The End of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 4) (9 page)

At the sight of this, Soo Jin merely laughed to herself. She inclined her head to silently say,
“I’m not even close to being done with you,”
and turned on her heels to continue with her night.

With a purposeful look, she continued to tread across the massive ballroom, the deafening silence burning into the eardrums of those in attendance. The soles of her boots met the five steps that led up to Ju Won’s majestic throne. She glided up the steps like it was her preordained birthright and stopped in front of the throne that seemingly beckoned for her to grace it with her presence.

Oh, yes . . .

She traced her fingers over the beloved chair that belonged to Ju Won—the very throne she had her eyes on for over a decade now. Soo Jin inhaled with delight and spun around to face her more than captive audience. She helped herself onto Ju Won’s seat, effortlessly exuding a formidable air that was only shared by the two Underworld Kings who sat on their respective thrones.

With no fear or inhibitions, she arrogantly lifted one bent leg up and rested an arm on it. She leisurely allowed her other leg to hang free from the throne, swaying it back and forth as her eyes measured the room.

Although she could no longer see the King of Serpents at the opposite end of the ballroom, she could clearly see the King of Skulls from the illumination of the moonlit rays behind him. When their gazes crossed, she favored him with an alluring smile before she allowed the wonder of the scene to cascade over her.
How she had missed this world and all the power that came with it . . .
From the corner of her eyes, she could see Ju Won seethe with anger at her complete show of disrespect. She laughed to herself. She couldn’t care less about his resentment. She was too delighted to return to her rightful station in life. This was where she belonged; this was what she was born to do. She was born to rule over this world.

She leaned against the gold frame of the throne and kept her deep brown eyes on the crowd in front of her. In doing so, An Soo Jin couldn’t have looked more powerful as she continued to hold her captive Underworld audience in the palms of her hands.

Seconds later, after what felt like an eternity, she finally decided to gift her influential world with her long awaited greeting.

“It’s been . . .
a very long time
,” she spoke lazily, her eyes half-closed. She continued to rest her head against the throne like it was a bed specifically made for her. Her voice undulated throughout the massive ballroom, sending chills up everyone’s spines. “When I left this world three years ago, I could’ve never anticipated how much this world would change.” She smiled, looking over to Ji Hoon. He was beaming in happiness at her favorable attention on him. “I could’ve never anticipated that out of the four top gangs, it would only be the Serpents and the Skulls who would remain, and I most certainly couldn’t have anticipated taking a three-year break when all this change was taking place.”

She sighed, pressing her hands against the armrests of the throne to lift herself up. She took two strides towards the edge of the platform to ensure that she was visible to everyone. Up above, she could see the crowd on the balconies lean their arms over the railing, moving themselves along to get a better view of her. She could see 1
st
layer crime lords, most of whom she knew all too well, smile to themselves. They sipped from their champagne glasses, murmuring to themselves that they should’ve known she wasn’t dead. She could see everyone’s elevated interest with her and what a powerful figure she still was in this world.

There was no way around it.

An Soo Jin captivated and fascinated the entirety of the Underworld. She commanded their fascination three years ago, and she continued to captivate them now.

“For those who don’t know, let me introduce myself,” she launched, her focus moving over the thousands of eyes that were glued on her. “My name is An Soo Jin. I have many nicknames in this world. I am known as the Princess of Scorpions, the Enforcer of the Scorpions, the Heartless Bitch of the Underworld, and of course, the Queen of the Underworld.” She continued with her purposeful speech, her voice becoming stronger with every word. “Those who know me already know of the legends that surround me, and those who don’t will never forget me after tonight. I may have died a Queen, but I’m returning as a God. I came here for a special purpose, and I, along with all of you, will not be leaving until I get what I want.”

She was well aware that this threat did not sit well with the alpha males and the alpha females of her world. Despite this knowledge, she didn’t give a flying fuck what sat well with them. Her throne was slipping out of her grasp, and she had to rectify this situation.

She turned to Ju Won, knowing that if anyone could fix this situation, it was him.

“Uncle,” she began respectfully, well aware that she was not on his good side. She had already infuriated him after disappearing for three years and concurrently pissed him off for sitting on his throne. She knew he was livid, but like all masterful charmers, she was unwilling to let all of that deter her from trying to get on to his good graces. “I understand that this is the eleventh hour, but you should know that I’m here especially for you, for that beloved anointment of yours that seemed to have taken this world by storm. I’m here to reclaim what was rightfully mine.” Her eyes teemed with rightful determination. “I want my throne.”

“Who is she?!” a voice suddenly roared from the back.

A big muscular man, who was dressed in a dark gray suit, appeared at the center of the room. His face was shrouded with outrage. He walked out further while some of his gang members attempted to pull him back. Regardless of their efforts, he easily thrust his arms away from their grasp and continued to stride through the ballroom like the pompous idiot he was. It was clear that he was a small-time gang leader in the Underworld—a novice who didn’t know that it was a grave mistake to interrupt the Queen of the Underworld while the stage was still hers.

Annoyance glinted in her eyes while her nose flared. Akin to watching a stupid child throw a tantrum in front of her, she quietly placed her hands on her hips and listened to the imbecile as he bantered on.

“How dare you walk in here like you own the place and demand to be considered as an heir—to be considered as our Lord when you have no gang or power of your own? Who the hell knows what you’ve been doing all these years?” He scoffed to himself. “Probably hiding out for all we know. We all know that the rumors about you are nothing but exaggerations, so don’t come in here and disrespect the two Kings who have actually
earned
the respect and power from our society.”

The infuriation in Soo Jin’s expression was palpable as Ju Won stole her attention.

