"Top Runner."

Neith summoned her Characteristic Magic, a chariot pulled by 2 sphinxes. Since it had been a while since she did Healing Lovers with Yuuto, her Characteristic Magic was back to normal.

The reason she did that was because Lost's Frankenstein monster, though Neith and Lizel preferred to call it zombie Yotaka, seemed intent on attacking Lizel. It was easier to keep Lizel on the move by means of Top Runner than to keep dodging at the last minute.

Lizel and Neith had no idea how this zombie Yotaka, with Iratsume's head to boot, came to be. Lizel was never good with horror things, so she couldn't help but wonder if not even death itself could stop Yotaka from coming after her.

Although, there was some black liquid coming out of her, and it clearly wasn't blood. Once one of Iratsume's eyes fell off, that black liquid created a new one. But that black eye wasn't focused on Lizel like the rest of this creature. It seemed to be looking around for something, though Lizel and Neith didn't have time to worry about that.

"Gaaaaugh!"

"Tsk, just die already."

While Neith drove Top Runner, Lizel fired an arrow using Cupid, her bow made by her Bloodline Magic. The arrow found its target on zombie Yotaka's right arm, and completely destroyed it.

But then that black liquid simply made a new arm for her. And this one even transformed into something that seemed like a whip to try and attack Lizel again. Lizel was starting to wonder if Yotaka's ghost would haunt her for the rest of her life.

"If that's the case, I'll just exorcize her. Neith, you do it."

"Didn't you just say you were going to do it, Lizel…?"

"Don't worry about the details, I'll give you backup. So take the lead in fighting this g-ghost."

Despite everything, just thinking of Yotaka as a ghost made Lizel feel like there were butterflies in her stomach. That's why she resigned herself to the rear and let Neith take the front.

Neith made her Top Runner begin flying, that way Lizel would be in a better position to use her Cupid. But it wasn't that big of an advantage, since Lost's Frankenstein could still reach them with its whip arm.

It didn't hit Lizel and Neith, but it did hit one of the buildings of Ginsei Academy, and it left a big hole in it.

"This place… it still has the school's protection spells… doesn't it…?"

"I'm fairly certain it does. Damn this woman, even dead she won't cease to annoy me."

Ginsei Academy had protective spells cast all over it. Even Advanced Magic would have trouble breaking a single piece of glass. This version made by Barbatos was no different.

Being able to break the walls and make such a huge hole with pure power was quite a feat. Still, Lizel could only feel annoyed by it.

"Lizel… since we can't dispel her grudges… how can we exorcize her…? Burning…?"

"I don't really care if we actually exorcize her or not. I just want to be rid of her for good."

Neith was worrying a bit too much about the whole exorcizing matter. Once she noticed Lizel hadn't actually been serious about it, she began to attack as well.

Neith used both Fidezenon and Destrucshear to attack the zombie Yotaka from a distance. The undead creature didn't use any spells to defend itself, it couldn't, though Neith and Lizel had no way of knowing that.

That said, it still tried to dodge as best it could. But, when it did get hit, its body was easily destroyed, and then repaired by the black liquid. Though repaired might not have been the best word for it. Maybe replaced was better.

"Gaaaarrh!"

Eventually, the zombie seemed to get mad and charged at the girls. Yotaka was fast enough that Lizel couldn't follow her movements, though Neith was able to.

She tried to dodge out of the way, but zombie Yotaka still hit Top Runner with all her strength. Neith had never felt her chariot be hit so hard before, it was to the point she thought it might break.

"-! Lizel!"

It was only then that Neith noticed the creature's plan. She thought that this creature was unable to think for itself, but that didn't seem to be the case.

When the Frankenstein hit Top Runner, Neith was able to hold herself in place, but Lizel wasn't. She flew off of the chariot, and was now plummeting to the ground. On top of that, the undead monster gave chase to her.

"You're too persistent!"

Just like in her battle with the then alive Yotaka, Lizel revived her arrows. And once again they all landed on their target.

But this time, Yotaka wasn't deterred by them. Though there was clear damage, she barely seemed to have noticed it.

"I won't let you!"

However, Neith came to Lizel's rescue. One of Top Runner's sphinxes hit the zombie Yotaka to the ground.

But because of that, Neith was unsure if she could save Lizel. Normally, a fall like this wouldn't be much of a worry for a noble devil, but Lizel no longer had her magic circuits. Her chances of survival were not good if she weren't saved.

But it seemed luck was yet to abandon Lizel. Not a second passed before she was caught in the air, breaking her fall. And the person who caught her was…

"Reina!"

"Yes desu. Is senpai fine?"

Reina, along with Miyabi and Stella, had just happened to find Neith and Lizel. Though Horoscope played a part in that.

Despite Reina being a small girl, she was still a devil, or rather a homunculus, so carrying Lizel was no problem for her. Once they safely landed, Reina put down Lizel and took out Pon-chan.

"What is that thing?! Why does it smell rotten?"

"I think… hey, newbie, is it just me or is that actually a corpse? I think I'm going to throw up."

"How many times- wait, don't throw up in my direction!"

Miyabi and Stella… had an interesting reaction to seeing this foe. Meanwhile, Neith landed her Top Runner near Lizel so she could climb on again.

"We can talk later. For now, let's just put this zombie back in her grave."

