>>5749718Manipulating the fabrications of Guts' mind, you manage to throw the chains against the hound right before his mouth cannon reached you, reflected by a swift kick in the real world which managed to slip the dragonslayer out of Guts' firm grasp.
Your body double manages to force Guts onto a mud fight, bringing him down and raising a few seeds to constrict his movements, but thanks to his impaired anatomy and the reforming of his limbs, the armor naturally manages to escape from it's containment as it further mutilates his body, finding time to punch you in the process.
"Guts!!" Rickert screams from a distance as he attracts the attention of the beast. "I know you're in there somewhere! Keep resisting! Neither of you wish to kill each other in this fight! The old Falcons have suffered enough already!"
Though not understanding what exactly the berserker armor was, Rickert's words managed to get through to him, making Guts' soul untangle a part of him from some of the myriad of chains on him.
"...Rickert?"
His voice echoes inside the chamber of his mind as you form the construct of a spear to spike through the dog's stomach, making him disappear and regenerate his wounds with the thinning iron chords on the imaginary field.
"You should know that man's hatred knows no boundaries. What do you even plan on achieving by getting rid of me? As soon as I let go, he will drop dead from his wounds against the giants."
"YOUR LIES WILL NOT DECIEVE ME! I CAN STILL SAVE HIM!" You refuse to believe that he is already a lost cause.
Trading blows with Guts and the beast at the same time, your hands were tied as to whether or not you could attack him full force while the beast of darkness never held back in it's attacks. Your focus was dissipating along with your accuracy in deflecting the berserker.
"We were not pushed away. We were the ones who left. Let us have the death we deserve, or be slain by our sword!" The hound still manages to growl and taunt you despite having taken more hits than you. Being powered by anger alone made him endure a lot more than your fragile soul outside it's natural territory.
"I'm afraid I might have to intervene in their duel." Gaiseric mounts his skeletal horse and invites Rickert to step aside, but out of the falling trees, a familiar blue haired elf gets between the two of them.
"NO! FIGHTING HIM LIKE THIS WON'T DO HIM ANY GOOD!" Puck screams. "Vlad is still inside his brain! Don't do anything if he hasn't given up on it!"
"Puck? Where did you come from?"
"Guts kept cursing me until I left him to fight the giants alone! He knew he would kill me if I stayed, so he pushed me away! He's not fooling anyone! We all know he is not as heartless as he's making himself out to be! There's a human in there, we just need to reach him!"
"And what if we can't?" Gaiseric doubts the poor elf.
"Let's not think about that just yet..." Ricker rushes amidst your duel.
