As Nidhogg walked out of the castle gates, the full scale of the battle greeted him. Corpses lay everywhere, mixed with the discarded tools of siege warfare: ladders, trebuchets, a battering ram. Horses, too, lay among the dead, all stained with flesh and blood. It was a tragic scene.
Black smoke rose from nearby fires, and the wind carried the acrid smell of burning. Wounded soldiers and mercenaries, leaning on each other, limped away from the battlefield, while others worked to clear the dead and collect spoils.
Now that he was outside the castle, one of his quests resolved itself.
「Short-term Quest」 Eliminate Obstacles on the Castle Battlefield (12/12, Completed. Reward: Level Up from LV 12 → LV 16)
「Short-term Quest」 Encounter Key Members of the Hawk Company (0/6) / Encounter Guts
So, in a single day, Nidhogg had gone from Level 0 to Level 16, and gained a new battle axe as well. Not a bad haul.
He did notice, however, that the level jumps were getting smaller. That made sense. Early gains should be the fastest. The further he went, the harder it would be to level up. He wouldn't be jumping a dozen levels in a day again.
Now, he felt a new urgency to grow stronger.
Beyond the penalty for failing quests, he knew the true horror this world held. It was inescapable. No matter where he ran.
He had to prepare.
Could he stop the source of it all?
The answer was no. At least, not now.
There was a law in this world: the law of causality.
The God Hand were born from an Eclipse, an event that occurred every 216 years.
Griffith was fated to become a member of the God Hand. That meant he was destined to obtain the Beherit, and destined to trigger the Eclipse. It was his fate.
It wasn't that no one had ever tried to kill Griffith. For an entire year, his life had been in another's hands. Yet he survived, and the Eclipse still came.
Such causality was incredibly difficult to sever. But the process in between could be disrupted, influenced.
Guts and Casca, for example. Both were branded and marked for sacrifice during the Eclipse. But they were saved by the intervention of the Skull Knight.
Rickert was also a member of the Hawk Company. When the monsters attacked, the Skull Knight saved him. And when Griffith triggered the Eclipse, Rickert wasn't present. He escaped the sacrifice.
These exceptions proved that neither the Eclipse nor the law of causality could account for every variable.
The more fiercely beings like the Skull Knight and Guts rebelled against fate, the higher the chance they could slip through the net of causality.
Since he couldn't stop the Eclipse, Nidhogg would have to find a way to survive in the monster-infested world to come.
For that, he needed two things: strength, and reliable companions.
He could gain strength through the brand's leveling system. Right now, he probably couldn't even beat an ordinary monster, let alone an apostle.
As for reliable companions, there were no better candidates than Guts, Rickert, the future witch Schierke, and others. Even Casca, before she lost her mind, or Judeau and Pippin, who hadn't been sacrificed yet, were good options.
The more he thought about the future, the more urgent his mind became.
Now, he had a chance to kill two birds with one stone.
Nidhogg didn't leave the area. Instead, he found a spot on a nearby hillside and waited quietly. After a long while, he saw a figure emerge from the castle, walking alone.
It was Guts.
He had been a mercenary in this army for half a year. They had finally taken the castle, and today he had collected his final pay. Without a word to anyone, he left.
Wherever there was war, he went. Now that the fighting here was done, it was time to find a new battlefield.
Because of the trauma he carried from childhood, Guts was nearly self-destructively reckless. He avoided forming bonds with anyone, always remaining solitary.
"Hello," Nidhogg called out from a distance, then walked closer. "You're a mercenary. Where are you headed?"
Guts turned his head, eyeing the vagabond knight. He recognized him. A frown creased his brow.
When the knight-commander had offered a massive bounty for Jackson's head, Guts had been tempted. He wasn't afraid to die. Trading his life for a reward was nothing new.
But just as he was about to step forward, Nidhogg had suddenly appeared, taken the duel, and killed Jackson in short order.
So Guts had been left with nothing to do but cut down a few fleeing defenders and collect his standard pay. He'd missed a chance at a huge reward, and he was a little annoyed with Nidhogg for it.
But Guts was also a sharp judge of ability. He didn't think Nidhogg had just gotten lucky, despite what the knight-commander said.
That crouching dodge, that sudden thrust... that wasn't luck. That was the kind of opening you could only exploit after countless life-or-death battles, combined with ice-cold calm and nerves of steel.
Guts thought Nidhogg would be a troublesome opponent, if it came to that.
Troublesome, but not unbeatable. He was confident he could win. He'd been carved from the same mountain of corpses and seas of blood, and he was better in a one-on-one duel.
Guts had assumed he'd never see Nidhogg again. But here he was, seemingly waiting for him. It made him suspicious.
"Where I'm going is none of your business, is it?"
He thought for a moment, then replied flatly, ignoring Nidhogg and continuing on his way.
To his surprise, Nidhogg followed.
"My name is Nidhogg," he offered. "I'm a mercenary too. Since we're both mercenaries, why don't we travel together? Find the next contract, watch each other's backs?"
Guts, still carrying his massive sword, didn't look back. "No. I don't travel with anyone."
He couldn't be blamed for his coldness. He'd seen too many soldiers and mercenaries betray each other. And his past had left him with no desire to connect with anyone.
Nidhogg saw that a direct approach wouldn't work. "Your name is Guts, right? I remember you. I wonder if you remember me."
That stopped him. Guts finally turned, frowning deeply at Nidhogg. "You know me?"
"Yeah. We met about four years ago." Nidhogg used his knowledge of Guts's past to fabricate a connection.
Something flickered in Guts's memory. His eyes widened. His expression shifted.
Four years ago?
Four years ago... he was still in that mercenary company. Gambino was still alive... This man said he saw him four years ago. Was he in that company too? Was he... was he...
"Let's go," Nidhogg said, not wanting to push Guts too hard. "Let's find a safe place to rest and talk. Maybe then you won't mind me tagging along."
Guts stared at Nidhogg for a long moment, his eyes filled with conflict. But in the end, his curiosity about the man who knew his past won out. He gave a short, reluctant nod.