Chapter 27: What Follows Fear
Marie was utterly exhausted. This day had turned out to be one of the hardest in her life, and that said something. After the whole debacle in Tiara, the Princess had not left them alone but gathered them all at their camp. Since Sevrin had already done enough damage for one day, she had to take matters into her own hands, just to make sure no one actually died tonight. And, of course, it was her own fault, because she had seen it coming, but what could she have done? She knew Sevrin was not dumb, but somehow, he had become more and more unstable. His judgment had grown clouded, and it was nothing like when she had first met him.
No, he had changed. She could still remember that day clearly, when she had agreed to help him establish the cult, and in hindsight it was almost funny how she had thought that would solve everything. Sevrin and she had shared a dream back then—to change their fate and take revenge on everyone who had wronged them. So, they made a plan, and they swore to summon the Princess of the Abyss. That was the day they founded their cult, The Children of the Abyss. It had only been a far-fetched dream, and deep inside, Marie had never truly believed they would succeed. It had been more of an escape from the streets, where she had lived for almost two years.
Really, those had been easier times, and she had learned a bitter truth since then: that chasing a dream was sometimes better than reaching it. They had succeeded against all odds, and what had happened? Sevrin had gone more and more insane, and they had probably summoned the doom of the whole world.
When the Princess had joined them by the fire instead of simply dropping her and Sevrin back at their camp, Marie had watched her transform once more into her demonic form. The Demoness was stunning, but something about looking at her felt deeply wrong. Not only because she was a being that should not walk this world, but also because Marie could not shake off the memory of that terror, the moment when the Princess had sprung onto the table yesterday in the dining room of the merchant’s house and declared that they were nothing but servants in her eyes. The feeling had been so overwhelming, so cold and absolute, that she knew she would never forget it. It had been so sudden and unnatural, the way that primal fear and utter terror had gripped them all until they lost consciousness. And now, every time she looked at the Princess, she felt it again. Those few moments had probably traumatized her for life. So, the Demon Princess had become the one thing in this world she feared the most.
But at least the evening went calmer than she had expected. Somehow, the frightening being in the form of the Demon Princess was more composed and thoughtful than Marie had anticipated. It was almost as if the Princess was sad, but Marie didn’t dare lower her guard, so she was the one who spoke first. She answered the Princess’s strange questions as best as she could.
Finally, when the evening began to end, the Princess told them they would need a house. Marie’s heart almost stopped. For a moment, she thought the Princess was serious about making them cut wood and build a shack in the middle of the night. Was the Princess showing her true colors now, after the act before? The others must have thought the same, because no one moved and everyone looked terrified.
But instead of giving orders, the Princess stepped away from the fire, raised her hand, and a glowing circle appeared before her. The ground trembled, light spread, and a dark stone house slowly rose out of the earth. It looked just like her mansion, only smaller, with pointed arches and black walls that caught the firelight.
For a few seconds, no one spoke. Then Sevrin began to laugh—loud, unsteady, and half-crazed—shouting praise and titles that made everyone else shrink away. Marie could only bury her face in her hands. She knew what would come next, and she had to stop it before the Princess got angry. So, she stepped forward, put a hand on his shoulder, and forced him to bow with her.
When the Princess finally turned around and walked toward her own mansion, Marie’s thoughts went wild.
Ahhh, damn, damn, damn, fucking damn! she thought, pressing her hand against her forehead while she watched the Demon Princess walk away. Why am I so weak? Why the fuck am I so pathetic? Why am I so fucking afraid of her…?
But she caught herself when a realization struck her.
“You didn’t really plan to bring actual babies for her to feast on… right?” she asked, looking at Sevrin.
The others were still slowly waking from their awe at what had just happened in front of them, but Marie no longer cared. She needed to hear his answer.
Sevrin looked at her with a calm grin. “Marie, you don’t understand what we’re up to.”
She stared at him, her voice rising before she could stop herself. “Sevrin, I do understand! I understand that we are the fucking bad guys, but really? Babies?”
“Don’t scream at me again, Marie! I’m the leader!” he shouted back, his tone sharp and defensive.
They started arguing, voices echoing in the quiet night. Marie’s hands shook, half from anger and half from exhaustion. Sevrin’s face was red, his eyes burning with that same manic spark that had started to scare her.
