As soon as the event that would be known as Labyrinth Battle Royale began, Amon Gandou, Fool's Candidate, felt himself being teleported. He ended up in a classroom, similar to where he'd been before, so some people in a similar situation might not have even recognized they had been moved.

Clearly alone, Amon decided to begin his movement. He walked out of the classroom as if this was just another normal day.

Rather than the hallway, Amon ended up in Ginsei Academy's laboratory. Such were the characteristics of this labyrinth created by Barbatos. Although everything looked normal, space was connected in a weird way.

Just to be sure, Amon tested and confirmed that, by returning the way he came, he returned to the same room, so mapping was a possibility. Then again, he wouldn't put it past Barbatos that he'd made it so the "labyrinth" jumbled up after some time.

"In any case, I suppose I should try to find someone first."

It's not as if Amon had been caught entirely by surprise by this. He knew Barbatos was up to something ever since the night they stopped Lost from almost killing the Sannou twins.

It'd be fine if this was a Devil King War like any other, but this one is different. Compared to what's to come after, this Devil King War is more like training. So they needed a way to get rid of Lost, or at least stop him from simply consuming the Candidates that could become fighting potential later.

What Amon doesn't understand is why go about it in such a roundabout way? Why not get rid of Lost right after stopping him from eating Rikimaru and Seigi? Or, even if he wants to make it part of the Devil King War, why not just drop Amon and Lost in the same room, or close to each other?

"What a coincidence. Or maybe not."

As Amon was thinking this, he met with someone. A bald-headed boy about the same age as him. Hierophant's Candidate, Hirono Hiraizumi.

Normally, when 2 Candidates meet, anyone would think a fight would ensue, but not this time. This game is meant to be played with teams, and, even if it wasn't the case, Hirono is one of the people helping Barbatos and Amon, even if he doesn't know the full picture yet.

"Are you able to get in contact with anyone?"

"Not through normal means, but I can talk with my Cards via Hierophant. We have even begun to map the labyrinth and locate the players."

Hirono showed Amon a map of the current Ginsei Academy. Well, to be more precise, they were all in a world Barbatos had created that was a copy of Ginsei Academy.

There were still many blank spots, likely because of Hirono's recent big loss of Cards, and some players, like Lost, had yet to be located. But there was a spot that called Amon's attention.

"Who is near Marios and his models?"

"Barbara, my Ace."

"I see. It should be fine if it's her. We're heading there, tell her to keep him there. Also tell her that there are some models of his that I want, but she can break the weaker ones if she wants."

"Understood."

Hirono replayed the message to his Ace, who confirmed she understood her mission. Though she also seemed excited about it.


"Oh, look where I ended up."

Once the game started, everyone was teleported at random. As long as the place was in Ginsei Academy, it was fair game. That also included the Palace, a room as big as a luxury apartment all Candidates have.

Fleminar Astarte, the Candidate for Priestess Arcana, ended up in Lovers' Palace. She knew it was Lovers' place because, as far as she knew, Yuuto was the only one actually making use of the Palace, so it's the only one that changed from its default look.

As soon as she left the Palace, she ended up in one of the buildings used for combat practice. And, sitting down as if waiting for her was the Candidate of Emperor Arcana, Marchosias Oinomori.

"Well at least that bastard Barbatos knows we're the only ones who can fight each other."

"Did Oinomori-kun not hear the announcement? We're on the same team, for all intents and purposes."

"Then, do we just sit around with nothing to do? Or do you feel like bullying the kids together?"

Fleminar and Marchosias had been Candidates in the previous Devil King War, but they were somehow spared by Barbatos and are still alive.

Thinking of it as a form of humiliation, Marchosias focused all of these 20 years that passed since then to become strong enough to challenge Barbatos. He'd defeat him, or die trying.

As for Fleminar, she didn't care much for any of that, and you could even say she was slightly grateful for this second chance. But, even if she didn't train for combat during that time, she was still a Devil King Candidate.

If a normal Candidate could get much stronger in the relatively short span of time of a Devil King War, then what about these 2, who had 2 whole decades to get more powerful? It was unlikely they'd be defeated by anyone.

"Hmm, I suppose we might as well wait and see what happens."

Curious as she was, Fleminar wasn't fond of picking on children. She thought that the best course of action for her was to wait here with Marchosias until either the end of the game or something interesting happened.

