[FDJ]Chapter 94: Night of Madness (Part 4)

Suzuki Yuki and Rider Eleanor received a distress signal from Aphaf midway through. Through the charm given by Saladin, a glaring red color emerged on the originally transparent gem of the charm.

Eleanor immediately accelerated the chariot's speed. She didn't know the exact tactical plan of Aphaf and Don Quixote tonight, but she assumed they would first go to the largest of the three villages.

"Do they encounter enemy Servants?"

"Most likely. With Alterego Don Quixote's abilities, he wouldn't find those distorted monsters particularly troublesome. The fact that the first signal came in red only indicates that they encountered Servants." Eleanor gestured for Suzuki Yuki to crouch down, and then she accelerated once again.

The two ethereal horses emitted a mist of magical energy, and the entire chariot merged into it. The speed of the wheels, primarily made of wood, continued to increase. Suzuki Yuki, who understood Eleanor's information, doubted whether Eleanor had misunderstood something about the "power derived from the honor of the dynasty." Simply relying on speed, they could collide with someone, and both parties would be equally harmed.

It took only a quarter of the originally planned time for the chariot to slightly decelerate and enter the forest, approaching the first village where Aphaf and the others were supposed to be.

However, before entering the forest, Eleanor felt a magical fluctuation that shook the mountains and forests. A sacred light pierced through the woods in the direction of another village. She was somewhat familiar with it, and with just a glance, she could confirm that it was a Noble Phantasm closely related to the Crusader. Eleanor had launched the Second Crusade with her first husband in her lifetime, so she knew the destructive power and legitimacy of a religious army blessed with divine power.

She didn't explain this to Suzuki Yuki, who was crouching in the carriage.

And before the chariot officially arrived at the village, she witnessed another strange scene. A handsome young knight was battling the last few monsters, and in an instant, he sliced them into pieces.

Then, the young knight dispersed into points of light as if he didn't truly exist, and in his place appeared the aged Don Quixote. Suzuki Yuki also didn't witness this astonishing scene—a Servant could switch between different age states.

Young and old? Eleanor immediately realized that it was directly related to Don Quixote's class. Alterego, regardless of its resemblance to the real historical Spanish knight, manifested its aged state as the ordinary form, which was relatively weak in terms of combat power. Only in the young state could it unleash its true strength.

Eleanor grew increasingly curious about Don Quixote's hidden information, and the more he tried to conceal it, the stronger her desire to know became. She had always been in control of everything, and never denied anything she wanted. Especially the glory and status that men believed they could exclusively enjoy—possessing such things would satisfy Eleanor's desire for control and bring her primal pleasure.

The chariot slowly came to a stop, and Eleanor observed the corpses of monsters scattered around as if she hadn't witnessed Don Quixote switching his state.

She whispered to Suzuki Yuki behind her, "Master, be cautious of your surroundings. It's best not to leave my chariot."

Meanwhile, Aphaf finished counting to three minutes and opened her eyes to see the aged knight Don Quixote standing amidst the corpses of monsters. The numerous monsters that had inexplicably resurrected were now "slain" by her Servant and unable to rise again.

Although the severed limbs of the corpses continued to wriggle, the nauseating sound of their cries filled the air.

"Vivar, are you alright?"

"Just twisted my waist a little," Don Quixote replied with a relaxed expression on his face. He then turned his head to glance at his Master, as if trying to convey to Eleanor that he was fine and not to have any other thoughts.

Allies in the Holy Grail War didn't necessarily have a close bond unless they were completely certain that neither the Master nor the Servant had any interest in the Holy Grail.

"Don't overexert yourself, Knight." Eleanor approached and noticed the visibly damaged state of Don Quixote's armor. If her intuition was correct, Don Quixote had just suffered a fatal injury and managed to survive through some kind of magecraft. If she didn't know about Don Quixote's ability to switch states, she might have considered him a burden.

"Berserker will catch up with us at any moment. How about sharing the information later? Our priority is to retreat! The enemy is very strong," Don Quixote remained vigilant. He didn't have much fondness for women like Eleanor, who were passionate about their desires. It wasn't that he disliked beautiful women, but rather he disliked women who caused him "troubles." In comparison, his Master Aphaf was much more agreeable to him.

"Berserker?" Eleanor didn't ask further and immediately opened the chariot's barrier, signaling Don Quixote to get in the vehicle. "Alright, get in. We retreat immediately."

Suzuki Yuki, who was beside her, heard Eleanor's instructions after parking the chariot. He noticed that the branches of the trees outside the village were wriggling individually as if they were alive. Even if he got out of the chariot, he wouldn't leave. It was clear that ordinary people who were separated would be captured by the hidden monsters.

"Berserker?"

Suzuki Yuki didn't stand up to look at the gruesome scene outside the chariot. After smelling the scent of blood and decay, he immediately understood what had happened. Unable to use magecraft for self-protection, witnessing the flesh of the monsters could impose an unknown mental burden on him.

