Proclaimed Omen

Late at night Schierke gazes out at the water, ignoring Ivalera's plea to return to the cabin. Guts arrives behind them, armored and bearing the Dragon Slayer, likewise unable to sleep. She presses him to rest so his wounds might mend, but he brushes her aside and speaks of hating the sea, saying the dark swells seem to drag people under. Schierke admits she had never seen the ocean before, recalling Flora's belief that its beauty and its sway over emotion tie it to the Astral world; only now does she grasp what her mentor meant.

Guts pats her head and warns that staying so grave through childhood will age her early. Turning to the waves, she thinks of Flora and explains that for beings of the Astral world death is no true ending but an ascent to a higher plane, and so no cause for sorrow. Yet when she faces Guts again her eyes are wet, and she flings herself against him and weeps. Afterward they sit apart on the sand, and she says the crying eased her. Guts agrees, letting slip that he has been pushing himself too hard since the flight from Flora's mansion; she calls him out gently, and they share a quiet moment. Ivalera then sidles up and, feigning talk to herself, all but announces that Schierke has feelings for Guts, an awkward turn cut short when Guts rises to greet the Skull Knight riding out of the dark.

Knowing the specter appears only when the Astral world or the God Hand stirs, Guts asks whether an apostle is near. The Skull Knight instead warns that fighting in the armor while lost to his inner beast will slowly steal his senses, sight, taste and steadiness among them, the trembling already begun. Guts vows not to let the Beast of Darkness seize him again, and Schierke echoes his resolve. She recognizes the rider as the one who saved Guts in Qliphoth and defended Flora at the burning mansion, then asks about his bond with Flora, guessing he once bore the armor himself given how longingly Flora regarded it. He confirms it, saying he and Flora once shared what Guts and Schierke now have. Returning to the armor, he stresses that even tempered and warded by the talisman it remains gravely dangerous. When Guts asks why apostles struck Flora's mansion, the knight explains that Griffith, now untouchable by mortal hands as a God Hand, has turned to purging Astral threats, Flora chief among them, and that the next attack may be led by Griffith himself. The words nearly trigger Guts' transformation until Schierke's scream pulls him back. The knight adds that Guts will again be forced to choose between guarding Casca and chasing vengeance, then offers hope: Elfhelm's ruler, the Flower Storm Monarch, king of the elves, may be able to mend Casca's shattered mind.

Schierke finally grieves Flora's death on the beach. The Skull Knight warns Guts that fighting in the Berserker Armor while consumed by the Beast of Darkness will progressively rob him of his senses. He reveals he once wore the armor and shared a bond with Flora. He explains Griffith targets Astral-world threats and may personally lead the next apostle attack, and offers hope that the Flower Storm Monarch of Elfhelm could restore Casca's mind.

This twenty-two-page Millennium Falcon Arc chapter was published in Young Animal issue 7 on March 26, 2004. It reveals the Skull Knight's past as a bearer of the Berserker Armor and establishes the Flower Storm Monarch as the party's hope for healing Casca. Flora appears only in flashback.