The End of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 4) (8 page)

“Oh shit! Did that just really happen? I thought they were going to fight when this night ended?”

“Crap! I missed it!”

All around, the commotion from the audience surrounded them. Everyone was surprised by the unexpected violence from the typically composed King of Serpents.

The fire raging in Ji Hoon’s eyes came from the depths of hell. He glared at Tae Hyun, his fury growing by the second. “You fucking—”

Unafraid of the anger he elicited, Tae Hyun inclined his head challengingly as if saying, “
Talk about Yoori again, and I’ll break every bone in your face
.”

“Tae Hyun! What the fuck did you just do?!” Jung Min shouted, staring from the side in horror. He pushed past the crowd and ran over to his newly assaulted advisee in disbelief.

Behind him, Dong Min, along with several other Advisors, stifled chuckles of pure amusement.

“Bad reflexes,” Tae Hyun replied innocently, unabashed by the stares he garnered from the attendees.

Hiding a satisfied smile, he sighed before shaking his punching hand off and grabbing a champagne glass off the silver platter held by a passing waiter.

Tae Hyun smirked mockingly, raising his glass towards Ji Hoon, who was spitting out a thousand curses. He tried to push past his Advisor and his Skulls, all of whom were trying to help tend to his wounds, and charge at Tae Hyun. He wanted to bestow him with a nose-breaking assault of his own. His Advisor kept him at bay, telling him that he had to clean himself up instead of making matters worse.

“It was nice talking to you,” Tae Hyun said nonchalantly, smirking one last time at Ji Hoon. He turned on his heels and casually walked away from the scene as if nothing took place.

“If Yoori was here, you wouldn’t have exploded like that,” Hae Jin whispered coolly, veering through the crowd and walking alongside him. She glanced over her shoulder and saw a dozen people, girls included, fighting to help tend to Ji Hoon’s wound. She grinned to herself. She kept her pace with her brother while laughing at the hilarity of the scene. “But boundaries of politics aside, it’s nice to see you show that bastard who the Alpha King is. How did that feel?”

“Satisfying,” Tae Hyun answered contently, drinking from his champagne glass. “Like I just wiped shit off the soles of my shoes.”

“At least you did one thing right tonight,” said Hae Jin as they strolled through the crowd.

Smiling at her approving words, Tae Hyun held his little sister close to him for the next hour as they socialized with the powerful elites of Korea and thoroughly ignored the violent tension that had infiltrated the room.

“And if Yoori was here,” he added to his sister, unknowing to himself that he was not only speaking freely about his ex-girlfriend with warmth in his eyes, but he was also unknowingly predicting a potential event that was likely to occur in the near future, “she’d slap the shit out of him.”

“You can hide . . .”

02: The Return of the Queen

The evening was quite peaceful as it lingered on.

Ji Hoon had retreated to the back room with some of his Skulls and a couple of 1
st
layer Princesses, all of whom were more than willing to help nurse his wounds. Meanwhile, Tae Hyun had traveled up and down the grand staircase to converse with his Underworld associates. Despite the attention of some young ladies who were intent on flirting with him, Tae Hyun paid no mind to them as he walked around, ignoring their advances as though he was a taken man.

It wasn’t until near the end, when he noticed a familiar heavenly aroma from the bar, did he finally show some strain in his normally composed face. He recognized the scent as the heavenly tea that he and a certain girl loved so much.

Looking around the rotunda ball that was filled with people who revered him like a God, Tae Hyun couldn’t have looked lonelier as he drank the last of his champagne, gave up on the wearisome duties of conversing with people, and ordered a cup of the famous Underworld tea. He quietly walked up the steps leading to the platform and sat down on his throne. Around him, the party continued animatedly. The lights were dimmed, and the area he was sitting in was considerably dark. Few could see him, and no one was looking in his direction in that suspended moment in time.

The brief concealment liberated him, for he was lost.

Lost while drinking his tea, lost while touching his lips, and lost while his thoughts took over his reality. He was on the verge of being completely adrift when the party finally reached its climax. The moment everyone had been waiting for had finally come to fruition.

“Ladies and gentlemen, may we have your attention, please?”

The volume in the rotunda ball began to die down under the microphone-enhanced voice of Shin Jung Min. Once he garnered the attention of the room, he handed the microphone to his brother. Dong Min was standing beside him on the same platform, facing the entire Underworld in attendance. Behind them, the speckles of the city night glowed like a picturesque mural in the backdrop.

“Please gather around because I think this will be a moment in time that we all want to treasure,” Dong Min said proudly, smiling at the crowd.

Everyone murmured in excitement and agreement. They all knew what was about to take place.

