One year has passed since Guts left the Band of the Hawk and Griffith was imprisoned by the Kingdom of Midland for treason.
In the dead of night, at a camping site where they hide, the Band of the
Hawk is attacked by Bakiraka assassins led by Silat. When all seems
lost, Guts returns from his journey. "You destroyed everything." Crying
that Griffith is nothing without Guts, Casca and Guts are joined
together body and soul. Griffith is imprisoned in the oldest building in
Wyndham Catle, the Tower of Rebirth. They discover that Griffith has
been tortured, with the tendons of his legs and arms severed and his
tongue removed. Seeing Guts and Casca pitying him, Griffith drags his
body along the ground. At that moment, the Egg of the King Behelit that
he had thought lost returns to his hand. The Behelit resonated with
Griffith's despair and screams, causing a shockwave that creates a
twisted dimension. The God Hand descends. A nightmare of magnificent
violence erupts as a horde of apostles devour the Band of the Hawk. This
is the birth of the fifth guardian and the beginning of an age where
darkness overcomes all light.