After a moment, Marlon finally stepped in, like he so often did when things went too far. “Sevrin, Marie, please calm down,” he said, his voice careful and tired. “We should be grateful for how everything went. I mean… I know she didn’t exactly help us raze the capital to the ground or make us rulers of the kingdom.”
He stopped midsentence, realizing how ridiculous it sounded when said out loud. He rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. “But she treated us well. Even after we betrayed her when she stepped out of the summoning circle.”
Sevrin spun toward him, still flushed with anger. “We didn’t betray her! It’s completely normal in the demon world to show dominance. Marlon, don’t talk about things you don’t understand!”
“Sevrin, that’s enough,” Sharen said quietly, her tone firm. Garron stepped between them, his broad frame making Sevrin take a step back.
The air slowly cooled again. The fire crackled softly, and no one spoke for a while. It had become like this lately—every conversation turning into a fight, and every fight ending in silence.
Tristan finally broke it, his voice hesitant. “Guys, let’s not fight about this anymore. I know everything is insane, and maybe we really are cursed, but… shouldn’t we at least check out the house?”
Everyone turned to look at him. For a moment, there was nothing but the sound of the night and the fire. Then, one by one, the others nodded.
Marie sighed and brushed her hair out of her face. “Fine,” she said. “Let’s see what our new home looks like before I kill Sevrin.”
"Hey!" Sevrin snapped, but the argument was over as quickly as it had begun. He swallowed, gave a short, almost embarrassed laugh, and nodded. He turned toward the house, which now dominated the clearing like a dark monument from another world.
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The house was large, not as big as the Princess’s mansion, of course, but still easily as tall as one of the noble homes in Burma. Its dark, gothic style had something almost mesmerizing about it. Sevrin was the first to step forward, climbing the few steps that led to the door. He placed his hand against the surface, hesitating for a moment as he looked back at the others. No one said anything to stop him, so he nodded once and pulled the door open.
He walked in first. Inside, it was dark. Sevrin held out his hand and whispered his usual spell, and a small fireball flickered to life in his palm. The weak light spilled through the open door, just enough for Marie to see his outline moving ahead. She followed him inside, careful with every step.
They stood in a wide entry hall that stretched higher than she had expected. Two corridors led off to the left and right, and another door stood at the back. Sevrin lifted his hand and sent the small flame upward. The fireball touched the large chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and one by one, its candles caught fire until the whole hall glowed in warm, soft light.
The others began to enter behind them, their footsteps echoing faintly on the stone floor. They moved through the new house slowly, exploring each part like children entering a forbidden place. Behind the hall they found a large kitchen, already furnished with a heavy table and shelves lined with empty jars. At the end of each corridor was a staircase leading upward, and on the ground floor they counted four rooms, two on each side.
Marie followed the group quietly, letting them talk while she looked around. The air felt strange, not hostile, but heavy in a way she could not describe. Everything was already there: beds, chairs, even curtains on the windows. The place was ready to be lived in, and that made her nervous. She had never heard of magic like this before. Sure, she had never studied at the academy like Sevrin, but even he had always said that creation spells had limits. When someone can just summon a fully furnished house out of nothing, she thought, that kind of magic would be widely known, wouldn’t it? What would even be the point of having a building class then?
Upstairs, they found a wide floor that filled the entire level. It was some kind of common room, with a large fireplace at the far wall and a few couches arranged in a circle. A smaller staircase led even higher, where six more rooms waited, all fully furnished.
When they had finished exploring, they gathered again in the common room. They had lit the fireplace, and the room was now filled with its warm, flickering light. The fire chased the shadows from the corners and made the stone walls glow softly. For a moment, no one said anything. They just stood there, listening to the quiet crackle of the flames, each of them trying to believe that this strange place was truly meant for them.
“It’s… nice,” Tristan said quietly, almost unsure if he was allowed to say it.
“It’s strange,” Sharen replied.
Sevrin gave a half-smile, running his fingers along the smooth stone wall. “It’s ours now,” he said. “A gift from our Princess.”
Marie looked at him, but said nothing. She wanted to believe him, but something about the house unsettled her. It was beautiful, yes, but it felt alive, as if it was listening. And somewhere deep down, she could not shake the thought that gifts like this always came with a price.
After the short meeting, they decided who would take which room. Garron went outside to fetch the bags with supplies that the Princess had left beside the [Campfire Stone] and carried them to the kitchen, while the others went to their new rooms to settle in.
