Free The End of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 4) by Con Template Page B

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,