Prince of The Abyss

”I had no intention of voting, but... what you’ve done is unforgivable, I can’t forgive you.”

Aether gritted his teeth as he slammed his fist onto the table, yet on the inside, he was smiling brightly.

The detective was dead; he had killed him last night. He had been a great threat since the beginning, but he was able to manipulate him, and when he finally saw the truth, it was too late.

Even if he hadn’t checked his card, he would have still killed him soon, for confusion. The detective was meant to die after there was only one left out of the three people who had remained together, the ones who had voted for the boy at the beginning.

His plan had been simple; when only one remained, he was going to kill Praise, so that way, he wouldn’t have the chance to tell the others that none was the Abyss all this time, which automatically meant he, the only one whom he hadn’t checked, was the killer.

The thing was, he wasn’t going to let the last person of the alliance die; he was going to create chaos among the detective’s followers. Their leader had been killed, so they weren’t in the best state.

...

The voting round had gone just as he had expected, with one of the members of the alliance being voted out. The thing was, that then it was his time to kill someone... but who?

The mother was important; her being the mayor could give a third vote whenever he needed, so he definitely couldn’t kill her. He also couldn’t kill the last member; he needed him for his plan.

So that left the office worker, and the teenage girl...

While the office worker could prove as a pawn he could control, this he proved since the beginning, when he had almost helped him vote someone out in the first round...

But he didn’t think control was what he needed; after all, he had done everything because of chaos, things had gone this way because not everyone could think straight under pressure. So... he needed someone to keep the chaos, someone who wasn’t on good terms with anyone, and that could help him win in the end.

...

When the lights turned on, only four remained, which meant that along the way, his teammate had died, since if he was still alive, the game would have ended. He didn’t care, after all, he had done everything alone until now, so it wasn’t such a big deal.

But what was important was who remained.

Himself, the mother, the teenage girl, and the last member of the alliance. The office worker was dead. In everyone’s eyes, it was simple who it was.

But before they could vote, the sound of a bubble being popped echoed through the room, followed by some words that would flip his plan around.

”Ugh, if that useless detective had just checked the card of the Abyss, we wouldn’t have had to get this far. My time is precious, you know? He’d better pay me in that grave of his.”

...

...

”How dare you?”

The mother got up from the chair, grabbed the girl by her collar, and raised her fist to punch her.

”After everything he had done for you, you dare say such a thing about him after he sacrificed himself. You disgust me... we should have voted you the first round.”

Her grip tightened, bringing her closer to her face, as she stared right into her eyes. She had wanted to say more, but had stopped when her child started to cry. Quickly realizing what she was doing.

She let go, not without giving her a last warning, going back to her seat to try and calm her baby down.

While it hadn’t lasted long, he knew that their trust was already broken, and it couldn’t be fixed, so he needed to get things done quickly.

”Alright, let’s just... get things over and go home.”

He raised, pointing to the last member of the alliance.

Seeing this, the man frowned, but then looked at the other two with pleading eyes.

”Don’t vote for me! Trust me, this... demon, he’s nothing but a devil, he’s been tricking us all this time. We have to vote him out!”

Aether had expected him to do this, and he had also expected him to vote for him.

’My first vote... damn, there goes my perfect match.’

But while he was sad about not being able to win flawlessly, he wasn’t scared that the other two would vote for him, after all, they weren’t stupid, not smart, but good enough to see things... let’s say clearly, even if in really their reality, it’s much different than it actually is.

And he was right to be confident, as the teenage girl had followed his word and voted with him. It was to be expected; she was someone who didn’t have patience, who voted with the crowd to get things done... but she, even if he would have been nervous, the actual danger wasn’t her, but the mother.

If she voted for him, that would mean a tie, and his death...

But he was sure she wouldn’t vote for him.

...

...

And she didn’t, but she had also not voted with him.

...

She had instead voted for the teenage girl, taking everyone by surprise.

Aether stared dumbfounded, not realizing just what had happened. He didn’t know if he was seeing things or if she had really done something so stupid.

”W...what did you do?”

He said, gritting his teeth.

”I’m just getting rid of a pest. And why are you even mad? Both will be eliminated, so we will still win... I just can’t let her survive after what she had done this whole game...”

...

The teenage girl had been taken aback, after all, it was hard thinking of something to say, knowing that you would soon die... all she could do was close her eyes, and curse.

...

But when she opened her eyes, she was still surprised, with only the three of them remaining... or rather four.

”You’re joking...”

Aether’s eyes widened as he looked at the mother’s baby, who was also pointing to the now dead body of the last member of the alliance.

Had the baby been a player all this time? But why, he couldn’t even say a word, but moreover, play a game! And if he were a player, had he gotten a role, if so, when? And there had only been twenty cards at the start, so just how could he have even gotten a role?

He couldn’t understand a thing.

And before he could, the host had come back.

”... Congrats to the Abyss, you have been able to kill the civilians one by one, until their number was equal to yours... You have won the game.”

...

”I can’t... believe this.”

Aether stared at the baby... held by his dead mother.

All this time... the second member of the Abyss had been the baby... that was why he wasn’t trying to kill anyone each night. But if so, then had there been twenty-one players all this time...

But then, how had the baby been chosen as the Abyss... had The King picked the card for him?

...

He didn’t even know what to say... he was dumbfounded, he hadn’t expected this ending to the game...

”I must say... I am truly impressed.”

Aether jerked, quickly turning around to look at the fisherman.

”What are you doing here... why are you back?”

The King tilted his head, looking at him like a lost dog.

”What do you mean, didn’t say I’ll answer your question if you won the game... that’s what I’m doing, Aether. I’ll tell you where the Queen card is.”

...

Aether swallowed nervously. He didn’t know what to expect; he wondered if he was going to feel disappointed by his answer now after he had done so much to get it.

”The Queen card... doesn’t exist, Aether... or rather, she is the Queen herself. But now that you know this... what are you going to do? Fight me, or are you going to just ignore what I said, and continue to hunt after someone who only exists in your mind?”

...

’What?’

How? His past self had been the one to choose all the Knights... so then how had she infiltrated his ranks? She even had a bedroom; her presence was noticed in the bunkers... so how was that possible... it didn’t make sense.

...

Or did it?

It would explain how the Children of Praise found the Sun, and why they had to move so often from the Queen’s troops finding them.

So... had she known everything that had happened until now? Has she been tricking them from the beginning?

...

...

”I see you can’t think of anything... as expected.”

The King summoned a blade and brought it to his neck.

”...I trust you, Aether, that you will be able to kill The Queen, and avenge us all.”

”Wait, I need your card! I need to know what happened in the past! You can’t just leave me like this! I need the full truth, not fractions of it!”

...

...

”You know, Aether, some things are better unsaid.”