"Zzzzt!"
Covered in lightning, his lightning whip continuously lashed out, and with each strike, a Giant Hollow was annihilated. As Yoru Chikao ascended to a Giant Hollow, his mastery of Gran Rey Cero had reached a new height.
"Crack!"
The lightning whip, imbued with the power of lightning and immense range, sliced a worm-shaped Giant Hollow in half. Immediately after, Yoru Chikao's massive tail followed up, activating Soul Eater.
"This Soul Eater truly delights me!"
Thus, Yoru Chikao killed and activated Soul Eater to devour the defeated Giant Hollows. With each one he killed, Yoru Chikao's spiritual pressure grew stronger!
Therefore, after a series of battles, Yoru Chikao not only showed no signs of exhaustion but grew stronger with each fight, like a relentless killing machine mercilessly harvesting the lives of these Giant Hollows!
Each swing of the lightning whip resulted in the demise of a Giant Hollow.
Yoru Chikao had just killed an ape-like Giant Hollow with a single whip when three Giant Hollows suddenly appeared behind him, intending to tear him to shreds.
Unfortunately, just as their claws were about to reach Yoru Chikao, he instantly flashed a hundred zhang away, a move known as Sonido.
After digesting the spiritual pressure of the ape-like Hollow, Yoru Chikao calmly turned his head to look at the Giant Hollows that had tried to ambush him, a cruel smile on his face.
"Don't rush, take your time, it'll be your turn soon!"
And so, the Hollows that had previously been in a chaotic battle shifted their focus to collectively siege Yoru Chikao, but it was still useless. Yoru Chikao now found killing Giant Hollows of the same rank as simple as slaughtering chickens.
Before long, of the twenty-odd Giant Hollows that had been fighting, only one indigo-blue Lizard Hollow remained. Feeling the weak spiritual pressure of this Giant Lizard Hollow, he immediately shook his head. This Hollow must have just recently ascended to a Giant Hollow; its spiritual pressure and size were not outstanding among the other Giant Hollows, which was why Yoru Chikao had left it for last.
At this moment, the Lizard Hollow, seeing Yoru Chikao act like a god of death, slaughtering over a dozen beings of its own rank, was trembling all over despite its low intelligence. This was fear from the very depths of its soul!
Yoru Chikao didn't even bother to look, simply lashing out with a lightning whip.
"Crack!"
After a crisp sound, half of the Lizard Hollow's body was directly obliterated by a single lightning whip.
Just as Yoru Chikao was about to activate Soul Eater to slowly absorb the Lizard Hollow to death, he suddenly noticed that the half of the Lizard Hollow's body that had been obliterated suddenly grew countless flesh buds at an extremely fast speed. Then, they rapidly wriggled and merged, reforming the Lizard Hollow's new body. However, after the reformation, the Lizard Hollow's size seemed to have shrunk a bit, and its spiritual pressure had also decreased.
Seeing this, Yoru Chikao, who had originally been somewhat uninterested, immediately widened his eyes, and a look of wild joy appeared on his face beneath the pale mask.
"This is… Rapid Regeneration!"
"Hahahaha!!!"
"I searched high and low for it, only to find it effortlessly!"
Yoru Chikao burst out into unrestrained laughter.
He immediately coiled his massive tail around the lizard, binding it tightly, then activated Soul Eater. However, this time he wasn't simply absorbing spiritual pressure, but rather activating the one-time ability: Steal.
The moment he acquired the new skill, Steal, Yoru Chikao immediately thought of Rapid Regeneration, a bug-level ability unique to Hollows.
He had originally thought that due to the rarity of Rapid Regeneration, and the fact that only high-level Hollows like Adjuchas possessed such an ability, it would be a long time before he could acquire it. He never expected to encounter a Giant Hollow with Rapid Regeneration so soon after arriving in the Great Hollow Forest.
"Great Hollow Forest, you truly are a treasure trove for me!"
Yoru Chikao used his centipede-like massive tail to tightly entangle the Lizard Hollow, then activated Gran Rey Cero, electrocuting the Hollow until its entire body was charred. He couldn't help but open his mouth wide, and Yoru Chikao seized the opportunity to insert his tail into the Lizard Hollow's mouth, then activated Soul Eater!
Of course, Yoru Chikao doing this wasn't because he had any special fetish; it was a necessary condition for activating the ability Steal with Soul Eater. After all, he wouldn't be interested in a Giant Lizard Hollow.
"Ugh, ugh!"
The Lizard Hollow's four claws trembled wildly, and then its body convulsed continuously.
Immediately after, its face turned ashen, as if it had lost something most important. Then, a flash of light passed, and the Lizard Hollow's body rapidly shrunk, becoming only four or five meters long.
"This is… it degenerated into a powerful Hollow?"
Yoru Chikao was momentarily stunned watching the Lizard Hollow's transformation. Then, a faint golden arc of lightning flickered between his right index finger, and he sliced it across the pale horny layer on his left wrist.
Instantly, the skin tore open, and crimson blood flowed out. But in the very next moment, the flesh on his arm wriggled, and the cut wound directly healed as good as new. If it weren't for the un-dried blood still on his arm, Yoru Chikao would have doubted if he was hallucinating.
"Rapid Regeneration, I can use Rapid Regeneration!"
Yoru Chikao laughed out loud again, looking at his arm that had returned to normal. The offensive power in the Shinigami world was surprisingly high, and sometimes in a battle between experts, it could easily come down to a single move. Possessing Rapid Regeneration meant that as long as the opponent couldn't crush you, you could fight a war of attrition with them!
Moreover, when he ascended to Adjuchas in the future, if his body were unfortunately damaged in battle, he would lose the qualification for evolution. But after acquiring Rapid Regeneration, Yoru Chikao no longer had such concerns!
Thinking of this, Yoru Chikao couldn't help but smile.
Then his peripheral vision caught sight of the small lizard that had lost its Rapid Regeneration and degenerated into a powerful Hollow.
Yoru Chikao once again used Soul Eater on it, but this time it wasn't to steal an ability, but to directly devour it!
And so, the lizard, which had already degenerated into a powerful Hollow, was completely eaten by Yoru Chikao!
"It's not that I, Yoru Chikao, wanted to eat you; it's mainly because you lost your ability and degenerated into a powerful Hollow, making it impossible for you to survive in this Great Hollow Forest. Rather than wandering aimlessly, it's better to become my nourishment and let me lead you to eternity! Don't thank me, after all, you gave me such an important ability as Rapid Regeneration, so consider this my repayment to you."
"Alas, I'm always too soft-hearted, this isn't good!"
Thus, upon his first arrival in the Great Hollow Forest, Yoru Chikao killed nineteen Giant Hollows of the same rank in one battle. Oh, no, it should be eighteen, because that lizard had eventually degenerated into a powerful Hollow and could no longer be considered a Giant Hollow.
After this battle, Yoru Chikao not only gained Rapid Regeneration but also increased his own spiritual pressure by more than ten percent.
"Eighteen Giant Hollows only increased my spiritual pressure by ten percent? I wonder how I compare to that unique Gillian from back then."
Every time his strength improved, he would compare himself to that unique Gillian. That Gillian had given Yoru Chikao, who was new to Hueco Mundo, too much shock.
And it was precisely because he had seen it use Cero and Sonido that Yoru Chikao was able to master these two powerful techniques so early.