We begin with the Holy Iron Chain Knights stumbling onto the remains of the 'guardians of the mist valley' that Gatts fought in volume 15. When he fought them, they were in their insect form, but now that they are dead, they revert to their human form. Much like the babies/fairies that Roshinu commands. Obviously, seeing the bodies of hundreds of men only digs the hole for Gatts deeper in the Holy Iron Chain Knights minds. So far, the 'Black Swordsman' has left a trail of dead babies, and men in his path.
We pan back over to the cave where Gatts is confronting Roshinu, and the fairiy cocoons. Gatts is swatting them down like flies. Many of the babies are falling out of their cocoons, half-melted. Roshinu is severely pissed, and sends swarms of the fairie/bees at Gatts, who quickly becomes overwhelmed. Roshinu believes that she has the upper hand at first, before Gatts jumps into the flames that he has created, both suprising everyone, and melting the attached fairie/bees.
At this point, Gatts is really 'into it' so to speak. He has the small intestines of a baby inhis mouth, blood is showering him from every direction, all that remains of his facial features, from a glance, is his one open eye. Gatts resembles a demon.
Gatts continues to destroy Roshinu's cocoons, until Roshinu can no longer take it. Roshinu takes her demon form, which we have not seen until now.It resembles...well hell, just click here for a picture of her 'true form' .
Roshinu immediately rushes gatts, in her new form. She is frikken huge, and is taking out everything around her, with her powerful wings. SHe attempts to spear Gatts with her massive antennea, but gatts deflects it with his Dragon Slayer, creating a huge spark, which causes an explosion, because of the gun powder that gatts apparently spread. She regains her balance, and then attempts to spear him, yet again, this time, hitting Gatts full on, knocking him for a loop. She repeats her attack a third time, this time, when Gatts attempts to block, roshinu aims for his face, misses, and spears his left arm with her antennea. Gatts is dragged upward with Roshinu, like a fish on a hook.
Roshinu begins to taunt Gatts, up close, face to face, as he is helplessly clung to her. She flies ever higher, and Gatts eventually hears enough of her shit, and pulls out his cannon-arm. Roshinu reels back in terror, but its too late. Gatts blows a big friken hole in Roshinu, but falls in the process. Roshinu is still very much alive, but wounded greatly. She begins to talk to Jill, taking her guard down... We pan over to Gatts, who is wrapping his hand to his Dragon Slayer with bandages... Roshinu takes Jill in her arms, trying to fly away with her...In the background we can just make out a black shape, in the whiteness of the flames behind Roshinu. Suddenly, Gatts is upon Roshinu, stabbing her full on with the Dragon Slayer. HIs sword goes completely through her, directly in the middle ofher massive body. Roshinu spits blood, which pours into her protective shell.
Jill falls from Roshinu's grasp, and collides with a cocoon on her way down. a half-formed baby errupts from the cocoon, flailing its arms in Jills lap. Meanwhile, Roshinu takes to the skies again, this time, with Gatts grasping his sword, which is still very deep in Roshinu's body. Roshinu tries to lose Gatts by flying, but the sword is too deep...she swats at Gatts with her remaining antennae, which drives the sword out of her body, Gatts falls...
we see a short scene in Roshinu's past, where Roshinu finally discovers Misty Valley...She runs through the forest, happily.
We pan back to the fight. Gatts is still falling, but Roshinu intends to finish the job. SHe spears him, aiming for his head. We see blood splash from Gatts face. We see Roshinu's face light up with glee. We then see Gatts, biting down on the antennae which has gone from one cheek, through the other, he swings his sword around for his final blow, which rips Roshinu nearly in half.
We go back to Roshinu's past. Her parents have finally discovered her, after all their frantic searching. Her mother is relieved to see her daughter, but her father, is far from happy. He begins to beat down Roshinu, while her mother defends her, her father doesnt care, he is intent on beating Roshinu.........................................A drop of blood from Roshinu's chin, hits her olive colored stone...the eyes, nose, and mouth rearrange each other, and the olive stone, opens its eyes, and begins crying....
Roshinu falls to the ground, thinking "Im sorry....Im sorry Mother....Im sorry Father..."
Pakk and Jill see ROshinu as she falls, and come to see her. Roshinu sees pakk and says she always wanted to see a real fairie. Shes happy that she could finally see one. Gatts emerges from the lake he landed in, still looking like a demon, covered in blood, his one eye glowing white. He finds Roshinu, and just s he raises his sword for the finishing blow, to Roshinu's limp body, Jill throws herself across Roshinu. Gatts hesitates for a moment but then.....SSSSSSSNIACKTH!! An arrow pierces Gatts in the abdomen. Its Jills Dad. He has led the Holy Iron Chain Knights to Gatts.
Farneeze sends waves of troops after Gatts, and he is hit by another arrow. But Gatts recovers quickly, and ducks into the forests, evading them.
Azan takes Jill's father aside, and explains to him that they are grateful for his help, but dont expect them to shower him with praise, and off he goes. Jills father is upset, because i guess he thought he would become famous or something.
Jill and Pakk are still by Roshinu's side. Roshinu spreads her wings, and takes flight, despite Jill and Pakk's demands to stay still. Roshinu attempts flight one last time...and then she falls from the sky......We then see a small part of Roshinu's past, which shows her happier times with her parents.
