I'm going to this length to get to you.
You'd better give me a warm welcome, Master.
Your fate will be decided by a fair trial conducted by the Sorcerers of Zero.
You may explain as much as you like there.
Surrender.
Holdem!
We can't escape.
We can redraw the magic circles, but you dying here won't help anything.
But-
This is what Sorena would do.
If there ain't windows, I'll just have to make one myself!
Here we go!
Hey, Witch! I'm here to save you! Hey!
Senobishitatte todokanai No matter how I stretch, it won't reach
Chie o furishibottemo No matter how hard I think
Madamada tarinai mitai da ashi tsucchau genkai It's still not enough, my legs hurt too much to press on!
Datte kirei na iro shitete It has such a pretty color
Mizumizushiku yureteiru And looks so juicy swaying back and forth
Onaka wa suitenai kedo tabete mitai na I'm not hungry but I want to try it
Ijiwaru iwaretemo makenaindakedo sa "I won't stop even if you say I'm being mean."
Tama ni wa tayotte yo boku o "You should ask me for help sometimes!"
Hatto ne hirameki It comes to me in a flash
Discover! Yuujou tte fantasy? Discover! Is friendship just a fantasy?
Kajittemiteyo ichiban ni wakacchatta Give it a try, the thing I realized the most
Amai no kana suppai? Chotto dokidoki Is it sweet or sour? It's kind of exciting
Minna de ita kara mitsukeraretanda I found it being with all of you
Mahou no you ni narabeta taisetsu na word A special word like magic
Kono deai I won't let go
Hanasanai Of this meeting
What did you come here to do?
Huh?
I'm asking why you are here.
Can't you tell? I'm here to save you!
How shameless you are. Who asked this of you?
Who employs you now?
I'm not working for anyone.
I came because I wanted to.
Turn back immediately.
I don't need you to save me.
You can't just say that!
It took me ages to climb up the cliff to get here!
Now my nice claws are like this!
That matters not!
If you came up the wall, then you can go right back down it!
Are you kidding me?!
You... imbecile!
The hell are you doing all of a sudden?!
Why don't you understand you've been tricked?! This is just one of Thirteen's traps!
A trap?
What's that-
I don't need to explain it to you.
You're no longer my mercenary.
I told you that our contract was over.
You can't go ending it like that!
Don't make me laugh.
You're the one who tried to run away in the first place.
Yeah, and all that was because your "compatriot" Thirteen played me!
The reason is far simpler than that.
You are afraid of me, even now.
Am I wrong?
Yeah, I am!
But telling a beastfallen not to be afraid of a witch isn't gonna work,
and telling a mercenary not to doubt others is just like telling him to die!
But the little brains I have told me to go back to you!
Maybe you could think about that and compromise with me, Master?!
Alright, forget that.
More importantly, there's something I want to ask you.
H-hey...
How do you think I felt when I let you go?
How do you think I felt when I released you?
When Thirteen took you away from me...
...how upset do you think I felt?
It would have been easy to bind you to me!
But you hated witches...
You were afraid of me, so...
So I...
I let you go...
Why did you come back?!
What do you want?!
What can I offer you?!
I'll give you anything!
So please, don't leave me again!
Hey, how long are you gonna keep crying for, Little Witch?
I need you as sharp as you always are.
H-how could you be so cold-hearted when I've been so hurt?!
You should console me more, care for me more!
I can't call myself a mercenary if I can't eat dinner in front of a dead friend.
But more importantly, I've got to tell you about the plan Albus has come up-
Mercenary!
Albus, you said?
Th-this happened before!
I told you it was a trap!
It's a forced summoning!
Dammit, Thirteen!
I see.
I don't believe a word of that.
But it's true! Zero can erase magic by denying it!
If we do that for all of Wenias...
There is no way we could seal away our power before this battle.
We'll spread the knowledge of magic again!
Sorena... Grandmother would have wanted it that way!
This is going nowhere.
Could you say the same to your brethren, who will be burned alive at the stake?
Still...
And you were the one who told us to shoot down Thirteen when you were on the stake, is that not right?
A familiar.
It's an order from Him.
Two days from now, at sunrise, when the sun rises above the foothills,
all Sorcerers will let loose Staim, and shoot down the Sorcerer of the State, Thirteen.
Mercenary! Mercenary!
Are you alright, Mercenary?!
Zero!
Why're you in...
Thirteen!