Marie chose one of the rooms on the second floor. Her window faced the clearing, and through it she could see the quiet shimmer of the lake. The room had a large bed, an empty wardrobe, a carpet, a mirror, and dark green curtains of a quality she had never seen in her life
When she finally sat down on the bed, the softness of it almost broke her. The tension of the whole day—the fear, the confusion, the sheer weight of everything—came crashing down on her at once. Tears filled her eyes before she could stop them. She pressed her hands against her face and tried to breathe, but everything she had held back poured out all at once.
Fucking idiot. Fucking damn idiot. We are all so damn fucked.
While she sat there on the bed with tears in her eyes, something nudged her gently in the back of her mind. She did not notice it at first, but it felt like a soft poke every few seconds until she recognized the sensation. Her heart began to race as she realized what it was. She stopped moving, forced herself to breathe slowly, and whispered, “Status.”
A faintly shimmering box appeared before her eyes, glowing weakly in the dim light of the room. But instead of the usual lines of information, this time there was a message inside.
The connection to the gods—the so-called status—was different for every person, and it could change throughout one’s life. For Marie, it had always been a simple translucent window filled with runes ever since she could read and had received her first class at the age of ten. Normally, it showed her current class, her level, and any blessings she carried. Only when a person was offered a new class did the display change.
Marie froze. What she saw now was nothing like anything she had ever seen inside her status.
Status Notice:
Congratulations — you meet the requirements for a Class Evolution.
All your accumulated experiences have been observed and consolidated under the [Abyssal Path].
Due to your continued alignment with [Evil] and your direct participation in freeing the Princess of the Abyss, your Main Class: [Cultist] has been permanently locked. This can only be changed through further evolution. You are now unable to alter your main class. To compensate for this limitation, your subclass [Acolyte] will evolve.
Information: Every earlier class you may have possessed has contributed to the calculations of your evolutions. Due to external circumstances, you are now qualified to choose a [Rare] class.
You may now choose between the following evolutions:
[Handmaiden of the Abyss (Cultist Witch)] [Rare] — A devotee who surrendered her identity to the whispering dark. The Handmaiden acts as the will and vessel of the Princess of the Abyss, weaving silence into the shape of command.
[Daughter of the Hollow Star (Cultist Prophetess)] [Rare] — Born from the light of a dead sun, she walks wrapped in starlit shadow. Her voice erodes certainty; her presence makes the faithful question the meaning of existence itself.
[Architectress of Unlight (Cultist Magistra)] [Rare] — A master of void geometry who constructs forms from the concept of absence. Her creations are perfect only because they do not exist.
Warning: The path of nothingness is irreversible.
Marie stared at the glowing lines, her mouth slightly open. The runes in the air shimmered faintly, shifting as if the message itself was alive. Her hands trembled while she read the words again, slower this time, to make sure she wasn’t imagining them.
Her class—locked. Her choices—rare evolutions. And all of it tied to the Demon Princess.
She swallowed hard. This isn’t possible, she thought. A class evolution? That only happens to people who spend their whole lives training under one path, not to someone like me. I’m not even level thirty…
Her eyes lingered on the line about her “alignment with Evil.” That single word seemed to press against her chest like a physical weight. Somewhere deep down, she had always known that what they did was wrong, but seeing it written there by the gods themselves made it real.
She looked again at the options; [Handmaiden of the Abyss], [Daughter of the Hollow Star], and [Architectress of Unlight]. Each title sounded beautiful and terrifying at the same time.
The descriptions felt like riddles she could not understand. Rationally, they were terrifying, but somehow, they also called to her, like something deep inside her had been waiting for them all along. The status window pulsed faintly in front of her, its light reflecting in her wet eyes.
Marie hesitated. Maybe she should wait, talk with the others tomorrow, and decide together. But when she tried to dismiss her status, it did not vanish. Instead, another line appeared.
Warning: You need to choose an evolution now. Due to the current lock of your class, you are unable to access your unevolved class any longer.
Marie groaned softly. Ahh, come on… what is this with my luck in the last weeks? she cursed under her breath. So, she had to choose now. Of course, she did.
She stared at the glowing options again. Sure, what could possibly go wrong when I just go with my gut feeling?
With a sigh, she lay back on the bed, the dim light of the runes shimmering above her, and focused on the class that somehow felt right, the one that seemed to be waiting for her.
What do you think? Which class will Marie choose?
