Under Kōe's secret assistance, Seth devoured nearly forty Hollows one by one.
At first, Seth prioritized his task of protecting Kōe. But as he tore into them bite by bite, and pieces of their spiritual bodies fell into his stomach, Seth gradually lost control over his desire to devour. Unless he completely consumed his prey, he absolutely would not change targets.
Fortunately, the opponents were just a pack of beasts driven by instinct. Kōe wasn't disturbed in the slightest, which was the only reason Seth managed to keep his little life.
Finally, Seth finished his meal. Nearly forty Hollows made for quite a feast, but seeing Seth panting with his mouth wide open, coupled with the uncontrollable drool dripping as he stared in the direction the Hollows had come from, it felt like he was even hungrier.
And that was the truth. This was the most Seth had ever eaten at once, and it was also the moment the inexplicable hunger within his body was at its most intense.
*'I want to eat. I want to eat so badly. I want to eat more! If I don't eat, this wonderful feeling will disappear!'*
At this moment, this was the only thought in Seth's mind. The air around him seemed to constantly whisper his desires, causing him to unconsciously step toward the direction where the poor bastards he had just devoured came from. There was definitely more food there.
"Seth, come back!" A sharp pain pierced his head, and the ethereal voice in his ears became aged and concrete. "I said, come back!"
His body still unconsciously moved forward, but Seth managed to turn his head with great difficulty. The sheer terror of the voice's owner was enough to cause physical changes in his body, manifesting pain out of thin air.
"M-My Lord, I... I still want to eat."
"I told you to come back. Are you going to disobey me?!" Kōe said sternly. Seth felt as if his head was about to split open and roared angrily, "I said, I still want to eat!!"
"Then go ahead and die."
Kōe spoke calmly, his right hand slowly approaching Seth's head. His movements were sluggish, but Seth felt as though he had been struck by an invisible curse, completely unable to move a muscle.
The agonizing pain in his head grew even more intense, as if thousands of hands were tearing at him from different directions. That seemingly frail right hand gradually enlarged in Seth's eyes until it resembled a massive mountain blotting out the entire world. Even before it touched him, Seth felt as though his body was about to be ground into dust.
"My Lord! I was wrong! Please forgive me, forgive me!"
Seth's desperate roar seemed to have some effect. The hand that brought only destruction stopped just short of his forehead. Seth had no doubt that even a mere tap from that hand would instantly crush him to pieces.
"Remember, I am a Shinigami. I have no interest in creating a useless piece of trash that only knows how to eat. Do you understand?"
"I will try my best to control myself, My Lord!"
"You can *only* try your best to control yourself. You should know very well the consequences of failing to do so," Kōe said. Sitting atop Seth's head, he pointed to the east. "Head that way. I will tell you when you need to change direction. For now, endure the hunger and cool your head."
Although Seth was very reluctant, he gritted his teeth and obediently complied. Every time he was enjoying a good meal, this Lord would force him to starve for a while. The feeling was truly unbearable.
But his life was more important. He knew he really needed to calm down. To actually talk back to the Lord just for the sake of eating—it was far too impulsive. Thankfully, the other party had forgiven him, but he probably wouldn't be so lucky next time.
What Seth didn't understand was that Kōe hadn't spared him because of his apology, but rather to use this method to force Seth to regain his own consciousness.
Through several simulated scenarios of Hollows devouring autonomously, Kōe realized he had oversimplified the evolution of Hollows.
The progress made through this method was that the Reiryoku within Seth's body was indeed growing linearly. From the perspective of Reiatsu, he was step-by-step approaching the level of a Gillian in Kōe's memories. The problem lay in Seth's gradually deteriorating state of control.
At first, Kōe hadn't paid it much mind, but as the feeding continued, he noticed that Seth wasn't executing his commands as swiftly as before.
Initially, because there were some anomalies with the Kidō he had implanted in Seth's body, Kōe didn't care too much, merely assuming that Seth was getting distracted.
However, as this phenomenon became more pronounced, it reached the point where Kōe had to physically strike him just to change Seth's direction of travel. Furthermore, he discovered that if there were other Hollows along their path, Seth would become extremely excited.
It was then that Kōe formed a hypothesis: during the process of Hollows devouring one another, even if the original Hollow possessed self-awareness, that consciousness would gradually be replaced by bodily instincts as they continued to feed.
Because of this, Kōe adjusted his approach. Instead of letting Seth feed frequently from the start, he began forcibly halting the process after a meal, allowing the self-awareness in Seth's mind to regain dominance.
If Seth had shown an irreversible decline at that time, Kōe would have still let him evolve into a Gillian, but the moment he became a Gillian would likely have been the moment of Seth's death.
Fortunately, this method proved effective. Through his intervention, Seth was indeed able to suppress his bodily instincts. Along the way, Kōe also discovered a few interesting phenomena.
Compared to devouring mindless Hollows, devouring conscious Hollows had a much greater impact on Seth. The same effect could also be achieved by devouring multiple mindless Hollows.
In fact, as long as a Hollow had devoured its own kind, regardless of whether it was conscious or not, the state they exhibited gradually became identical—like beasts dominated by the instinct to devour.
Perhaps the process of evolving into a Menos, which appeared on the surface as mere feeding, was simultaneously a process of consciousnesses merging and battling against instinct? And for a Hollow to qualify to evolve into a Gillian capable of further evolution, not only did they have to stand out in countless battles, but their own consciousness also had to emerge victorious in these invisible struggles?
With this thought in mind, Kōe focused more of his attention on helping Seth conquer himself. It couldn't be helped; relying solely on Seth's unreliable consciousness, without Kōe's assistance, he probably would have turned into a brainless glutton long ago.
However, looking at it now, a quantity of over forty was still too much for the current Seth. Kōe had been a bit too hasty.
Fortunately, Seth was still within a controllable range. What he needed was a prolonged period of internal struggle. Kōe believed that as long as he passed this hurdle, Seth would welcome a new life.
Things developed exactly as Kōe had predicted. Although it took quite some time, Seth eventually managed to suppress the irresistible hunger in his heart. Later on, even without Kōe's intervention, he was able to maintain a clear head through successive devourings.
However, whether all of this would lead to the result Kōe desired still required one final step of verification. And right now, that very scene was unfolding before Kōe's eyes.
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