Chapter 30: Out of the frying pan into the fire

Overnight, one of the kingdoms was on high alert as knights and adventurers as well as spell casters were being picked off one by one. The king and queen of the kingdom were being guarded by high level and high classed wizards and S ranked travelers, the gates of the castle was being rammed at by something as there was a loud shriek.

"Barricade the doors and windows, HURRY!" Three S ranked travelers who stayed in the ballroom were barking orders at one another, each one of them were rushing around barricading the doors and windows. That didn't last long however, a purple beam shot through the wooden door and the barricade blocking it as the beam hit one of the travelers knocking them back.

The shriek was louder than ever as a creature with six spider like legs and smaller legs underneath came through the gaping hole in the castle's entrance where the door once was, it had yellow eyes and the tip of its tail looked like the devils pitchfork. The other travelers who witnessed the other one get hit by the beam turned their attention to the creature, they charged in blindly at it as their attacks didn't do any damage. The creature shrieked as its tail stabbed through one of them and its mouth opened as an inner jaw shot out and into the chest of the other one.

"What the hell is that?!" The king asked, as him and the queen watched it slowly approach them, there were two more that crashed through the ceiling above, both of them landed on the wizards and the remaining S ranked travelers. "Stay back, or you shall be executed." The creatures didn't listen as the first one stopped right in front of the king and queen as it shrieked loudly before killing the two.

The creature shirked and roared as the other two creatures did the same, outside the castle however, the kingdom was burning in flames as some of the buildings were crumbling and collapsing.

The kingdom was in ruins not a single person had survived, the mysterious creatures had done their job but no one knew what they were, or where they came from. But one thing was certain, there was no reasoning with them even if they did have a mastermind behind the scenes. The smoke from the fire rose up into the air making the sky look cloudy and muggy, the fire burned for a long period of time even into the morning.

Scarlet's nose twitched as she sat up in bed, her and Hero did find a place to sleep at. But her sleep was interrupted by a group of brand new adventurers shouting in the other room next to her. She was staying at an adventurers guild for the night, but she couldn't get any sleep thanks to them. Her stomach rumbled as she got out of bed, the encounter she had with the Ogres and Trolls didn't seem to have filled her up as much as she had thought, the Grimm girl cursed under her breath as she left the room and went down to the bar.

The bartender of the guild had noticed Scarlet, they cocked an eyebrow up wondering why she was up at a time like this. But that all was soon washed away as Scarlet sat down at the bar counter, she glared at the bartender for a brief moment before looking away.

"Give me every bottle of alcohol and some uncooked raw meat." Scarlet spoke as her nose was picking up a strange smell within the guild, she couldn't tell where in the guild the smell was coming from but her crimson red eyes glanced around the empty guild, she heard the bartender shuffling behind the counter and slid not one, not two and not three but four bottles of liquor and a beer mug filled to the brim with beer. The Grimm girl turned her attention to the bottles and the beer as she watched the bartender casually walk to the back and return with a plate of uncooked raw meat.

"I honestly don't know why you want this. But you do you." The Bartender spoke as they grabbed an empty beer mug and started cleaning it.

Scarlet scoffed a little as she picked up an uncooked steak from the plate as she bit into it tearing the meat from the bone and started to eat. She grabbed the beer mug and took a few gulps from it, the beer was cold and refreshing for her as she continued her feast. She had come to a stop as she then overheard the group of adventurers up stairs, they were being loud and not only that but they had their door cracked open, leaving a gap for light to shine out. The Grimm girl listened to the conversation.

The adventurers talked among themselves for a moment about the incident "Did you hear? One of the kingdoms was attacked by an unknown creature. Yeah, apparently this creature is unidentified. Not a single person in the kingdom survived. Damn, that's bad. Any clues as to where this creature went? Nope... no one knows, it happened way too fast to even get any leads on its whereabouts."

