The End of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 4) (64 page)

The pounding of the drums ceased, the mass beating stopped, and the world around her grew quiet.

Slowly, while being able to breathe now that her body had been given time to rest, she opened her eyes.

Confusion crossed her face after she looked up.

Ji Hoon was standing above her, his expression filled with pity for her. What was more shocking was the person that was standing across from him.

Ju Won.

It stunned her to discover that Ju Won was standing on the opposite side of her. He stared down at her like a towering statue, sharing the pity that existed in Ji Hoon’s eyes.

Yoori closed her eyes in dread.

She did not have enough strength to go over the possibilities of what they were planning to do.

All she knew was that if Ju Won was here, it only meant that while her physical agony may have been over, her mental agony was about to begin.

“No . . . I’m just resting my eyes . . .”

33: You’re Worth All of It

Lethargy weighed on Yoori’s eyes as her battered body collapsed into a numb state.

She was tired.

She was so tired . . .

“Look at how far you’ve fallen from the very throne you spent your entire life fighting for, my child,” Ju Won stated beside her. His disappointed voice brought her out of her dazed and lethargic state.

When Yoori opened her eyes, she could see that Ju Won and Ji Hoon were now crouched down on either side of her.

Her weary eyes fixed on Ju Won. She remained quiet as he continued to speak to her in a gentle voice.

“This is the fate I tried to dissuade you from. This is the life of a God turned human. There is no happy ending for you on this road. Only death awaits you.” He paused meaningfully. “Unless you use your last remaining breath to see the errors of your way now.”

“Let me save you,” Ji Hoon insisted from the right side of her. He skimmed his fingers over her bloodstained face, behaving as though he wasn’t the one who inflicted all this misery upon her. “Tae Hyun isn’t worth it. He isn’t worth any of this. You made the wrong decision by becoming human for him, but you can still correct it.” He picked up a sword and rested it beside her hand. “Make things right, Soo Jin. Get rid of your distraction.”

In that moment, she realized what was happening.

This was their plan all along
.

The Underworld had not given up on the battle between Yoori and Tae Hyun. This entire thing was a ploy used to force their hands—to make Yoori and Tae Hyun so desperate to survive that when the end came, one of them would finally succumb to the darkness and kill the other.

That
was why the Underworld showed leniency to their loved ones. It was because they still wanted one of them to be a God and because they wanted to appease whichever God returned to power.

This
was the deal that Ji Hoon ultimately received. He had to bring Yoori and Tae Hyun back here, he had to make them go through all this hell, and in the end, he had to successfully break one of them. He had to get one of the fallen Gods to kill the other so that they could compete with him for the throne—a throne that the Underworld refused to give to him by default.

His motives finally made sense now. He was intent on persuading Yoori to come to his side because he’d rather fight her for the throne, not Tae Hyun.

Yoori shook internally. She could not believe that she had not foreseen any of this.

Tae Hyun and her were never meant to survive this hour. There was only one who could survive—one who had to kill the other to survive.

A fist clamped Yoori’s broken heart.

It was hopeless.

It had been hopeless since the beginning—since they walked in, since they gave up the thrones, and since they fell for each other.

It had always been hopeless.

Just as Yoori stared at the sword beside her and just as she came to this conclusion, from the corner of her eyes, she saw someone approaching Tae Hyun.

“Kwon Tae Hyun.”

And there he was. Young Jae stood beside Tae Hyun, who was lying on the floor, his back to the ground and face to the ceiling. He only stirred from his numbness when Young Jae called out to him.

