From Slave to King: My Rebate System Built Me a Kingdom With Beauties!-Chapter 236: Kraghul’s Rescue?

Things were getting increasingly complicated the further they traveled, the situation layering new problems on top of old ones with relentless consistency. Byung and the three orc sisters had covered a considerable distance since their departure, pushing through terrain that gradually shifted from unfamiliar wilderness into roads that carried the faint comfort of recognition. He had seen these trees before, noticed these particular rock formations, remembered this specific bend in the trail. They were getting close to territory he knew.

Byung was relieved that they didn’t get lost but also impressed by the time they made the journey.

The orcs had spent several sleepless nights journeying without proper rest, their bodies running on stubborn orc endurance that would have broken most other races long ago. This wasn’t accidental. Byung had deliberately increased their urgency, pushed the pace harder than any of them would have chosen independently. And his newly discovered ability to read their surface thoughts had made this manipulation surprisingly straightforward—he could sense their hesitations before they voiced them, knew exactly when to offer the right words or the correct framing to keep them moving forward without triggering open resistance.

It was a genuinely handy skill to have, this passive mind reading that had apparently developed alongside his other abilities. Not deep telepathy exactly, more like hearing whispered conversations through a thin wall—fragmentary but useful. He could anticipate objections, redirect frustration, manage group dynamics with a precision that would have taken months of careful relationship building to achieve through conventional means.

But the orcs were reaching their natural limits. They were now firmly within familiar orc territory, passing landmarks that their exhausted minds recognized as home ground, and everything in their nature was telling them to stop. To rest. To eat a proper meal and sleep somewhere safe. The eldest sister, Mazga, had been particularly vocal about this growing sentiment, her thoughts broadcasting clear irritation that Byung could read like an open scroll.

This much wasn’t sitting well with Byung on a fundamental level that went beyond simple schedule management. These orcs were technically his enemies regardless of their current cooperative arrangement. Their brother had killed him, Kraghul himself had been directly responsible for that humiliation, and Borg was a threat that he knew would want his head on a spike. Trusting them completely in their home territory felt like inviting predators into a space where they held all the advantages.

But he hadn’t yet tested his new strength properly, hadn’t pushed this evolved body to its actual limits to understand what he was truly capable of. There was no obvious downside to the physical transformation he’d undergone, every indication suggested he was significantly more powerful than before but untested strength was theoretical strength, and theory didn’t win battles.

He also found himself wondering how he could upgrade his magic further, develop it beyond its current state. The ability he carried was something that ninety-nine percent of creatures he’d encountered in this world didn’t possess at all, which already positioned him at a massive strategic advantage. Magic was rare enough to be feared, and he had access to it when no goblin in history ever had. But raw possession wasn’t the same as mastery. He needed understanding, refinement, proper development of something he’d essentially stumbled into through his absorption of Velara’s corrupted abilities. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Byung knew he had to get away from these orcs eventually, had to return to his settlement, reassert his presence and leadership over his own people who’d been managing without him for too long. But at the same time, he knew with equal certainty that he had to help locate and free Kraghul.

This calculation had nothing to do with sentiment or forgiveness. Kraghul had technically killed him in their first encounter, which was frankly an impressive achievement that deserved grudging acknowledgment rather than lingering resentment. More importantly, Kraghul was strong, genuinely, measurably powerful in ways that the coming conflict would desperately require. Byung needed every capable fighter he could possibly secure for the war ahead, because that barrier was coming down whether the world was ready or not. The dwarf’s certainty about that had been too absolute to dismiss.

He noticed they were close to the location he was seeking, recognition clicking into place as he took careful mental note of their surroundings. The specific angle of the hillside, the unusual coloring of certain rock formations, the way the trees thinned in a pattern he remembered noticing before. This was it.

"Stop," Byung said suddenly, pulling his horse to a halt in what appeared to the orcs to be the absolute middle of nowhere. No settlement, no landmark, no visible reason to pause on this particular stretch of unremarkable terrain.

The sisters stopped their horses, exchanging confused glances that required no mind reading to interpret. Mazga’s expression was particularly eloquent in its skepticism.

Byung dismounted and approached a specific patch of ground that called to him through some instinct he couldn’t fully articulate. He crouched down and placed his hand flat against the earth, pressing his palm against the soil with intention. And for some strange reason that defied any explanation he could give, he could feel a pulse beneath it. Rhythmic, deep, almost biological. Like pressing your hand against someone’s chest and feeling their heartbeat through layers of muscle and bone.

"This is the place," Byung announced, straightening.

Before anyone could respond or ask the perfectly reasonable questions this statement raised, the eldest sister Mazga had already dismounted from her horse in a single fluid motion. Without warning, without any apparent effort whatsoever, she drew back her fist and drove it into the ground with devastating force.

The impact was catastrophic. Earth exploded outward in a shower of soil and shattered rock, a crater approximately six feet wide opening in the ground like a wound. The shockwave knocked loose dirt across everyone present.

Byung stared at the hole, then at Mazga, genuine disbelief written across his face.

What the hell kind of physical strength was that?