Chapter 33: Toxicity

Destoroyah screeched as it flew over different kingdoms still following Ainz, the kingdoms below sparked and exploded as smoke rose into the air. The giant Grimm roared as it fired its blast from its mouth at Ainz.

Ainz dodged out of the way as he glanced back. "Damn, if I take a hit like that It's game over for me. I may be powerful, but this thing.... It's like the devil." The more he gained distance away from the Grimm, the more Destoroyah moved in closer shirking and roaring. "As long as I have this thing to deal with. I won't have to worry about that girl."

More kingdoms and villages exploded and erupted into a ball of smoke and fire, Destoroyah roared loudly as it continued following Ainz. It was unclear where Ainz was leading the Grimm too, but wherever it would be. Ainz knew he would have to likely deal with the monster by himself.

What Ainz didn't know was that Scarlet was indeed still alive. Only with a few changes to say the least, he also didn't know that Scarlet had something planned up her sleeve. Destoroyah turned towards the right as it flew off that was, this caused Ainz to stop as he looked over.

"Where are you going? I'm your target!" Ainz yelled as he fired a fireball directly at Destoroyah, the fireball hit but the Grimm. However, the giant kaiju sized Grimm ignored the attack as it continued to fly away from Ainz.

Ainz cursed under his breath as he tailed the monster, the gears in his head slowly turning as he soon realized where it was going. "Nazarick, it's heading there... but why?"

Scarlet on the other hand, she was making her way to Carne village, the Goblin troops as well as the Death Knights were blocking the gate to the village. The Goblins were expecting more ogres, but when the Grimm girl came into view of them, one of the Goblins pulled back on his bow and fired an arrow at her. The arrow went straight into Scarlet's skull as she stopped walking, she growled as she grabbed the arrow and yanked it out of her head, her aura flickered as it was indicating it was about to break. Which she found odd, considering the amount of times she had fought and what Ainz had done to her.

"What was that supposed to be?" Scarlet asked. "A mercy kill?" She smirked as she continued walking, she turned Black Rose into its mini-gun form as she started firing dust bullets at the goblins blocking her path. The mixture of fire, ice and other dust combined made an explosion which blew away half of the goblins off their feet. The Death Knights ran at Scarlet as the first one swung its massive sword at Scarlet, which sliced her in half. Her aura flicked again as her body quickly reattached itself, the more damage she took. The more her skin tone was slowly starting to match Salem's.

The Death Knights continued to attack Scarlet, but the more they did that. The more Scarlet got annoyed and angry, she tossed Black Rose aside as she jumped up over one of their heads as the other had swung its sword at the one Scarlet jumped over. She smirked as she grabbed onto the giant sword, with all of her Grimm strength she yanked the sword out of its hand and through the others head. Hero just sat on the sidelines watching, he avoided getting hit but he could tell Scarlet was getting angry by the second.

