Chapter 7 – Colonization

“Hahk… hahk…”

Lee Hanseong was panting heavily as he ran through the forest with all his might alongside the Goblin Triplets.

‘Damn this body.’

Henrietta’s body, which had been confined to living in a cave, was no different from that of an invalid.

Running on rough forest paths in such a state inevitably put a strain on the body.

Unable to run far, anger rose at the trembling legs exhausted from fatigue.

If only he could use <Immovable Heart> or <Fatigue Ignore>, he could have endured this much.

Boom! Boom!

The periodic, increasingly closer roars from behind were also one of the things fraying his nerves.

The sound of the Goblin Champion breaking through obstacles like trees and rocks as it pursued them naturally made his heart anxious.

It was probably causing such a ruckus while chasing them to drive them like this.

“Mother, at this rate, we’ll be caught soon.”

“We’ll, hold, the rear. Hyung, Mother, please.”

Perhaps thinking this wouldn’t do with their slowing pace, the second and third sons fell back.

It seemed they intended to delay the Goblin Champion’s pursuit.

Lee Hanseong couldn’t bring himself to stop them.

Because if they continued like this, he could clearly see the future where all four of them would be caught and killed.

“Don’t die and hold on. I will definitely come to save you.”

There was also a reason he didn’t stop them: a little further ahead was the wolves’ territory.

Moreover, as the archer Gobtu and the assassin Gobsan, they should at least be able to hold out until he tamed the wolves and returned.

A head-on clash would mean instant defeat, but if Gobtu harasses it from a distance with his perfect archery and Gobsan uses his agile footwork to hit and run, delaying tactics, they should be able to buy enough time.

‘I can tame the wolves quickly, right…?’

On the other hand, anxiety surged. He had never used Monster Taming before, would things really go well?

He soon shook his head, shaking off the anxiety. He couldn’t stop here now.

Boom! …Boom! ……Boom!

Seeing that the sound from the Goblin Champion chasing them was no longer getting closer, it seemed the two goblins were struggling.

A short while later.

Thanks to the time they bought, Lee Hanseong finally encountered the wolf pack led by the Alpha.

Swish, swish, swish!

Wolves moving like the wind, hiding their forms in the underbrush.

The number of wolves that had stealthily formed an encirclement was not small.

-Grrrrr.

The low growl was threatening.

“Gobhan…?!”

As if sensing the killing intent, Gobhan, standing in front, drew his sword with a bewildered expression.

“…What will you do now? Those bastards seem to see us only as prey.”

Contrary to Gobhan’s words, Lee Hanseong did not feel the wolves’ killing intent.

The wolves’ killing intent was solely focused on Gobhan.

Henrietta ignored it due to her constitution and the <Monster Affinity> Skill, but it seemed the goblins, who frequently engaged in territorial disputes, would not let it slide.

A hair-trigger situation where they seemed ready to pounce and tear Gobhan apart the moment he showed an opening.

‘This is an opportunity.’

Thanks to their attention being focused on Gobhan, the wolves weren’t particularly wary of Lee Hanseong.

Considering the stamina consumed to get here and the stamina consumed to activate Awakening Skills, he could use Monster Taming at most twice.

Thinking ahead to the fight with the Goblin Champion, he had to tame the Alpha in one go.

‘Where’s the Alpha?’

He looked around for the Alpha, but couldn’t see it.

All he could see were glimpses of gray fur peeking through the swaying underbrush.

He thought the larger one would stand out immediately, but it had the cleverness to hide its body.

Unable to find the Alpha easily, his heart grew impatient, and then Henrietta’s body reacted.

Flash.

His gaze was drawn as if sucked toward one individual.

Seeing it deliberately lower its body to match the height of the other wolves, he instinctively realized that one was the Alpha.

‘Found it!’

As soon as he perceived it, the Awakening Skill activated.

《Monster Taming》.

Swish!

The Starlight Whip struck across the great distance and lashed the Alpha Dire Wolf.

-Awoo…?

The creature, which had raised its head to give an attack order, stopped mid-howl as if to utter a cry.

He felt an intangible connection form between the Alpha and himself.

He hadn’t expected to succeed in one go since the target was a 2-Star, but Henrietta’s talent was more impressive than he thought.

“Come here.”

Focusing on the connection with the Alpha, he called it.

-Woof woof!

The Alpha Dire Wolf barked like a dog greeting its owner and ran over.

The wolf pack’s formation was disrupted by the Alpha’s sudden action.

Perhaps because the killing intent focused on Gobhan was also disrupted, Gobhan’s expression eased.

Tap-tap-tap!

