The War of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 3)

The War of Gods

A Welcome to the Underworld Novel

Book 3

Con Template

Also by Con Template:

Welcome to the Underworld, Book 1

The Fall of Gods, Book 2 of Welcome to the Underworld

Copyright © 2014
Con Template

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 1495317145

ISBN-13:
978-1495317149

Cover Photo by:
Con Template

Cover Illustration Design by: Dorothy Duong

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced without the written permission of the Author.

Dedicated to
My Sister,

Because it is my biggest honor to call you my sister.

Acknowledgements

The publication of The War of Gods could not have been possible without the
unwavering love from my family. Thank you for spoiling me every single day with your love, affections, and your unending support. Thank you to my mom for being so awe-inspiring, to my dad for being so amazing, and to my sister for being my “Holy Trinity”—my best friend, my mentor, and my partner-in-crime.

Kevin N., every time I work on the Welcome to the Underworld novels, I am reminded of you and how much I miss you. Thank you for that majestic card that you sent us—we love it so much. Stay strong, stay safe, and please come home soon. We miss you. 

To all my friends—thank you for all the laughs, the heartfelt memories, and all our silly adventures. It is an absolute gift to have you in my life—you’re all wonderful!

A massive “Thank You” is owed to my beloved beta readers: Jocelyn H., Anita Law, Anna
Chanthakhoun
, Annie Park, Ghetty Hilaire, Jamie Lee, Kim Tong, My-Trinh Nguyen, Vivian T. Hoang, Melanie, Yanny Zhang, Maria L. Loo, Joules, Tiffany H., Cindy Thi Cao, Julie Doan
,
Shirley L.,
Theresa, Grace Suh, Sandra, Kix Choi, and Vicky Chow.
This book couldn’t have come this far without all your time, dedication, generous help, and genuine love for the story. Thank you so much again!

As always, thank you to my graphic artist, Dorothy Duong. I could never express enough gratitude for all that you’ve gifted to me. Thank you for
always
giving me something better than I could envision and thank you for being an amazing friend in the process. Your masterpieces leave me in awe every single time, and I cannot wait to finish the final cover with you. Thank you a million times over again.

To Solangel—Publishing a book can be a whirlwind journey. There are the really outstanding moments, and then there are the really frustrating moments. Thank you for constantly being there for me during all those whirlwind moments, for lending an ear of support, for giving me so much encouragements, and for always being such a positive force. I feel unbelievably lucky to have your kind support, and I cannot wait to share in more whirlwind journeys with you!

Last and never least, thank you to all my wonderful readers for opening your hearts to Welcome to the Underworld. I can’t believe we’re already on the third book. Every single day, I find myself humbled by your unending support, awe-inspiring messages, and kind encouragements. I never feel like I deserve so much love from all of you—but I’m grateful for it everyday. None of this could have come to fruition without you. Thank you for taking part in this journey with me—I can’t wait to finish it with you in the final book!

CONTENTS

“
Our world isn’t a society where love conquers all.”

00: Fallen Gods

He remained quiet while he stood atop one of the tallest buildings in the city. His dark brown eyes watched as a young woman sped away in a silver taxicab. His eyes moved over to the King of Serpents. The infamous King stood quiet, dazed, and broken. It looked like someone had just ripped the heart out of the Underworld Royal.

A gust of wind rippled over the roof, blowing away the snow that once layered the silent observer’s hooded black jacket. His face was obscured by shadows. His
only visible feature was a gold ring piercing on his lower lip and a scar of the number “57” that covered most of his left cheek.

He balled his fists as he watched the taxicab disappear out of sight. C
oldness seeped into his eyes. He extracted a silver flip-phone from his pocket and dialed. As the phone rang, his eyes strayed downward to the barefoot King of Serpents sitting on the hood of a snow-covered car. He looked miserable with his face buried into his hands.

“What is it?” a
female voice answered over the phone, snapping the man from his stupor.

“She’s alive,” h
e whispered, getting right to the point.

