The one who spoke was Cassiel. him only A-ranked skill, Anthropomorphosis, as its name indicated, allowed her to somehow humanize herself.
He instinctively knew he couldn't use it. In fact, he did a test where he tried to activate it and felt it would suck up all his mana, so he immediately discarded it.
Now that he had ascended the ranks again, he still hadn't tried it, but his instinct told him he still couldn't use it fully.
He found it curious, how the skills worked in this world, since instinctively and without any explanation he knew how it worked and to its limits.
But he also understood that the skills could be flexible.
Like Dark Claw his could imbue his entire paw with that skill or just one claw. So, he tried to apply the same principle to Anthropomorphosis and use it just to talk.
He had been practicing and understood that vigilance did not include sounds. Still, he had to be careful and speak softly.
All so he could speak as best he could at a time like this.
[Your voice also sounds strange. It seems that something is interfering in area five. The cameras stopped working and the system is sending erroneous information. A group of technicians is on its way. Cancel the investigations for the time being].
"Okay."
Cassiel stopped talking. It was unlikely that they would doubt him. There were only researchers and knights here; the rest were beasts.
And even if the whole point of all this was to endow them with intelligence, they would never imagine that they would start talking
It's still a bit difficult and I spend mana. Better to use it only when necessary.
He had only activated it to buy time. He looked at the many beasts that were in the area. Unlike his group, they were all normal beasts without glimpses of rational intelligence.
"WOOOOOO!!!" (HEAR ME).
The howl echoed loudly, amplified by a sound amplification spell. The vibration went through the entire room, stopping even some fights that had already started between the different species.
Those beasts had no intelligence, but were guided by instinct. In his previous life, Cassiel had seen many cases where an intelligent and powerful beast gathered others from its territory and attacked cities.
If he showed them his strength, he could overpower them in some way. However, he did not want to waste mana.
Besides, among the creatures there were monsters like goblins, orcs and ogres mixed in, and he even saw some that did not belong to either of these two categories, which intrigued him.
but when he thought about it, it was obvious that eventually something like that would happen, he thought, but as they were in almost the same circumstances they didn't seem to be obstacles and might even be useful, when he got out of this place.
But for now he had to concentrate on the beasts .
"Raaurr" "Graa!!!" "Wooorff"
"rrraaah" 'Raaawr' "Scratch."
As he had foreseen, among the beasts rose the rebels who did not want to follow him. His group, who already knew him, seemed to want to help him and to convince the others by conveying the idea that they would escape and gain freedom.
But it was useless. Besides them, the majority here were instinctive beasts without logical reasoning.
Cassiel would have to tame them with force, but he didn't want to waste time, so he did what he thought was most efficient.
"GRRAAARR!"(Submit!)
Cassiel let out a low growl that, once again, echoed throughout the area. But this time it wasn't just a loud roar, he imbued it with his murderous intent.
He had ended countless lives, both directly and indirectly, during his previous life.
In fact, thanks to him, the possibility of half a continent's life becoming extinct became a reality.
This murderous intent was not something he consciously chose, but the natural result of a life forged in bloodshed and the relentless cycle of survival.
Every vibration of that snarl carried with it the weight of his past and the traces of having risen to the top by climbing over the life of another.
Which translated to the creatures here, as the intent of an apex creature they should not disobey.
These beasts and monsters felt it through their skin. As largely instinctual creatures, they sensed better than anyone else what 'a warning' represented.
An invitation to follow his command or face the fate of those who dared to defy him. All was silent. Even the monsters stopped moving.
The tension was higher than ever but the source of this Cassiel was speechless, not only because he saw how some of the smaller animals went into cardiac arrest from sheer fear and terror.
4 of her missions were completed unintentionally. Cassiel thought about it and since they were only rodents and small animals he chose the first option without expecting anything and .
[you have obtained: escape (F)]
Caasiel felt puzzled that the first skill gained by that method was gained so unexpectedly.
'Well, that was anticlimactic, but a skill being called like that when I'm escaping is good no?'