But of course, just waiting around wasn't fun either, but there was something she could do about it. Barbatos had said that the people that weren't part of the Devil King War could watch this, so this means he was somehow broadcasting this through magic.

For lack of better wording, Fleminar essentially "hacked" into Barbatos' transmission. Much like in a sci-fi movie, a kind of screen suddenly appeared in front of her, and on it she could see what was happening in the other places in the labyrinth.

She thought about offering one for Marchosias, but he didn't really seem interested, so she gave up on the idea. For now, Fleminar would limit herself to observing the event.


Aspite Line, Devil King Candidate of World Arcana, quickly noticed what had happened when the game started. After all, this was the power of his World Arcana.

That the Devil King is leagues above all Candidates is only to be expected. But seeing such a show of power still made Aspite a little embarrassed that he could only create a world of 3 meters in diameter with himself at the center.

But Aspite decided he wouldn't let that get to him. It would be a simple matter as long as he became stronger and more adept at using World's power after this. Rather than that…

"Why is this great me in Yuuto Morioka's team?!"

That's what was bothering Aspite the most. Though it's not like there was another choice, unless Aspite wanted to be alone in his own team, but even he knew that was the furthest thing from a good idea at the moment.

In any case, it was convenient anyway, since he intended to have Yuuto survive as long as possible so he could get his revenge match. Aspite isn't necessarily looking for revenge, but if he must be defeated by Yuuto it would at least be during the finals, or so he thought.

Aspite made his way through the labyrinth while looking for an opponent, someone from Death's Group or the Triumph. There were many people who lost their faith in Aspite after he lost to Yuuto, but it was time to show them that Aspite Line was still in the game.

And it wasn't long before he found an opponent, though it took him a second to recognize him.

"Looks like everyone made it safely. Let's make a spell to locate everyone inside this labyrinth, and then we'll pick our targets."

The Candidate Aspite found was Noda Shiwa, Magician's Candidate.

Anyone would be hard-pressed to give a description of him, since he looked like a normal boy his age. His hair was black, neither long nor short. His face was neither handsome nor ugly. He was neither short nor tall. In summary, he was just normal and average.

Then again, in Ginsei Academy, that might be a huge differentiator from everyone else. Though not necessarily in a good way.

It seemed Noda had somehow teleported his Cards to his location after the game began, and now they're working together on some kind of spell to locate the other people in the labyrinth.

Aspite thought this was good. Average though he may seem to be, Noda is still a part of the Triumph, known as the strongest Arcanas. Fighting him and winning would surely erase the humiliation from being defeated by a human at the start of the Devil King War.

"There's no need for any of you to do anything more. You're all about to be defeated by this great me."

Aspite revealed himself to Noda and his Cards. While the spell they had been preparing would be useful, there would be no point if Magician and his Cards were the only ones who could use it, so Aspite had no reason to wait for them to finish.

"Shit. Find somewhere quiet where we can prepare. I'll teleport there once I deal with him."

Noda told his Cards, who promptly left the scene. Though the real reason for that was that Noda wanted to have all the glory of this fight for himself. He figured it wouldn't be hard to defeat someone who had been defeated by a human.

"Are you sure you won't need help?"

"Who do you think you're talking to?! I am one of the Triumph, the Candidate for Magician!"

"Yet, the most forgettable Candidate of this Devil King War."

"I'll kill you!"

Aspite might have had a little too much fun teasing Noda, whose face was now red with anger. Still, Aspite knew he wasn't biting off more than he could chew.

Soon, their clash began.


Just like everyone else, Lizel Himekami and Neith Carnac were teleported to different places once the game started. But, as luck would have it, they happened to meet soon after it began.

Or maybe it wasn't luck. Lizel didn't know of this, but Barbatos was aware of her missing magic circuits. Maybe he made sure there would be an ally she would meet as soon as the game started.

"If only I still had some of Healing Lovers' mana… Top Runner would be able to break us free from this labyrinth…"

"Maybe it's best like this. The Devil King likes to play around, so we don't know what he might do if someone spoiled his fun. But I would like to at least contact Yuuto and the others."

