[FDJ]Chapter 103: Sudden Descent 

The 'Gate' appeared once again at the end of Suzuki's line of sight, but he didn't have time to take any action to stop it. He could only quickly take out a bronze mirror and hold it above his head.

The 'Gate' opened unexpectedly beneath the shrouded night sky, its size far from normal. With just a glance, Suzuki estimated that it had a radius of several dozen meters and was very close to their location.

Eleanor and Don Quixote immediately turned their gaze towards the fourth person on the chariot, Aphaf, the young girl with special mystic eyes. At this moment, she looked up at the position of the 'Gate' with a solemn expression. Her mystic eyes, which were overloaded with magic power, emitted a colorful light, and blood seeped from the corners of her eyes. It seemed that the excessive influx of magic power had damaged the magic circuits in her eyes.

Despite the injury to her mystic eyes, Aphaf, in her unique state, showed no reaction. Her bleeding mystic eyes continued to gaze at the sky.

The 'Gate' was opened once again.

"Master!" Don Quixote, the elderly knight, was certain that his Master had been normal and clear-minded just moments ago. But now, his Master had been tempted by that unknown entity once again, and the situation was becoming increasingly worse.

Don Quixote acted quickly, embracing Aphaf and forcefully pressing down on her head. Although he didn't hold much favor for people of different faiths in his heart, Aphaf had replaced Saladin as his Master, and he had sworn loyalty to her. Therefore, any entity that attempted to harm his Master was his enemy. It was his duty as a knight to protect Aphaf with his temporary life granted by his status as a Servant.

"Stop! Master! Stop!!" Don Quixote shouted, tightly embracing Aphaf's fragile body. At this moment, he couldn't afford to observe the different etiquette of her faith. He was certain that if he let go, the tempted Aphaf would continue to lift her head and gaze at the night sky, allowing the 'Gate' to open even wider.

"Halt!" Rider Eleanor quickly commanded the two magical horses pulling the chariot to stop. Not only were they her summoning creatures, but a magical barrier also enveloped the entire open luxury chariot, drawing it inward.

The temporary magical power obtained through her skills was not strong, and in an instant, the magical barrier became tainted with strange colored lights. The sky underwent an incredible transformation.

"Master! Don't look up! Even if you have a Mystic Code that can counter it!" Eleanor instinctively sensed the immense 'Gate' in the sky, and the unknown entity behind it had now fixed its gaze, no longer playing around like before. If possible, she didn't want her Master to make any contact with the entity for even a second. Even when she looked up at the sky, she started feeling dizzy. The bodies of the Servants were visibly affected, and the mere appearance of the entity could already cause disaster.

Suzuki heard Eleanor's warning. Although he glanced down at the bronze mirror, "Jupiter's Talisman," tightly held against his chest, he restrained the strong urge to look up. He not only heard the voices of Eleanor and Don Quixote but also many indistinct whispers whose sources he couldn't discern. After closing his eyes and calming down for a moment, he realized that those were all words enticing him to look up at the sky, mixed with various items of knowledge. With the bronze mirror in hand, Suzuki managed to resist being overwhelmed by the tsunami-like influx of knowledge. He had the time to analyze the current situation.

The unidentified "Bubble" monster, not a Servant within the Holy Grail War system, had an indeterminable level of strength. Even Berserker had nearly fallen into its "trap" just now. It was a fantasy to have the current two Servants deal with that entity.

"Do we have a way to retreat, Rider?"

"If by 'retreat' you mean moving a few hundred meters back, then it's possible. But if you mean escaping to a place beyond our sight, it's impossible. The monster in the sky has already marked us as targets. Once we lose the protection of the magical barriers, I don't know if you and I can withstand its intrusion."

The second-layer magical barrier upheld by Rider Eleanor was also rapidly being eroded. The two magically summoned horses weren't completely protected by the second-layer magical barrier, dissolving back into their original magical states in an instant, dissipating into the air.

"I'll buy you some time. Whether you can escape or not depends on yourselves!" Don Quixote confirmed that his Master, Aphaf, although severely injured, still showed signs of life. He leaped off the chariot, carrying the lance on his back, and charged forward.

Suzuki had the protection of the bronze mirror, but Aphaf, relying solely on the magic she had previously unleashed on herself, could no longer provide any protective effect. She was now exposed to a highly radioactive contaminated area, where every second spent meant burning the thread of life. Humans were incredibly fragile before beings of such high stature.

Suzuki could tell that Don Quixote was willing to risk his life for another chance at saving his Master, and they were only indirect beneficiaries.