At the Alpha’s movement closing the distance in an instant, Gobhan forced his body, which had stiffened with killing intent, to move and blocked in front of Lee Hanseong.

Placing a hand on its shoulder, he said.

“Gobhan. It’s fine, step aside.”

“Huh?”

While Gobhan was bewildered, Lee Hanseong timed it with the Alpha’s approach, extended his arm, and activated the <Mounting> Skill.

Whoosh—thud.

With a clean, fluid motion unbelievable for Henrietta’s inferior body, he mounted the Alpha’s back.

“Mother! You really tamed the wolf!”

Gobhan’s eyes widened in admiration at the series of events.

“Give my son a ride too.”

Pointing at Gobhan and making the request, the Alpha seemed reluctant, but with an attitude of having no choice since its master asked, it lowered its body in front of Gobhan.

He reached out and placed Gobhan in front.

Whoosh—thud.

“Now let’s go that way. Might as well bring your friends along.”

-Awooooo!

Understanding the meaning, the Alpha raised its head and let out a long howl.

The Alpha soon stopped howling and began running in the direction of the Goblin Champion.

Swish, swish, swish!

Following the Alpha’s movement, the entire forest moved.

The wolf pack was following us.

* * *

When we faced the Goblin Champion with the Alpha’s wolf pack in tow.

Gobtu and Gobsan were already in tatters.

“Gobtu! Gobsan!”

Gobtu’s left arm was torn off from the shoulder, and Gobsan’s legs were severed around the knees.

A malicious intent to prevent them from using their specialties—archery and footwork—was evident.

A surge of emotion welled up instantly.

It was Henrietta’s heart.

The heart of a mother worried for her children and anger toward the enemy who did this to them.

“How dare! My children!”

The Alpha, resonating with Henrietta’s anger, activated its Awakening Skill and charged toward the Goblin Champion.

《Moon Spirit Dash》.

A brilliant silver light resembling moonlight swirled around the Alpha’s fur as it shot forth like a meteor.

For the Champion, who had raised its greatsword to finish off the incapacitated Gobtu and Gobsan, it was a speed impossible to block in time.

Thud—Crash-crash-crash-crash!

Struck by the silver trajectory like a traffic accident, the Champion flew through the air, only stopping after breaking several trees behind it.

The Goblin Champion, covered in sharp wooden splinters and drenched in blood.

-Gobbbbbb!

Wounds that would normally be fatal, but it was a berserker.

The Awakening Skill 《Berserk》, which grows stronger with injury, activated automatically and raised it to its feet.

The Champion’s eyes were already dyed crimson, seeing nothing.

‘At that level, it’s almost 2.5-Star.’

In that state, the berserker’s actions are based on the target registered in the <Obsession> Skill.

And the Goblin Champion’s object of obsession was none other than Henrietta.

Crack-thud—Boom!

A fissure appeared at the Champion’s feet, and with an explosive sound, its massive body shot forward.

Aiming for Henrietta mounted on the Alpha’s back.

-Kaahk!

But no matter how much its physical abilities increased due to Berserk, the Alpha Dire Wolf was a 2-Star Monster specialized in speed.

Swish-swish-swish!

The crimson trajectory of the blood-drenched Champion and the silver trajectory of the Alpha crisscrossed the forest like a game of tag.

Their speeds were equal, but continuing like this was dangerous.

‘The trees are the problem.’

The Champion could move by swinging its greatsword to shatter any tree blocking its path, but the Alpha had to dodge trees, lengthening its route.

If it weren’t for the Alpha’s subordinate wolves biting and clinging to the Champion’s legs whenever it was in danger, it would have been caught already.

‘I have to do something.’

Fortunately, perhaps because he endured on the Alpha’s back while running at top speed, the <Mounting> Skill Proficiency was rising rapidly.

And the moment the Proficiency broke through the critical point.

Whoosh!

The Alpha’s heart and senses began flowing into his mind.

[Conditions met. General Skill <???> blooms into <Empathy>.]

Lee Hanseong linked <Overmind> to <Empathy> as if they had been one Skill from the beginning.

The Overmind, previously confined within, expanded outward through Empathy as a medium.

The Overmind spread from the Alpha to the entire wolf pack registered under the Alpha’s <Leadership> Skill.

Adding to that were the Goblin Triplets connected by blood.

Now that everyone was connected by Overmind, Lee Hanseong’s will was everyone’s will.

Pah-pah-pah-pah-pah-pah!

He sent two elite wolves from the pack toward Gobtu and Gobsan, who were left unattended and dying from blood loss.