Technically he now reduced his troop asset himself, but he believed it was a necessary sacrifice in addition to gaining an extra skill.
Just in case he looked sideways at the rabbit in his group.
He seemed fine and what's more he was looking at him with bright eyes, which reaffirmed to Cassiel that this rabbit definitely had something wrong with him.
But he didn't get distracted and continued with his plan of escape and extermination while trying to figure out wat his new skill was doing.
"Wrraarr." (Follow me)
With that said, Cassiel did not head towards the entrance and exit where the investigators and knights passed by every day.
Instead, he advanced toward the door through which the larger beasts, such as the Pink elephants, had exited.
After all, he already knew the structure of this place and that place allowed the passage of such a large number of creatures of various sizes and led to the next area.
..
.
'Hahaha~ this is it, this is what I needed. how does it feel, you bastard? Over and over again, torturing me... Do you like it, do you think it's fun now, Hahaha~!'
Cassiel was in a good mood. The stress he had been building up all this time was finally starting to drain away, as he looked down at the subject he now had under his paws.
"Gyaaa, help me!"
"No, stop, noooo!"
"I-I don't want to die!"
The screams echoed everywhere as the beasts and monsters rampaged through the place, led by Cassiel.
The numerical difference was too great. While there were knights of rank (E) and even some researchers with the same ranking, they were facing hundreds of beasts.
Most were of rank (F) or even weaker, but their numbers were overwhelming. In addition, there were at least a dozen rank (E) beasts, and Cassiel strategically guided them to engage their peers, leaving the rest of the ordinary humans defenseless.
Their electric batons and those new weapons, which seemed to shoot projectiles at high speed and which Cassiel had seen for the first time today, were not enough against so many creatures pouncing on them.
In fact, one of those long-range weapons aimed at him, but with a small magical fire shield he managed to stop the projectile.
It seemed to have some feature to interfere with his magic, but it couldn't against Cassiel's tight control, who blocked it with ease. He also warned the more intelligent beasts to beware of such weaponry.
..
Right now, Cassiel was in the middle of what he remembered as Area 4. Standing over a researcher, he watched him closely. He remembered him well.
He was in charge principal of Casiel in this area... and the one responsible for his daily torture. This was where he swore he would kill him, and now he was keeping his promise.
The beasts were in charge of annihilating the rest, so Cassiel took his time. The man was a mage of rank (E), but in a duel of magic, Cassiel had immediately disabled him.
And there was something else...
Since waking up in this place, Cassiel had noticed that the magic used here felt strange, artificial, controlled in an unnatural way.
He knew that magic, in essence, had a certain logic and structure to it, but that of these humans seemed too systematized, too unnatural.
He also noticed that unlike him the magic seemed in skill mode when he saw through them with his authority and thought that might be the reason for this.
He didn't know if it was just this researcher or if all the magic in this place worked the same way. It was something he would have to investigate in the future.
But for now...
'Acus Ignis'
With a calculated motion, Cassiel created small needles of fire. They weren't simple flames; they looked like something denser, something physical.
"argh!!! Stop!"
Slowly, he embedded them one by one into the investigator's body, causing burns to spread like poison from each point of impact.
It was a sophisticated magic, one that no one but Cassiel could execute without wasting an absurd amount of mana.
"I-I have family...! Please forgive me! Ugh! Please stop!"
The researcher cried, writhing in pain with each needle sinking into his flesh.
"Why would I do that? It's fun to watch lower beings squirm hahaha~."
'You think I'll forgive you, you bastard? I remember every single one of your sadistic smiles when I was writhing in pain... This is tit for tat.'
Cassiel paused. and scoffed at the investigator's words, Cassiel hadn't intended to speak more than necessary, but at that moment he felt he had to.
To make sure that his pent up rage for all this time would find a satisfactory conclusion.
"Y-you spoke? Y-you're w-what are you...? Ugh!!... Please forgive me! Aaaagh!Stop, please!"
"hahahahahaa!~, it's fun isn't it, haha~ it's good to experience how much a human body can be burned before dying, let's find out the limit!!!"
"nooo!,urgh!!!! Sorry!"