Blazing Bay

Having cut down wave after wave of Daka, Guts and the group resolve to push toward the harbor while guarding their rear, hoping to reach Roderick's ship before it burns. Schierke warns of a vast, malignant presence ahead. Creeping between storehouses, they find the port packed with Daka pouring off a Kushan warship to ravage the city. Seeing no other way through, Guts tells the others to keep clear: he intends to let the Beast of Darkness seize his mind so he can face the horde.

Horrified, Schierke talks him out of it, offering a spell instead. Though she can barely feel astral beings in the city, she manages to lock onto spirits within the harbor's flames. Since casting will leave her defenseless until the rite finishes, Guts steps into the open to pull the Daka's attention off her.

Within the astral world, Schierke is ringed by visions of the burning city and recognizes the fire as unnatural, kindled by human malice rather than chance. Her body shudders as her astral form is nearly seared, but tapping her staff in the proper rhythm steadies her.

While Guts fights the Daka ahead and Serpico and Isidro hold the rear, Schierke presses deeper, leaning on her memories of Enoch Village and her bond with Guts as an anchor. The astral dark begins to part, and she sights her goal: a wheel wreathed in flame.

Guts proposes surrendering to the Beast of Darkness to fight the harbor's Daka, but Schierke dissuades him and casts a spell instead, targeting spirits in the flames. Guts steps into the open to draw the horde away while she is defenseless. Journeying through the astral world, Schierke recognizes the fires as deliberately set, steadies herself with her staff, and closes in on a flaming wheel.

This is chapter 267 of the manga, part of the Millennium Falcon Arc, running twenty pages. It was published in Young Animal issue 2 on January 13, 2006.