While Tae Hyun was already in his seat, Ji Hoon had emerged from the back room, completely washed up. Even if it was clear that his nose was killing him, the King of Skulls was intent on sitting through the ceremony—something he did with angry pride after he sat down on his throne and looked up at the stage ahead of him.

With his seat still empty, Ju Won stood proudly on the platform with the Shin brothers. All eyes were focused on the stage as the lights dimmed almost completely. The spotlight was firmly focused on Ju Won, who was accepting the microphone from Dong Min. He thanked the brothers for their help before they took their places on either side of him. Albeit the Shin brothers had become respected crime lords in their own rights, when in the presence of Ju Won, they would always be his loyal soldiers.

An undulation of cheers and applauses rang through the colossal estate once Ju Won took the stage.

“You’re all very kind,” Ju Won voiced humbly, nodding at all the applause. He motioned his hand up, wordlessly asking for silence as he continued to deliver his speech. “As we all know, the reason for this big celebration is not only to celebrate my humble birth, but to also celebrate the birth of someone else: the new heir to my throne and quite possibly the new Lord of our world.”

The room grew silent with anticipation.

The moment everyone had been waiting for had arrived, and they were all giving Ju Won their undivided attention—all except the King of Serpents, who was merely staring off into space, utterly lost in his own thoughts as Ju Won continued to make the speech that others had spent years waiting for.

“The decision between our two Kings has been a difficult one for me—as I’m sure it’s been for the rest of our world seeing as that the distribution of power for our two Kings has been about the same.” His lips stretched into a prideful smile. “But all of that will change tonight. In announcing my new heir, I am in high hopes that because of my years of service for our society, the entire Underworld will heed my support, trust my judgment, and support this chosen King as the new Lord of our world. I only want the best for our society, and I trust that this King will be a force to be reckoned with in the outside world. I trust my future in his hands, and I trust our entire livelihood under his governance.”

Ju Won’s smile grew wider as the eagerness in the room intensified.

“Without further ado,” he said, staring directly at Tae Hyun, who wasn’t even paying attention to the speech. “I’m pleased to announce the heir to my throne—”

BOOM!

Sounds of the doors blasting open stole everyone’s attention.

In a fleeting second, the room collapsed into silence as several things happened at once.

Ju Won had ceased with his speech.

Breaths hilted in the chests of the Underworld populace while all eyes averted from Ju Won and landed on the opened, two-story-high doorway. The stream of light from the hallway filtered into the entrance area of the rotunda room, acting as the awaiting carpet for the attendees to come.

As this took place, Ji Hoon had instinctively angled his head towards the noise. Behind Ju Won, Dong Min and Jung Min’s eyes had grown perplexed at the sudden interruption. And Tae Hyun, who wasn’t even paying attention to the speech, was dragged out of his stupor when the intenseness of the noise garnered his attention.

He lifted his head up and casted his eyes over to the entrance of the door that was half a ballroom away from him. Hae Jin, who was standing near the stairs that led up to his throne, stared up as well. Although Tae Hyun’s seat was closest to the entrance, that did not mean he had the best vantage point to see everything clearly. On the contrary, he was the one who had the worst possible angle. Still sitting calmly in his seat and refusing to crane his neck out like everyone else in the room, Tae Hyun stared at the doors that were held ajar. Curiosity glowed in his reserved eyes.

The silent, yet powerful, ambiance taunted the anticipatory air until—

“Augh!”

Sounds of groaning echoed in the dark halls before five of Ju Won’s bodyguards tumbled into the rotunda room. Their faces were utterly smashed in, their guttural breathing indicating that they were on the brink of blacking out. Albeit shadows veiled them, one could clearly see the torrent of blood dripping from their jaws.

Ju Won’s eyes expanded at the sight of this. The rest of the Underworld shared this reaction. In that collective and vigilant stillness, sounds of people cocking their guns vibrated throughout the room. An Underworld event was never the place for anyone to disturb the peace. As the unspoken bylaws went, any undue interruption during an Underworld event was punishable by death. The Royals in attendance were known to be vicious and utterly unforgiving. All had arrogant personalities and hated having their night interrupted. For anyone who dared to piss them off, especially with more than a thousand of them gathered together, there would be absolute hell to pay—hell in the form of a painful, torturous, and slow death.

“Augh . . .”

As if foreseeing the arrival of the one who attacked them, the groaning bodyguards began to crawl away from the door. A second later, the flickering light surrounding the doorstep suddenly darkened when a pair of black boots stepped into the light. The silhouette of the new attendee appeared at the doorway.

If it was possible, the anticipation in the room amplified. And if it was even more possible, the prestige and power in the air was multiplied fifty times over with this dark silhouette’s presence.