Despite Yotaka's great power, with all of Lovers' Cards present, this shouldn't be an impossible battle.

Yet, Stella couldn't help but get a bad feeling. So she gave Stars of Fortune to everyone. That way, luck would be on their side as long as her mana lasted.

Once again, the zombie rose back up in a completely unnatural way. By now, at least half of its rotting body was replaced by the black liquid. Though, a strange thing was now happening where it seemed like the black liquid was now trying to consume the remaining parts of Yotaka and Iratsume.

Another thing that was different was that it no longer simply attacked Lizel. Rather, it seemed to be carefully observing all 5 girls, as if trying to find a target.

"Gaaaah!"

And, after a few seconds, it launched itself at Stella. Since she was already using a lot of mana to give everyone Stars of Fortune, she was really hoping it wouldn't come after her.

"Hey, don't mess with my newbie!"

Before the undead creature could approach Stella, Miyabi activated her Bloodline Magic, Galactic Strike, and punched it away. Though Miyabi herself made no physical contact with the creature, only the pure mana she shot out did, otherwise the black liquid would have simply consumed her.

The Yuugaoze Bloodline Magic was originally Cutting Connect, but those magic circuits suffered a mutation on Miyabi, giving birth to this new Bloodline Magic. It was nothing complicated, it simply gave Miyabi a powerup and allowed her to shoot out her mana, giving her a ranged option for fighting.

But the most important part is that it still has its roots on Devil Arcana's magic circuits, which is what allowed her to properly damage this creature. In other words, if it's not an Arcana's Characteristic Magic, or a Bloodline Magic based on an Arcana, this black liquid won't even be bothered by it.

"Hyaa!"

As if to prove that point, Reina tried to slash the creature. While Pon-chan did go through the flesh part, it was immediately stopped by the black liquid.

But the Star of Fortune did its job. Normally, Reina would have been absorbed without any time to even wonder what had happened. But Miyabi's Galactic Strike had left the black liquid temporarily stunned, which allowed Reina to retreat and take some distance.

"What happened there?"

"It felt like Pon-chan wasn't cutting through desu."

"Say whaat? I don't think I'm that much stronger than Reina."

"… I have a feeling like it's something else. For now, Reina, stick with me. We know that Miyabi, Lizel and Neith's attacks work, so let's work with them."

In summary, Miyabi would take the front while Lizel and Neith gave her backup. Stella made sure everything would be fine and Reina would make sure that, if Stella was targeted, she'd be able to hold the creature back long enough for the others to come help.

But ultimately, all that planning wasn't really needed. The Star of Fortune was on their side.

Lizel shot a few arrows at the zombie Yotaka while Miyabi approached her. Once she got close enough, Miyabi hit her with 2 Galactic Strikes, sending her flying to the nearest wall.

"Gaaaarrr!"

The undead creature smashed into the wall, leaving cracks all around it, but it still seemed willing to fight.

So Neith came at it with Top Runner. The sphinxes hit it enough to finish breaking down the wall. Once she was done, Neith took some distance.

"Gaaa…"

The creature seemed to be on its last legs, so Lizel decided to finish it off.

She shot arrows on it and next to it. After she couldn't fit any more arrows, she poured most of her mana on them, making them blow up.

Much like Miyabi's Galactic Strike, Lizel's Bloodline Magic, Cupid, also had its origins on an Arcana's magic circuits. But in Lizel's case, it was Lovers Arcana.

But in summary, it meant that those attacks and explosions were effective on the creature.

"Graaaaahh!"

The explosion was powerful enough to take out some more of Ginsei Academy's walls.

Once things seemed to calm down, Lizel and the others went to go check on their foe. A considerable amount of rubble had fallen on the undead creature, but it didn't seem to be moving anymore.

Indeed, Lizel's last attack was enough to completely obliterate any traces of Yotaka and Iratsume's body. After a few seconds, the girls couldn't help but breathe out a sigh of relief.

Then, the rubble started moving. Next, it was swallowed up by… something.

The black liquid started to spread, no longer confined by the body it had been put into. Some tentacle-like appendages started to appear and almost got the girls, but, as luck would have it, they just barely missed them.

"Everyone, get on…!"

Neith didn't waste a second in summoning Top Runner again. And neither did anyone else in getting on it.

And again, that was very lucky of them. It didn't even take 10 full seconds for the entire floor to be covered by the black liquid, which was starting to swallow everything, creating a black swamp.

The girls were currently on the air, but it was only a matter of time before either the black liquid flooded enough of the place to get to them, or one of the tentacles got them. But, with space messed up, it was hard for them to find an escape.

But the Star of Fortune was still active.

{Everyone, this is an emergency announcement. I'm suspending the bending of the space that made this into a labyrinth, you can now walk or fly about in Ginsei Academy like normal.}

The Devil King, Barbatos Gandou, suddenly made such an announcement. It was probably confusing for a lot of the participants of this game, but for the girls who were face-to-face with this problem, it was amazing how quickly he acted.

Not even waiting to hear the rest of it, Neith took them out of that place. If space was no longer messed up, it was much easier for them to escape this creature made of black liquid.

{Listen well, the Labyrinth Battle Royale is officially suspended. A Disaster has happened in this world sensei put you all in. sensei will be there in a few minutes, so try to survive for as long as you can. If you see a black liquid, avoid it as much as possible.}

And just like that, an unexpected second act began.