Chapter Text
Dammit! Dammit! DAMMIT!
Specks of blood and flesh dotted Guts’ face as he continued to hack away at his arm with the broken blade. Was there any pain? There probably was, but Guts didn’t give a damn about anything, not his lost arm that was being devoured by this beast, nor the sound of the metal clinking against his bone. All he could pay attention to was Casca and that thing that had her, that was touching her.
"Please… stop…"
Each time he heard her whimper in his clutches, Guts become much more infuriated, more determined.
COME OFF ALREADY!
He turned around to see him, positioning himself over Casca. Guts stopped chopping at this point and began to pull forward.
COME OFF!!
Casca’s weak voiced tremored like a quake through Guts’ ears as she cried when the demon penetrated her. All Guts could feel was fury now.
COME… OFF!!!
A trail of snapped tendons, flaked skin, and chipped bone was all that remained of Guts’ left arm as the demon devoured the rest. He flew toward the caped devil with a speed that was demonic in itself, managing to avoid all of the talons and claws that tried to grab and stop him. The closer he got to them, the redder his vision became, seeing his piercing blue eyes staring into him as he continued his violation of Casca. He jumped as he closed in on his target, the thing that was once his friend.
"GRIFFITH!!!"
That leap of faith halted as he suspended in midair, Guts’ broken sword inches away from his head. Guts could feel it, how the force of the invisible barrier was repelling his body. Guts’ jaws clenched in rage as he stared straight into his eyes, his gaze unyielding as he continued to thrust into his lover, smirking the entire time.
No.
The taunts and jeers from the nearby demons withstanding, Guts’ hand trembled, trying to push forward. Guts felt his bones shift against the resistance, threatening to fragment in his flesh.
NO.
When he saw the blade fidget against his barrier by a mere centimeter, Femto stopped his transgression against Casca, allowing her to gasp for much needed air, albeit he was still inside of her. He focused on Guts, exerting all of his new found power toward putting this flea in his place. Narrowing his will against Guts’, Femto clenched, and by doing so, dug his sharp claws into Casca’s flesh, causing her to moan in pain. Hearing her voice coming from beneath him, so close, Guts flared.
…NO!
For the first time in what seemed like a millennium, the hell space was dead silent. The demons stopped their cawing and their cackling and the arch devils above ceased in their machinations. All stood in awe as the mortal man wedged his blade into their new master’s helmet, breaking his hold on Guts and the demon that held Casca. Blood spurted from the wound as Femto faltered back, but regained his demonic grace as he glided meters away from Guts. It was nowhere near to being a mortal wound, but how could he have…?
Meanwhile, Casca fell limp and weak into Guts’ lap as he crouched on the ground to catch her. Fierce-looking as he was in the moment, he looked down at Casca, his face crossed with concern, failure even. She was naked, cut, and hurt, secreting blood, sweat, and other fluids. Still, though her body trembled from trauma, Casca glanced up at him, tears that were mixed with pain, sorrow, defeat, and oddly peace, staining her cheek. She tried to whimper his name between her bruised lips, but her voice fell flat as she slipped into unconsciousness.
Guts mourned her only for a moment, tears spilling from his bloodshot eyes. But his rage was reborn anew as he looked up at the hoard of demons, now growling and seething with malice toward the mortal who disrupted their entertainment and defaced their master. Guts could have cared less about them, as he was fixed on the black clad demon, his head wound rapidly healing at that instant. He didn’t even need to see the look on Femto’s face: Guts could feel the anger that the demon was feeling. In that moment, Guts almost laughed, grinning a fiendish grin as the demonic façade worn by this figure was faltering under his anger. Those eyes were definitely Griffith’s, the ice in them piercing liking a thousand tiny needles. He reserved that look only for those who stood in his way, who dared to defy his authority and power.
Despite his inner fury, never letting it take complete control of his godlike decorum, Femto was met by something that he was unaccustomed to during his life as a human. He bore into Guts, now looking more brutish and wolfish than ever, almost like a demonic hellhound as he clenched the jagged blade in his remaining hand and his mate against his breast and severed arm. It wasn’t the promise of a challenge on that dogs face, but the promise of death. A vow that he would find a way in all of his power to cast vengeance on him, for killing his friends, hurting Casca, and betraying their companionship.
Femto felt something that a being of his caliber shouldn’t have: apprehension. It was unlikely that Guts would live up to his promise in his position and state - the apostles were already closing in around he and Casca. But as he walked toward the pair, claws outreached to end their pathetic lives once and for all, something held him back, a resistance from the back of his mind.
Don’t…
The demon lord hesitated at the voice. The sound of its weakness disgusted him, it was so human-like. What infuriated him more was that it was too familiar of the mortal past that he cast aside for this new ambition. Femto would not submit to the voice’s plea.
But at that moment, the caged sky ripped opened in a flash of light. Both Guts and Femto looked up to see the flash aimed at the one called Void, countering his attack. The flash revealed itself to be that skeletal horseman that showed himself to Guts over a year ago. He and his phantom horse landed between the injured warrior and the demon lord, looking over to Guts.
"Come with me if you want to live."
The bloodlust in Guts continued to boil in him, wanting to face Femto with every fiber that was left in his being; he thought better when he heard Casca moan in her stupor. Taking no time to pause, Guts dropped the blade and scooped Casca in what remained of his arm, hauling her onto the back of the steed. He heaved himself up after, bringing Casca’s body to rest against his in security.
As the Skull Knight prepared his horse to leap through the rip, Guts turned to give Femto - Griffith - one final hellish stare, a warning for the future.
This… is… a declaration of war.
Composed in his glamor once again, the smirk found its way on Femto’s lips again, answering Guts’ challenge.
Try.