Nor’s POV

The plan started when we felt the cavern shake and heard the sound of explosions near us. We had gathered the leaders from various cave groups through careful communication over the last few days. Today was the day we would use our own strengths - not some goddesses like Nao had said - to create a chance to break out of here. I had known Nao to not be the type of person to be extremely religious, but it seemed like something had changed him for the worse. In the end, it had united us to defeat the guardians of this cave in our first and final desperate attempt.

We started with a bang. Several of the leaders from Cave B as well as from other caves fired off what little power they had learned and practiced during their time here. This served as a distraction and signal that would help to gather the guards in one place to wipe them out. As soon as we heard the explosions, we left Cave B - others had probably done the same by now - and headed towards our designated spots around the cave system. Although we probably did not know the caves as well as the guards, we still had lived here for an entire year and that would bring their downfall. A few stayed behind in Cave B to kill the few guards who had remained behind on duty - we would do unto them what they had done unto us. As I thought this, I was glad that Sol was not around to witness what I was really like on the battlefield - it would not be a pleasant sight, to say the least.

Several moments later, we arrived at the rendezvous point and hid amongst the stones and rocks in the cavern where the explosion had taken place. We saw results quickly as guards from all over the cave system gathered in one place. Nao gave the signal to hold back on frontal assaults. We would start with the magic squad which consisted mainly of the leaders of various parts of the cave. After using them to the limit, we would pull them back and send in the ground units so that there wouldn’t be any chance of a misfire towards allies. At this moment, we saw someone unusual enter the scene and lead the guards without any hesitation or fear. It was clear that day that this man was not ordinary. He was a seasoned warrior like I had been for over many years. Perhaps noticing that we had surrounded them, he gave precise orders to his units who followed them without any qualms. I thought that we should retreat for now to regroup, but when I looked up at Nao, he had already given the go signal to the magic unit.

He had gone and done the worst thing he could do, he had alerted the enemy of our positions. This would have been fine if the enemy didn’t have any sort of competent leader, but from the looks of it, the enemy had quite the capable leader in control. There would be needless slaughter and bloodshed from this point on - I wondered what Nao was even thinking if he even was thinking. The Nao I knew would not have done this; he was more of a logical and cold, calculating type of man, not the irrational man he was now. Did he know something that I did not know? Or was he planning something on his own? Either way, he had given up our position and it was the ground unit’s turn to move. Just before Nao gave the signal for all ground units to attack, our eyes met - his eyes were ones of sorrow and hatred… an immeasurable amount of hatred.

I followed his orders and rushed in, but I kept it in the back of my mind to talk to Nao after this debacle ended. The rows of organized guards were easily disrupted and destroyed by the chaos caused by our rush attack. I locked my eyes with the leader of the group and he locked his with mine. Just from looking at him, I sensed the refined quality of his blood that easily triumphed over my own. We had grown up learning to be able to detect prey from predators at a glance to determine what to do at a moment's notice. However, I did not have the option of running away - I had people I had to protect at all costs. I entered the fray of battle and made my way towards the man at the forefront of the enemy lines. He was not like those noble human bastards who kept themselves safe and cozy inside their large homes to compensate for how insignificant they were.

There was no need to state our names - this was a battle to the death amid the mayhem, not a duel. He slightly slit his arm and let some blood flow. Then, he lunged forward, with his sword sheathed, without warning and almost slipped from my view. I quickly adjusted myself to intercept his fists that were enhanced with his blood. My body was screaming in terror and I had to stop myself from running away based on instincts alone. The fists landed squarely where I had guarded, but I was still pushed back a tremendous amount. The cavern shook and the ground creaked in front of overwhelming power. He had not even unsheathed his sword and displayed an overwhelming amount of power with just his fists. Utilizing his blood, he probably had enhanced the strength of his fists because that was no power that an ordinary human would be able to emit.

I got up to go on the attack, but he had already gotten in front of me before I had a chance to fully recover - this was one-sided. I had already started to get annoyed by the situation and also slit my hand. Unlike humans who could only use blood for the purpose of magic, beastmen could also drink their own blood in exchange for a proportional amount of power. Licking the spot I had slit myself on my right arm, I felt a familiar power dwell within me as I got ready for the fight once again.

“It seems that you have resorted to using the ancient techniques of beasts. What a shame”

“You know nothing about our past!”

We lunged at each other and I quickly sidestepped him. He caught on and quickly readjusted his stance to block an incoming attack. As soon as he blocked my punch, he grimaced and immediately took out his sword to swing down on my arm. I realized slightly late, so all I could do was push off of him into the ground. Quickly recovering, I moved towards him while lapping more blood into my mouth. I got faster and faster and it seemed that I would be able to win. The man in front of me readied his sword to go on the attack, but before he could hit anything, I changed directions and went for his exposed backside.

