The Hawks’ reclaiming of Doldrey marks the end of the Hundred-Year War between Midland and Chuder. The King holds a ball for the mercenaries in their honor. The Queen, Charlotte’s stepmother and Julius’s secret lover, hatches a scheme with Foss to poison Griffith during the banquet. However, before the event, Foss receives a disturbing letter.…

The retreat was a ruse and Casca takes the fortress, defeating Adon and the few remaining guards. Guts fights with the Rhino Knights’ command Boscogn before his sword breaks, only to gain a sword that was provided by Zodd from a great distance. Guts uses the sword to kill Boscogn while Griffith kills a wounded…

Griffith volunteers the Hawks to reclaim the impregnable Fortress of Doldrey from a Chuder governor named Gennon and the Purple Rhino Knights in his service. Guts learns that Griffith’s unsavory history was with Gennon when he was a noble. The Hawks begin their assault before pulling back. Their boats are burned and there is nowhere…

Casca defeats her attackers, and she and Guts end up back at the camp. Guts and Casca share a tender moment, where Guts explains that everyone in the camp has a dream but all he has is his sword, causing Casca to think he’s leaving.

Adon Coborlwitz and his Blue Whale Knights find Guts and Casca. Though completely outnumbered, Guts tells Casca to run and stays to fight. Some men go after Casca, catching her and holding her down in order to rape her. Guts continues fighting.

Guts tends to Casca but she still resents him. She tells her story of how Griffith helped her save herself from being raped, and give her a choice in life so she followed him. She watched him pragmatically go with a pederast lord to earn money to create his army and fulfill his dream. When…

Griffith and the Hawks lead the march into battle against the Blue Whale Knights. Casca has a fever, and after fighting with Adon Coborlwitz she falls unconscious off a cliff, Guts goes after her. They are washed downriver, and Guts finds a cave where he must keep Casca warm with his body.

Guts assassinates Julius, but is emotionally scarred when forced to kill Julius’ son Adonis to conceal the deed. Later, he hears Griffith tell Charlotte that he would consider a true friend to be his equal, someone with his own dreams and who follows his own path. Guts realises that although he is close to Griffith,…

During the hunt, Griffith and Charlotte grow close before the former is shot in the chest with a poisoned arrow. Luckily, Griffith’s Behelit takes the arrow and he survives unscathed. Griffith deduces Julius to be the culprit and recruits Guts to secretly kill the noble.