The Return of the Seven Pillars
“Tsk, what on earth is happening here?”
The moment Teraden, who had snatched Elien’s Ineung, caught up with the rest of the group he had dispatched earlier, something truly strange was unfolding in the central cavern.
The allies who had allied with Carbyn and his party, along with the very people Haru had sacrificed himself to free from the control of their Ineungs, now faced each other on opposite sides—two factions locked in tense opposition.
“Hey, what’s going on?”
“Ah, Lord Haru, you’ve come?”
Blanser, who had been shielding Haru, pointed toward the heated argument while explaining the situation to Teraden, who still didn’t fully understand.
“They won’t get away!”
“Well, calm down a bit, will you?”
“Look at this. The moment the freed ones woke up, they started demanding the Ouparts back.”
“We pulled them out of the water and now they want the whole bag of loot. If we had the Ouparts or any treasure on us, they’d have been waving swords right then.”
Teraden, hearing Blanser’s rough warning, scratched his head in frustration.
“Hah… he’s going after even these little things…”
“Lord Haru, let me handle this. You rest.”
“…Yeah, do whatever you need.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll be back in a flash.”
Thud. Boom.
Blanser bowed deeply to Teraden, then shoved through Carbyn’s party and stepped forward.
The moment the unusual presence of Blanser standing tall in front caught their attention, the opposing faction turned their gazes toward him.
“We can’t thank you enough, but if we’d had our way…”
“What the hell…!!”
The one who had been raising his voice to scold Blanser took a step forward, but before he could finish his sentence, Blanser’s fist crashed into his face—front teeth shattered, and he collapsed unconscious.
“Anyone else got a problem? Come on out. I’ll crush all of you like radishes.”
Right now, Blanser was on the verge of letting his original wild personality surface because Haru, whose consciousness had been lost, faced overwhelming danger.
Any small threat to Haru was enough to focus all his nerves on immediate elimination.
“Ugh…”
A thunderous roar from Blanser froze the entire room into silence.
Once he confirmed the area had gone quiet, Blanser dusted his hands and turned back to Teraden.
“Lord Haru doesn’t seem to be waking up anytime soon. What do we do? It might take a while for him to come to. Should I carry him?”
“No. We wait until Junior and Haru wake up. That’s priority number one.”
After that short scuffle, Haru’s consciousness eventually returned.
“Hyung—!! Kyaaaah!!”
“Hah, stop making such a fuss. How are you feeling?”
Teraden’s calm question made Haru slowly move his body with a serious expression before finally nodding.
“It seems there’s no major issue. What about the others?”
“Everyone else is awake except Junior. We’ll set off again once he wakes up.”
“You guys are in terrible shape right now. Do we really need to wait until he wakes up? I’ll take care of him myself, so let’s just move.”
Blanser, who normally followed every word obediently, suddenly dug in his heels. Unable to argue with his stubbornness, the group finished their preparations and set off.
‘Haru woke up… good.’
Junior was the last thing on Blanser’s mind.
* * *
After passing through several corridors and small chambers, the group stepped into a massive cavern they had never seen before.
Stairs spiraled up the walls like the inside of a mountain, and at the very top of the ceiling hung a single door that looked like an exit.
“The corridors had been curving more and more… so this really is the end? The Ouparts weren’t here after all.”
“They might not be here, or we might have missed them. But even if they are, we don’t have time to look now. We’ve achieved our original goal, so let’s be satisfied and leave.”
“Yeah, let’s get out of here. I just want to see some daylight.”
Everyone felt the ground was close and started imagining feasts, their voices buzzing with excitement.
“Boss, when we get out, what are you going to do?”
“Take a warm bath and then eat until my stomach bursts…”
““…!!””
But as Carbyn’s group reached the ceiling, two colossal auras above them made everyone’s bodies turn stiff as stone.
“What is this feeling…? Who… who is up there?”
Teraden’s face, usually fiery, had gone deathly pale.
No one dared to move with such overwhelming pressure.
And then—
Booom!