In the sky, the swirling mist of the "Gate" finally opened completely, and countless colorful bubbles surged out from within. Each of them seemed to possess an individual life while forming a cohesive group. The darkness before dawn was forcibly transformed into a brilliant spectacle of five colors and ten lights.

The "Gate" rapidly contracted and eventually transformed into a twisted and bizarre rift, resembling a seam through which the gaze of supreme wisdom cast its true scrutiny.

Apart from Suzuki and his two companions, there were no other sentient beings in the wilderness.

Countless bubbles slowly descended to the ground, actively seeking out any living beings capable of transmitting knowledge. The more, the better. Even a single human magus giving them all would be insufficient to compel this entity to manifest its true form.

Alterego Don Quixote lacked any means of self-protection like a magical barrier, yet he miraculously ignored the erosion of the unknown power upon himself. He charged towards the numerous bubble monsters descending from the sky. It wasn't realistic for him to attract the attention of the entity through their approach alone. Amid his charge, he quietly spoke the true name of his Noble Phantasm.

Suddenly, a book appeared out of thin air in his hand. As he flipped through several pages, the elderly knight transformed into a youthful state. It was difficult to believe that the protagonist of the book "Don Quixote" appeared as an old man and also had a youthful form. Perhaps this was one of the main reasons he manifested as an Alterego.

However, as he transformed, his previously smooth charge showed a subtle slowdown, and his rejuvenated body did not unleash any discernible difference compared to before.

Suzuki raised his gaze slightly and caught a glimpse of Don Quixote's back. This time, he utilized his authority as a participant in the Holy Grail War to finally see Don Quixote's Alterego class skills. As expected, Don Quixote possessed the "Magic Resistance" skill, fluctuating between B-rank and an ambiguous state, with a tendency towards B-rank. Additionally, it revealed that Don Quixote also possessed Riding skills at either A-rank or D-rank and a consistent Independent Action skill at C-rank.

Suzuki saw for the first time a situation where a Servant's ability ratings constantly fluctuated, similar to... He quickly thought of the encounter with Brunhilda back in 451 AD France. After Brunhild changed her class, her abilities immediately changed.

Her Magic Resistance rank shifted from ambiguous towards B-rank, and her Riding rank shifted from D-rank towards A-rank. Suzuki felt that his thinking ability was extremely smooth at the moment as if someone was assisting him in analyzing the true data of Don Quixote.

"Class transformation... Alteration of form..."

He understood. Alterego Don Quixote had two different forms. One was an elderly state with high Magic Resistance but relatively weaker other attribute abilities. The other required the release of his Noble Phantasm, summoning a book to transform into a youthful form. In contrast to the former, his magical abilities were greatly reduced while his other abilities were significantly enhanced. It wouldn't be limited to just Riding; there must be hidden improvements in his other abilities, worthy of him taking the risk to transform.

With this realization, Suzuki wanted to take another look at Don Quixote, but his slight upward movement was stopped by Eleanor beside him.

"Master! Wake up! Stop!"

At Eleanor's call, Suzuki abruptly snapped out of his manipulated state. The enemy was willing to continuously open the Gate, even at the risk of Aphaf's life, and they wouldn't hesitate to utilize Suzuki's understanding of the Servants to decipher Don Quixote's secrets. He was on the verge of seeing Don Quixote's second Noble Phantasm, and it was certain that besides his transformation form, Don Quixote possessed another Noble Phantasm for direct combat.

After regaining his senses, Suzuki quickly held onto the bronze mirror and refrained from recalling any information related to Don Quixote. It was then that he noticed a sharp pain in his left ear. Fresh blood flowed down his chin, and his brain experienced a violent jolt and dizziness. Unable to maintain his balance, he fell onto the chariot. Behind him lay Aphaf, already in a semi-lifeless state.

No matter how firm and well-prepared one's will may be in the face of a higher-level existence, it would be in vain. Before losing consciousness, Suzuki had a fleeting thought. He struggled to maintain his awareness and said to the anxious Eleanor, "It... is using me to analyze Don Quixote's data. There's a high possibility... it's concerned... that Don Quixote possesses a Noble... capable of severely harming it..."

Suzuki wanted to suggest that Eleanor try to escape while seeking assistance from the other two Servants allied with the Holy City, but he couldn't utter the words. He had personally seen the information on those two Servants, both possessing extremely powerful skill sets and exceptional Noble Phantasms. Especially Berserker Godfrey, whose Noble Phantasm was ranked at A+++ level. Although Suzuki didn't see clearly what Don Quixote's second Noble Phantasm was, he saw the rating fluctuating from B-rank to A-rank.