"Get out of here now." Scarlet hissed as she didn't even make eye contact with her furry feline companion, she dodged and ducked under the other swords and shields as she let out a bellowing growl. She grabbed onto one of the shields as she was flung around before being tossed off, flew through the air and crashed into a giant rock. She gasped as the air was taken out of her, she spat up blood as her aura flickered again and broke.

~~~

Ainz continued to follow Destoroyah to Nazarick, he was trying to figure out why it was going there. The sense of a strong surge of magic filled the air, followed by negative energy and fear. Ainz stopped as he looked around, this fear was coming from areas that were miles away from Nazarick. "The Carne village..." Ainz scoffed as he flew off at a quick speed to get to the village in time, he was going to worry about Destoroyah later. Something sinister was brewing off in the distance, he needed to know what it was.

Hero cowered in fear as he hid behind a smaller rock, he perked his head from behind it. A dark aura erupted from Scarlet as it consumed her completely, he didn't have much knowledge on the World of Remnant or what Semblance's were to the human body. Scarlet's silhouette could be seen through the dark aura, she cackled and laughed a cold spine chilling laugh escaped her lips.

"I finally get it now..." Scarlet mumbled as she slowly walked out. "Thank you for opening my eyes....the world of suffering was born on such half baked ideals....this world is godless. Yet, I can bring this world to its knees." Her skin tone began to look more and more like Salem's, a wicked grin spread across her lips as she cackled and laughed more. "I am a destroyer, the eater of worlds....and I will stop at nothing to watch the entire world burn!"

The fear and negative energy flowing off of the goblins and the villagers in Carne village were feeding Scarlet's inner Grimm and what was drawing Destoroyah closer, Scarlet laughed again as she smirked. She stretched her arm forward and grabbed one of the Death Knights by the leg and pulled it down to the ground, she threw her arm left and right, dragging the Death Knight through the dirt.

"I want to hear you squeal like a pig, so squeal piggy. Squeal!" Scarlet barks as she lets go of the Death Knight's leg. "Squeal like the pigs you are. Squeal for me, so I can hear how you all fear me. The bringer of death and destruction... I carve for murder and bloodshed!" She jumped into the air and over the Death Knights as she rushed towards the goblins, she smirked as she slashed at their throats and bellies tearing into their flesh. Scarlet grinned widely as she began to eat at their bodies and drink their blood, she was tearing into them like a lion would with a zebra, or a t-rex would with a triceratops.

By the time Ainz had gotten to the outskirts of Carne village, he saw the carnage. He felt sick to his stomach, if he had one. His eyes glowed as he slowly made his way towards the gate of the village, he had felt the air go still and went cold. The eerie feeling of being watched by a predator was all around him, he felt like he was a helpless prey walking into a trap. "What happened here?"

"I happened you fool." Scarlet spoke with a hiss in her voice. "You failed to even notice I wasn't fully dead. Yet, you assumed I was.." She dragged a corpse behind her as it left a trail of blood behind. "But it's thanks to you that you've opened my eyes, you've showed me where I've gone soft... you gave birth to the evil within me once again."

"How could one person, do all this?" Ainz asked as he looked around. "These people didn't do anything to you. Yet you still slaughtered them, for what?"

Scarlet snickered as she tossed the body aside. "Oh I didn't kill them all.... some of them are in a deep sleep... just like Albedo. No one can wake them up..."

Ainz clinched his fist as he glared at the Grimm girl, his eyes glowing still as he saw how much different she looked from last time. "What happened to you? You wanted to form an alliance with me and the others to take down that monster."

Scarlet licked the blood from her lips as she looked at him. "What happened? I realized what my mother wanted me to become, to be the next heiress to her bloodline. To be the new evil queen of Remnant... the immortal queen everyone fears, but I never took her throne, I did what I wanted to do. But she keeps haunting me, like a lost puppy looking for its owner. But now...." She raised her hand up and looked down at it before grinning widely. "But now... I can become what she wanted me to become." She threw her arm forward as a magic spiral beam shot from her palm and at Ainz. "My mothers magic isn't one to be challenged. Yet, I haven't consumed her to get it... but perhaps with this new awakening, it was unlocked."

The magic beam hit Ainz as he was sent flying back, he grunted in pain as he hit a tree hard as it snapped in half and fell over. Scarlet grinned, her teeth stained red with blood. She approached Ainz slowly as she watched him get up, he fired a fireball at her direction but Scarlet shifted out of the way as the fireball went past her, she could feel the heat from it against her skin. She fired another magic beam from her hand at Ainz. "You could've stopped me when you've had the chance, but you didn't. Such pity.... and here I was hoping you'd at least give me more of a challenge..."

Ainz yelled in pain as he was sent flying through the air again, Scarlet lunged forward as she tackled Ainz midair and grabbed him by the face and threw him down towards the ground. Ainz landed with a loud hard thud into the ground, the Grimm girl descended towards the ground as she slammed her foot onto Ainz.

Destoroyah shrieked and roared as it changed forms and landed on its feet behind Scarlet, Ainz looked up to see it and her. "You can't do as you please. I will stop you, I know what I want, and that's to show that I can bring peace and I think you've failed miserably at realizing what you've wanted."

Scarlet snickered. "Do you hear that my pet? He thinks. He wants. As if he's done something that warrants me caring about either of those things..." She grabbed Ainz by the arm this time as she lifted him up to his feet. "Time isn't on your side, Ainz. It's always been on mine... and once I crush every last ounce of hope out of everyone in this pathetic world.... I will make sure you get front row seats to the end of your precious dreams." She turned her head to look back at Destoroyah. "Kill them all, don't leave a single one left."

Destoroyah's eyes glowed as it let out a bellowing roar and turned its attention towards the village, it fired its beam from its mouth at the village as everything went up in flames and smoke, exploding. The Grimm roared as he flew into the air, flying away from the area, Scarlet tossed Ainz to the side as she walked towards him.

Ainz got back up as he clinched his fist. "You won't get away with this." He held up his staff. "10th tier spell, meteor fall!" The sky darkened and a giant magic circle appeared in the sky as a massive meteor appeared. "This attack will be one you cannot escape from."

Scarlet glared up at the meteor, her eyes blinded by the sight of it as her vision became blurry. She had gone blind temporarily, but that didn't mean she couldn't tell where Ainz was at. "You think a giant rock will stop me? I might be blind now... but I can still tell where you are." She moved her head around listening for his movement and sniffing the air.

