"Who...!?"
When that voice, unmistakably belonging to a third party, rang out, Enkidu was the first to react. He whipped around and shouted sharply.
"...!"
Artoria and Mashu also looked wary, as if they had only just realized that a third party was present.
"Hm?"
Even Luo Zhen's expression changed slightly.
There were two reasons.
For one, despite the appearance of a third party, he possessed both Insightful Eye and Mind's Eye, yet had only sensed someone approaching a second before the other party spoke. This left him deeply startled.
The other was that when that voice rang out, Artoria〔Alter〕inside his body had actually reacted as well.
At this point, it had to be mentioned that because Luo Zhen needed to let his Magic Circuits enter a period of recuperation, and to prevent the activity of the Blood Familiars from causing violent fluctuations in the magical energy within his body, all the Blood Familiars had decided after discussion to reduce their own activity and enter a semi-dormant state.
It was not only Artoria〔Alter〕, Joan of Arc〔Alter〕, and the three Servant girls of Serenity's group. All twelve Blood Familiars, including Aurora, had agreed to the decision and voluntarily entered a semi-dormant state.
The result was that unless Luo Zhen actively summoned them, the Blood Familiars could not react or protect him even if he encountered danger.
But this did not have much impact, since with the Golden Crow and Jade Hare present, Luo Zhen's safety could be entrusted entirely to those two deities.
Therefore, when the Servants and Blood Familiars entered their semi-dormant states, Luo Zhen also transformed the Golden Crow into a Cursed Tool, put it back on, and did not remove it again.
Yet now, while the other Servants and Blood Familiars were fine, Artoria〔Alter〕had somehow shown faint signs