“
Who?”

Hatred saturated his voice.
“The Queen.”

A
short, uncomfortable pause came over the line. “That’s
. . .
That’s impossible. She died in Taecin. In the fire
. . .
she died. No one could have survived the fires we set.”

“Somehow
she did survive,” he stated firmly. His voice pulsed with scorn. “And she’s back in Seoul.”

“Why
. . .
Why are you calling about this?” she stuttered. “Why aren’t you going after her?”

“The King of Serpents was with her.”

His eyes returned downward when he heard the sound of shattering glass. The Underworld King had punched his fist into the window of a parked car. Blood oozed from his clenched fist. He did not appear to be affected by the physical injury, but his face still reflected pain from a different source. Perhaps from the one who just left him.

There was a long pause on the other
end at the mention of the King of Serpents. “And he isn’t anymore?”

The man withdrew his eyes from
Kwon Tae Hyun.

“Just gather everyone,” h
e said instead, absently running his fingers over his scar. The thirst for vengeance seared in his eyes. “We have unfinished business to take care of.”

Apprehensive silence occupied the line. “But b
oss—”

“
I’ll personally deal with him,” the man assured, cutting the woman off. His jaw clenched as he cast one final glance at Tae Hyun.

“Right now
, all that matters is making An Soo Jin pay for what she did three years ago.”

“It is a cruel world. .
.”

01: Enjoy Your Coffin

When faced with the adversities of life, most people turn to the likes of alcohol to take them unto a world where the pain becomes numbed, nonexistent.

Always a firm believer in maintaining control, Choi Yoori opted out of the “
get-my-ass-drunk-because-my-life-sucks” therapy and gravitated toward something healthier. In lieu of wallowing in a bar somewhere, Yoori chose to immerse herself in a world where there were stories that were bigger than hers, stories that could con her reality and momentarily shield her from her problems. A local library proved key to this therapeutic endeavor.

It had
been three weeks since the altercation between herself and her former crime lord boss, Kwon Tae Hyun. After months of being together, she discovered that he purposely sought her out, blackmailed her into being his assistant, and used her because of her resemblance to the Queen of the Underworld, An Soo Jin. Though it turned out that Yoori was indeed the missing Queen who somehow acquired amnesia, it did not lessen the blow of the discovery. She had fallen for him—hard. To find out that he had used her like a fool since the beginning was a difficult pill to swallow. Needless to say, their breakup was as volatile as an exploding car.

Since the dispute, Yoori returned to her cramped apartment and did
her best to get some semblance of her life back. Regrettably, Tae Hyun made such an attempt difficult for Yoori. Instead of disappearing from her life, he continued to make his presence known by ensuring that she was well taken care of. It was likely because of a guilty conscience, but he not only made sure that her bank account was stocked with enough money to last her for years, he also sent over a messenger days later with the key to his black Mercedes convertible.

Yoori was
initially too pissed off to even look at the car. Once she calmed down, she rationalized that it was safer for her to be at the library late at night with her own car as opposed to taking any public transportation. She may be stubborn and prideful, but she wasn’t stupid. Aware of the dangers around her, she knew that having the car would decrease the amount of trouble she could find herself in. Though she had more than enough funds to purchase a brand new car, Yoori convinced herself that she should keep the Mercedes because she wanted to save money for emergencies. Deep down, she couldn’t deny the warm feeling that came over her whenever she was in the car. She chose not to examine why she felt that way. She merely convinced herself that it was because she was in love with the car, not the previous owner.

Yoori made her peace with accepting Tae Hyun’s car, but
adjusting to the other aspects of her life proved to be difficult. She hadn't realized how comfortable she had grown in Tae Hyun’s apartment until she started to feel like a stranger in her own. She also couldn’t stop thinking about how her best friend was raped because of her, how she singlehandedly killed eleven men, and how she found out about Tae Hyun’s betrayal. It didn’t help that she had no one to vent to. Her only saving grace was the library and the escape she found in the stories living there.