The Underworld populace should have started shooting, but there was a certain enchantment this uninvited guest had over them. Rather than shooting the intruder, they allowed her presence to arrest their attention.

The King of Serpents was not immune to this intruder’s magnetism. His unyielding interest was all hers, which was surprising given that he rarely gifted his undivided attention to anyone. He furrowed his brows and inclined his head at the dark silhouette. All he could make out was a shadowy figure. Regardless of the fact that he couldn’t see the individual’s face, he couldn’t take his eyes off her as she sauntered haughtily into the ballroom.

The intruder was dressed in a pair of simple black jeans, boots, and a black hoodie. In the background, two bodyguards trailed three paces behind her, their faces obscured by shadows. The further she advanced into the room, the clearer it became to her spellbound audience that it was indeed a woman who captivated their attention. The young woman was ordinarily dressed, but the extraordinary air that exuded from her was undeniable. It was the only reason why the ruthless Underworld crowd had yet to open fire on her.

Marching into the room like she owned the world, she carelessly stepped over the backs of the men she assaulted. Though her facial features were not yet visible, the familiarity that many felt from her was what mesmerized the room. Those on the ground floor instinctively stepped out of the way, allowing her a pathway from the entrance towards the center of the room.

As the audience tracked her every movement, they could see her silhouette turn to face Ju Won, whose eyes became even more massive when he realized
who
he was staring at. She approached the residual lights from the podium, and they could vaguely see her smirk. When she looked over to the King of Skulls, who stood up and stared at the dark figure like she was a figment of his imagination, the Underworld populace could see the smirk grow on her face. The King of Skulls’ eyes were filled with incredulity. He could not believe any of this was really happening. However shocked he was, his reaction was nothing compared to the King of Serpents’ reaction. Shock filled Tae Hyun’s gaze after the young woman stepped into the trail of light that led up to Ju Won’s throne.

Without warning, she stopped midway. While she paused in her stance, her two right-hand men, Kang Min and Jae Won, continued to walk ahead, each taking their places on either side of the steps leading up to Ju Won’s seat.

Then finally, as the atmosphere in the room became intolerable, the intruder slowly spun on her heels, allowing the warmth of the light to illuminate on her porcelain skin. The light washed over her features, gradually revealing her face to the spellbound crowd.

A tidal wave of gasps permeated the room when they realized who they were in the presence of.

It was not just a woman; it was a God—an immortal legend in their world.

“Oh my God . . .”

“Is that—?”

“But she died!”

“It can’t be . . .”

“The Queen is back.”

The Queen’s exhilarated brown eyes ran over the disbelieving gazes of those who stood on the balcony. Her focus lowered to the stunned attendees who stood on the staircases and streamed down to all the ones on the ground floor. The sensuous curve of a wicked smile appeared on her beautiful face as she bathed in the spotlight. Then, with tactical deliberation, she straightened her stance to an angle where she was standing parallel from the one who had yet to see the full features of her face and the one who mattered the most.

While standing half a ballroom away from him, she allowed her emotionless eyes to land on the King of Serpents. His hands were gripping at the golden armrests of his throne, and he looked like he was watching her with bated breath. 

At that frozen moment in time, the world around them receded. All that existed was the emotionless gaze An Soo Jin held on him, and the faint daze-like gaze Kwon Tae Hyun held on her.

His stupefied eyes took in the black hoodie she wore, the dark jeans, the boots, and the bodyguards who stood beside her. Then, at long last, his eyes returned to her cold ones. The daze in his eyes became replaced with a look of unquestionable desolation. A heavy breath escaped from his lungs. His strained expression and the tense tightening of his jaw conveyed that the great King had just realized that this was the girl he prayed he would never come across again. And if his expression was any indication, then it was clear that he no longer recognized her as the innocent girl he left. He viewed her as the heartless, legendary Queen who had just made her return to the Underworld.

He knew she was no longer his ex-lover.

She was now his enemy—and a powerful one at that.

Acutely aware of what was running through his mind, Soo Jin grinned cruelly at him. Her silent eyes promised him that she had nothing but ill intentions with her return. Her homecoming brought back a reckoning, and he was going to be the principal target of her war.

A million different emotions rippled in his eyes. Yet, after swallowing tightly, Tae Hyun did not release any sign of emotions and pressed his back against his chair, becoming resolute about something. An abrupt coldness teemed in the contents of his eyes. It was evident that he had not only pushed back his human emotions, but he also remembered clearly that this was the woman who killed his mother. The anger became strongly prominent on his facial features. They continued to remain that way as he averted his gaze from her, no longer deeming her worthy of his attention.