"Fire Dragon" is episode 227 of the Berserk manga series.
Synopsis[]
Schierke attempts to reach Guts through thought transference but finds that his mind is too clouded for any message to break into his mind.
Grunbeld has decided that Guts is, in fact, a worthy opponent. He raises his hammer to smash Guts from the side, but Guts counters with a vertical swing from the Dragon Slayer, the result being that Guts bends the shaft of Grunbeld's hammer, rendering it useless. The follow-through of Guts' swing is even more devastating: Guts swung with enough power to break Grunbeld's hammer, dig the blade of the Dragon Slayer deep into the ground and launch himself into the air, swinging once more. He breaks clean through the intact part of Grunbeld's hammer (which was raised in an attempt to block Guts' strike) and manages to land a deep blow into Grunbeld's shoulder. The physical strength required of Guts to perform the maneuver made obvious by the fact that blood sprays out of the armor that covers his right arm.
Grunbeld concedes defeat and declares Guts to be the stronger warrior. He then transforms into his true body, a corundum-covered dragon-like creature, planning on finishing Guts once and for all. He swings his massive corundum-encrusted tail toward Guts with blinding speed, and the attack makes contact. The onlookers (the Skull Knight, Zodd, Schierke, Isidro and Serpico) along with Grunbeld himself are shocked to see that Guts has managed to catch the Apostle's tail mid-swing, using only his own legs for support. This leads to one of Guts' legs breaking under the pressure of the massive force behind the tail's swing, though Guts seems unaffected.
Guts raises the Dragon Slayer and stabs it down on Grunbeld's human face, located on the latter's dragon-body's head. Though not killed, Grunbeld's face has been cracked open, and he uses the gigantic corundum spike on his head to knock Guts away. The Black Swordsman rolls through the grass until coming to a sudden halt as he hits the base of Flora's tree.
The Berserker Armor repairs Guts' body.
Guts stands and advances toward Grunbeld once more, but it is clear that his body has been completely broken; his left arm is twisted at unnatural angles and his legs buckle while blood sprays out of the armor. However, as he continues his advance, Guts' limbs are suddenly and ungracefully twisted back into place by the Berserker Armor itself. Schierke reveals to Serpico and Isidro that the armor is capable of prolonging fights by sending spikes into its user's body to realign and brace broken bones.
Schierke then says that she knows of a story where the armor's previous user kept fighting as his limbs were realigned until all of his blood was drained away, killing him. Isidro berates Schierke for having given Guts the Berserker Armor despite the latter being so heavily wounded already, causing Schierke to feel overwhelmed and unable to decide what to do. As she struggles to make a decision, Schierke suddenly hears Flora's voice reassuring her. The elder witch says that Guts is lost in the power he now possesses, and that only Schierke, who also knows the feeling of being at the mercy of powers greater than herself, will be able to save him.