Arwen stared at Alex’s broad back, her eyes flickering with a strange light as she did not attempt to answer his question.
Her feelings at that moment were a mixture of awe and fear as she found herself unable to remain calm.
Awe at the celestial beauty of the night sky and fear at the fact that this was not the night sky she was familiar with.
The widespread darkness with the twinkling lights above caused her to grow curious but she did not dare overthink it.
If there was anything she understood... it was the fact that there was knowledge better left unknown.
Meanwhile, as Claudia made no effort to run any longer, instead stuck marveling at the night sky created by Kane, a sudden change within her caused her to snap out of it.
"This..." she trailed off, unsure of what to make of the new development.
Claudia felt stronger... stronger than she had ever felt before.
"The Dark Lord." She muttered under her breath. "He truly is the king of the night."
’Maybe I overdid it?’ Alex pursed his lips as he noticed that Arwen and Claudia had remained silent, with his question left unanswered.
He glanced back to find the different emotions exuded by the girls.
Reverence, fear, awe... it made them unable to reply even if they wanted to.
Letting out a sigh, he turned his attention back to the Slenderman.
The grotesque monstrosity struggled as best as it could, tugging at the black and white tendrils that kept it in place.
Unable to destroy its bindings, it sought to end the origin of it all.
It let out a most baleful cry and without hesitation, several tentacles shot forward from its mouth, charging at Alex.
Alex quickly snapped his fingers and disappeared in a flash only to appear behind the Slenderman but then realized the tentacles hadn’t stopped and were now rushing toward Claudia and Arwen.
Realizing the danger she was in, Claudia held onto Arwen and with a calm expression, evaded the tentacles before finally coming to a stop.
"What in the..." Arwen was shocked by her friend’s fluid movements.
"How... How did you do that?... How?"
Claudia pursed her lips, unsure of how to respond.
Just then, the Slenderman let out an ear-piercing screech, snapping the girls out of their little chatter.
They turned to find several small holes on the Slenderman, before realizing Alex was the cause as two fingers of his were pointed at the creature with a tiny ball, possessing both black and white shades, floating a few meters away from his fingers.
Gesturing as though he were firing a real gun, the tiny ball shot out like a bullet and struck the Slenderman squarely in the back of its head causing the rugs to be stained in purple blood.
Alex remained poised as he stared at the monstrosity.
Watching as the holes he punctured in it began to heal, he soon heard a sound like glass shattering behind him, causing him to glance back.
"Hmm." His brows furrowed as the rip in space located in Arwen’s room increased in size, turning from a mere split to a size comparable to a full-body mirror.
"This is troublesome." He muttered before sensing danger, causing him to snap again.
As he appeared next to Claudia and Arwen, he watched as the Slenderman grew larger and as it grew so large its head was touching the ceiling, it began to produce smaller versions of itself that stood at 7ft.
These clones were completely unaffected by Alex’s binding and so without hesitation, attacked them.
Alex however was prepared for this as he snapped his fingers and removed himself as well as Claudia, Arwen, and Ada out of Eternal Night before snapping again to entrap the Slenderman and its clones within.
Glancing at Arwen, he remarked. "How much do you know about that creature?"
"I need information if we want to stand a chance of killing it. Fighting blindly would only lead to us tiring out and... the spatial rip is getting worse. The more time we waste, the stronger our opponent gets."
"..." Arwen briefly remained silent before nodding. "I understand."
At that moment, the air about her seemed to change as she focused completely on the task at hand.
Taking a deep breath, she began. "The Slenderman, according to the Stanford Scale, is a 3rd-Class Otherworldly. Don’t let the grade fool you because its abilities make it a more subtle killer.
"I’ve always thought the ranking for the Otherworldly was quite flawed considering they only measure the destructive capabilities of the creature, not taking into account other factors like..."
"Arwen!" Claudia suddenly called out at that moment causing the young lady to pause.
Alex raised a brow at the strange situation playing out between the girls.
Letting out an awkward cough, Arwen continued. "Anyway, Its powers include invisibility, regeneration, and duplication. It has also been known to move at speeds comparable to old Vampires and possesses capabilities to move through shadows. To defeat it... one would have to deal with its regeneration which is quite difficult considering the creature can survive being cut apart."
Blinking a few times, Alex couldn’t help but be thoroughly impressed by Arwen’s explanation and also slightly confused as to how she had so much information.
Arwen replied, cutting off Alex before he could complete the question. "Neque Adnales, 2nd version, 12th revised Edition. It’s currently a best seller in the black market for mysticism."
"... I see." He hadn’t expected something really useful but she had gone beyond expectations.
Arwen inquired. "Is there a problem?"
"Impressive," Alex muttered before turning his attention back to the ball of swirling black and white in which the Slenderman was trapped in.
Taking a deep breath, he pondered his options.
’Black Hole would be able to do the job but on the off chance that it destroys the building and draws attention here, things might get complicated.’
’Night Dwelling won’t help much as well...’
He had one other option but the Slenderman regeneration caused him to hold back on using it.
Just then, Arwen spoke up. "I might have a way to deal with their regeneration."
"Oh." Alex glanced back at her. "Pray tell."
"I can slow down their healing factor so we can damage them well enough to force them back into the crack."
"And how long will that take?"
"Then go ahead," Alex remarked before noticing that the Slenderman was trying to break out of Eternal Night. "They won’t be able to escape from there anytime soon."
Despite not knowing the man before her, Arwen was compelled to trust in him, and as she prepared to act, the tumultuous emotions she felt turned calm.
It would seem there was no need to be afraid.