But he didn't miss the information that Don Quixote mentioned. The enemy Servant they encountered was Berserker, a Class chosen to enhance the attributes of weaker Servants. The Class Ability was Mad Enhancement, similar to the encounter with La Hire in Gaul in 451, where the Servant lost almost all reason. Most Berserkers would lose their ability to speak, think, and even become mere killing machines depending on the level of Mad Enhancement. The records of the Chaldea organization even included rare cases where they would slaughter both enemies and their Masters on the battlefield due to high-level Mad Enhancement. In all the observed sub-Holy Grail Wars, there were no victorious outcomes with a Berserker-class Servant. They mostly ended up being eliminated within the top three probabilities. Chaldea positioned Berserker as the least suitable choice among the four base Classes. In comparison, the issue of high mana consumption was not the most important. With a frenzied Servant as a partner, how could one formulate a meticulous and detailed battle plan?

This learned knowledge immediately appeared in Suzuki Yuki's mind, with the faces of the professors who taught them flashing by. Whenever they discussed the Berserker Class, there was a slight hint of disdain in their emotions. The magical professors, who considered themselves knowledgeable, had no favorable impression of the madness without tactical arrangements.

Except...

["Berserker Class, huh? According to the information currently collected by Chaldea, indeed, it is a difficult Servant Class to control. But some methods can be used to cooperate. Who among you wants to study this topic? I can..."]

Facing the "students" who accepted knowledge like dolls, that particular professor would always bring up something unrelated to the textbook content. Even if there was no response after waiting for several minutes, he would continue speaking with a smile, as if by sharing a few more of his insights, he could increase the survival rate of the "doll students" in the audience.

It was meaningless.

Suzuki Yuki's speculation came to a halt as his headache subsided. This time, he was certain that he had indeed seen the magecraft professor in the green robe, confirming that he was a special professor.

Continuing from where Aphaf left off, Eleanor turned the chariot around and immediately started retreating towards the valley.

"What are you thinking, young man?" Don Quixote noticed Suzuki Yuki instinctively holding his head and asked with concern, but it was merely a casual inquiry.

"Berserker-class Servants primarily rely on their Mad Enhancement ability, which grants them immense physical strength but causes them to lose their sanity, making it impossible for them to even activate their Noble Phantasms. Why are you afraid of a Berserker-class Servant?" Suzuki Yuki stood up after the chariot had distanced itself from the village, so as not to be the only one who couldn't face the battlefield directly, appearing weakened.

Aphaf answered Suzuki Yuki's question, her tone slightly hurried as she had not fully recovered from the fright. "Berserkers are weaker? I'm not sure why your future world's records state such a conclusion, but I believe if you choose to stay, you'll soon encounter that exception. He can freely use his Noble Phantasm, and with one swing of his sword, everything within a range of over 1000 meters disappears in the light of his blade. My Servant almost perished there."

She gestured to Don Quixote, indicating that he should react, so as not to be seen as lacking by their ally.

"My Master is right. You can see from my armor. Despite being bitten by the monsters and covered in bloodstains, there are no traces left, yet I look like this now. If it weren't for my ability Battle Continuation, I would have returned to the Throne of Heroes by now." Don Quixote's armor exhibited large cracks and, apart from the stains on it, it was indeed highly unusual.

Over 1000 meters? Range? Suzuki Yuki listened and doubted Aphaf's explanation. He thought that perhaps his linguistic abilities, acquired through his authority as a Master in the Holy Grail War, had deviated, and he misheard the numbers. However, Don Quixote's clear description and the shattered armor made him believe that there was an extremely powerful Berserker present before their arrival.

"This defies common sense."

"Does common sense even exist in the Holy Grail War?" Don Quixote didn't force Suzuki Yuki to accept it. Many things needed to be seen to be believed, though whether they would survive after witnessing it was another matter. He wouldn't risk his own and his Master's lives to find out.

"Did you happen to hear the incantation when the enemy Servant unleashed their Noble Phantasm's True Name?" Suzuki Yuki wanted to make an educated guess about the identity of the enemy Servant based on his knowledge reserves.

"That Berserker is the Guardian of the Holy Sepulchre, Godfrey of Bouillon." Aphaf directly gave Suzuki Yuki the answer he wanted to know. However, this answer was useless because the Chaldea organization had not observed any data on this Heroic Spirit.

"Godfrey?" Suzuki Yuki immediately recalled, through the knowledge he hastily supplemented before departure, that he was the leader who initiated the First Crusade. There was no record of him in the Chaldea database, and he was only briefly mentioned in books.

While the three of them were discussing in the chariot, a thunderous roar came from the forest. Eleanor, who was steering the magical horse-drawn carriage, turned her head and saw billowing smoke in the direction of the village as if the village had been upheaved by someone!

In the next moment, a blast, slightly weaker than what Aphaf and Don Quixote had witnessed before, came toward the chariot with incredible speed and precision. It indicated that it was only the beginning.

"Hold on to the railing!" Eleanor saw the forest behind them completely cleared, and she was certain that if the chariot had stopped in the village, all four of them would have been able to see the true appearance of the Berserker by now. Under her command, the two magically constructed horses accelerated, reaching a speed of nearly 200 kilometers per hour in an instant.