Ready to Die (2)

The true battle erupts as Adon commands his men to swarm Guts and Casca all at once instead of trading single blows. Guts' massive blade and raw power let him carve through several attackers with each stroke, while Casca darts between foes, dropping them one after another with quick, agile strikes. The two fight their way back to one another, and Adon summons his brother Samson to join the fray. Though the younger sibling, Samson dwarfs even Adon, who already stands about twice a normal man's height.

Samson swings a huge flail in wild arcs, but Guts meets the iron ball with his sword and deflects it rather than dodging. Their duel quickens, blow answering blow. Casca puzzles over why Guts keeps parrying instead of evading, then understands he is shielding her, just as she spots blood seeping from under his armor. Adon gleefully notes that the arrow wound he dealt earlier has torn open again.

Between Samson's attacks, Guts tells Casca he will open a path for her escape. When the flail comes again he does not deflect it but smashes the weapon apart, then cuts down the stunned Samson. With the giant dead and the way clear, he orders Casca to run, but she refuses to leave. Alerted to the plan, Adon has his crossbowmen loose a volley at her, and Guts throws himself into the arrows' path, catching them on his armor while one pierces his bare arm.

Pulling the bolt free, Guts warns Casca not to misread his actions, claiming he only shielded her so she could rejoin Griffith at his side. She looks on as he squares off to face the rest of Adon's troops by himself.

Chapter 19 belongs to the Golden Age Arc and runs twenty-three pages, first printed in Young Animal issue 15 on July 23, 1993. The fight cements the early tension between Guts and Casca, whose devotion to Griffith frames Guts' insistence that he protects her only for the commander's sake.