The Supreme Soul, Starting with Death

A violent desire boiled within Gu Shi's heart, and a chaotic spiritual pressure overflowed from his body, crushing the sweet and delicious soul to the ground. If it weren't for the last vestiges of reason that held him back, he would probably have already torn the boy's head apart and devoured the succulent flesh.

"Wow, that's incredible! With such a powerful soul right in front of you, you can still control your appetite. I have to admire your willpower!"

The Death Girl's eyes gleamed as she stared at Gu Shi, who was trembling all over, as if she had seen some interesting toy. She said she admired him, but she flicked out a wisp of spiritual energy that wrapped around the boy who was lying on the ground. She forcefully pulled him in front of her, then grabbed his neck and lifted him up to Gu Shi's mouth.

"Really, won't you try some? It smells delicious and tastes great!"

"It's okay, look, he didn't object to you eating him~"

"Wow, you actually managed to hold on! That's amazing! You're so incredible!"

"How about this? We won't eat it, we'll just lick it. Just one lick, it'll definitely be fine!"

The Death Girl held the boy's soul high, waving it around Gu Shi's mouth. Her eyes grew increasingly excited, and her voice became increasingly gentle. If you didn't look at her actions and only listened to her voice, she would sound like a gentle older sister coaxing her disobedient younger brother to eat.

The "delicious food" right in front of him and the tempting advice in his ears were like battering rams, heavily impacting Gu Shi's heart.

Yes, didn't we agree on this? I helped him kill those ronin, and in return, I would consume his soul. I've fulfilled my promise! It's time for him to honor the contract!

No! I don't want to eat people!

How could this world not be a place where people can eat each other! How could a Void creature not eat people! How can one become stronger without eating people? I finally managed to transmigrate, do I really want to be just another insignificant nobody?

I can eat emptiness! I only eat emptiness!

Hypocritical! Isn't hypocrisy something that humans have evolved from?

I don't care if it's human or not; I only care about appearance when I eat food!

……

Gu Shi's mind was in turmoil, his already dwindling rationality fading further. His bloodshot eyes were now fixed on the boy's soul, and his mouth opened slowly and unconsciously, as if he would bite down at any moment.

The Death Girl's excitement had reached its peak. Back in her family, she could only manipulate the lowly, ordinary souls in Rukongai. She got tired of those lowly commoners who dared not resist even in death.

Originally, she applied to stay in the mortal world just to relax and see if there were any living people who could excite her. But surprises always come so unexpectedly. She actually encountered a Hollow who restrained its appetite and adhered to the principle of innocence!

She couldn't wait to see what expression this virtual creature would have when it broke its principles and crossed its bottom line.

Do you want to weep and wail like those lowly people?

Or will they completely succumb to the path of depravity and become as insane and chaotic as the other voids?

Hurry! Take a bite!

Eat him!

This makes me even more excited!

Gu Shi seemed to hear the cry in the Grim Reaper girl's heart. He finally let out a roar like a wild beast, swung his claws, snatched the boy's soul from the Grim Reaper girl's hand, and bit down hard.

The Death Girl's eyes widened with excitement, and cheers almost burst from her mouth, but she immediately frowned in displeasure.

Not right.

No blood.

what happened?

A ball of demonic flame rose from her hand, illuminating the shadow hidden beneath Gu Shi's enormous head, allowing the Death Girl to see clearly what had happened.

The raging monster did indeed bite something, but what it was biting was not the tender flesh and blood of the boy's soul, but a cold metal chain. One end of the chain had an uneven end, while the other end was connected to the boy's soul's chest.

A causal chain?

The Death Girl frowned slightly. Having received education from the Death System, she naturally knew the name of the chain and remembered how the textbook described its function. Roughly speaking, when a person is still alive, this chain, called the "Chain of Cause and Effect," is responsible for connecting the soul's "heart" with the living person's body to prevent the soul from accidentally leaving the body and getting lost.

But if a person dies, the end of the chain that connects to the body will break off, leaving only a small section hanging on the soul's chest. Furthermore, this remaining chain of cause and effect will slowly decompose itself under the influence of the deceased's soul's obsession.

If the Grim Reaper doesn't perform a soul burial in time and send the soul to the Soul Society before the Chain of Cause and Effect completely disappears, the soul's heart will become hollow, falling into the Void, and forming a void at the original connection point of the Chain of Cause and Effect, which is the Void Hollow.

Is this Void trying to break the causal chain, accelerate the soul's erosion, and then devour it once it becomes Void?

