(LeoN/NEO) The World of Us

[Chapter XI] - The World In Which He Lives In

"Is he awake yet?"

Taekwoon could hear a voice as he tried to wake up from his blurred vision.

As he slowly opened his eyes, the lights in the room blinded him. What happened to me? He vaguely remembers what happened before passing out but have no clue as to why. But he finally did it. He has successfully slain the Ruler of the Underworld, his father. All for the sake of his own selfishness and desperation in which he could not control.

As he gently lifted his body to sit up, the door opened.

"You finally woke up. You've been sleeping for three days straight you know? We were worried." Ravi enters the room along with Hyuk by his side. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. What happened?" Taekwoon asked.

Ravi sighed.

"You passed out. That's what happened. The power of the Moon was too much for you to handle so you fainted the moment you touched it. Anyways, even I can't get near it yet, so we left it where it is at the moment until we can figure out a way to properly dismantle it from the gargoyle's mouth."

"I see..," Taekwoon disappointed to hear that he was still too weak even after all the training he went through.

"But we have something else you might want to worry about though..." Ravi said as he looked straight into Taekwoon's eyes worrying about something.

"Hmm?"

"You do realize... we killed your father. Who was technically the Ruler of the Underworld right?"

* * * * * *

Of course, Taekwoon remembers. The once feared and merciless Ruler of the Underworld was no more. Rumors began to travel throughout the Underworld, both the living and the dead. The merciless man was slain by his own son, his own blood. They were in an uproar. No one would have guessed that Taekwoon had it in him. That Jung Taekwoon, who was both timid and powerless. When they found out that Taekwoon killed his own father, the people began to fear that the sleeping lion has finally awakened.

Soon enough, Taekwoon decided to dismiss all the old maids and housekeepers within the mansion in order to cease of any gossips they were to bring. Besides Hyuk and Ravi, the mansion was now empty from any other forms of life. Ravi agreed to stay at the mansion with Taekwoon since he no longer felt the need to hide away in the swamps and the mansion had an entire library for him to do his research and experiments.

With Taekwoon's father gone, it was only right that Taekwoon would replace him as the new Ruler of the Underworld. But Taekwoon had another objective in mind. He didn't care for the power nor the status. He allowed Ravi to look after political matters and assigned a few trusted officials to handle the job. After all, Taekwoon's one and only purpose were going through to the other side.

The mortal realm.

* * * * * *

Preparing to get to the other side required more work than Taekwoon had initially thought though. It wasn't an easy task and needed time to make sure everything was going smoothly.

"The key through that door was sealed and kept away by someone else a long time ago. He's been missing for a while so there's no way we can take it from him. Without the key, the door won't open. But there is a way we can get you through to the other side. For example, how does the dead arrive from the other side to the Underworld? Upstream and through the gates at the end of the River Styx. Although the living cannot enter it, we have a chance now. With the power of the Moon, we can create a barrier to protect you while you enter the gates. But you will only have a limited amount of time to make it across so you need to hurry before the barrier disappears. If it disappears, you'll be trapped in there forever. It seems risky but this is the only way for you to get through." Ravi suggested.