Scarlet swallowed the meat that was in her mouth as she licked the rim of the beer mug before chugging it down. The cold beverage trickled down her throat and some missed her mouth and dripped down the side of her face, her belly full of a burning fire now. She decided to finish what was left before making plans on leaving, but she figured waiting until morning would be best.

~~~

Earlier the next morning Scarlet had left the guild with Hero in toe. "I overheard a conversation last night, it seems like whatever creature had eaten the fish and that bear. Seemed to have made a kingdom fall to its knees."

Hero yawned and stretched. The feline looked up at Scarlet with a curious look. "And what makes you think it's the same one?"

"Call it a gut feeling." Scarlet said as she continued walking. "It just means this thing got bigger. Big enough to slaughter an entire kingdom."

Hero didn't say anything else after that, he knew she was right. But at the same time... He knew that she was going to try to get the creature under her control. "So... what if it's a Grimm? A new type, like the Nightmare?"

"If it's a new Grimm type, I'll put it under my control. But.... Grimm don't feed to grow.... so like the Nightmare. It could be new and different from the other Grimm." Scarlet spoke as she looked lost in thought after saying that. She shook her head as she saw a few knights in front of her, she looked at them with a confused look but then it clicked. "Oh, hello boys... what can I do for you?"

One of the knights stepped forward as they kept their gaze on Scarlet. "In the name of Ainz Ooal Gown, you are here by under arrest."

Both Hero and Scarlet were puzzled, but Scarlet did want to meet Ainz though. If he had any information on this new creature, she'd take all she can. Scarlet didn't argue with them as she walked towards them before being cuffed in chains.

The knights took Scarlet to the kingdom Ainz was at, they dragged her into the castle's throne room and then tossed her towards Albedo's feet. After they left the room, Scarlet got up as she looked at the Succubus and then over to Ainz. Hero kept quiet as he wanted to listen to what was going to be asked or said.

"So, you're the girl Shalltear mentioned." Ainz spoke. "I must say.... I can tell you're not human.." He looked at Albedo for a moment before looking back at Scarlet. "Uncuff her Albedo."

Albeod was silent but did so as she uncuffed the chains from Scarlet. "You're lucky Lord Ainz is showing you mercy."

Scarlet rubbed her wrist as she didn't pay her no mind. "I could say the same for you and your.... lackeys... a vampire and dark elves." She then looked towards Albedo. "And a Succubus. I'm impressed, a skeleton king is the one overlooking things. But tell me Ainz... have you ever once in your life experienced fear? The thought of someone or something being much more stronger than you, unable to defeat them."

Ainz was curious by what she meant, his red eyes glowed. "I'm curious. What do you mean by that exactly?" He kept his gaze on Scarlet as he was curious about what she was going to say next. "Do tell, because if you're thinking you can take me on by your lonesome. Then you're sadly mistaken..."

Scarlet scoffs and crosses her arms. Hero stayed silent not wanting to speak, he continued to listen to the conversation going on between the two, Scarlet didn't move her eyes away from Ainz's gaze. Both were in a long stare, the Grimm girl then spoke up breaking the silence. "Whatever that new creature is, I heard from a small group that it already destroyed a kingdom. No one survived its wraith. It grows when it feeds."

"Meaning?" Ainz asked.

"Meaning, it could become bigger than any creature in this world." Scarlet spoke, sure she wasn't too sure if this creature was a Grimm. But if it was, then the Nightmare Grimm wouldn't be the only new one she's encountered. But at the same time, the Nightmare Grimm was hers to use.

~~~

Elsewhere a roaming group of undead and lizardmen were fighting. The ground underneath them shook as the creature came up from the ground, its tail wrapped around one of the lizardmen and threw them, the creature shrieks as it uses its beam at the others around.

"Quick, we need to contact Lord Ainz immediately! " Cocytus said as he fended off creatures, his surroundings becoming icy and cold as he was giving the others a chance, but there was a Grimm Seer around the area as it was watching everything. This was all being sent back to Scarlet, it gave her more of a look at the creature.

The Grimm girl sat in one of the rooms in the castle, her arms crossed as she closed her eyes. "I see, so it does have Grimm colors... so it must be a new Grimm type..." She took a moment to think it over as she came out of the room seeing Ainz across the hall. "This creature. We should name it...."

"Name it?" Ainz asked curiously. "And what do you plan on naming it? It won't do us any good, it's destroying everything in its path."

Scarlet smirked at what Ainz had said. "Destoroyah." She unfolded her arms as she put a hand on her hip. "It makes for a fitting name, you said it yourself. It destroys everything in its path.... So what better name then Destoroyah?"

Ainz took a moment to think it over as he laughed a bit. "Yes.. I see, Destoroyah... a clever choice if I do say so myself. But.... we don't know if it has a weakness or the ones witnesses have reported are the only ones." He goes silent for a bit as he speaks again. "If I get any word that this thing is near The Tomb of Nazarick. There will be trouble, not only for it but for my followers as well..."

Scarlet watched as Ainz turned around to walk off, the Grimm girl was tempted to try to assassinate him. But she felt eyes watching her, Ainz stopped as he turned his head to the side. Almost as if he was expecting her to attack him.

"I must say.... you may have fooled the others..." Ainz said as his red eyes glowed. "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me... fool me three times, well... Let's just say I can kill you in an instant." He had in his hand a holographic version of Scarlet's heart as he squeezes it slowly.

Scarlet felt her heart ache as she clinched her chest, she looked at Ainz as she realized what he meant. Despite this happening, she knew it would take a lot more than a heart attack to kill her. But she felt the tightness on her heart stop as Ainz had let go of it.

"That being said, I suggest you leave while you still have a beating heart." Ainz spoke in a cold tone as he walked off, as he did that Albedo walked into the room in her black armor, her helmet under her arm as she looked at Scarlet.

The Succubus glared at the Grimm girl as she approached her. "You heard him, get a move on. You're going to waste precious time and you will anger Lord Ainz." She put her helmet on as she drew her sword out and pointed it at Scarlet. "Well? Move!"

The Grimm girl looked at Albedo for a moment as she reached up to her head and picked Hero up and placed him down onto the floor, not saying anything to her furry companion. Hero ran off as he knew what was going to happen, Albedo watched the cat run off as she became confused. Then in a blink of an eye Scarlet rushed towards the Succubus and grabbed her by the face and threw her out of the window, the glass shattered as glass pieces fell out of the window and down to the street below.

"Damn you.." Albedo growled as she looked up seeing Scarlet fly off after she had sprouted her Nevermore wings. "Don't think you can get away that easily!" The Succubus stood up as she dusted herself off. She glared up at the sky as she flew into the air and flew after Scarlet.