The Six Pillars and the White Whale
“Kuh… Uuum…!”
A groan slipped from between Jubern’s lips.
Ever since that man appeared, he had been unable to hide his agitation. He kept adjusting his sword grip, and sweat poured from him as if he had been soaked by rain.
It wasn’t just him. The same went for the others who had joined to protect Haru.
They had sensed something from the man that they didn’t understand.
“…I’ll buy you time. While I do that, hurry back to Hwabaek. Go now!”
Jubern shouted in an uncharacteristically excited voice, but even that was useless.
Because, excluding the direction the man had appeared from, unknown figures had emerged from five other directions.
Beings that looked human yet weren’t. Strange entities they had clashed with before.
“…Yokai?”
Teraden’s eyebrows twitched.
They weren’t the weak, sloppy yokai they had seen in Seo-Wangdo or Dongye. Each one was a powerhouse far beyond what their current strength could gauge.
Five of these nameless yokai and the enigmatic man. Surrounding them in a perfect hexagon, they soon sealed their encirclement.
“That guy… No way?”
Hyun seemed to have roughly guessed the man’s identity as something other than a yokai, unlike the rest of them.
But for some reason, she muttered in a drained voice as if she had lost her spirit.
“White Whale… Ampon? How could the Seven Pillars be… with the yokai…?”
“Seven… Pillars?”
“…”
“Miss Hyun?”
“Ah, yes, Mama. From what I know, that man is the one who was defeated by Arirang Jaksan, the sixth seat of the current Seven Pillars, and stripped of his seat.”
Wolhyang, Natalie, Cheongtong, and Lan. Every Seven Pillar they had ever seen represented the continent and possessed boundless power.
That’s why the sudden appearance of Ampon as the former seventh seat could be interpreted as him being a fighter on par with the Seven Pillars, even if he had been defeated.
“No way, I’m losing my mind here.”
Teraden scratched his messy hair and exploded in irritation.
It was obvious the yokai had joined him to display enmity toward their side.
Before they could calm their confusion, Ampon slowly opened his mouth.
“I have no personal grudge against you lot, but I was asked to kill you. So I have to kill you with my own hands. Ah, I’ll make it as painless as possible, so don’t be too scared.”
“…”
“Huu, you should have lived more kindly in the first place. This is really heart-wrenching.”
“That’s a completely empty line.”
Teraden snapped at Ampon’s mocking tone.
“Look at this little brat. You guys from the clan were always so proper, but you’re weird.”
“Hey, stop that. Now take care of these—”
One of the yokai near them cut Ampon off.
“Ah, I’ll handle it properly. Don’t worry.”
“That’s impossible.”
Jubern’s low growl blocked the way ahead.
“Lord Haru, I’ll clear a path. Use the gap to escape.”
“Fighting your clan is my second time, but I got humiliated last time. I won’t hold back and just kill you—”
Ampon suddenly narrowed his brows and muttered in a barely audible voice.
“Hmm… This is… faster than I expected?”
Each of the five yokai suddenly looked pale as if they had sensed something.
“This… Seven… Pillars…!”
Seven Pillars…?
“It’s time to move. I’ll take care of these guys myself. You do exactly what I told you to.”
Among the five yokai exchanging glances, three headed toward the Imperial Capital, one toward Hwabaek, and the last stayed put.
“What? Why aren’t you going?”
“There’s a commission related to these guys.”
“Okay, do what you want. Don’t get in the way.”
While Ampon and the yokai were speaking, Jubern whispered to Haru.
“Lord Haru.”
“Yes, Lord Jubern. Please speak.”
“Time is short. Hurry.”
“I can’t.”
“You say you can’t?”
“If you and I go, we might survive, but Lord Jubern would surely lose his life. Isn’t that right?”
“…”
“So I can’t leave Lord Jubern behind. Everyone else must feel the same.”
“Yes!”
“Lord Jubern always tries to sacrifice himself. No one sacrifices in front of the boss, right?”
“That guy… wouldn’t be affected by numbers.”
“We’ll all live together without anyone dying and return.”
“Kuh! It’s a flowerbed, really? Sounds good in theory, but can it really be done?”
Ampon snorted after finishing his conversation with the yokai.
“I overheard you muttering earlier.”
It wasn’t certain, but he decided to take a gamble.
“Hearing you repeat the word ‘seven’ in surprise, it seems one of the Seven Pillars has come here. So just hold on until they arrive.”
““…”!”
The news that Haru conveyed brightened the others’ expressions a little.
