Holy Iron Chain Knights (2)

Azan waves his knights back, choosing to test Guts one on one with an iron-studded staff. Guts already knows the man's legend as the Bridge Knight, who once held back nearly a hundred riders so a single injured elder could finish crossing a bridge first. Azan speaks of the honor code every knight upholds; Guts answers that he is no knight, and the duel opens.

The staff swings with enough force to split a nearby tree, and Guts, favoring a hurt leg with his sight beginning to fail, can only evade so long. A crushing combo aimed at his face is caught on the Dragon Slayer, flipping him backward and drawing praise from the watching knights. Nearly blind and losing feeling in his limbs, Guts spends his last reserves vaulting over Azan and rushing toward Farnese. A crossbow bolt bites his leg but fails to stop the charge.

Trembling, Farnese thrusts her blade. Guts moves to parry with his metal arm, but Serpico quietly flicks a chunk of wood into his arrow wound; his leg buckles and he drives his own shoulder onto her sword. The knights cheer, certain their captain has felled the Falcon of Darkness in a single strike.

Azan challenges Guts to single combat and reveals his Bridge Knight reputation. Guts blocks the assault with the Dragon Slayer but is steadily worn down by his injuries and failing vision. His charge at Farnese ends when Serpico's hidden throw makes him impale his shoulder on her sword. Soldiers try to haul Guts up to kill him in revenge, but Azan stops them, shamed by their conduct. Shaken from drawing an opponent's blood for the first time, Farnese orders a withdrawal and takes the captured Guts back to camp.

The chapter is part of the Conviction Arc and appeared in Young Animal issue 09 in 1998. Azan recognizes the sensation Farnese feels after wounding a foe for the first time and tells her she must be strong to lead the Holy Iron Chain Knights, an early beat in her arc from rigid commander toward doubt.