“Look at how you’ve fallen,” Young Jae began as Tae Hyun slowly opened his eyes. Anger was still present in Tae Hyun’s dimmed gaze when he stared at Young Jae. “Weeks ago you were on top of the world. Now look at you. You’re nothing but a dying man fighting to live.” He took out his sword and placed it on the floor beside Tae Hyun, just like Ji Hoon had done with Yoori. “But you can still save yourself. Look around,” he prompted while a weakened Tae Hyun did just that. “This Underworld still loves you; it still reveres you. No matter how much you’ve disappointed them. Your soldiers, your mentors, your supporters—
everyone
is still rooting for you.
Everyone
still wants you as their God—their Lord.” Young Jae smiled pitifully at Tae Hyun. “What are you fighting for Tae Hyun? For An Soo Jin? For
Yoori
?” Young Jae peered across the arena to where Yoori resided. “Is she really worth all of this?”

“Do the right thing, Soo Jin,” Ji Hoon persuaded in her ear, staring at Young Jae and Tae Hyun from across the arena. “You and I both know that a desperate man is willing to do anything to survive. When Tae Hyun promised himself to you, he wasn’t a desperate man. He was on top of the world. But look at him. He’s desperate now; we both know he’ll kill you.”

Upon being reminded of Tae Hyun, Yoori slowly rolled to the side to sit up. She wanted to see him while she was sitting. She didn’t want to lay down and feel broken any longer.

“You will never know how much it pains me to see you like this,” Ju Won said beside her ear, watching as she sat like a child and kept her lifeless gaze on Tae Hyun. “I was the one who raised you, and I wanted you to avoid all of this. Tae Hyun is beyond salvation now. He is too stuck in his ways, and this world will kill him for it. But you . . .” He smiled genially. “You can still return to your station in life. You are different from everyone in this world. You are the Queen amongst Kings, the Queen amongst Gods. Tae Hyun may be one of the most respected and beloved Kings in the Underworld, but you will always be the eternal Queen of this world, in
all
of the Underworlds.” He pushed the sword closer to her grasp, his eyes growing stern. “‘
To get into a position of power, some actions are unavoidable
.
’
You remember those words from your father, don’t you?” Ju Won asked after Yoori stiffened up at the familiar words. He immediately capitalized on this reaction. “The time has come: do the unavoidable. Make the tough call, and your position of power and prestige will come back.”

“You’ve done all that you can for her,” she could hear Young Jae say to Tae Hyun while Ju Won’s words swam in her mind. “Do you not wonder why Ju Won is there with her instead of with you?”

Something changed in Tae Hyun’s dazed eyes when Young Jae said this. Awareness returning to him upon the constant mention of Yoori, he slowly rolled over to his side. He sat himself up with gradual strength and rested his attention on her.

As he kept his lifeless eyes locked on Yoori, Young Jae continued to plant more seeds of doubt and paranoia into Tae Hyun’s mind.

“Because, out of the two of you, the one that he trusts would break first is her. And even if she doesn’t break first, she is as good as dead right now. We both know that. You’ve done all that you can do for her. Now allow her the honor of doing all that she can do for you.” Young Jae narrowed his eyes and shifted the sword closer to Tae Hyun’s unmoving hand. His next words pulsated with urgency. “Finish her off and rule over this world once more. I promise you the life you had as a King is nothing compared to the life you would have as the Lord. You will be one of the most powerful men in this world. You will
literally
own the world.”

Tae Hyun remained quiet, his eyes still on Yoori when Young Jae added, “
There are
only five
minutes left, Tae Hyun
. You know that she isn’t walking out of this arena alive. Not when this entire Underworld is furious with her for pulling you down from grace and certainly not when I want her to suffer for what she did. She will die tonight anyway, so do yourself a favor and have her death be your saving grace.” His eyes returned to the sword. “Grab the sword and do what needs to be done. Make the right decision.”

“Do the right thing, Soo Jin,” Ji Hoon said into Yoori’s ear again. This time his plea was more urgent. “Grab the sword and finish him off. There are only five minutes left, and by the time there are thirty seconds left, both of you will die. Both of you will die anyway if you don’t kill him. So save yourself now and just do it.”

Yoori was still brokenly staring in Tae Hyun’s direction, just as he was staring at her. There was no movement between them, no uttering of words. All they did was drink in the sight of one another.