After Yuuto, Lizel, Miyabi and Reina left for Italy, Neith remained behind to take care of Poran and the other mixed-blood devil children. Because she hadn't done Healing Lovers with Yuuto in a while, her Characteristic Magic, Top Runner, was back to its original form.

As Neith and Lizel continued walking, they ended up in a place that seemed like where the track and field club practiced. And there, they met their opponent.

Though it was someone they didn't expect to see again.

"Aaauug."

"… That's…"

"It can't be!"

Marios' newest creation for Lost, a monster they called Frankenstein. But, for Lizel and Neith, it might as well be called zombie Yotaka. Despite being the creator, Marios was unable to make this… thing obey him, so she simply wandered off once the game began. It was as if it still had a mind of its own.

The body was Yotaka's, but the head that Lizel had blown off with her Cupid was now replaced by Iratsume's. Some sort of black liquid was keeping the decaying corpse(s) together, though it was also constantly pouring out and dripping to the ground.

Both Lizel and Neith nearly vomited at the mere sight of this thing, but they weren't allowed to.

As if possessed by something, the Frankenstein monster jumped towards Lizel and tried to attack her. Neith tackled Lizel out of the way and they managed to dodge the attack.

"Aaauuu."

The zombie Yotaka got up in a completely unnatural way, contorting her body all around itself, but the black liquid fixed her up in no time. It seemed she wanted a fight.

"What… is that…?"

"Doesn't matter. We just have to kill it."

Lizel activated her Bloodline Magic, Cupid, as it was the only magic she can currently use. Knocking an arrow into place, Lizel took aim at the undead foe. Neith knew she also needed to get serious, so she prepared herself to fight.

For a second, maybe a coincidence, Iratsume's dead eyes settled on Neith and Lizel. One of her eyes fell out of its socket, but the black liquid didn't put it back into place. Instead, it became a new eye, one that seemed more alive than the rotting one, though also different.

An unexpected second round was about to begin in the Labyrinth Battle Royale.


Miyabi was randomly teleported once the game began. But, as luck would have it, she happened to meet with Reina and Stella not long after.

Well, actually, Stella manipulated her own luck so she quickly ran into any allies that were nearby, which happened to be Miyabi and Reina.

"Nice going, newbie."

"Don't call me a newbie, I'm older than you."

"But you're a newbie as Yuuto's Card."

"U-um, senpai, Reina thinks you were really amazing desu."

"… I suppose that's fine."

Stella would never let it show or admit it, but seeing a young girl like Reina admire her made her feel good. When it came down to it, Stella was a fairly simple person.

After she found the 2 of them, Stella deactivated her ability. She no longer had practically limitless mana, so this is how she was using her Horoscope.

The trio kept walking and somehow ended up in Ginsei Academy's cafeteria. That's when they met their first enemy.

"Why are you still alive?!"

Summers Sansa, Devil King Candidate of Sun. She and Lost had attacked Stella about a week ago, and Stella only barely managed to escape alive.

As Stella had already told them of what happened, Miyabi and Reina immediately prepared to fight, but Stella stopped them.

"This is good, just the right opponent to test how much of my strength I was able to recover. I'll deal with her alone."

"Don't talk big, you bitch. I don't care how you survived, you still haven't recovered your fans to serve as your mana source. I'll beat you all the same."

The hatred in Summers' eyes was as clear as day, but something similar could be seen in Stella's eyes. Even the person herself was surprised by how vengeful she could be.

"Go through that door and wait for me there. I can't promise you'll be safe if you stay here."

"… Alrighty. Stay safe, newbie."

"Do your best, senpai."

"I told you to stop calling me newbie!"

Miyabi and Reina did as Stella told them and left through a certain door, that way it would be easy for Stella to find them again after.

"Ah, I get it now. Did you suck off Lovers to survive? Well, it's only right that you'd whore yourself."

"You know, if it was before your last attack, I would have accepted it if you wanted to talk things out. But now I'm sick and tired of it. If it's a death battle you want, it's a death battle you got."


Once Miyabi and Reina passed through the door Stella indicated, they ended up in the gymnasium.

"Woah!"

"!"

They were already aware that space had been rearranged to form a labyrinth, so that wasn't surprising for them.

What was surprising was that they found 6 young men there. The girls didn't know, but they were Noda's Cards.

"Who are they?!"

"Doesn't matter, let's just get rid of them!"