The moment someone struck the floor from above, the iron beams above them began to dent.
Remembering how their group couldn’t even scratch the iron the moment they entered this place, the person striking now must be far from ordinary.
Booom! Crash!
The dented spot widened with deafening noise, and soon the ceiling iron cracked open. A large hole formed, and brilliant light poured in.
“Ugh, damn! My eyes!”
The sudden bright light made Teraden squint and scream.
After spending so much time in darkness, his pupils, already enlarged, reacted violently even to a small amount of light.
“But why… isn’t the sun still up? We were here a long time, weren’t we? Ah, did we really spend a whole day down there?”
Not knowing who had punched through the ceiling, Haru’s group cautiously scanned all directions and slowly stepped out into the light.
The exit they emerged from was at the center of a vast basin.
To their surprise, dozens of people armed with unfamiliar, heavily reinforced mechanical devices surrounded them in a perfect circle.
‘None of them are ordinary.’
Even excluding the two colossal auras they had sensed earlier, every single one of the surrounding warriors was far beyond normal strength.
If they harbored hostility toward Haru’s group, escape would have been impossible even if they were in perfect condition.
The disparity was overwhelming.
But fortunately, these people were not their enemies.
“Heh, you’ve all gone through a lot.”
‘…!?’
“Is that the voice of the Duke?”
“Hah… I thought you were trapped with no escape.”
Teraden recognized Amerk among the encircled group and collapsed to the ground, all strength leaving his body.
“Hmph, you’re from the Arirang lineage, just like Jaksan? You people.”
A different, even larger aura owner looked down at Haru’s group with a gentle smile.
“Yes, that’s correct. But, Jaksan… do you know him?”
“Of course. We’re all members of the Seven Pillars.”
“Eh? The Seven Pillars?”
At the mention of the Seven Pillars, Teraden sprang up.
“It’s Cheongtong. Everyone knows me—the 5th Seat of the Seven Pillars. Hahaha, I was actually curious about Jaksan, but I’ll have to report your situation to him instead.”
“Hmph.”
Meanwhile, Amerk simply scanned Junior from head to toe with a completely indifferent expression, unlike his earlier fidgeting.
“I should head back now. We’re withdrawing.”
As Amerk prepared to leave, Haru grabbed him.
“Your Grace, aren’t you going to wait for Junior to wake up?”
“When Junior opens his eyes, if I’m still there, that boy will definitely feel guilty toward me.”
Amerk looked at Junior with a complicated expression mixing sorrow and warmth.
“Since I’ve confirmed he’s unharmed, it’s fine. Leave the rest to you. I will repay this debt one day.”
Amerk, along with Cheongtong and his knights, left the basin without hesitation.
“Thank you for finding Prince Junior.”
Jered, the captain of the knights, stepped forward to thank Haru in Amerk’s stead.
“It was only what I had to do. Ah, and…”
After receiving the thanks, Haru told Jered about the strange things he had felt inside and handed over the safety of Oban and Elien to him.
Of course, he did not mention what Elien had done to Junior.
What Haru wanted was for them to feel regret and atone for their sins. If he had told Jered, he would have been killed on the spot.
“Um? Wait, who are these guys? Did you single-handedly take them down?”
“No, the woman fought my younger sister, and the man was taken down by my friend Teraden and me working together.”
‘These guys are famous… but they’re just two people. How could they do this…?’
Jered, rendered speechless, stared back and forth between Oban and Haru for a long time.
“Ah, my apologies. Thank you for your hard work. And… please continue to protect Prince Junior in the future.”
Jered, having recovered his composure, thanked Haru once more and left the basin.
“Hmph, shall we head out too? It’s fine, right?”
“Ah, Lord Carbyn, of course it is. Thank you for your hard work.”
“Without you, we wouldn’t even have survived, let alone escaped… Thank you again.”
“It wasn’t just me. We all worked together, so it was possible.”
“I won’t forget this debt. If we ever need our help, come to us anywhere.”
“That’s kind of you.”
