Original subtitles

Only the undead can see this lantern's light.

And in the eyes of those who have lost their reason through neglect,

it outshines all else.

I chose a deserted area to minimize the risk,

but it appears we unintentionally hit the nail on the head.

Oh, the trail keeps going this way.

With necromancy,

no parting lasts forever.

What have you done?

What have you done?!

This will suffice for him,

but as for you, woman, despite my efforts, I couldn't learn a thing about you.

I'll avail myself of a bargaining chip now.

Johan!

Do as I say, and you'll see him again soon.

Now, follow me.

Um... Performing her autopsy must be hard for you.

Why don't I take over?

There's no need.

I'm perfectly fine.

Is that so?

How hideous.

Mireille, I shall bring you back with flawless beauty.

Beauty and Death: Final Act

Despite how she treated Johan,

she must've really cared about him.

Ah, excuse me.

This occasionally happens when I disengage Manual.

The undead person's mind fails to return, I mean.

Have a seat.

We saw plenty of other servants on the way here.

Don't tell me they're all undead?

Indeed they are.

This isn't a one-man crime.

You must have accomplices.

Even I know that resurrecting the undead takes a ton of magical energy.

There's no way you could have brought back this many on your own.

It is possible, even without help.

What?

Raising complete people and keeping them that way with regular maintenance

is what consumes vast amounts of power.

Sloppy work, as seen in the undead in that ruin, doesn't take all that much power.

He neglected their maintenance, too.

And while these girls seem decent at first glance,

I'm sure they're barely there inside.

Unscrupulous necromancers often do the bare minimum for functionality.

They don't bother restoring most of the organs or senses.

It takes hardly any magic.

Well spotted.

You know your necromancy.

The question is whether they're strays.

Of course, they're probably all strays on Semi-auto.

I'm shocked.

Even you must know how sinful creating strays is,

and how heavy a price the dead pay for resurrection.

Naturally.

What price?

Normally, after death, the soul begins preparing for reincarnation.

Souls flow into the spiral of death and rebirth,

and after a long time, they achieve resurrection.

But necromancy drags them back out of that current.

Magical resurrection doesn't last forever.

When the spell eventually fails and they die a second time,

they cannot return to the cycle.

There is no way to rejoin the stream after leaving it.

Wandering souls go somewhere that has no up or down. No left or right.

No motion or pain. No light or sound or heat.

Their minds simply exist.

And nothing changes for eternity.

That hell is called...

the Void.

So all undead go there? They all fall into the Void?

Sooner or later.

To accept death and await reincarnation,

or to regain a temporary life in exchange for a fate crueler than death?

You deprived them of the right to make that crucial decision.

Let the undead worry about that.

It doesn't affect necromancers.

You piece of shit!

What the hell did you do this for?! What could justify your atrocities?!

My goal?

Let me think...

Put simply,

it's you.

I want your beauty.

You see, I lost someone I loved, just like both of you did.

What beauty.

She was a beautiful young woman with fiery red hair.

Fortunately, I had my necromancy.

Reuniting with her should have been a simple matter.

But unfortunately, the manner of her death burned away most of her skin.

I can produce any number of hideous creatures.

Beauty, however, is challenging to recreate.

Still, I need only gather those who still have what she lost.

I can supplement any remaining deficiencies myself.

Beautiful things appeal to me.

I might as well give her the loveliest possible body when I resurrect her.

I practiced on those corpses you saw to improve my technique.

Sometimes more successfully than others.

That's it?

That's your only reason?

Everyone values things differently.

What do you think?

All the undead and taxidermy specimens in this room represent my successes.

I think they came out well. And yet...

They pale beside your beauty.

I do hope you'll let me use your body as a base.

How dull.

That's really your only reason?

I played along because I expected there to be more to it.

Ms. Kristoffel...

Such composure.

I see. Given your knowledge of resurrection,

you must be a necromancer, too.

I wondered why the undead I'd abandoned underground ran off all of a sudden.

I suppose that was your doing.

But even if you are a necromancer, what can you do in this situation?

You abide by the rules, don't you?

As long as rules bind you,

you cannot oppose me.

Please don't try to be clever.

Sorry...

but I'm not just a necromancer.

Your eyes!

Those runes!

No... It can't be...

A witch!

I wasted my tears.

Impossible!

How could I have unwittingly invited a witch here?

A witch? No way.

