That's when Guts appeared on the scene. He immediately jumped up to Casca and cut off Goat demon's arm holding her by the shoulder. His mere appearance caused everyone around him to freeze in fear and wonder. After all, the demon he wounded was inhumanly strong, and no human could stand against him.
Ordinary demons immediately lunged at Guts, but he swung his giant sword and shredded at least a dozen of his enemies in one strike. As he did so, I could clearly see the blue glow surrounding the sword. It was the work of his accumulated spiritual energy.
Guts looked at Casca, and there was concern and... regret. He loved Casca, but it was her personality that attracted him, which was now hidden beneath a veil of madness. The current Casca was more of a reproach to him, a mere reminder of her former self. And seeing this scene, Guts felt again all the emotions that had made him leave the girl two years ago and go on a never-ending voyage.
However, the swordsman had no time to play peek-a-boo, because the goat-headed demon had no intention of giving up his Sacrifice so easily.
“Let's get out of here, Isidro. Don't let those two to escape.” - Guts told to his minion. Yeah, yeah, we've already got a whole hierarchy of minions.
“Got it! You can rely on me. I found a passage to the back of the cave. You owe me a favor. Pretty much.” - The boy answered right away.
“You can talk when we get out.” - Guts replied grimly, surveying at the front of the work. In front of him was an apostle, a hundred naked demon-possessed men, and at least fifty more armored knights.
Meanwhile, Farnese, who saw the Black Swordsman, began to feel holy rage and... lust. She still couldn't forgive herself for that 'night of love' in the mansion, so when she saw Guts, she immediately decided to kill him. She gave orders to kill all those who would not surrender, especially the Black Swordsman. Azan was against the order because it went against the orders of the Holy See’s Bureau of Investigation, but he didn't dare go against his direct commander.
Isidro pointed to the 'emergency exit' from the heretics' lair, but then Goat-demon intervened, recovering from the blow he'd taken and from the loss of his arm. He supposed he could deal with the small folk later, but Guts had to be dealt with first.
“I will not give you the witch.” - The demon muttered with his goat head. The demon's thoughts were now mingling with those of the 'body donor', one of the sect's leaders. During the ritual, he wore the goat's head as a mask, but now that head was 'real'. – “Bride is mine!”
The Goat lunged at Guts. He tried to use his signature move, the horizontal sweep of his sword that cut him in half, but the demon easily jumped over the lethal steel, then kicked Guts in the back with his hoof. As the swordsman struggled to get to his feet, Goat-demon managed to turn around and kick him again, hitting his sword, which was held up flat.
A kick to the back nearly broke the swordsman's spine, but all the damaged tissue was immediately replaced by Vritra's material, and the flowing demon energy immediately soaked into the new 'flesh', making it part of the body.
Well, that's exactly how it's supposed to work. In combat, Guts unconsciously channeled demonic energy, restoring any irregularities in its flow, allowing parts of his body to be fully replaced.
Guts ordered Isidro to lead the girls away, and stayed behind to hold the Goat. The demon, of course, refused to let go of his prey, but Guts managed to correctly use the 'harpoon' in his left hand to hook the apostle and draw him to himself. His successes ended there. Although the demon was not a fully-fledged apostle, his speed and precision were far superior to Guts', allowing him to dodge every sword blow while repeatedly striking his opponent with hooves that were stronger than steel.
“Use the force, Luke... uh... I mean, Guts.” - I shouted. – “You must forget that you're human. You're stronger and faster than that goat-horn. But as long as you keep clinging to your humanity, you can't beat him. Use the force of your anger! Anger gives you strength. Through strength you gain power. Power leads you to victory. Victory breaks your chains. Force sets you free.”
These Sith-style guidelines were unexpectedly effective. Guts succumbed to anger, let the demon into his soul, was able to feel what it meant to be a demon, and stopped paying attention to the limitations he was used to during his human existence. At that moment, the demon in his soul tried to seize control of Guts' mind, but... Demon stumbled on the mental barrier I had set up around him. The demon could give power, but he could not take anything in return. In fact, now he felt just like Kyuubi, who had been trapped inside the seals, sucking every last drop of energy out of him.