Zero, close your eyes and ears for a while.
I will seal away all memories of this man afterwards.
Don't be ridiculous! I won't allow it!
My Mercenary returned to me! Give him back!
You cannot get through a magic-sealing barrier so easily.
Be quiet, Zero.
Do not give me orders!
Then I will put it this way:
Please be quiet.
At least until I kill this man and set your spirit free.
YOU BASTARD!
Hey, Thirteen, I know it ain't the right time to bring this up,
but you can deal with all this without killing all the witches.
Just make magic itself disappear!
If that witch denies the use of magic through all of Wenias,
it'll end the Sorcerers of Zero's rebellion and the rogue witches' raids!
Then you can just go get the Grimoire of Zero from that Him guy.
How about it? Everything'll go well and you can give yourself a big pat on the back!
So please, let me and the witch go.
No.
Huh?
Zero does not need to leave this place, nor does she need to deny magic.
Hey, now, hold on a sec, think it over!
You wanna get the Grimoire of Zero as quickly as possible, right?
If you do things this way, everyone'll...
You're wrong, Mercenary.
Thirteen does not want the Grimoire of Zero, nor does he want to put an end to Wenias' unrest.
What?
Those two things are simply part of the process that will give him what he wants.
I've told you to explain these things to me in a way a moron could understand!
So what exactly is it that he wants, then?!
You told me that the reason Thirteen left the cave in the first place...
...was to get back the stolen Grimoire!
H-hey, now...
No way. You've gotta be kidding me...
To erase the fear of witches in the hearts of the people,
first, you must create "evil witches" and put them on display, then eradicate them.
Thirteen became "Him," a man who kept his name and figure hidden,
and used the Grimoire of Zero to spread magic throughout the land.
He then incited the Sorcerers of Zero to begin the witches' revolt.
At the same time, he became a Sorcerer of the State to oppose these witches,
and took up residence in the palace.
So "Him" and the Sorcerer of the State...
...were the same goddamn person all along?!
Yes.
And...
...the Grimoire of Zero was never stolen in the first place!
We'll sacrifice him for our use in combat.
Let's take care of him.
No!
Hey, someone!
Yes?
Cut him up into pieces we can easily make use of. Retrieve his head, his blood, his arms, and legs.
The only useless thing about a beastfallen are their screams.
Please, don't!
Holdem...
HOLDEM!
So it was all part of your plan?
It was all your doing!
Stop. Do not move.
Wha...
Grovel before me.
What... the hell?
Mercenary!
What's happening...?
I told you before that I can control any being with inferior mental capabilities.
Bastard!
Do not even try. There is nothing you can do when trapped by your own anger.
The more of your anger you reveal, the more inferior your intelligence becomes.
You're behind the Sorcerers of Zero rebelling, and the rogue witches running amok!
Beast warrior, let me correct you there.
While it is true that I set the stage for this to happen,
the witches of this land were the ones who willingly made these decisions and actions.
Unseen opposition was steadily growing stronger, accumulating deep in the hearts of the people.
A rebellion would have taken place in Wenias in the not-too-distant future.
I simply expedited its arrival.
They call that a damn conspiracy, you know!
Zero, let me correct something you said as well.
I did not incite the Sorcerers of Zero to act.
I simply spread knowledge of magic throughout Wenias.
The framework was there for them to act justfully and coexist with humanity.
You're just going to say they chose the path of destruction themselves, aren't you?
Yes. And they did so in the worst possible way,
betraying humanity's trust in the name of avenging Sorena.
Because of that, I was forced to play the role of a righteous Sorcerer of the State, as the people wished.
I gave Zero's name to the Sorcerers so that they would justly protect the kingdom,
but it turned out to be quite the opposite.
Reality is a frustrating thing.
There are so many uncertain variables that plans cannot proceed as plotted.
Misunderstandings, retribution, retribution for retribution.
The process of creating a new kingdom through war is always unsightly.
Zero, you did not need to know any of this.
You should have waited in that cave for the new kingdom I was creating.
In a world where magic was a noble art, you could have ruled over them as its symbol!
Preposterous! Did you truly think I wanted that?!
You wanted everyone to live a more convenient, more comfortable life through the Grimoire of Zero, yes?
I told you that magic was an art that would destroy the world.
Yet the world you kept imagining the Grimoire of Zero would create was a childlike dream.
So I would be the one to deliver that dream to you.
I get it, you're completely mad.
