Hearing the final punishment, Szayelaporro immediately cried injustice.
"I was merely interested in Lord Nieniel's Fracción and wanted to conduct an experiment on Arrancar who had lost their masks."
"It was Nnoitra who ambushed Lord Nieniel and shattered her mask."
"Szayelaporro, you bastard..."
Nnoitra glared fiercely at Szayelaporro, his eyes blazing with savage killing intent.
A Hollow's evolution began with small Hollows, then medium Hollows, and then Gillian-class Menos. Along this path, one only needed to devour enough souls to advance successfully.
However, evolution beyond a Gillian-class Menos demanded far more.
Moreover, once one began evolving beyond the Gillian stage, failing to ultimately reach the highest rank of Vastolorde carried the risk of regressing back into a Gillian.
And after an Adjuchas regressed into a Gillian, even their own consciousness would dissipate, leaving them as one of those Gillian in the Forest of Menos driven only by the instinct to devour.
Only Menos that successfully evolved into Vastolorde had no such worry of regression.
After becoming Arrancar, these Adjuchas Arrancar had indeed no longer felt that ever-present fear of regressing.
But who knew whether, once their masks were shattered, they would once again begin to feel that fear?
It was precisely because he wanted to understand this that Szayelaporro had conspired with Nnoitra. He personally gravely injured the Fracción of the Third Espada, Nieniel, tore off the masks of Pesche Guatiche and Dondochakka Bilstien, and observed their condition to determine whether their shattered masks would cause them to regress.
After monitoring the three of them for some time, Szayelaporro discovered that after Pesche and Haddochaka had their masks torn away, their spiritual pressure had already begun to leak away.
If they did not fight, they might be able to hold on for some time.
But if they went through intense