(Miabi POV)
Erika Aventus.
It was the name of none other than my older sister, the woman who was responsible for the deaths of many of my former family members.
With her infamous alias as the Dark Mistress of Depravity, Erika was also an international criminal documented in the Red Book, a book with the same color as its name. Said book contained the list of known criminals or outlaws in every continent, with their crimes committed, the rank of how dangerous they were from E to S, the recommendation on what to do should one encountered them, and the reward money should they either be caught dead or alive, depending on the circumstance.
And Erika Aventus… was an S-rank criminal with a flee on sight order, a testament of how dangerous she truly was. In her case, capturing her alive was the decree by the Red Book, being orders as well by the Aventus House so they may enact their form of justice to the woman who betrayed them. Although it was also fine if she were to be slain instead.
Only highly skilled Bounty Hunters, Mages, Knights, or anyone of similar job criteria were qualified to hunt down Erika due to her flee on sight order and S-rank. Many have tried, but all of them suffered the darkest of demise at the hands of her despicable magic.
I knew this since I'm still keeping tabs with my former family thanks to my Uncle who still cared for my well-being, despite my leave.
Being a Warlock like myself, my sister was tempted by the delicious taste of power and consorted with dark malevolent spirits to fuel her desires. Of course, it still depended on the individual whether they shall give in to the dark temptation of power or fight one's debased nature to temper the goodness of their hearts and prove that not every Warlock were power-crazy fools who would risk everything, even their humanity.
Eight years ago, a great tragedy occurred in the Aventus household.
When I was seven years old, Erika, who was 13 years old at that time, and I was very close and we were happy alongside each other, uncaring to the other family members who observe us with scrutiny because of our status as members of the branch family as well as being orphans.
As long as we have one another, then nothing really mattered. I loved my sister and I would do whatever it took for our happiness to last forever, no matter how utterly naïve and unrealistic it seemed maybe.
And also, my sister was a protégé in the dark arts. Despite being a branch member, the main family nonetheless came to acknowledge her skill and talent, and they were contemplating if they should integrate her into their group instead. A prodigy like Erika came only once every three generations, so it would be a waste of talent if the main family would leave her as it is.
Thus, Erika was permitted to be a probationary main family member. As a result, she received training and education from the best Warlocks that the Aventus had to offer for her magic to flourish. Once her training was complete, then the family head would bestow her complete membership into the main family, along with its full benefits and fortune.
As her little sister, I was naturally happy for her, and thus, was also inspired to be a Warlock of her caliber like her.
Unfortunately, I was not blessed with Erika's prodigious skill and mind, and my education in the household was left much to be desired, much to the annoyance of my instructors who expected me to be in the same league as my sibling.
Some even compared me to my sister, saying that I should be ashamed of myself for not even reaching a speck of my sister's potential.
"Heh, so you're Lady Erika's sister? How pathetic. To think that her sibling is the complete opposite; a no-good talentless little girl.
"At your age, Lady Erika already mastered an S-rank Dark spell while you can't comprehend even a simple D-rank."
"You should be ashamed of yourself. With Lady Erika's place being assured in the main family, then you will be one as well by extension. How disgusting, you're nothing but a parasite who clings to her achievements as a way to elevate your status in this prestigious house of ours."
As a weak-willed child, that left me crying for days. But Erika, the good sister that she was, would comfort me in my times of sorrow by hugging me while I cry on her loving grasp.
"There, there, little sis. Don't let their words get to you, and instead use them as a motivation for you to become stronger. The greatest satisfaction that you can achieve is seeing the dimwitted looks on their faces when you proved them wrong in the future."
Only Erika's words of encouragement kept me going as I lived my days in the Aventus Household.
To be honest, it was like a living Hell for me. The atmosphere inside the Family compound was utterly suffocating and I truly wonder how I was still breathing until this very day.
Erika's future seemed to be set in stone, with it being bright. Despite the mental torments that I constantly received from my instructors and peers, I was nonetheless happy and wish the best for her.
One day, however, something strange occurred, and reports stated of my fellow family members being missing.
Day after day, one or two would be unaccounted for in the household without even a notice of leave whatsoever.
Naturally, the family head was alarmed and he alongside his loyal family subordinates investigated this dreadful mystery.
When the investigation was finally complete, all pointed out to a single root involved in every aspect of the crime.
It was none other than Erika herself.
They had their suspicions, but they denied it first since Erika was a loyal asset of the family, with them cultivating her to be their faithful servant who followed the will of the Aventus for the service of Wessoria.
But for the past few days during the incidents, Erika had been acting strange lately. She would sometimes go in a fit of rage, going so far as to even incapacitate one of her instructors for life during one of their Magicka spars.
Because of her prestige in the household, the higher-ups only deemed it as an unfortunate accident and Erika did not suffer any repercussions as a result.
Still, it was very unlikely of her, and I could have sworn at that day that I saw the silhouette of the Devil, but I simply shrugged it off as one of my childish imaginations.
Oh, how wrong I truly was.
The next few days were like that more or less for Erika. As a prodigy, she also taught a few juniors of her own and was known to be a great instructor admired by her peers. However, when a student, a female child who was the same age as me, made a simple mistake in mispronouncing a word in chanting for a magic spell, Erika harshly berated her and threw rather vicious insults that would leave her traumatized for a good period of time.
I knew of this because I was among the students who were being tutored by my sister as well.
The Head grew wary upon his observation of her and he had suspicions that she made a bargain of a sort with a Dark evil spirit that caused her abrupt shift in personality.
While consorting with Dark spirits was fine, it was the evil ones that were not allowed. Not all Dark spirits were evil and some were even made of pure benevolence despite their eerie nature.
The main family's fears were confirmed when they confronted Erika about her unusual behavior.
One night, I woke up seeing that Erika was not in her bed beside me. We usually sleep together in one room.
As I got up and walk through the compound hallways in search of her, I overheard the Head and the other main family members saying that Erika ventured into the Dark Woods at this time of the night.
As dictated by my childish curiosity, I naturally followed them to see what the commotion was all about regarding my sister.
Ad I embarked deeper into the forest while secretly shadowing them, my efforts paid off when I witnessed the main family encountering Erika in the very heart of the woods located in an open clearing.
But that was not all.
My eyes widened and my mouth gaped in pure horror at the bloody scene that was in front of me.
Erika was surrounded by many dead bodies scattering around her, all mutilated in various gory ways. Below her was a huge magic circle that covered a good portion of the ground.
Not only that, I recognized some of the bodies, and it was the family members who have gone missing during the past few days.
I could only stare in complete terror at the unbelievable scene of death right in front of me.