Warriors of Twilight

While changing Griffith's bandages, Casca notices how shrunken his hands have become, the very hands that once reached toward a soaring ambition. Lost in thought, she knocks over a bowl of water with her knee and rises to fetch a dry blanket in place of the soaked one, only for Griffith to force himself upright and press his body against hers. Startled, she tells him to stop squirming so she can lift him off, but partway through doing so with surprising ease, she hesitates and, uncertain, allows him to remain atop her.

Out in the field, Judeau asks Guts what he intends to do once the band comes apart, and Guts finds no answer; Judeau plans to gather a few men into his own troop of thieves who will care for Griffith. Guts offers to join, but Judeau declines, reminding him that he already left and owes Griffith nothing, and starts to suggest Guts take Casca with him before Gaston and the old raider unit interrupt them. Gaston asks whether their captain means to leave again and requests that the raiders follow, and their devotion stirs fond memories that lead Guts to realize he had belonged with the band all along.

Casca sits trembling outside Griffith's wagon and springs up to hide her feelings when Guts arrives, claiming Griffith has fallen asleep, though her distance is unmistakable. Pressed for a reason, she denies that anything happened between her and Griffith, then sinks against Guts' chest and tearfully admits she cannot leave with him because of Griffith's condition, seeing in him both the proud warrior he once was and the hollow shell he has become. As Guts begins to say he will stay too, she withdraws from his touch and, recalling the night of the Primrose ball, insists that if he is truly Griffith's friend he must go and pursue his own dream, even if he must do it alone. The chapter belongs to the Golden Age Arc and first appeared in Young Animal issue 1.