CHAPTER 241

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[Alex Walker POV]

As I tried to find what I was missing to craft my weapon, the one I intended to use to vanquish Knull permanently. I felt something, a pulse of energy so dark, so vile, so horrendous on a fundamental level, that it sent an icy shiver down my spine.

Putting me in a state of alarm.

In all my life, I had never felt something like that, something so vile, so putrid that it went beyond good or evil, entering a category of its own.

"Knull," I muttered without realizing, opening my system in a rush to see if he had broken out of his seal. Only to confirm, he hadn't.

Nonetheless, that pulse of energy had to be him.

The question was, why, why would he put everyone on alert by doing so? To force action? To send a warning?

I couldn't really know, and that scared me.

I had to check where the pulse had ended, perhaps then I would get an answer.

Rushing to check, I opened my map, putting the pulse on the search parameters, seeing it had stopped after scanning the nine realms, which meant…

The girls…

Somehow , someway, I felt something was amiss, with my first thought going over to the girls. If Knull wanted to hurt me, to weaken me, they were his best shot as of now.

Cursing under that realization, I summoned the girls to my office using a non-compliant spell, begging whoever could hear me for them to be okay.

Working as intended, the spell summoned the girls in front of me, and at the sight of them, I started crying in relief. They were okay, he hadn't harmed them, they were okay, they were okay.

"Dad?" Nat was the first to speak, approaching me with a look filled with worry.

I said nothing, pulling her and Emily into a hug, they were okay, they were alive, and that's all that mattered.

"Dad, are you okay? Daddy, please answer." Nat asked her tone soft, hugging me back.

I couldn't answer, not verbally, so I simply nodded.

"Dad, we are okay," Emily said, her tiny arms hanging around my neck.

I nodded, she was right, they were okay.

"No matter what happened, everything will be alright," Nat added, taking hold of one of my hands, delicately putting her face on it.

"I'm sorry," I managed to mutter, loud enough for them to hear. Never in my life I had been so scared, so vulnerable, so human, the thought of them being hurt pained me beyond anything I could possibly imagine.

Those brief few seconds where I didn't know how they were, I felt weaker than ever before.

"Don't be," Nat replied.

"Vest stopped him dad, don't worry," Em muttered, while hanging around my neck.

At this, I froze, taking what she had said, and dissecting it, as everything around me seemed to come to a full stop. Vest had stopped him?.... He had been here, and Emily had faced him.

At this realization, I felt the color drain from my face, as a new sense of cold took over.

"Who?" Nat asked, giving Em a look of concern.

"Someone named Knull," Em replied.

He had been here.

He had targeted my daughters. 

Knull had been here, and had tried to harm one of my…. 

Had Vest not stopped him.

I would've lost them, I would've realized what had happened too late.

In a state of shock, I repeated those lines in my head, over and over again, almost like a mantra, as little my little, all that I was feeling, turned into a new feeling altogether, one of passionate wrath like I had never felt before in my life.

He had dared.

That fucking coward!

"I will kill him," I muttered, grinding my teeth. I would show him the meaning of true despair, and on my path, I will stop at nothing to end him, to see his suffering, and even if my soul stands in the way, I'll toss it aside! 

"Dad," Nat and Em muttered at the same time.

"Don't worry girls, you won't hear of him ever again," I replied, staring at nothing in particular.

He wanted to play that way? I would oblige him then, after all, I was anything but a bad player.

"You should not let your emotions cloud you," 

I blinked, feeling a warm hand touching my forehead, one that didn't belong to Nat or Em.

"Vest?" Em muttered in shock, as Nat slowly moved her hand to her hip to get her knife.

"Don't," I said, giving Nat a kind look. Her reaction was the correct one when an unknown appeared in the room, but it was as of the moment, unnecessary.

"Don't let your emotions rule you. Feel them, embrace them, but don't let them take control," Vest smiled, giving me a warm look.

"Girls, leave," I said, my eyes on Vest.

Nat and Em nodded, leaving the room, but not without giving Vest a look before leaving, Nat, one of suspicion, and Em one of worry.

"Who are you?" I asked, once the girls were out of ears reach, "I'm done playing these games."

"Well ain't that the question," I heard someone chuckle, the voice echoing across the room, each echo making the voice clearer and clearer, until I had no shred of doubt, it no other than Mr. Ara.

"Now it's not the time to be playing!" Vest scolded, as Mr. Ara appeared, giving Vest an apologetic smile.

"Sorry," Mr. Ara sighed, scratching the back of his head, "I was trying to make a dramatic entrance, but, it's obviously not the time for that or my theme song, so I will… keep it serious."

"I want you two to know, I hold you ill towards you, in fact, I am grateful for what Vest did for Em, saving her from that… monster, but nonetheless, I am tired of these games you two are playing," I said, my eyes firmly on them.

"Games we are playing?" Mr. Ara chuckled, "I assure you, it's quite the contrary, Merlin."