In the third volume of Berserk, Guts triumphs (barely) in his battle with the Slug Count, once again relying on cannon-in-arm ex machina to blow away an Apostle. Unfortunately, the God Hand intervenes, and Guts gets his chance finally to swing his sword at the demon Femto, who he calls Griffith. The pain of being so near a demon of that strength while branded nearly kills Guts, but his indomitable will carries through and he is able to at least make the attempt. Unfortunately the powers of the God Hand are too much, and it’s clear that Guts will need some other strategy if he’s ever going to realize his revenge.
Meanwhile the Slug Count is invited to sacrifice his daughter, the last vestige of his humanity, in order to ascend to the status of the God Hand itself. He is unable to do so, his love for her being the one thing he can’t give up. Due to this failure, if that’s how you want to view it, the “thread of causality” is broken, and the Slug Count is sent to Hell, dragged there by the soul of Vargas, the doctor who so desperately wanted revenge against him.
Where this volume really takes off is in the introduction to the Golden Age arc, easily the best storyline in Berserk. We get to see Guts coming up as a young mercenary, training for the first time with his gigantic swords, and most critically we get the backstory with Griffith. This is easily the best material in the story, it makes you really care about what happens later on. It also is the first depiction of violent sexual assault in the series, which frankly plagues the entire run. As such, my usual inability to actually, fully recommend this story to others persists.