~~~

The meteor got closer and closer, it slowly continued to make its way down to where Scarlet was standing. Ainz was floating in the air watching Scarlet blindly walk around trying to find him. He was away from the area the meteor would hit. "You claim to know where I am.... but yet, you're blind now. Even if I were to be on the ground near you... what makes you think I'll give you the chance to attack me?"

Scarlet stopped as she tilted her head back to make it seem like she was looking up, she sniffed the air again as a small grin spread across her lips. "Apparently you do not know me well." She stuck her arm out in front of her at the sky. "Unlike you, I have something that actually comes in handy." Before Scarlet could even do anything Ainz used his slow spell magic, making Scarlet slow down. Her movements were slow as a turtle, this was also buying Ainz more time for the meteor to come down more.

"You're right, there are some things you have that I don't. But there are things I have that you don't." Ainz said. "In an hour from now, the meteor will make a direct hit. It will create a massive explosion upon contact. Flattening the entire playing field, pulverizing you and any targets within its blast range." Ainz stayed in the air as he watched the slow moving Grimm girl.

Time passed as the meteor was getting closer, an hour later. The entire sky went up in flames as the meteor made contact with Scarlet, Ainz was out of the area he watched as the impact made the explosion, a cloud of dust and smoke engulfed the area. This impact could be seen from space, the explosion formed a mushroom cloud as everything within the area was blown away. Just as Ainz had said, the entire area was flattened.

After the explosion died down the air was filled with smoke. A thick foggy haze, Ainz stayed as he landed on the ground, his feet touching the dirt as he started to walk towards the area Scarlet had been standing at. The haze was so thick that he couldn't see what was in front of him, a small orb shined through the thick fog as it shot forward into a beam of magic hitting Ainz.

"Uggh, what the?" Ainz groaned as he was hit by the magic. "How? You couldn't have survived that!"

Scarlet cackled as she used her nevermore wings to clear the area around her. The gust of wind from her wings cleared a path for her vision so she could see. "It seems to me that your magic to make me slow has worn off upon being hit by the meteor. "Or.... is it that you've run out of mana?" She fired another blast of magic from her hand at Ainz sending him back. "You wouldn't last a minute against my mother if you were in my world Ainz. You would be a pawn.... a chess piece in a game of chess. I told you didn't I? This world will burn and you will watch everything you love fall apart and crumble."

Ainz groaned as he was hit again, smoke was flowing off of him after the attack. "You're underestimating me." He threw his staff forward and aimed it at Scarlet. "9th tier spell, nuclear blast!"

Another massive explosion engulfed Scarlet which knocked her and Ainz back, the blast was so powerful that it knocked Ainz through the air as he hit a tree. The effects of the nuclear blast caused Scarlet to puke up blood as she was poisoned by the blast, followed by blindness again and as well as deafness. Her ears were ringing as her vision was shaky and blurry. She puked up blood again as she collapsed to her hands and knees, her vision faded making her blind again as her hearing faded.

Ainz got back up as he held his arm. "That was risky, but it was the next best thing I had to buy me more time..." The thick foggy haze had gotten thicker, Ainz used his message magic to speak to Demiurge telepathically. "Demiurge, that monster is likely heading its way to Nazarick, I want you and the other floor guardians to prepare for combat... Albedo is in a deep sleep and can't be woken up, and Shalltear is gone."

"Understood... Cocytus received minimal damage from the juvenile form of that monster, he was able to freeze it but it broke out of its icy tomb." Demiurge spoke through the telepath. "...I will inform the others about Shalltears death and Albedo's deep sleep coma."

Ainz had cut links with Demiurge after he had talked with him, he glared at the thick smog now as he turned around with his back facing it. Not saying a word, he flew off into the air and left Scarlet to deal with her own illness she had gotten from the nuclear blast. He stopped as he summoned an undead army to scout the area in case Scarlet decided to flee the scene of the battle.