“Yeah, and from now on, stop calling me ‘tiny guy’ so casually.”
“Yes, yes! Of course, Master! Hehe.”
After short farewells, Carbyn and his party also left the basin.
The group that had been threatened by Blanser slowly backed away and departed one by one without a word of thanks.
Soon the bustling basin fell silent.
“Oh, you’re awake.”
After a long time, Junior, who had remained unconscious until the end, finally opened his eyes.
“Teraden? Where are we?”
“Right here. Hey, I’ve been running around looking for you all day.”
“Why am I here? I came here looking for the Ouparts…”
“Because you disappeared, many people were worried. The Duke had already come and gone.”
“Father…”
Junior tried to sit up, but the words “Duke” made him collapse back to the ground.
Blanser, unable to watch Junior’s powerless state, grabbed his collar and pulled him up.
“You little—!! Don’t show such disgrace in front of me!!”
“….”
When no reaction came from Junior, Blanser simply tossed him aside.
“Tch! Lord Haru, let’s go back. I must have misjudged the situation.”
“…!”
Bang! Bang!
After speaking, Blanser left the basin without hesitation.
“Junior.”
Haru called out to Junior, who lay motionless on the ground.
“…Yes.”
Haru sat down beside him, reaching out in an attempt to help.
“Don’t hate Blanser too much. You know he recognizes you, and because you’re so precious to him, he can say such things.”
“…If Haru-ssi had been my father, he wouldn’t have been disappointed in my current self, right?”
“I don’t know…”
“….”
“I’ve never experienced being a parent, but one thing is certain—the Duke is most at ease knowing that you are safe.”
“So… that’s right.”
Haru’s words slowly brought a gentle smile to Junior’s face.
Haru stood up and offered his hand.
“Let’s go back together.”
Junior stared at the offered hand for a long time before finally grabbing it tightly.
Thud.
“Look at that? You’re blushing. What a cute kid. Hehehe! Ah, I haven’t eaten all day—I’m starving. Since we saved you, eat up.”
“Teraden, isn’t that enough?”
“Not enough? Then I’ll buy you a hundred thousand meals.”
The ridiculous number made Junior chuckle.
“Now let’s go.”
“Yes.”
Haru’s words made the golden-haired boy stand up, take a deep breath, and slowly close his eyes before opening them again.
When he looked forward, he saw the black-haired boys—Haru and Teraden—walking ahead.
‘Let’s go back together.’
Step… step…
The golden-haired boy slowly followed the black-haired boys in front.
In the future, he would be called the Machine God (Deus ex Machina), one of the Seven Pillars, and become one of Haru’s sharpest four swords—sworn to follow him until the end.
* * *
“Such a mischievous one. Quite mischievous.”
“Hm? Me?”
While returning to Amerk’s duchy with Cheongtong, the old man suddenly teased him playfully.
Amerk shrugged and played along.
“Who else could it be? You. Why did you do something like that?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Hahaha, don’t play innocent. If you had really wanted to, you could have simply sat down and eaten your fill. Finding your son was enough. But why did you risk everything and leave him to those kids?”
“You’re right, but if I had done that, the ancient relic where he was found would have been greatly damaged. I couldn’t possibly damage the legacy left by that person.”
Amerk glanced toward Junior’s direction, then burst into loud laughter.
“More importantly, I hoped there would be a small change in that boy’s heart through this incident.”
“Hah, really stubborn. So it happened exactly as you wanted?”
“Of course. It feels so good! Hehehehe!! Thanks to today, the boy now has people other than his parents to turn to. He’s finally free to move forward on his own.”
“I won’t be upset. The boy has left your side now. That’s good.”
“Upset? No way! No parent is upset when their child grows up! Let’s go—let’s drink until dawn. It’s been a truly meaningful day!”
Clink! Clink!
“Enough, you old man—!! I’m dying of pain!”
“Heheheheha!!”
Amerk patted Cheongtong’s back in uncontrollable joy and returned to the duchy with light footsteps.