Then, as the seconds of life ticked away, a spark of realization ignited in Tae Hyun’s eyes. For the first time, his eyes displayed the unequivocal truth of what he accepted to be his reality.

He had
lost.

There was no more hope.
There were no other choices left for him
.

He slowly broke eye contact with Yoori and surveyed the world around him. He took inventory of everyone in attendance and how quiet they had become. And then, with a pained breath, his eyes came down to the sword sitting beside him—the one thing that could be his salvation, the one thing that could save his life. 

He stared at it, his expression becoming unreadable.

Then slowly . . .
very slowly . . .
just as a cold chill spread through the quiet amphitheater, his shaking hand extended out. His fingers wrapped around the sword before he eventually picked it off the ground. He gazed up, gradually locking eyes with Yoori as he raised himself from the ground. 

There was no more love in his hollow eyes, just brokenness and desperation.

After rising to his full height, he began to approach her. Never once did his dimmed eyes waver from hers.

“Welcome back, my King,” Young Jae said proudly, stepping to the side for Tae Hyun. His expression beamed of satisfaction with Tae Hyun’s decision.

Young Jae motioned a wave with his hand, and by then even Ji Hoon and Ju Won had left Yoori’s side. They stood far behind her and left her to sit there while she watched Tae Hyun approach her.

Yoori’s grief-stricken heart clenched as she watched his every advancing move. Anticipation mounted inside her
.
She had thought Tae Hyun would use the opportunity to turn around and attack Young Jae—or anyone for that matter—but he did no such thin
g
.

He merely kept walking, his focus solely on her.

Not making a move to retrieve her sword, Yoori simply sat there, waiting for him to reach her. Her heart drummed feverishly as it waited for the love of its life to come closer—even if it knew how broken he was, how desperate he was, and how likely it was that he was going to use the sword in his hand to kill it. Despite recognizing this, Yoori’s foolish heart—
just like her
—continued to wait for their Tae Hyun to come to them.

A sense of serenity flowed over Yoori.

She was already resolved to do everything in her power to keep him alive. Now that she was given the chance, she was ready to do whatever it took to guarantee his survival.

Dying for him would be worth it; dying to keep him alive would be completely worth it.

“Why did you come?” Tae Hyun finally uttered to her. His voice throbbed with despair as it moved throughout the arena. He was still approaching her slowly, his once hollow eyes now glazed with internal conflict. “You knew this was going to happen. You knew we weren’t going to win this war.”

Yoori didn’t say anything. She merely stared at him as he continued to approach her.

It’s better not to say anything,
she reasoned to herself.
It would be easier for him if I didn’t say anything.

“I told you not to come,” Tae Hyun went on, pain emitting from his tortured voice. He clutched onto the sword, more anguish slipping into his eyes when she said nothing back to him. “Not because I didn’t want you to get hurt, but because of the things I’m afraid I’d be willing to do when pushed past my limits . . .”

“Tae Hyun, it’s okay,” Yoori finally assured when she heard the grief in his voice. She did not want him to be broken over this. She hoped her assurance would make this easier for him. “I’m not mad at you.”

She
wanted
him to do this.

If her dying meant that he could live, then she would gladly do this for him. The only thing that ever mattered to her was him.

“I didn’t want you to see me like this,” he continued agonizingly. Guilt plagued his features as he watched her sit there, waiting for him. Never once did her hand make an effort to grab the sword beside her. “I didn’t want you to see me fall like this.”

Yoori nodded, never blaming Tae Hyun for any of this.

She wasn’t worth it.

She wasn’t worth any of this for him.

He did all that he could for her. He protected her more than anyone should; he loved her more than anyone else in this world should ever love her, and this was enough for her. It was enough to calm her, to prepare her body for the mortal ending that awaited it.

“I thought I was stronger than this . . . that I could overcome this.” The regret in his voice magnified the closer he got to her. “I thought I was strong enough to give all of this power up, but I realize now that I can’t—I can’t go like this. I can’t die like this. I can’t die a fallen God. I can’t die like any other human.”