But come to think of it, it makes sense.

Since I first set eyes on her, her beauty has seemed chilling, almost otherworldly.

So I take it we're going to do this the hard way?

Of course.

Wait. You seem to have forgotten something.

Why do you think I took a hostage?

You can't resurrect someone without a part of their corpse.

If I have my undead reduce him to ash, you'll never see him a—

Suit yourself.

He won't make a good hostage.

And regardless,

I won't stop until I've dealt with you.

I see.

Then it seems I must resort to force.

"Prepare for the worst," and all that.

Thank goodness I made combat models.

Combat models?

Don't you ever stop?

I don't know how much you tinkered with them, but they're merely strays.

You can bind them with Semi-auto,

but they remain mindless automatons, barely aware of themselves.

You can't beat me with those.

You're bluffing.

Few people wish to become undead knowing they'll fall into the Void.

Even fewer would put themselves in a necromancer's service or control.

But even knowing everything,

some still offer themselves to necromancers.

With the utmost respect, I call them...

Death Knights.

None of you lay a hand on that bearded man.

As for everyone else, well...

Do as you please.

Stop!

Don't fight!

P-Please stop!

Sorry.

As long as the spell lasts, killing the body is the only way to stop them.

I'll see to it that the necromancer gets his just deserts.

What a miscalculation!

Why a witch, of all people?

Damn, damn, damn, damn!

How dare she ruin my plans?!

But I'm not finished.

I'll remodel your body into the ultimate warrior right now.

Man, seriously?

What a scumbag.

What happened to all that talk about beauty?

Impossible! How are you alive?

Oh, no. I'm good and dead.

When did the witch resurrect you?

She was with me until just a moment ago!

She had no time to—

Oh, come on. What's so weird about it?

I've been undead this whole time.

But undead can't get over physical death without necromantic maintenance.

So how am I standing here good as new, you ask?

The answer to that should be obvious.

I'm not just any undead.

I'm a witch's undead.

S-Stay back!

Stop!

Basically...

I'm built different.

Wait!

Calm down, now. Don't kill me.

Don't kill me!

If you kill me, all of those undead will...

Kill you?

Nah, I'm not gonna kill you.

See, you crossed a line.

You broke every taboo in the book.

I... I know.

I'll take responsibility for those undead.

You pissed off Phanora.

Death's way too good for you.

S-Stop...

I'll start with your fingers.

Please stop!

I-I beg—

Johan, you...

I haven't killed him yet.

Listen.

Y-Yes?

I'm about to break the law, so could you keep this whole incident to yourself?

What?

A promise won't do.

You'll need to consent to a contract spell.

I don't know...

The Order of Magical Resonance remains shrouded in mystery despite its fame

because we require our clients to watch their words.

You want me to turn a blind eye to a crime? I could never—

Don't you want to save her?

If you want to save all the victims,

shut up and do as I say.

I'll have you maintain all the undead you resurrected as complete human beings.

I'll provide the magical power, so don't slack off.

What have you done?

What have you done?!

Me, undead?

How dare you?! How dare you?!

This means I'll... I'll fall into the Void, and—

Worrying about the afterlife already?

I hate to break it to you,

but I won't give you a moment's peace while you're in this world, either.

Ms. Kristoffel, does this mean I can see her again?

The way she used to be?

Well, yes.

Her illegal resurrection means she'll have to keep a low profile for now,

but I know ways to legitimize her.

Is that so?

Feeling conflicted?

I guess so.

I feel torn,

but thoughtless as it is, I can't help being happy.

Hey.

What?

You're done now, right, Phanora?

Get away from him.

You're too close.

Johan.

Yeah?

What did you do with my luggage?

Huh?

Uh, wait.

Where'd I put it?

Are you saying you lost it?

I mean, I had more important things—

Find it.

Fine.

Not even a thank you.

Johan.

Yeah? What do you want?

I'm sorry.

I spoke thoughtlessly without realizing you were undead.

And I warned you to "watch out for beautiful women,"

but you never had a choice, did you?

Do I look that unfortunate to you?

You don't seem well-treated.

That figures.

But whatever.

Don't worry.

This is fine by me.

Wh-What are you doing?!

What do you mean?

That was for hurting Johan.

I haven't even had a boyfriend yet!

Next time: "The Witch and the Demon Sword: Opening Act."

The Witch and the Demon Sword Opening Act