Those Dancing at the Top, Those Crawling at the Bottom

As the claw-wielding disciple readies a killing blow, Nina alone keeps Luca from dropping off the tower and wavers over whether to release her. Luca settles it herself, letting go and plunging from the great height. The Skull Knight, chasing the egg-shaped being that has leapt from the structure, gallops straight down the vertical wall and snatches Luca out of the air along the way.

The rattle of chains signals another thrown claw, which Guts deflects with the Dragon Slayer as he arrives, shielding Jerome, Isidro, and Nina. He rushes Mozgus, who cradles the unconscious Casca, but his precise swing cuts empty air; the inquisitor has sprouted feathered wings and risen above the blade. His disciples soon share the same change, and Mozgus, thrilled to face the notorious swordsman at last, still vows to see Casca burned in God's name.

The Skull Knight halts beyond the outer wall among rows of refugees who starved or sickened to death, their gaunt bodies laid out across the ground. Believing herself dead and her rescuer to be Death itself, Luca admits she gambled that jutting bricks might slow her descent enough to survive with shattered legs, a hope she now concedes was foolish. The knight dismounts, draws his blade, and orders the being crouched among the corpses to reveal itself.

This Conviction Arc chapter was published in Young Animal issue 4 on February 11, 2000. Its title contrasts the winged inquisitors above with the buried refugees below, pairing Luca's leap of faith with the Skull Knight's pursuit of the Egg of the Perfect World. Jerome, Isidro, Nina, Luca, the Skull Knight, Guts, Mozgus, and Casca feature.