But how could he know the effects of the Chain of Cause and Effect? ​​He's only been a Void for a few days, how could he know these things?

The Death Girl had some doubts, but these minor questions were not important compared to her enjoyment.

"This funny big guy, I can't let you ruin my entertainment!"

With a slight smile, the Death Girl drew her Zanpakuto from her waist and with a gentle swing, severed the chain that Gu Shi was biting into his mouth, snatching the boy's soul back from the chain that had been shortened. After a brief inspection, she nodded in satisfaction.

Well, although only a small section of the Chain of Cause and Effect remains, it's enough to ensure he won't become ethereal for a short time, and the game can continue.

Grabbing the boy's soul by the neck, the Death Girl was about to continue tempting Gu Shi when she saw that the interesting Hollow had already impatiently spat out the chain that had broken in its mouth and was frantically trying to stuff it into the Hollow hole in its chest.

The Death Girl found it somewhat amusing. What was this Hollow thinking? Did it really believe that by simply stuffing someone else's causal chains into its own Hollow cavity, it could transform back into an ordinary soul?

If the Hollowfication problem could be solved so easily, wouldn't the millennia-long conflict between Soul Society and Hueco Mundo become a joke...?

As the Death Girl was thinking this, she saw the Hollow's violent aura quickly calm down. Although it did not turn back into an ordinary "Hollow", the Hollow's unique frenzied appetite and chaos gradually disappeared, and rationality once again took over in its blood-red eyes.

Death's thousand-year-old perseverance seems to be...

Has it really become a joke?

This, this is really...

So funny!

Chapter Seven: Death God Nobles

I feel like I've discovered something incredible.

Gu Shi touched his chest. The void was still there, but the half of the causal lock that had been inserted into it was nowhere to be seen, as if it had been "absorbed" by his body.

However... considering the nature of the void, perhaps "devouring" would be a more appropriate term here?

So, it turns out that void cavities can eat things too?

Shaking his head to shake off the strange thoughts, Gu Shi temporarily put aside his new discovery on the void and looked warily at the death girl beside him. This girl now looked like she wanted to devour him, more like a man-eating monster than a void, which made him feel terrified.

Realizing that the tension and fear in his heart had not dissipated and that he had not become optimistic again, Gu Shi then realized that the emotions he had lost when he was in the ethereal state seemed to have returned.

However, since the void still exists, this state is unlikely to last long. Perhaps it won't be long before it returns to a state of not knowing fear or despair.

After calming himself down a bit, Gu Shi was about to say something to try and get away when the Death Girl suddenly began to chant something softly. At the same time, a light flashed from her fingertips, and the next moment, six golden beams of light appeared out of thin air, pinning Gu Shi firmly to the spot.

"wait for me!"

Before Gu Shi could ask any questions, the Death Girl left a brief explanation and immediately disappeared from Gu Shi's sight, flashing into a wooden house not far away.

……

what the hell?

Just as this question arose in his mind, Gu Shi suddenly smelled an unfamiliar bloody scent in the wind. Then, the Grim Reaper girl returned to him, holding a still-dripping Zanpakuto in one hand and two newly broken chains of cause and effect in the other. At the other end of the chains, she dragged two fresh souls with terrified faces, unable to utter a sound.

"You killed them? Does Soul Society allow Shinigami to kill the living?"

"Haha, cute big guy, are you worried about me? Don't worry, I'm a nobleman, and my grandfather is a wise man of the Central 46th Bureau. Even if I break the rules, I'll just get a few words of reprimand. At worst, I'll just be locked up at home for a few days."

Blood was still dripping from her Zanpakuto, but the Shinigami girl smiled brightly, her joy overflowing from the bottom of her heart. This even slightly diluted the inhuman feeling brought about by her pale skin, making her look more human, and even more terrifying.

"Alright, alright, let's put these trivial matters aside for now. Here, big guy, here are these two chains of cause and effect. Show me what you did earlier again and see if quantitative change can lead to qualitative change. Feel free to try it. This village has a large population, which should be enough for you. If it's not enough, there's another village not far to the east. We can go there."

The death girl's nonchalant attitude sent a chill down Gu Shi's spine, who had just regained his fear, and he finally realized with such clarity what kind of world he had transmigrated into.

Yes, how could I forget?