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I grinned mentally, and was pleased to see that the accelerated Guts began to move at the same speed as the demon. Now it was harder to dodge the sword blows. And after a dozen seconds of this mad battle, which looked to humans like a blur of shadows, Guts accelerated even further and was able to land the decisive strike. Realizing that he couldn't dodge it, Goat-demon tried to block the sword 'with his horns,' but the blade, made of psi-bone, cut through both horns and neck almost without resistance, and a moment later Guts landed another dozen strikes, permanently dismembering the demon-possessed man.
After he defeated the mini-apostle, Guts immediately rushed to the secret passage, leaving the hordes of mere demons to the knights. The only thing he cared about now was Casca, and even his hate of demons receded temporarily to the side. Not good! I shall have to deal with this matter more seriously.
A narrow passage, where a man could barely squeeze through, gradually widened out, leading to the surface, where it became a narrow ledge running along an almost vertical slope. There was no way to turn somewhere 'wrong' here, unless you wanted to fall straight down and hit your head on the rocks from a height of a hundred meters.
As Guts moved along this narrow mountain path, barely half a meter wide, he unexpectedly encountered Serpico. At first, he decided to follow the fugitives, but then he spotted Guts and decided to take him out. However, he has never forgiven the bastard for 'plucking the flower of innocence' from his beautiful Farnese. At the same time, she never 'gave it to Serpico,' which pissed him off even more.
“I've been waiting for you, Black Swordsman.” - Said Serpico in an indifferent voice that hid his hatred.
Without a second thought, Guts reached out with his left hand and fired a harpoon at him. Unfortunately for him, the target dodged and the shot missed.
“Oh, wait a minute.” - He tried to let his opponent's guard down, but the attempt failed.
Activating the harpoon return, Guts hooked the ornate green jester's suit, which Serpico preferred to wear instead of heavy armor. Now the swordsman could not freely control the shape and movements of his Vritra body, so the harpoon only yanked the prey and tore off a piece of cloth. But it was enough to make the lad lose his balance and fall into the deep abyss.
Guts naively thought he had gotten rid of the nuisance, but as he passed the spot where Serpico had previously stood, Serpico suddenly popped up from below, aiming his sword directly at his eye. Earlier this 'musketeer' had managed to grab hold of a ledge and hide from the swordsman's eyes behind a rock. Guts dodged the unexpected attack and stepped back.
“It wasn't fair.” - Serpico declared, jumping out onto the path just one meter from his opponent.
He made another attack, and blocked another attempted harpoon shot with his sword. By habit Guts blocked the blade with his left hand. Before, there had been an iron prothesis there, and it had worked. Now there was Vritra's material, and the result was as good as ever. But a second later it dawned on Guts that the hand was actually now 'alive,' and he began to doubt himself and his abilities.
Following another habit, the swordsman decided to reach for his main argument, but on the narrow mountain path it was impossible to do so, because the space to the right was blocked by a rock, and it was impossible to make a step to the left. Gatts had to dodge the next lunge. And the next. And a dozen more.
“I don't let people draw their weapons.” - Serpico declared in a confident tone.
“Guts, I already knew you are stupid, but not that much dumb!” - I literally howled, fluttering beside him. – “You're immortal! Why the fuck are you dodging. Just go ahead and punch the prick in the face. Why are you dancing like a pussy with him? Or is he your type? Oops.”
That last remark was irrelevant, because Guts' 'lover' was Griffiths, whom he so eagerly wanted to pierce... no, not with his cock, but with his sword. Though he wanted to stab him with his dick, too. Anyway, the faggot-face became fierce again and lunged forward. The blade slid helplessly across Guts' cheek as his right fist slammed into Serpico's belly, knocking him backward. The pitiful mortal couldn't keep his balance and plunged back into the abyss. This time, however, he was able to cling to the rocks, although that was the result of my intervention. So far, it was not time for this 'dickhead' to leave the scene.
Snorting angrily, Guts looked down, again not noticing the survivor, and continued marching forward, gritting his teeth and snarling "Griffiths!" under his breath. Yeah, exactly such kind of homosexuals we should feed to Azathoth. As for the beautiful virgins, I'll find a better place to put them.
After walking down the mountain trail, Guts came to a... a dead end, without encountering any fugitives. The ledge simply ended, and there was no further way. But there was a ring of iron, to which a rope had been tied, embedded in the wall beside it. It was logical to suppose that he should use it to get down. But even at the bottom he could not find Casca. However, there he met a lonely Isidro.