Berserk Volume 18

Hell has broken loose in the kingdom of Midland. On the death of Midland's king comes invasion, demonic forces seem to be on the rise, underground pagan cults are running wild, and the church is busily rounding up and teaching heretics the errors of their ways. While, Guts is busy testing out his newly repaired sword on the invaders, his former captain and lover, Casca, her mind wrecked by her unholy tryst with the demon lord, has fallen in with a rough crowd who don't exactly wish her well. But she, like Guts, is marked with the Brand of Sacrifice, and her abusers may soon find themselves face-to-face with the unholy abominations that are inexorably drawn to the Brand!

Warrior supreme Guts, the Black Swordsman, has seen better days — and more popular — in the kingdom of Midland, a land he once defended as captain of the Band of the Hawk. But the Hawks were betrayed and slaughtered, and now the hyolier-than-thou Holy Iron Chain Knights have captured Guts and plan to whip some repentance into him — literally. But Guts isn’t so easily held at bay, at when he manages to escape with the Holy Knights’ leader, Farnese, as his hostage, the demons that are drawn to Guts’ Brand of Sacrifice are all too willing to show her the teeming darkness in her own soul!

Guts, the feared Black Swordsman, is on the rampage — and it's personal. Mozgus, the malefic master Inquisitor of the Holy See, in his murderous campaign against heretics, has captured Guts' former lover Casca and has her at the ready to be burned at the stake in the Tower of Conviction, little knowing that Casca's demonic Mark of Sacrifice is drawing hideous dark powers to the Tower. It'll take everything Guts has and more to defeat Mozgus — who is much, much more than a man — and even if he can, will he be able to save Casca from the hordes of Hell amidst the inquisitor's disintegrating citadel?

An adult fantasy/horror epic of monumental proportions, Kentaro Miura's Berserk is now offered at its original published size in handsome deluxe hardcover editions each collecting three volumes of the acclaimed manga series. Marked with the unholy Brand of Sacrifice that draws the damned to him, Guts the Black Swordsman battles the minions of Hell that thwart his search for Casca, his former captain and lover. But Casca, too, is marked with the Brand, and Guts must find her before the legions of the abyss do! Collects Berserk volumes 16-18.

The bewildered and near-mad Casca, former captain of the Band of the Hawk — and former lover of Guts, the Black Swordsman — has been adopted by Midland’s pagan cults as a witch, due to her demonic Mark of Sacrifice. But the Holy Iron Chain Knights campaign to rid the kingdom of heretics by any means necessary puts Casca in mortal danger, and Guts is having none of it, But all parties involved may end up with more than they bargained for as demonic spirits, drawn to Casca’s brand, begin to possess the heretics and unleash the forces of hell. But hell hath no fury like the Black Swordsman!

Warrior supreme Guts has been marked for sacrifice to the armies of the damned, and now he has the blood of a village of possessed children on his hands — a horde of elf-demons straight out of a fairy-tale fever dream. But now Guts must deal with the Queen of the Elves herself, and though she may be cute as a button, she has hideous power and lethal intent, and in her wake, no one lives happily ever after!

The once unbeatable Band of the Hawk is smashed, and their former leader, Griffith, has made an unholy pact with the demon lords of the Godhand, sacrificing his former troops to resurrect his crippled body and ascend to stand in power beside these profane gods. The Invocation of Doom has unleashed a plague of unspeakable horrors upon the earth, and the first battle not only shatters the Hawks, but the hand of their champion, Guts, and the mind of their captain and Guts’ lover, Casca. And while time may heal some of Guts’ wounds, it will not heal his desire for vengeance. And his discovery of a gigantic, dragon-slaying sword might be just the ticket to deal out some king-sized payback! Also included in this volume: "Berserk Prototype," the very first Berserk story, created during Kentaro Miura’s college days as his audition that sold the series!

Desperate as Guts, the Black Swordsman, has been to reunite with his former captain and lover, the now-mad Casca, he’s quickly learning that being together is as dangerous as being apart. What should be a simple journey to the safety of Puck’s homeland proves to be a gauntlet of perils, as the Mark of Sacrifice each bears brings the fury of Hell down upon them, and Guts discovers that in his darkest moments he himself is the greatest danger to the woman he loves. Created by Kentaro Miura, Berserk is a fiery manga apocalypse, an ominous omnibus of furious action, fearsome horror, and funereal humor that strikes a power chord in the hearts of its devoted followers and strikes down the rest like a scythe through wheat. Bring in the sheaves!