"Wait, aren't they…?"

"Lovers' Cards!"

"Lucky us."

"We'll have some fun with them."

The 6 young men got ready to battle, they looked at Miyabi and Reina with undisguised lust, which made them feel creeped out.

Miyabi and Reina might not have known who exactly they were, but it wasn't hard to guess they were someone's Cards. Since they didn't recognize them, that meant they were enemies.

That wasn't all that unlucky. Miyabi and Reina had also trained hard to grow stronger. While they would have preferred it if Yuuto was there to see them, this might be a good chance to test their newfound strength.

"3 for each."

"Yes desu."

The young men had not noticed, but they were not the alpha predators they thought they were. If anyone was unlucky here, it was them.


"What a precarious situation! To help my ally, I must face a great number of powerful enemies. But I must do it to save my ally!"

Balance Mizusawa was on one of the school's rooftops. From there, he was able to see Summer's situation. That also meant he could see the fight between Miyabi and Reina and Magician's Cards.

He knew how to get to the gymnasium, which meant he knew how to get to Summers to help her. But the road was clearly dangerous now that all the fighting had begun, even for a Devil King Candidate like himself.

"Please help me, Arcana. Balancing!"

Balance activated his Characteristic Magic. This wasn't like how he used it for Yotaka, this was a combat application.

The opponents he'd have to face to save his ally, Summers, were clearly more powerful than he was. Since their power couldn't be lowered, Balance's had to increase to keep the balance.

He felt his strength grow and his mana swell. Balance felt good, more powerful than he'd ever been. But that was only fair, after all, it's not too much to imagine he might have to fight all his opponents at once, meaning he has to be powerful enough for that.

Temperance was not a weak Arcana, but it was not one easily usable in battle. If the situation wasn't so convenient, Balance wouldn't have been able to grow his power so much.

"Time to go."

He said. But, just as he was about to leave the rooftop to head towards Summers' direction…

"Woah! Since when were you this strong?"

Ruki happened to make her way to the rooftop. But that was no problem for Balance. Or rather, it could even be considered lucky.

"Oh, more enemies put themselves in my way. Let's redo it! Balancing!"

Balance undid the spell that had just granted him that much power and then performed it again, this time, also adding in Ruki's power.

Meanwhile, Ruki looked over Balance and saw Miyabi and Reina's fight, as well as Stella's. She got a good idea of what was going on.

"I'm not really sure what's going on here, but it looks like you might be trying to hurt my friends. I don't have a lot of those, so I can't let you go doing that."

"We'll see about that. This is finally my chance to prove myself to master Lost! I'll beat everyone!"


After I left the room I was in, I found myself in a corridor. I tried going somewhere, but it didn't matter which direction I ran or which stairs I took, I couldn't leave the corridor.

I figured I'd try to look out of the window to see if I could spot anyone, but then I saw a strange sight.

"Someone! Help!"

A girl with red hair was running away from 2 other girls, one of which was holding a knife. The girl holding a knife had pink hair and the other girl had white hair with pink highlights.

I know the pink haired knife-wielding girl, that's Rinne, a friend of Lost's, and I hope mine as well. The white haired girl I only met once during the Unveiling, she's Hisoka if I recall right. I feel like I've also met the other girl before, but I can't quite remember her name.

For some reason, I really feel compelled to go down and help her. I mean, I want to know what's going on with Rinne, but I feel like there's more to it than that. For some reason I can't stop looking at the red haired girl.

"It seems that these 2 are also under Lost's Psyconnect."

"Woah! Woah!"

I was surprised by the sudden voice beside me. But then, when I looked at the girl who had said those words, I was surprised again.

How do I say this without sounding like a pervert? … Meh, screw it. Everyone already thinks I'm a pervert.

This girl, her breasts, they're just, like, way too big. Like, it's seriously disproportional to the rest of her body. And she's even wearing a skintight black suit! How am I not supposed to look at those?!

Wait, now that I look at her better, the face, not the breasts, I feel like I've seen her before. Like, just now.

"Weren't you in the classroom I was at just before this all started?"

"Yes, I'm your classmate. My name is Hinata, I'm Hierophant's Queen. I have to say I'm surprised you recognized me, people seem to have trouble with that. Also, I'm not particularly good at fighting, nor do I want to fight you, so I would appreciate it if we could have a temporary truce."