On the other hand, Ampon’s face, which had remained relaxed, suddenly hardened.
“Ah, that’s why I hate sharp-eyed types. Those idiots are useless. They’re only good for being noticed by a brat like that.”
The prediction that had been half gamble had proven exactly right.
“No, I suppose it is. But there’s one misunderstanding you have. Killing you is as easy as breathing.”
Whoosh!
Ampon’s figure vanished from sight in an instant.
Speed that couldn’t even be seen.
“Then goodbye.”
* * *
At the same time, in the empty sky outside the Imperial Capital.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
In the blink of an eye, Lan, Wolhyang, and Feltics shot across the horizon, accompanied by immense sonic booms.
A long trail of clouds like those left by a flying vehicle appeared where they passed.
Ordinary people couldn’t even see them with the naked eye due to the impossible speed. The people of the Imperial Capital and its surroundings could only watch the strange cloud left in the sky and misidentify the three as some kind of object.
“Actually, I ran into the White Whale not long ago.”
“…Ampon?”
Feltics tilted his head slightly at Lan’s confession.
“He seemed to be basing himself in the Eastern Kingdom… Who would have thought he’d cause such trouble so boldly.”
Meanwhile, the air resistance, proportional to their speed, hindered their movement through the sky.
Normal people couldn’t even stay afloat. But these were the Seven Pillars, transcending limits.
They faced the air resistance head-on while calmly conversing and advanced at breakneck speed.
“As you know, you can sense the aura of the person there along with the White Whale and… roughly the six-star spirits.”
“The White Whale seems to be targeting the person with several six-star spirits.”
“I want to rush as much as possible, but since he’s the opponent, I worry whether they can hold out until we arrive.”
“Since Jubern is with them, we have no choice but to hope for his sake.”
“I saw him in Dongye when I went in his place before. But even if he’s achieved some level since then, it would be hard for him to properly fight a six-star spirit right now.”
Feltics, who had been doubtful of Lan’s opinion, showed hesitation.
“If he fought with the resolve of mutual destruction, catching a six-star spirit might not be impossible if heavenly fortune follows. But the biggest problem is…”
“Yeah, the opponent has several six-star spirits and the White Whale. On top of that, they have to protect the kids too, and the White Whale’s ability is the same as Jubern’s.”
“If a variable occurs where Lord Haru, who doesn’t have an ability yet, opens one, we can’t say. This is bad—any delay…”
“First, let’s increase our speed. The good news is that thanks to the dense aura we’re releasing, the other side has already noticed us and sent some of their forces.”
The Seven Pillars, including Lan, advanced while deliberately releasing a fierce aura.
This was to alert them to their approach and make them look toward their side.
Because if they intervened, the plan to handle Haru’s group would likely fail.
“…?”
“Yokai?”
They had assumed that since they were moving with Ampon, the opponent would be human.
But what appeared before them were yokai with completely different appearances.
‘The yokai from that village of the person’s… They look the same. Did he bring yokai along?’
The eyes of the three facing the yokai began to gleam.
But unlike the calm Seven Pillars, these three yokai were in pure despair.
‘The moment I attacked, no, even before I could, several Seven Pillars would have sensed the anomaly and intervened. You all hold them off in time while I deal with the clan guys.’
“…Which of the Seven Pillars should I stop?”
“Probably the Wind Slayer and Frozen.”
Before this incident, when Ampon and he were plotting, he had expected at most two Seven Pillars to intervene.
But in front of the yokai, there were three.
If three Seven Pillars each took one, it would be enough to take care of all of them in the blink of an eye.
“This… Three Seven Pillars? That changes everything!”
He wasn’t afraid of death. But he feared failing his mission.
“There are too many questions, but I don’t have time to wait anymore. Wipe them all out.”
Kuuuuhhh.
““Kuh, kuhum…!””
“Lord Ran.”
“…?”
When Ran quietly gathered his aura, Wolhyang behind them called out to him in a gentle voice.
“Leave this place to me and go ahead. After all, I’m not very fast.”
“…”
“I can’t be stuck here like this. Leave this place to me and you do what you have to do, Lord Ran.”
Ran nodded slightly and, without hesitation, left Wolhyang behind and flew away with Feltics.
As Ran and Feltics departed, Wolhyang turned her gaze to the remaining yokai. Her eyes suddenly changed and a fierce breath flowed from her red lips.
“Fuuu.”
Chijijijij—!
“I will destroy that child…”
Soon, the area around where she stood began to rapidly cool.
“You filthy insects…”