“He has a point, Soo Jin,” he said while her eyes remained on the imbecile who interrupted her. “You’ve wasted three whole years. Your time has passed. I no longer have time to deal with you.”

“Three years were
stolen
from me,” she snapped, anger lining her fiery brown eyes. She turned to Ju Won. “
You
knew of my plans!” she gritted out. “It was foolproof . . . until I was betrayed.” The image of Anna came into her mind, and she pushed past it for the time being. She would deal with that backstabbing bitch later. For now, she had more pressing matters to take care of. She swallowed tightly, speaking in the respectful tone she knew would be her ticket to getting her way tonight. “But I’m here to make things right. It may have been three years, but you” —she looked around the room— “and everyone here, aside from that stupid imbecile right there” —the man scowled when she said this— “wouldn’t dare to question my rightful station in life . . . or my power.”

“You need to hold power over a gang, Soo Jin,” Dong Min finally interjected, his expression more gentle on her than the cold stare she was receiving from Ju Won. “Not just hold reverence over a society.”

“The Skulls and the Serpents are the two biggest gangs right now,” Jung Min answered as well, folding his arms together. His stare on her was expectant, borderline proud that she had finally made her return—regardless of how late it was. “We raised you better than this. We raised you to know that a King—or Queen—is only as powerful as their gang.”

Soo Jin expelled a dry laugh at the stupidity of the situation she was in.

It took all of her control to not raise her voice to a high falsetto tone and mock them. Her propensity to be a troublemaker aside, she understood that this wasn’t a savage society; this was a heavily domineering and political one. She was in the presence of people who were Royals in their stations in life and becoming too pompous and rude was out of the question—no matter how much her fighting skills and her ruthlessness may supersede others.

“So, all I need to do is form a gang of my own?” Soo Jin asked sweetly, keeping her emotions intact.

She didn’t wait for a response.

After she asked this, she eyed the bastard who dared to question her.

With blades of sharp daggers morphing in her cold eyes, she simply said, “Then kneel.”

“Excuse me?” he asked in outrage. He laughed to himself. “You have no control over—”

Swish!

The words lodged in his throat when Soo Jin, with predator-like swiftness, whipped a small knife from her pocket and threw it at him. The blade of the knife entered through his forehead like a perfectly angled bullet, finishing off when the sharp tip of the knife peeked out from the back of his head. With his eyes wide opened, his lifeless body crumpled to the floor as Soo Jin tilted her head with amusement.

There were no whispers or murmurs of amazement, nor were there gasps of horror over what had transpired. Her world was all but too used to seeing death displayed in front of them. And as for being surprised, it was clear that the entire crowd, apart from the dead imbecile, had anticipated that the man was living on borrowed time after he rudely interrupted An Soo Jin mid-speech.

“I wasn’t talking to you,” Soo Jin told his corpse with flippancy. Her hardened eyes rested on the twenty men standing in the corner—the ones who were the dead idiot’s gang members. “I was talking to them.”

Shaking in their stance while they eyed their boss’s dead body, all it took was for the Queen to say “kneel” again before twenty pairs of legs hit the floor and kneeled before her like she was a revered deity.

Soo Jin smirked, looking all across the room with challenging eyes. “Anyone else who objects to my presence and me reclaiming my rightful throne?” she asked, knowing that no one would say anything. “If you have any issues, I could have the same discussion with you.”

She was a walking dichotomy, and she knew it. She very well knew that people had described her as a devil with the face of an angel. She knew how contradicting she looked as she stood there, completely underdressed in a black hoodie that clearly belong to a man and black jeans and boots that unquestioningly belonged to a more innocent Princess—one who would never kill a man for simply disrespecting her.

The hushed silence was her answer when she saw the entertained smiles on the faces of the crowd around her. Based on how some of the 1
st
layer heirs on the balconies were staring at her with desire in their eyes and how some of the 1
st
layer heiresses were gazing at her with idolizing eyes, Soo Jin knew she was more than making their night. Her return brought forth a fabled legend that was so widespread around her world that even those outside her society had heard of her. The Queen that everyone once thought was dead . . . was back. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to decipher that the elders in the Underworld and the future of the Underworld were extremely pleased with this turn of events. They lived for historic nights, and this night was proving to be the most historic of all.

Marveling in a similar state, she looked at Ju Won, whose face had already softened after bearing witness to what she did and the power she easily displayed. “I have a gang now.”

“Don’t insult us, An Soo Jin,” a familiar male voice boomed from the opposite corner of the room.

Something in her gut clenched at the condescending voice. Even though she was surprised with who it was that spoke, she was also pleased with the prospect of such a comment.

With an amused smile on her face, she lifted her hand up and motioned a wave with it, a silent command for the attendees blocking her view to move aside.

Like parting waters, they adhered to the silent command, giving Soo Jin an unobstructed view of the King of Serpents.

He was still sitting in his seat, looking as powerful and indomitable as ever. His eyes—cold and unfeeling like hers—were glued on her. She could see his nine Cobras standing on the ground floor beside him, and she could see the hatred in their eyes.

“Insult you?” she asked carefully, scrutinizing the demeanor Kwon Tae Hyun wore. Even though she
was
insulting him, she refused to gracefully accept him calling her out. A cruel laughter echoed into the ballroom as she regarded him with hateful fire in her eyes. “I haven’t even
begun
to insult you.”

“Your twenty-something gang members are a joke compared to the real players in the game,” he went on, deliberately ignoring her last comment. “You’re not only wasting the Underworld’s time, but I would daresay you’re wasting my time as well. You left this world three years ago for a reason, and I promise you will leave it again tonight. This isn’t three years prior. You may have reverence, but you do not have an Underworld army to govern. Go home, Princess. This is no longer your world, and as long as I’m in it, it won’t ever be your world again.”