"A-ah, that's fine by me."

I'm not sure I would be able to fight her, my eyes would probably be glued to her breasts all the while. Hell, they're glued to them even now.

As I was trying to find where to look, Hinata moved to the window to observe the scene I was just seeing.

"You have the Yuugaoze Bloodline Magic, right? Then you should be able to see Psyconnect, if I recall."

"Oh yeah!"

I don't really use it, but I do have Cutting Connect. I used the Bloodline Magic I got from Miyabi and confirmed that Psyconnect's chains were indeed on Rinne and Hisoka's necks.

But how? I killed Ibiza. Wait, Hinata said "Lost's Psyconnect" didn't she? But how can Lost have Psyconnect?

I'm really confused right now. But I know a quick way to get my answers and save the red headed girl to boot.

"You want to go there? I don't mind showing the way."

"I know the shortest way."

Right after I said that, I jumped out of the window. Yeah, I could have taken the stairs and gotten where the red headed girl, Rinne and Hisoka are, but this is faster.

I landed right between the red headed girl and Rinne and Hisoka. I looked at the girl who was now behind me. Wow, she's really pretty.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you."

Why did I say that? Though I have to admit I felt like I was the coolest guy around. Anyway, doesn't matter, I turned to face Rinne and Hisoka.

Before they could act, I cut Psyconnect's chains from them. I held onto the chains with one hand and stopped the girls from falling with the other hand.

"Don't you know this place is a labyrinth?! You were really lucky that that window led to where it seemed to lead!"

"… Ah! I had forgotten!"

I had seriously completely forgotten about that. It's true, space seems to be bent in all sorts of weird ways.

But I can't really explain it, when I saw the red haired girl being attacked, I just felt like I had to jump in and protect her.

Speaking of, she was now coming towards me. It seemed she wanted to speak.

"Thank you for saving me. May I ask your name?"

"I-I'm Yuuto, Lovers' Candidate."

"Oh, now I remember, the human Devil King Candidate. It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Hime, a fellow Candidate. I have the Empress Arcana. That said, I hope we can be friends."

"I-I hope so too!"

Why am I so nervous? I'm like a boy trying to confess to a girl he likes. I didn't even remember her name until just now, so why is my heart beating so much?!

"Uug, what?"

"Hey, Rinne, are you fine?"

Rinne seemed to recover her consciousness. Once she figured out where she was, she got on her feet and then took Hisoka from my hands, though it wasn't long before she recovered as well.

I took that time to ask Rinne about Lost. From what she said, it seems that he has some ability to absorb people, and that's how he got Psyconnect. He seemed to be going crazy when Death's group disbanded, but then later he showed up again, more powerful, but also seeming different, that's when he put Psyconnect on them. At least, that's the general gist of it.

"So these chains lead to Lost…"

Because I recently got my memories back, I can say with confidence: this Lost doesn't seem like my old friend. He shouldn't even be a Candidate, but what if he absorbed the original Candidate for Death as well?

I have to see what's going on. And there's only one way to do that.

"I'm going after him."

I told everyone who was with me. Despite this being a labyrinth, I can reach Lost as long as I follow Psyconnect's chains, which I'm still holding on to.

"I'm sorry for intruding. I don't really know this Lost, but he seems like a dangerous foe. None of us are fighters except for you, Yuuto, so wouldn't it be better to wait for backup?"

"I'll be fine alone."

"You're not going alone. I'm going with you."

Rinne said, and from her eyes it seemed there was no talking her out of it. Well, as long as I'm around Psyconnect won't be a problem, so it's fine.

"I-I'll go with Rin-chan!"

Hisoka, who had spent most of her time hiding behind Rinne, said. Guess we're in 3 now.

"Well, it wouldn't be right of me to let the person who saved my life walk this maze alone. I'll do my best to not be a burden, so please let me tag along."

"I'll go as well. I can at least provide some assistance."

Hime and then Hinata voiced out their thoughts. In that case, we're going as a group of 5. I nodded to them.

Somehow, even though none of them are my Cards, I managed to surround myself with a group of beautiful girls again. Hey, at least it makes the walk enjoyable.

But seriously now, it's time for me to see what's going on with Lost.