How did Ganishka become so powerful?

Disclaimer: It certainly isn't my intention to go over old material here, so if there is a thread already opened on the subject just direct me and delete the thread please.

I've searched over this site's threads, the excellent glossary, and many sites besides, but no where can i find an explanation as to how Ganishka was able to create the all powerful Flesh Giant, Shiva God, Tower thingy, nor exactly what went wrong with him when he did. This may be due to Dark Horse's crappy translation, but was his power as a mist Apostle what allowed him to combine all the other apostles?

I understand there is causality at work everywhere in the Berserk universe, so maybe he just did because he could, moreover, because it was his fate to do so, but combining a whole ton of apostles together into a "man-made beherit" or "reincarnation machine" has got to be one of the biggest WTF moments I've read. A little explanation please? Is there some logic here I'm missing?

SeedofKings said:

I've searched over this site's threads, the excellent glossary, and many sites besides, but no where can i find an explanation as to how Ganishka was able to create the all powerful Shiva God thingy, nor exactly what went wrong with him when he did. This may be due to Dark Horse's crappy translation, but was his power as a mist Apostle what allowed him to combine all the other apostles?

Click to expand...

That device isn't so much Ganishka's doing as it is Daiba's. And yeah, it's all explained pretty clearly in the manga. Ganishka, using his power as an apostle and his power as an emperor, managed to capture a pretty sizable number of apostles over the years. Those were hacked down and re-stitched together, while being kept alive, as a means of access to the astral world. Because apostles as you know are connected to the astral world by the evil power they receive in them during the ceremony that transforms them (it's in fact the evil power in question that changes them).

And so by plunging pregnant women in that gruesome device, they're corrupting the unborn and making them into Daka. Infusing them with evil power in a very crude imitation of what an apostle's sacrificial ceremony would result in. Hence why Daiba refers to it as an "artificial beherit" or a "reincarnation machine".

So when Ganishka, already an apostle himself (and with some understanding of magic), went in there with the intent of transcending his status as a mere apostle, siphoning the life out of every soldier (every human he could reach, actually) in Wyndham to fuel his endeavour, well the result was... a sight to behold. We're not given too many details, but we know he went in deep within the astral world. And he brought back a LOT of evil with him. It was his attempt to match the power of a member of the God Hand. But it was just as crude an attempt as the Daka were. He simply filled himself with as much power as possible; more than he could contain or control.

All Femto had to do was to prick him with the right needle and the balloon popped, spilling its content all over the world. Just as was intended all along.

I was just replying, but Aaz said it better than I could have. Basically Ganishka artificially made himself incredibly powerful and lost his mind doing it.

Good grief! Aaz you may just have to start teaching a LIT course on Berserk for us eager but confused fans.
Maybe it just felt chaotic and random upon my re-reading of the work, but the way you summed it up here is both simple and clear. Thanks for the help!

@Apostlebob Like you said he went insane doing what he intended (and was intended) to do, I think I was reading too much into his insane lines.