In the original work, Tosen Kaname's best friend and lover died tragically at the hands of nobles. Even after Tosen Kaname became the captain of the 9th Division and stood at the pinnacle of the Shinigami's power, he was still not qualified to seek justice for his best friend. He could not even get the murderer to apologize, let alone punish the murderer.

In such a world, the most terrifying beings are perhaps not the incredibly powerful Shinigami captains, nor Aizen, who is almost supernaturally intelligent and deceives the entire Soul Society, but rather the Shinigami nobles who are high above, wield power in the Soul Society, and treat all living beings as playthings.

While Gu Shi was lost in thought, the Death Girl frowned impatiently when she saw that he hadn't accepted her "gift" yet.

"Hey, big guy, what are you waiting for? Get started!"

As she spoke, she casually tossed the chain in her hand, along with the soul connected to the other end of the chain, towards Gu Shi, as if she were just throwing away some trash.

"...Do you think I can move now?"

Gu Shi's only movable head bobbed up and down, and he pointed with his chin to the golden light band on his body, indicating that the Death Girl had not yet released the demonic path that had bound him.

The Death Girl was taken aback, realized her mistake, laughed sheepishly, quickly waved her hand to release the "Six Staffs of Light Prison" she had released, and turned to walk towards another wooden house.

"Alright, I'm skipping the performance, big guy. I'm going back to collecting the Chains of Cause and Effect. You'd better hurry. Oh, and don't even think about running away. I've memorized your spiritual energy signature. With the spiritual network, I can find you even if you escape into Hueco Mundo!"

Looking at the back of that figure who seemed to be in a very good mood, even humming a tune softly, Gu Shi was silent for a moment before decisively grabbing a soul that had been thrown at his feet.

The Death Girl must have used some method on these spirits. The poor man's spirit was clearly filled with terror, his mouth wide open as if he was desperately screaming, but he couldn't make a sound. His stiff body couldn't even struggle.

Gu Shi opened his mouth and bit the chain on the soul's chest, slowly grinding the base of the chain with his teeth. He stared in the direction the Death Girl had left, making indistinct, weak sounds.

"Little one, do you regret it? Do you hate it? Death has a rule that she can't kill people indiscriminately. In order to avoid being scolded by her elders, even though she is a noble, she didn't intend to break the rule casually. That's why she used words to induce you to commit suicide before."

"But because you foolishly fell for her trick, she found even more amusement in it, and now she has no scruples. Guess how many people in this village will survive after tonight."

As he spoke, Gu Shi continued to stare in the direction the Death Girl had left, but out of the corner of his eye he glanced at the boy who had been thrown to the ground, unable to move an inch like a dead dog.

Gu Shi knew that what he said was actually very unreasonable. The real villain who should be blamed and punished was the Grim Reaper who treated life as worthless, not the boy who was the victim.

However, there was no other way. This was the only way Gu Shi could think of to escape at this moment. In order to escape the evil spirit in human skin and to prevent the evil spirit from killing more people to "feed" him, Gu Shi could only use vicious words to attack the innocent boy.

In the distance, Gu Shi clearly saw that the boy who had once tried to trade his life for him so that "everyone could live" and asked him to kill the ronin samurai who threatened "everyone" was now in tears, his tear-blurred eyes staring painfully at the soul in his hand, a soul that should have belonged to "everyone".

The boy had been subjected to some unknown method; he lay stiffly on the cold ground, unable to move an inch. The only things that could "move" on his body were the tears constantly streaming from his eyes, and...

The karmic lock on my chest.

The chains that protected the newly dead souls from falling into nothingness were reduced to a short section after being severed by the Death Girl's blade.

At this moment, on the broken surface of the chain, a nauseating white liquid gushed out from nowhere, transforming into tiny mouths full of sharp teeth, frantically gnawing at the remaining fragments of the chain.

Chapter Eight: Unforgivable

The essence of death and Hollows is actually two sides of the soul.

If we were to compare the two, the path of the Grim Reaper, though slightly narrower, is safer enough. A talented soul can become a Grim Reaper by undergoing systematic training and discovering their talents. This path is the best choice for those with talent.

The path of the Void is more inclusive. Any soul can become a Void. After becoming a Void, even if you have poor talent, as long as you consume enough souls, you can always become powerful. Even some animals with naturally strong souls can become Void by chance.

In a sense, the ability to become ethereal is the only possibility for an ordinary person without talent to catch up with a genius.

Of course, this does not mean that geniuses cannot become illusory. On the contrary, for geniuses who lack opportunities for growth, illusoryization is precisely an excellent way out.