Shadow of Idea (3)

Guts carves through the spirits without pause, though his thoughts drift elsewhere. He dreads a repeat of the two years he spent hunting Apostles after leaving Casca in Godot's care, absent again at the moment she needs him most.

At the outer fringe of Albion, the Skull Knight sets Luca down from his horse and warns her against nearing the Tower of Conviction. She answers that walking away is not an option, says goodbye, and dashes toward the town. He watches her go, first judging the choice rash, then reconsidering, and admits that either way he could offer her no help. His sword comes free as Zodd steps out of the fog at his back.

The Egg-Shaped Apostle scales the Tower's outer face, smearing a long red streak behind it as its strength drains away. It means to observe from the summit the mayhem it engineered. Gazing down at Mozgus circling the spirit mass, it muses on the life it might have led had the inquisitor welcomed it as he did his torturers, instead of the town casting it out.

Higher up, it happens upon the Demon Child resting in a hollow formed where the Tower has tilted backward. The creature knows this is the guardian that has shielded Casca time and again, now powerless to do so any longer. It gathers the Child, carries it to its mouth, lays it upon its tongue, and swallows it, wanting the infant beside it as a witness while its ambition takes shape. Then it presses on with its grueling ascent.

Guts fears abandoning Casca as he once did during his Apostle hunt. The Skull Knight delivers Luca to Albion's edge, then draws on Zodd as the Apostle emerges from the mist. The dying Egg-Shaped Apostle climbs the Tower of Conviction, reflects on Mozgus's acceptance of his disciples, and swallows the depleted Demon Child to keep it as a companion.

Closing the Shadow of Idea run, this twenty-page chapter first appeared in Young Animal issue 15 on July 28, 2000. It sets up the imminent clash between the Skull Knight and Zodd and advances the Egg-Shaped Apostle's scheme, positioning the Demon Child inside the being that will soon reshape the world.