Overflowing Time

The trek grinds on, and Guts is drained twice over: once by the effort of caring for Casca, and again by her hatred and by his own distrust of the thing inside him. He drives her forward by the rope at her wrists, and every glance back meets loathing. Pausing to rest against a tree, he drifts off without meaning to and is shaken awake by a frantic Puck. Casca has worked herself free and vanished, with sunset near and the spirits soon to rise, and dread floods through him.

Not far off, three armored scavengers rest from a fruitless haul, wondering whether their thieving is worth the danger of being caught by the Kushan. Casca stumbles into their camp and starts rummaging through their bags for food. Reading her pilgrim's clothes, they decide she is a gift sent for their pleasure and move to pin her down as she screams. Guts sprints toward the sound, cursing the two years he spent hunting apostles alone and letting the distance grow between them.

The scavengers strip Casca bare, but she never stops resisting, and when they force her legs apart her mind snaps back to the Eclipse and she shrieks in terror. The sound guides Guts to her, and he arrives to a scene he does not expect: Casca has seized one of their swords and cut down every attacker, standing naked over their bodies, soaked in their blood yet unhurt.

He approaches with caution, and she rounds on him, blade raised, and lunges. Guts slips the strike easily, disarms her, and pins her to the ground. As she strains to escape from under him, he holds her arms fast and presses a kiss onto her mouth by force.

Chapter 189 runs twenty-three pages within the Millennium Falcon Arc, published in Young Animal issue 20 on October 12, 2001. It shows that Casca's combat instincts survive her mental collapse, while Guts' desperate kiss underscores how badly their bond has frayed.