Unchanged

Zodd praises how strong Guts has grown across his two-year hunt for apostles, then wrenches Rickert's blade from his gut. Barely slowed by the wound, he crushes his chipped Kushan sword in his fists and transforms, his blood surging with excitement. Only now does Rickert grasp that the towering monster is Nosferatu Zodd, having never before witnessed his human guise. Guts' swing is knocked aside by Zodd's claws, and though he lands a cut along the apostle's arm, Zodd hooks him with a horn and flings him high over Griffith, who does not so much as glance upward.

Guts crashes down and tumbles into a rock wall, and when Zodd charges to finish him, the apostle instead smashes through the stone and tears open the elf cave where Casca once lived. Guts then spots Casca climbing the hill with Erica behind her, drawn by the ache of her Brand until she stands only steps from Griffith, entranced and reaching for him. Zodd bursts back out of the cave, sending heavy stones flying toward her, and Guts is swatted aside before he can reach her.

As the dust settles, Griffith has somehow appeared at Casca's side, sheltering her under his cape, and even she is startled to find him her protector. When she reaches for his face her Brand flares and bleeds, dropping her to her knees, and Griffith withdraws the cape, finished. He summons Zodd, steps onto the apostle's outstretched hand, and rises into the air. Before climbing too high he tells Guts once more that his dream outranks everything, and Guts only stares silently after him.