Now is the time to create that land, Zero.
Soon, everything will come to an end! All the seeds have been planted!
What?
The witches who heard the words of Sorena's descendant will soon come to shoot me down.
Me, the same "Him" they swore their allegiance to with a blood contract.
The power of their contract will destroy them.
Is that... how you planned on killing all the witches?!
You would kill old witches ripe with wisdom, and young witches full of hope, all in my name?!
Take care of him.
Right.
Bear with me for just a sec. It'll all be over soon.
I'll tell everyone I killed you.
Thanks!
But why'd you...
We'll kill Thirteen, just as He has commanded us.
I believe that's the least destructive way to end this war.
You said you'd erase magic from the land to stop this war.
I don't believe you can, but you should do what you believe is right.
Our methods are different, but we got the same goal, huh?
Who would've thought the Sorcerers would sit quietly and do whatever that shady bastard says.
Yes, but if it will ease Sorena's regrets...
Zero, the ones who will die are the ones who wish for battle,
the foolish witches who have devoted their all to a suspicious hidden figure.
Thirteen!
What about Sorena?
Did she die 'cause she was a foolish witch who wished for battle?
You were the one who started that plague and killed all the villagers, weren't you?!
That is not the truth.
I did not start the plague.
It was the unexpected result of a witch's experiment.
Sorena carried out a ritual to save the villagers, and in the end, she was wrongfully killed.
Was that not Sorena's own doing?
What about Albus?
She's had her whole family killed!
I'm not gonna let you say you weren't involved with that!
What about all those friends of yours in the caves?!
They spent their time in the caves discussing the same roundabout arguments over and over again.
They were as much use alive as dead.
Zero was the only outlier.
I proposed that we should show Zero the outside world,
but they were afraid of Zero's power, and were intent on leaving her alone forever.
Then what about Zero?
Did you ever give Zero a choice?
Did you ever ask her what she wanted?
Did you think that one day, she'd smile and say "thanks for killing all the bad witches"?!
That is enough.
I get it. Anger reduces your intelligence, huh?
Think I can move a little more now.
Beast warrior, you have a laudable opinion of Zero.
Were this situation different, I would happily welcome you as my subordinate.
However!
Zero is much too invested in you!
Don't be jealous, Thirteen.
You're the one who took Zero's friends away from her!
Do you know how lonely that made her feel?!
Do you know how badly she wanted someone to talk to?!
It was all for Zero!
Stop babbling at me!
You forced all this onto her!
You think you can understand Zero just by spending a few days with her?!
Don't make me laugh!
Don't be stupid!
You greedy, arrogant, selfish, pretentious, insane witch, there's no way you could understand her!
Anger reduces your intelligence, huh?
Stay back!
I am still that witch's mercenary!
And I'm gonna get my reward from her and turn human!
So I'm gonna use the potion you gave me...
Mercenary, don't go in there!
I've got you now!
I win!
No!
I win!
I've got you back now, Thirteen.
You bastard...
Did you know, Mercenary?
You didn't get him back, you used him.
Thirteen dodged it and it just so happened to break.
Wasn't my fault.
You speak as smoothly as a demon.
I can't say I dislike that about you.
Are we ready?
Yes!
We're good!
Move out!
Zero, you cannot fight me as you are now.
Did you think you could beat me with the power you stole from those witches?
Have you forgotten why I am Zero, and you are Thirteen?
A Mud-Black Witch, using the solid basis that all is born from nothing.
However, knowledge sometimes surpasses innate talent.
Shall we test it then, Thirteen?
I am somewhat displeased.
Very well.
Ard gehrd.
In de chordia zea...
In the name of the King of Despair, whom lords over the crossroads of desire and longing,
come forth from the mud-black abyss, O Gate of Decay!
Tsuretette Take me with you
Ikisaki wa kimetenai kedo Though I haven't decided where
Yurashiteite Sway me with you
Sakasama demo kawaranai desho It doesn't matter if we go upside down
Zutto koko ga ii to omotteta I thought staying here forever was alright
Ano hi kimi to deau made wa Until the day I met you
Sagashidashitatte ii I want us to go on a search
Kasaneau mirai no hou ga ii I want our futures to overlap
Hikari ni nare Becoming the light
Tsunagiattatte ii I want us to be tied together
Futatsu no sekai o nozondatte ii It's fine if we want two worlds
Issho ni ikou Let's go together