The fight had turned grim shortly before Byung and Maui arrived even though Vrognut managed to land a few blows but none were fatal.

Kraghul stood over Naz like a storm cloud given flesh, the curved knife already slick with blood. Vrognut lay crumpled at his feet, ribs stove in, one arm twisted wrong, yet the cannibal goblin's yellow eyes still burned with manic purpose. He had never intended to win. Only to buy seconds for the bacteria from his bite to have its effect.

He had bought them with his body and once the paralysis takes effect, there was nothing Kraghul could do but lay there helpless.

The moment Kraghul had him by the neck, Vrognut had twisted like a serpent, sinking his jagged teeth into the warlord's shoulder. Kraghul had barely registered the bite; he had simply slammed Vrognut to the ground and hurled the goblin skyward, laughing as the little monster flailed.

Then the sword throw followed.

Kraghul had flicked his wrist almost lazily, the curved sword spinning end-over-end through the air. Vrognut, still airborne, had no leverage, no wall to push off, no way to twist. He could only watch the blade come, a locked-in projectile with his name on it.

It struck clean, it was a clean hit.

The dagger punched through Vrognut's sternum with a wet crunch. Blood exploded outward in a green mist that rained down on Kraghul like warm rain. The goblin's body hung suspended for a heartbeat, impaled, eyes wide in shock and triumph, before gravity reclaimed him. He hit the stone with a meaty, bone-shattering thud that echoed through the cavern like a drumbeat of finality.

Kraghul wiped the blood from his face, smirking.

"Persistent rat," Kraghul muttered. He had a smile on his face, the only way he could enjoy fighting was if he held back, this would give his opponent hope and make them fight even harder.

It would take a miracle for Vrognut to survive that attack but miracles existed in this world, Byung was proof of that.

Then the smirk faltered, there was something wrong with his body.

A strange heaviness spread from the bite on his shoulder: first numbness, then iron bands tightening around every muscle. His axe suddenly weighed a mountain. His legs felt rooted. Vrognut's venom: slow, vicious, perfect. The cannibal had never planned to win in hand-to-hand combat. He had planned to cripple his opponent like a snake then swallow him whole.

Kraghul snarled, forcing his limbs to move through sheer will. He was still standing, still deadly, but slower now, like fighting waist-deep in tar. This showed how different he was from the other orcs but it also showed Vrognut's paralysis gimmick wasn't absolute.

This would be enough and Kraghul finally understood how this goblin managed to kill so many orcs, it was his bite.

He had paralysed them and killed them after the poison took effect, using the lives of his goblins to buy him that time.

This combined with his trickery would make him a scary foe to anyone, not just orcs.

Bootsteps thundered from the north axis. Maui burst in first, axe raised, eyes wild with grief and fury. Byung followed a half-step behind, small frame coiled like a spring, green skin streaked with dried blood and new purpose.

Kraghul turned, slow but deliberate, his eyes narrowing.

"You," Kraghul rumbled, gaze locking on Byung.

"You are him, aren't you? You are Byung," Kraghul's eyes lit up like a child but this wasn't an invitation for them to drop their guard.

He knew right away because Byung had a different feel to him, knowing he had taken the lives of so many goblins, there wasn't a hint of fear in those eyes.

"That's me. Drop your weapon. Walk away. Last chance," Byung's voice was cold, the intent clear as day.

Kraghul threw his head back and laughed, the sound echoing off the air despite the venom dragging at his limbs.

"You think you can—" Kraghul never finished his sentence.

Byung vanished into thin air like the air itself had swallowed him up.

One heartbeat he was there; the next, a green blur crossed ten paces in the blink of an eye. His fist, powered by his maximum strength, connected with Kraghul's jaw like a cannonball.

The impact felt like a bomb had gone off, Byung had exerted everything in him, all the hatred and anger he held for this particular orc was conveyed through his fist.

A visible shockwave rippled outward, cracking the air itself. Kraghul's head snapped sideways. Right tusk shattered. Blood sprayed in a green arc. His massive body left the ground, hurled backward as if kicked by a giant, and slammed into a boulder twenty feet away. Stone split on impact. The orc slid down the rock face in a heap, axe clattering away, dazed and bleeding.

Maui didn't wait. She was already moving toward Naz, who laid helplessly on the ground bleeding profusely, eyes wide with terror and hope.

Byung stood where Kraghul had been, fist still smoking from the blow, chest heaving, eyes glowing with that same cold, hungry light he had used to execute Gorz.

Vrognut's body laid between them, dagger protruding from his chest, a faint, satisfied smile on his blood-slick lips but he wasn't dead.

It wasn't a fatal blow, he had managed to tilt his body in an awkward manner at the very last second the second the sword touched his skin, this managed to tilt the trajectory of the sword slightly.

But despite that, the fall should have killed him yet Vrognut lived.

Kraghul was still trying to comprehend how he managed to land a blow that powerful on him, Vrognut's poison might have dulled his senses but Byung shouldn't be that fast.

"What are you?" Kraghul asked as he got up to his feet but Byung sighed the moment this question was asked.

There was only one thing he could be, there was only one reason why this system chose him.

"I am the Goblin King," Byung said with totality.

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