The Overmind naturally adjusted the Synchronization Rate between the wolves and goblins, forcibly realizing Unification.

Unification was also realized between the Alpha and Gobhan.

Fwoosh!

Immediately after, the Awakening of the Goblin Triplets began.

Promotion to the higher species, Goblin Rider.

Sssssss—!

White smoke rose from the wounds of Gobtu and Gobsan, who shared the Dire Wolf’s vitality through Unification, and rapid recovery took place.

The dulled eyes of the two goblins, who had lost their specialties, also regained life.

Nod.

Gobtu and Gobsan, exchanging glances with a nod, swapped each other’s weapons.

Gobtu gripped Gobsan’s dagger in his remaining right hand, and Gobsan took Gobtu’s bow and arrows instead.

<Empathy> and <Overmind> created a link between the two, and upon the Rider promotion, the blooming General Skill <Thought Transmission> was added.

Since Lee Hanseong was the center of the Overmind, he could grasp the core of the massive information exchange happening between them.

‘Gobtu’s archery is shared with Gobsan, and Gobsan’s footwork and dagger skills are shared with Gobtu.’

To be precise, Gobsan’s footwork was transmitted to the wolf unified with Gobtu.

He was moved by the situation where the two brothers, who had suffered irrecoverable wounds, swapped roles and made a comeback.

But the one who underwent the greatest change was Gobhan, the eldest of the triplets.

‘<Thought Transmission> connects not only the two but also Gobhan.’

Gobhan, the swordsman with intact limbs, could fully accept the archer’s senses and the assassin’s agility.

Using the heterogeneous experiences of other professions as nourishment, he elevated his capabilities as a swordsman by another level.

“Wait a moment.”

Gobhan’s will stopped the Alpha.

Boom! Whooom!

The moment the Alpha stopped, the Champion’s heavy greatsword, having caught up, fell like a guillotine.

Gobhan’s perception stretched, and the greatsword’s movement fragmented into countless segments.

Into the fragmented gaps, Gobhan’s slender longsword inserted itself exquisitely.

Clang—Cra-cra-cra-crack.

Moment-by-moment adjustments in force twisted the direction of the overwhelming power, narrowly deflecting the greatsword.

A perfect parry compensating for the overwhelming difference in power with skill!

Crunch!

The greatsword, driven into the wrong ground by external force.

Swish—Thud!

In that gap, Gobsan’s arrow flew and pierced the Champion’s eye, while Gobtu’s dagger, having stealthily closed in from behind, slit its throat.

-Kraaaa!

With half its vision gone, the Champion swung its greatsword backward without looking.

But Gobtu, who had inherited Gobsan’s footwork, had already leaped far away, so the greatsword only cut through empty air.

Lee Hanseong didn’t just watch their performance idly either.

‘A little more precisely.’

While Gobhan tied down the Champion’s greatsword with parries from the front.

He adjusted the thoughts flowing between them so that the timing of Gobtu’s ambushes whenever an opening appeared and Gobsan’s arrows fired from a distance connected perfectly.

He organized the chaotic, scattered thoughts, leaving only those necessary for combat.

Then, soon, the movements of the three—no, six including the wolves they rode—meshed like the gears of a precise machine.

‘That’s it!’

A thrill arose at the organic, perfectly fitting chain of actions like a single organism.

Lee Hanseong began inserting the remaining wolves into it, one by one.

Goblins and wolves moving like one body under a single, vast consciousness.

In this moment, there was no wall of race between us.

‘This is the power of Colonization!’

A state reached thanks to the perfect harmony of Lee Hanseong’s <Overmind>, Henrietta’s <Empathy>, the Goblin Rider’s <Thought Transmission>, and the Alpha Dire Wolf’s <Leadership>.

Before this, a mere berserker couldn’t hold out.

Thud.

The Goblin Champion, tenaciously clinging to life, finally fell.

As if blessing it, a system message appeared.

[Feat, ‘Swarm Consciousness: Hive Mind’ achieved.]

[The Clay Constellation records your Feat and the Altered history.]

[Vocation Awakening Skill 《Colonization》 blooms.]

As if it was now time to end, his eyes began to close.

[Henrietta’s Promotion is complete.]

[Historical Alteration will conclude shortly.]

Soon, with the feeling of Henrietta’s body and Lee Hanseong’s spirit separating, the Historical Alteration ended.

And in the record from which Lee Hanseong disappeared.

A system message unseen by anyone continued.

[Keyword ‘Mother of Monsters’ unlocked.]

[The growth limit of the Spirit Henrietta expands.]

History was being born—history that would later be called the Mother of Monsters, leading to a calamity from another world.