Jill's Father beckons for her to come home with her, but she refuses. He swings his stupid little cane at her, and Jill dodges. Jill escapes her father, and runs off into the forest again. The Holy Iron Chain Knights are having a difficult time fining Gatts. They are wandering the forests, combing the area with torches. Farneeze looks upset, as always. And Serpico tries to comfort her...Jill finds Gatts herself, with little effort. he is waiting in a dark cave, pulling out the arrows in his side, with his one good arm, which is still bound tightly to the dragon slayer. Jill professes that she wants to travel with him. She wants to escape her town. Gatts holds her with him, and shows her what his world is like. Ghosts surround the both of them, and one of them nearly takes control of Jill, and she begins screaming. Gatts quickly disperses the ghosts. He tells Jill that this is how it is with him. Everywhere he goes, dark things follow. Then Gatts leaves her there. Jill climbs out of the cave, and sees the sun rise. Then she declares that she will find a way to live in this world, happily, not looking back. Pakk flies over to her to say goodbye. Jill asks him as he leaves: "Why do you travel with him?" Pakk answers "Well...I really dont know." Smiling, Pakk follow Gatts, and Jill follows her father back to the village.
The Skull Knight rides into the now destroyed Misty Valley. This was the birthplace of all those faeries, from their cocoons they hatched...SKull Knight ponders to himself "For a human to follow this path...as cruel as this...can he continue to walk it as a human? Or will he..." Skull Knight pauses, looking inside a cave...His eyes glow white, he reaches inside, and pulls out a behelit. The very one that Roshinu used to become a fairy. Skully looks at it for a moment and then... he eats it. Then, the Skull Knight exits.
Gatts is marching onward, through the forest...He is badly injured, and Pakk still has not caught up with him yet. He is breathing hard, and the ghosts around him begin to gather more strongly...They sense his desperation. They begin taunting him..."You killed all of those babies...you are such a monster...really you are." Gatts ignores them for a while. Then one of the demons begins to eat the other demons, taking the form of Gatts face. The larger one says "If you keep fighting like this, you will become worse than even we...You will become the king of monsters...If you continue down this path..." (sorry I dont have accurate translations for this part...if anyone wants to help out, the whole scene can be found on the following pages: 1, 2 ,3, 4, 5 , 6 , 7 )
Pakk stumbles upon Gatts being 'devoured' by ghosts. He freaks out, and begins attacking them, in one of the cutest scenes in the entire series (it can be viewed here: 1,2,3 you're welcome...)
Pakk accidentally hits Gatts in the face, and It actually hurts him. Pakk says "that shouldnt hurt you". (perhaps it only affects those who have negative energy, or are surrounded by it..which brings us to believe that those are the 2 'sides'. Faerie and 'of god hand'...but this is a SUMMARY, not a speculation, so Ill shut up now...) Gatts is almost totally wasted...he is on the last breath of strength...and then, over the hill from behind Gatts...come the Holy Iron Chain Knights, with Farneeze at the head. They spot Gatts, who still hasnt noticed them yet. They approach him, and Gatts turns, plants his sword in the ground. Farneeze basically doesnt give Gatts a chance, before she orders troops on his ass, (which is pretty much expected of Farneeze...) Gatts stumbles a bit, because he is weakened, and the soldiers start mocking him. Gatts quickly regains ground, by cleaving 6 of them in one swing =)
Azan, one of the highest officers in the H.I.C.K. (yes thats right, HICK = Holy Iron Chain Knights), steps up to Gatts, and declares his name. Gatts recognizes him, and tells Azan a story he heard when he was a boy about a man who defended a bridge against hundreds of troops. Azan accepts and says that 'that was a long time ago'. Azan asks Gatts his name and rank. Gatts responds 'I was never a knight, or a count, Im just Gatts.' They fight for a bit, and Gatts is taken aback by Azans strength. He underestimated his opponent. Gatts realizes this battle is folly, and soon makes a new target...He leaps off of Azans spear, and heads for Farneeze, their leader. Gatts easily has the advantage, but just before he swings, a twig collides with an arrow that had pierced his side earlier, causing Gatts to flinch in pain (this looks, and sounds confusing, but if you think about it, it makes sense) Farneeze blindly strikes out, and hits Gatts in the shoulder, wounding him, not mortally, but enough to postpone the battle, into submission.
Gatts is taken prisoner by the HICKs. =) Some of the HICKs are angered at Gatts, and say they should finish him off right now, for he killed many of their ranks. Azan steps in and says that Gatts gave in, and that they should respect his actions. (I like azan) They take Gatts to their camp, and Gatts is stripped of all his armaments and equipment. Farneeze immediately begins an interrigation, where she asks about Gatts origins, intentions, and explanation for his actions. Gatts manages to avoid all the important questions by mocking the God that Farneeze, and the rest of her religion worships. It is the religion of the Hawk. (I dont know its real name, Im sure by now you've seen the insignia on Mozgus's book) Farneeze is quickly angered by this and lashes out at Gatts many times. She eventually realizes it is futile to interrogate Gatts, as he is not giving an inch of information to her.
Gatts is imprisoned in a small cage, outside of camp. Night begins to fall again, and the demons begin coming out of their hiding...Gatts looks to his left and sees a ghost, saying 'this looks...bad'.
