Black Swordsman on the Holy Ground

Back at their tent, Luca, Nina and Casca find themselves buried in offerings from the frightened few now convinced that Casca possesses witch's powers. The sudden windfall alarms Luca, who understands that appearing wealthier than the surrounding refugees is a fast track to being denounced to the Holy See. She has the other girls spread the gifts through the camp to keep the peace and insists the donations stop entirely. Nina, even more anxious than Luca given her past in pagan rites and her role in having Joachim hurled off a cliff, floats the idea of ditching Casca now that the woman can fend for herself. Luca refuses on principle.

An uproar outside signals the arrival of the Hunters, the Holy See knights who sweep the camps ringing Albion looking for heretics. Rushing into the crowd, Luca sees Pepe bound at the wrists and hauled along behind the riders' horses. Pepe shrieks and begs to be freed, but the Hunters only lash her face and hands with their whips.

The lead Hunter jeers that not one soul has come forward to vouch for Pepe's innocence. Right on cue, Luca throws herself over her friend, taking the whip strokes on her own body. She lashes back with words, condemning the Hunters for lording over the people from atop their tall horses and their sheltered perch in the Tower of Conviction. The insult enrages the man, who raises his whip once more. It lands, but not on Luca. The lash coils instead around the metal arm of an enormous black-garbed bystander.

Guts wrenches the whip, dragging the Hunter down from his saddle. The rest instantly know the Black Swordsman on sight, though he has no appetite for a brawl. Seizing the lead Hunter by the face and hauling him upright, he demands to know whether any of them has seen a woman bearing a Brand across her chest. Only Luca grasps his meaning, and she holds her tongue for the moment.

Hearing a rider bearing down from behind, Guts flings the man in his grip backward to unhorse the charging attacker, then cleaves two oncoming horses and their riders clean in half with a single swing apiece. During the chaos Isidro slips up behind the lead Hunter and lifts a ring of keys from him, then hands them straight to Luca, instantly smitten with the striking prostitute. She is further startled by Puck, whom she perceives as a tiny winged person hovering before her. The elf introduces himself, the boy and the battle-ready Guts, whose focus never wavers from finding Casca.