“You’ve lost”

I stated so confidently, but just as I was going to make him blackout, his sword had somehow already swung back around towards me. This was impossible, there was not enough time for him to react. Was he holding back? Did he have an ace up his sleeve? I did not have time to think because what came next was the feeling of a sharp object cutting through the skin. I had already entered into a beast state - albeit not fully - and lost the ability to feel most of the pain. I quickly pulled back my leg before it could be fully cut through and the man before me distanced himself. It looked like he had used some technique because he was more fatigued than he should be from this short of a fight. At that moment, I decided I had no other choice. I ripped off my leg and ate as if it were mere food.

My vision slowly died red and the man before me had a grim look on his face for the first time in our fight. He was yelling something but I could care less about what he had to say. As my vision turned completely red, I lost most of my sense of reason and attacked the man in front of me simply because he was there. Addictive power swelled throughout my body as I continued to pummel the man in front of me. Some other annoying objects were moving towards me from the side, but I got rid of them with the swipe of a palm. Unfortunately, by the time I was done dealing with them, the man was gone all too quickly. I continued to fight against something… for someone… I could not remember, but what did it matter, the feeling of tearing through something was a joy-filled sensation that made me want to continue going at it.

I don’t know how much time had passed, but almost everything was gone from the area I was in. I saw several openings so I decided that I would go through one of them to see where it led me. After all, finding things was always fun, especially prey. But before I could do anything, I felt a large, blunt object strike me on my jaw, just above the neck, and blacked out completely.

Lord Ivan IV’s POV

I entered the cavern where the explosion had occurred. I had gotten reports lately about suspicious activities between slaves and had guessed that they were finally putting together an uprising after so much time. However, I could not predict how and when it would happen, so I couldn’t directly prevent anything from happening. As the guard gathered at the area where the explosion had occurred, I could somewhat sense the people who were hidden around the cave. I gave out orders to prepare for a sudden attack but it was too late - they started bombarding us with the very spells we had taught them. Naturally, they were nothing compared to the real deal, but it was still a hindrance nonetheless.

“Units one and four! Go create a barrier at the front. Two and three, stay behind them and await further instructions!”

I yelled out orders in quick succession and got them moving. I saw that the majority of them were hiding above us, probably to rush us when they had the chance.

*whisper under his breath* “This is gonna be rough”

This whole group had a rather large number of beastmen who were known for their ability to turn into beasts when they consumed their own blood. I was not fond of this and the Raksha Empire was entirely against this - hence their persecution of beastmen as a whole. They saw the beastmen as demons who needed to be cleansed from this world or just property depending on their mood. Although I did not despise beastmen in that extreme of a way, I still thought of them as different from humans. The frontal magic assault ended and the physical combat started immediately afterward. I spotted someone amidst the crowd of rebellious slaves, stronger than the rest. He also saw me and made his way over.

We conversed little and started to engage in a battle immediately. There was not much space to pull out my sword so I kept it sheathed for now - I would await a better opportunity. Instead, I slit my arm quickly to let some blood flow onto my fists, then I punched straight at the man in front of me. He was surprisingly able to block it but did not come out uninjured. I had probably broken a few bones, but he stood back up as if it was nothing. Shortly after, I pummeled him to the ground to prevent him from counterattacking. However, this seemed to be a mistake on my part. He slit his arms too, but I knew that he did not hold any magical powers considering that I did not remember teaching him and he was not made a leader - he drank the blood instead. As I saw this unfold before me, I got ready to let out more blood, but before I could, I was hit with a fierce punch - it was only a punch, yet it contained an unbelievable amount of force.

I grimaced hard as I took the hit directly. Deciding that I had no other choice, I unsheathed the sword on my side and swung down on him - I missed. I saw him drink some more blood and decided that I had no other choice but to go all out - even if it had collateral damage. Before he could knock me out, I chanted a short prayer of sacrifice. Following the prayer, I felt a surge of strength for a few moments; in that time, I turned around to face the man and cut through his legs - or at least tried to. After the short burst of strength, I felt a tremendous amount of power escape me into thin air - such was the compensation required by the higher beings of the world.

Before I could completely incapacitate him, he pulled back, his leg barely left attached. I thought the battle was over, but he went and did the unthinkable - he cannibalized his own limb. I looked at the warrior in front of me with horror, but at the same time with admiration for his perseverance. I felt his presence grow in front of me and felt pressured to run away from the force of the man itself, but then, I saw him mindlessly swing at everything that was in his way.

“DO YOU PLAN TO KILL YOUR FOES AND ALLIES ALIKE!?”

I screamed at him in horror at the ignorant thought that he would be able to hear me and stop his rampage - it did not. I was swatted at like a bug not even worth paying attention to. Men that I had under me as well as slave warriors from the opposing side were killed without hesitancy - truly the act of a beast. While he looked away to kill whoever was in front of him, some of my men and I made our way out of the cave system before he noticed where we had gone. I was terribly injured but managed to escape with my limbs fully intact - something I could thank the gods of Raksha for.