1 Hiring the villain

Priscilla Lombardi, a 16-year-old girl, walked fearfully through the ruins of a temple. There were several walls of white stone, the beautiful engravings on them had been eaten away by time and the wild vines had made the structure their home.

Occasionally she could see small birds and bats fluttering near her blue hair of a tanzanite-like hue, her eyes of the same hue as her hair, she scoured the place in search of the crystal mentioned by a tramp, who at that time was a prisoner in one of the jails under one of his father's numerous properties.

—"This place looks very old... I wonder if what the bum said is true? Honestly, I don't think his body is in a place like this."

She imagined that tramp as a real monster out of nightmares. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't get involved with a man like that, but her situation was desperate.

Her adopted brothers wanted her dead because they eagerly desired the fortune of their father, Duke Lombardi. Certainly, her father's properties were enough to kill for them, and that was not limited to the properties he owned.

Things like political power, influence, and prestige are not things that can be easily achieved. For this reason, her brothers wanted her out of the competition, as it was public knowledge that Priscilla was the Duke's favorite daughter.

However, Priscilla was not a person who could deal with the issues surrounding the power struggle. She certainly had a reason to want to be the heir, but her motive was not tied to the acquisition of wealth or political power.

As he crossed the ruins, a sudden sound caught his attention. A frightened group of bats emerged from an underground passage.

Priscilla observed the stairs from which the bats had come, to find a dark passage leading into the ruins. After spying on the place from the outside, she swallowed saliva, not only was her nervousness growing, but her expectation and curiosity invited her to go down the steps in front of her.

—"This place is creepy... Why didn't I bring a torch?" Priscilla lamented her lack of foresight.

The stone corridors were slightly visible, but with some help from the magic [Lumia] they became completely visible. On the walls of the passage were several engravings relating a bloody battle that had happened in the past. At first glance, hundreds of armed knights could be seen advancing with determination to a single person waiting for them in the center of a plain.

—"Who is the man holding that strange sword?"

The images on the wall showed a man carrying an impressive sword made of bone that looked extremely dangerous. As he advanced, the engravings became more bloody and macabre, until he finally stopped at a door.

In the gigantic stone door in front of it was a final engraving. The same strange man from the earlier inscriptions was sitting at the foot of a leafy tree.

—"Those are... tombs?" Priscilla ran her hand through the engravings on the door.

At the foot of the engraved tree on the wall, there were a total of six stones that, at first glance seemed to be tombstones of some kind and the man of the inscriptions was leaning on one of them, his body was full of wounds, with countless weapons piercing his flesh.

After thinking about it, he boldly pushed the doors of the room, giving way to a beautiful faint light of bluish hue. There was a gigantic crystal in the room, whose reflection illuminated the structure with a beautiful bluish tone.

Priscilla approached the crystal, her eyes glowing as she saw the beautiful gem in front of her, so it wasn't until she calmed down a bit that she noticed that, inside the crystal, there was a person.

—"This can't be..." Priscilla did not believe what her eyes saw, she had imagined the body of the tramp very differently, but what was in front of her eclipsed even her wildest dreams.

—"If memory serves, did he say I should offer my blood? I suppose I can try. Wait... Won't he kill me when I'm released him?" The doubt had stopped her seconds before she reached her target.

Certainly, the tramp seemed to be reliable; the problem was that he seemed to be an extremely evil person. It didn't really matter much, she had to stay alive no matter the cost until her wish was fulfilled, and that included making a deal with the demon itself, as only one demon could stop another.

Her heart set doubts aside, so using the dagger she had carried with it he cut the palm of her hand, resulting in a sharp burning as large amounts of blood left her body. After closing her eyes due to the pain, she placed her hand on the crystal.

At first, nothing happened, but after a few seconds the crystal began to crack and the person inside opened his eyes, then extended his arms, breaking the crystal that imprisoned him.

The person trapped in the crystal wore ragged clothes that barely covered what was necessary. After being freed from the glass, he fell gracefully in front of the girl who had freed him and leaned on one of his knees in a sign of respect.

—"I am at your service, My Lady."

Priscilla didn't know what to say, she was just standing there watching the person come out of the crystal with her mouth completely open.

—"I-Is that so?"

—"Yes, my Lady. I will destroy and dismember your enemies, showing no mercy to anyone who opposes your desires."

For a second a shiver ran through Priscilla's rigid spine, the man on the crystal had an extremely dark voice and sharp eyes like a killer.

—"Huh?"

That day, that innocent young woman may well have unknowingly opened Pandora's box and that dangerous box was now her responsibility.