Claw Marks

Inside the Mansion of the Spirit Tree, Flora carves the final rune into the breastplate of a suit of armor, remarking that the work outlasted her expectations. The Skull Knight, at her side, questions whether she grasps the peril the armor carries; she does, but judges its rewards worth the price. When he warns that its new bearer may repeat the mistakes he once made, Flora counters that old choices need not doom the future. Both then sense hostile intruders breaching her domain, and the Skull Knight leaps from her balcony onto his horse, telling the startled witch that dying by his hand will be gentler than falling to enemies.

As Guts' party heads back toward the Spirit Mansion, Ivalera, Serpico and especially Farnese heap praise on Schierke for her feats in the troll cave, though she shrinks from it, feeling she loosed a power beyond her control. Guts then collapses at the rear of the group. Removing his bandages, Schierke finds that the wounds Slan dealt him have festered despite nearly healing in Enoch's church, and she realizes his physical body has mended while his ethereal body still bleeds. Guts waves off the injury as dizziness, but Schierke notices the talisman over his brand has vanished, and through thought he tells her he fought a monster masquerading as an angel. She deduces he faced one of the God Hand and marvels that a human survived, crediting the Dragon Slayer and Flora's parting words about Guts defying impossible odds. When the barrier around Flora's domain suddenly falls and Casca clutches her chest, Guts orders the two women to stay back, and the rest reach the mansion only to find it swallowed by fire.

This installment of the Millennium Falcon Arc appeared in Young Animal issue twelve on June 13, 2003. It sets up the Berserker Armor that will soon pass to Guts, deepens the mystery of his unhealing astral wound, and delivers the grim reveal of Flora's burning home. The exchange between Flora and the Skull Knight hints at their shared, painful history with the armor.