There was no doubt that Guts, who had followed his adoptive father Gambino into wars as a mercenary since childhood, was quite familiar with the western nations of this continent.
He even remembered certain castles, fortresses, and towns where brutal wars had erupted with particular clarity. After all, he had nearly lost his life there several times.
As a Champion who had taken to the battlefield for pay at the age of nine and spent his entire life fighting, fighting, and fighting, struggling with all his strength against his utterly miserable fate, he had always longed to be loved and accepted.
But cruel reality had torn that most humble wish apart time and time again.
That was why, after joining the Band of the Hawk, Guts had cherished those companions so deeply.
Because, in his heart, that was the only place where he had ever felt a sense of belonging.
Griffith, in particular, was, strictly speaking, the first close friend to bring his once-dead heart back to life. Casca was the only woman who had ever made him feel responsible, the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
Yet these two people, both so incomparably important to him, ended up in that horrifying scene where one, after ascending into a Demon, raped the other right before his eyes.
Thus, his towering hatred did not stem merely from the humiliation, pain, and torment he had suffered. It came even more from the betrayal of the intense emotions he had given.
Griffith had not only betrayed Guts, but also the trust, admiration, and devotion of every member of the Band of the Hawk.
Most importantly, this was not the first betrayal Guts had encountered in his life.
To be precise, he had been betrayed by his adoptive father