"Will-o'-the-Wisp" is episode 101 of the Berserk manga series.
Summary[]
Puck is the first person to move after Guts' threat. He flies up to Guts' face and berates him for holding hostage their only ally among the villagers, and for worsening their image further in the eyes of said villagers. Moreover, the latter now believe, thanks to Puck's appearance, that the swordsman is in league with the vicious elves.
Guts slowly moves through the crowd, who moves out of his way, wanting no harm to come to Jill. When his back is turned, a villager sneaks up behind him and prepares to strike him with an axe, but Guts catches sight of him and spins around, using Jill as a shield. Guts steadily grows weaker thanks to the poison in his body and does not want to risk a fight.
As they walk through the village, Jill notices her father, Zepek, peer at them from behind a wall. When he locks eyes with her, he quickly spins himself around the wall and out of sight. Jill is disheartened by her father's seeming lack of desire to save her.
Once safely outside the village, where its residents cannot hear or see, Guts releases Jill and tells her to go home. He apologizes for having put her in danger and turns to walk away. Suspecting his destination is the Misty Valley, where he can face the moth-like Apostle, Jill asks to accompany him, surmising that the Apostle in question is her childhood friend who disappeared long ago.
Guts warns her not to follow, telling her bluntly that he fully intends to kill the Apostle, regardless of whether or not she is Jill's friend. He leaves with Puck. Jill looks back to her hilltop village and thinks to herself that, were she to return to it, nothing would change. She touches the wound on her neck; Guts' knife cut her while he had her hostage.
As they make their way to the Misty Valley, Puck chastises Guts for telling Jill to stay put so harshly. He then notices the trail of blood Guts leaves as he walks and offers to tend to his wound. Guts simply waves the elf away, which provokes a large tantrum from Puck, who is frustrated that Guts accepts no help. Guts simply tells the elf off, mentioning that they never officially became companions, or even friends, and tells him to leave.
Puck intends to stick around, but Guts snatches him from the air and throws him into the grass, leaving the grumpy elf behind. Puck is surprised when the shoe of a new person lands suddenly next to him.
Having stopped to up camp for the night, Guts starts campfire and vomits as the poison continues to set in. He thinks about the burned bodies of the children in the barn. Not long after, having caught a snake, Guts beheads it and drinks the blood from its neck, then skins and eats its body. He heaves once more, but manages to stop himself from vomiting. He tries to make himself as comfortable as possible in preparation for the long night ahead when the spirits will manifest and attack him.
The Demon Child on the fire.
Due to weariness, Guts begins to doze off, but the sight of the Demon Child, which is laying directly on his campfire, catches him off guard. The Child has brought with it the spirits of the deceased village children, all of which are ablaze.