennolay, and that "retreating into the Boundary Gate was Emerald's order", the knights chose to believe the remnants and took them in.

After all, facing two Feather Rank Beasts and a mysterious individual capable of damaging the Gemstone Scepter, such combat prowess was difficult even for the Guard Team from the Royal Court to handle, thus it was understandable for the Boundary Gate to be breached.

Instead of questioning whether the Luennolay Army failed to defend the city, it was more urgent to respond to the incoming enemy forces.

Several Flower Level leaders went to report the enemy situation to the Knight Commander of the Royal Court Guards, while Cornflower, who was still officially at Bud Level, finally had a moment to catch her breath and recover her long-depleted magic power.

After a brief period of reorganization, reinforcements sent by the gardeners also arrived.

So-called gardeners are "the Fairies managing the Garden for the Queen", and besides tending to the flowers and plants of this little world, they have another duty: "to expel pests".

Now, the Interworld Army invading the Garden undoubtedly counted as a type of "pest".

Although no combat power at the level of an "Elf Chief" appeared, this was still a force not to be underestimated.

The convergence of three military forces allowed the Luennolay Army, which was already defeated, to regain its momentum and begin organizing defenses on-site, preparing to meet the enemy.

Of course, they were destined not to have as ample time as when stationed in Luennolay, for soon, the Interworld Army arrived.

And at just a glance, Cornflower realized that this Interworld Army had a significantly higher proportion of Remnant Beasts compared to the one that previously attacked the city.

If the main force in the prior Interworld Army was Fairies and humans, with Remnant Beasts merely as "armaments",

then this current Interworld Army could rightly be termed a "Residual Beast Army" given their numbers.

Though this greatly reduced their organization and discipline, the oppressive feeling from the vast sea of Remnant Beasts was heavy on the heart.

No more mercy, no more empathy, the final and cruelest slaughter began.

The once plentiful comrades, referred to as "friends" or "sisters," were now few. For the surviving Luennolay Army, they were merely now among strangers, sacrificing their lives for a last vestige of belief.

While high-end combat power was replenished, there was no increase in lower-tier forces, creating a disparity where thousands of "elites" faced tens of thousands of a "beast ocean". Each Magical Girl and gardener had to deal with powerful high-rank Remnant Beasts as well as vast numbers of low-rank ones simultaneously.

Under such an onslaught, Cornflower and Mo He could only ensure they didn't lose sight of each other, unable to care for more comrades.

Mo He's "Grip Now" and Cornflower's Weave of Fate were powerful controlling Magic Armors, allowing them to cooperate, fill in gaps, and eliminate the most enemies with the least losses.

The two stood back to back, their previous cooperation in combat now reaching its perfect display. The light blue and amber magic power intertwined, swaying like a small boat in the enemy's ocean, yet never sinking. If someone was attentive enough to observe, they would find that the efficiency of this duo clearing Remnant Beasts was greater than some flower cards.

No one remembers how long this slaughter lasted.

But in Cornflower's perception, this battle felt far longer than the previous night's resistance at the Boundary Gate.

Even though she didn't attempt to cover the entire field with her Miracle Realm this time, even though her control over magic power was intricate and economical, skillfully killing enemies... after a long, exhausting battle, the magic power she barely managed to recover was once again in crisis. Meanwhile, countless Remnant Beasts continued to charge forward tirelessly.

Among them, she even discovered some Remnant Beasts whose magic power base color resembled that of Fairies.

But how could that be possible? Cornflower sensed something was amiss, but she no longer had the energy to think about these things.

She could only keep pushing herself, striving to hold on a little longer, while doing whatever she could to relieve Mo He of some pressure.

Until the speed at which the enemies replenished finally slowed a bit, until she could hardly hear the voices of her comrades around her, until the corpses and wreckages left by the battle had covered the sea of flowers.

Finally, a rumbling sound echoed in the sky.

A nearly numb Cornflower looked up to the sky and saw a huge black rectangle appeared out of nowhere over the Garden, sporadically flashing; the light points belonging to the sky resembled a mosaic, like a broken display screen.

Then, a gigantic figure fell from the black frame.

It was a Feather.

Or rather, Cornflower recognized it as the Feather that attacked Luennolay last night.

This time, upon hitting the ground, it shattered completely without a sound, transforming into overflowing black magic residue.

Afterward, another Feather's corpse fell out from the black frame.

Its lifeless body seemed to be completely flattened by something, like an enormous hide drifting down from the sky, fragmenting into black snow before even touching the ground.

At this moment, even those slow to react should realize: the battle on Emerald's side was decided.

The two Feather Rank Beasts were evidently slain by Emerald, but what about the remaining man?

The Magical Girls present all intuitively pondered this question.

Without a doubt, if Emerald had sufficient strength left after eliminating all three enemies, the outcome of the current battle would be beyond doubt. Thus, while the remaining Kingdom Army was lifted in spirits, part of their attention also focused on the black frame in the sky.

It seemed just a moment yet felt like ages before a third figure appeared in the black frame.

A relatively small silhouette compared to the Remnant Beasts, yet the Magical Girls could still recognize it easily: light green hair, a white lab coat representing a researcher's identity, undoubtedly, it was Emerald.

Emerald stood on the edge of the black frame, gazing down at the battleground in the Garden below.

Then, he fell from the sky.

Without a sound.

At such a great distance, it was indeed impossible for the Magical Girls present to hear anything.

Yet the silence amid the noise, at this moment, struck a chilling fear.

The last figure appeared in the black frame.

The upper body of his black robe nearly reduced to tatters, his mask shattered to cover only his eyes, the man known as "Bee Apostle" emerged bloodied from the black frame, gasping for breath as though narrowly surviving, coughing several mouthfuls of blood.

After some time, he slowly stood up.

Even looking so battered, the gaze revealed from his mask remained rational and cold. He stood amid the sky, overlooking the battlefield below like a deity.

After stabilizing his injuries and no longer panting, he spoke:

"It's time to end this."

As if a judgment from a harbinger of death, the Apostle issued a decree.

The black magic hovering above the ground began to surge and the black magic suspended in the air started to descend. Following that decree, the black magic almost condensed into a liquid, pouring into the battlefield long turned into a meat grinder.