Aside from having absolute faith in his schemes and plans, he has a personal score to settle in the fortress. It is seen as madness by everyone in the King’s war council, but there is a reason for Griffith’s rashness. After much back and forth about how impossible it will be to take, Griffith states that his Band of the Hawk will take Doldrey by themselves. It is a fortress that is a tactical necessity for both sides. This volume of Berserk ends by setting up the Battle for Doldrey.

That’s the only way he’ll be able to be Griffith’s true friend. He reveals to Casca that he’s planning to leave the Band of the Hawk after the current campaign to find his own reason to fight. He’s badly wounded and it is assumed he’ll have to sit out the rest of the campaign, though a bit of magical medicine sees him back on his feet in just a few days. He proves to be entirely too tough to die, which is something of a trademark for him.īy the time Casca returns with reinforcements from the Band of the Hawk, Guts is sitting on top of a pile of close to a hundred bodies. We get a touch more time with Casca as she fights off a couple of men, but the main focus is on Guts’ battle. We get to see more of his sword-fighting in action, with massive swings and heavy blows. Guts tells Casca to retreat while he holds off the remaining men by himself. She is a highly-skilled, technically proficient fighter in ways that beautifully contrast with Guts’ barbarian rage style of fighting.īeing outnumbered so heavily comes at a cost, though. After being pushed aside in favour of other characters throughout Berserk, we see her in all her glory here. Not only is this a textbook example of using historical references to bring your combat to life, but it also gives us some insight into how Casca fights. Her grip and stance give us a sense of both direction and motion. Casca uses a high guard to deflect the blow and slides her sword along the blade’s length before cutting his head off with a downward swing. Created by Kentaro Miura, Berserk is manga mayhem to the extreme - violent, horrifying, and mercilessly funny - and the wellspring for the internationally popular anime series.

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