In front of Carter, the Spiritual Invoker appeared. However, it was not the silver-haired man.

Instead, it was a silver-haired woman.

The Shrine Maiden Doll had feminine characteristics and a white Hakama. So when Carter equipped the Spiritual Invoker, the original appearance of Ginro Musashi was fused with the appearance of the doll.

Ginro Musashi was a battle-hardened warrior with a serious facade and an intimidating scar. This Spiritual Invoker was holy and beautiful, like the only jewel in the sea of sand.

There were still intimidation and seriousness inside her but that we overwritten by the holiness and beauty of the Shrine Maiden doll.

The Doll approached him and scanned Carter. It rubbed its chin similar to how he usually did.

"I have your memories and knowledge. But I don’t have the abilities and skills of the Host." The Doll said.

"I see. So you can’t access my retained aspects. But you do have the aspects of a Shrine Maiden. How strong do you feel?" Carter asked himself.

The Doll channeled its Primal Spiritualization. It quickly assessed its power level.

"I am at 100% power of the skin." The Doll said.

"100% is a good number. You can’t access Adrenaline and other retained aspects but the skin itself is already strong." Carter said.

"I would suggest that we keep this Doll equipped the Shrine Maiden Skin. The Doll can use divination at all times and help the main body." The Doll said. It referred to itself in third person just like it was an object.

"I have the same idea. You do not share my retained aspects but it seems like you still have True Psychopathy." Carter said.

The Doll stayed silent. It checked itself mentally then answered, "Correct. True Psychopathy is within our soul so even without Host aspects, I still have it. With this ability, I suspect we won’t see situation where a Doll may act against its master."

"I was also thinking about that. It seems like we are identical to each other."

The Doll nodded in agreement.

"Let’s retract our plan to make sure we know what to do." Carter said.

"We will turn Giyaku into a real city. Use Tenmaru’s name so that we are on the right. Chiaki can also help to gather support from the loyalists of Clan Masuhara." The Doll said.

Then Carter continued, "Ryuja will obviously retaliate. With you as Shinto Mikoto, we can accomplish that idea that we’ve been thinking about for a long time."

The Doll nodded, "I think we verified enough. I am you and you are me."

"That’s right. But there are something that we need to verify." Carter said.

"Telepathy communication and memory sharing, right?" The Doll said.

Carter nodded.

’Can you hear me?’ Carter thought to himself.

’Yes. It seems that we are connected. We need to verify the length of this communication. It is probably unable to connect across dimensions. But how far can it last in the same world?’ The Doll’s voice echoed within Carter.

’I will equip Eldritch Knight now and I will equip you with Shrine Maiden. There are two Champion Yokais out there that we can either kill or enslave.’

’Yes, this journey will verify how far our communication can last and if I have your memory of what happened in your past.’

It was a weird feeling talking to the Doll. It was him but it wasn’t exactly him.

[ZENEROS BLACKBURN EQUIPPED]

[EQUIPPED SHRINE MAIDEN TO SHRINE MAIDEN DOLL]

Carter transformed into the black swordsman while the Doll changed into the white-haired woman. However, the Doll didn’t have the black mask like Carter.

Carter used Ghost Clothes to conjure the black mask. The Doll didn’t have that item so it couldn’t conjure it.

"There are limitations that we didn’t think about, huh?" The Doll said.

"I will tell Chiaki to order a mask for you." Carter said.

"That will break the plot. The Shrine Maiden should be the one who orders it. Maybe I can design a mask that tells a story and acts as a symbol for the Shrine?" The Doll said.

"I have the exact idea!"

Carter left the Doll tended to Giyaku. As for him, he sneaked out of the Shrine at night while wearing the Terror Bat Skin.

He got out of Giyaku and turned back to the black swordsman.

’Can you still hear me?’ Carter thought to himself.

’Loud and clear. I am divining right now.’

Back in the Shrine, the Destiny Cards floated in front of the Doll. It could use Transcension and Divination without issues. It looked into the past, present, and future to determine the remaining locations of the two Champion Yokais.

The first Champion Yokai was Mouko, the Tiger. It became Zeneros’s Eldritch Bracer.

The second Champion Yokai was Kitsune, the Fox. It became one of the twelve Zodiac Guardians of the Shrine.

Through the cards, the Doll saw the remaining two.

_’The strongest Champion Yokai. It has the power of a Peak Champion. You may waste a little sweat to deal with it. This one is an Ox. It lives two hundred miles to the North at a lush forest called Suiryu.

The other one is the third strongest Champion Yokai. It is weaker than Mouko but stronger than Kitsune in term of pure strength. This one is a Monkey and lived on a remote island five hundred miles from here.’_

The Doll’s voice echoed in Carter’s head. It felt like he had his own personal assistance.

’Which one should we pick?’ The Doll said.

’Guide me to the Ox. The Monkey is too far away.’

’Affirmative.’

With the help of the Doll, Carter found his way to the Suiryu Forest. The connection stayed strong even after two hundred miles. Carter might need to go further to test the actual length of the telepath communication.

Carter used the wings in the Raven Suit then added on Adrenaline to fly. His Divinity enhanced the Eldritch Knight even more. Zeneros Blackburn may not be just a simple Champion anymore.

The black swordsman landed in the deep green forest. At that time, there was a party hosted by the Yokais in the hearth of the trees.