Alex and Anna were riding on top of a flying wyvern's back as it soared through the skies of the Demon Kingdom territory. They shared a single saddle, with Anna seated at the front and Alex behind her. Behind them were a flock of wyverns, with Casey riding on a wyvern as well leading the flock but still following behind Alex and Anna's wyvern. Mira was currently with Casey, lying behind her like a sack of potatoes. They were all flying back from Penelope City to the Demon Queen's Castle after the intense battle against the heroes... and Anna's Idol performance back there too.
During the whole flight, both Alex and Anna were dead quiet. They hadn't spoken to each other since their take off from Penelope City. Only enjoying the scenery on top of a wyvern... Well, it might have looked like that from the outside, but deep down, both of them were actually trying to find a conversation to talk about. They both had awkward expressions as they kept thinking about what to say to each other.
Fortunately, they were saved by the wyvern they were riding on as it suddenly let out a roar and began to grumble.
"Whoa! What's wrong, girl?" Alex said to the wyvern, attempting to soothe her. He tried rubbing and petting her scaly neck, but the wyvern continued grumbling, unaffected.
"Sir Alex, you seem to have bonded with this wyvern, haven't you?" Anna inquired Alex, observing how he was still trying to pet the wyvern's scaly neck. She noticed how close Alex appeared to be with this particular wyvern.
"Ah, yeah. I sort of bonded with this gal right here," Alex replied to Anna. The wyvern eventually stopped grumbling and even started purring. Somehow, he got the feeling that this wyvern intentionally acted that way to spark some conversation between him and Anna. 'Heh... what are you? My damn wingwoman or something?' he jokingly thought to himself.
"Do you know her name, Sir Alex?" Anna asked Alex again, wanting to know if the wyvern they were riding on even had a name.
"Honestly... I don't know. Hmm..." Alex grumbled to himself as he just realized that he had never known if the wyvern that had been helping him had a name, or if Casey even gave names to her wyverns. He then looked back behind where Casey and the other wyverns were following his wyvern. "Hold up. Casey! Does this wyvern have a name?" He shouted to Casey, asking her about the wyvern's identity.
Casey and the wyvern she was riding on (with Mira lying behind her like a sack of potatoes) accelerated to get closer to Alex's position. Her wyvern then began to slow down to position itself beside Alex and Anna's wyvern.
"This girl? Not really. She only just started her training. I don't give my wyverns names unless they are fully trained," she answered his question, explaining to Alex about her wyvern naming motto. "For example, my baby that I'm riding here is fully trained by yours truly! Her name is Lizzy-Lizzy!" She exclaimed proudly, which earned a roar of response from the wyvern she was currently riding. Alex and Anna both sweatdropped upon hearing the wyvern's odd name.
"With that being said, this girl seems to be quite attached to you, Alex," Casey pointed to the wyvern Alex was riding. "If you are willing, I'll allow you to train her and make her your personal wyvern. How about that?" Casey offered sincerely. Alex was taken aback by her offer.
"Are you sure, Casey? Didn't you say all these wyverns are your babies?" Alex asked, recalling Casey's previous claim that all the wyverns in her squadron belonged to her.
"Kahaha! Sure they are! But a baby will one day grow up and leave the nest. Thus why I want to make sure these wyverns are properly trained to serve our Queen Anna, and I also want them to find their own rider too in the future," she laughed jovially at first, but her tone in the end changed to a wise and understanding one.
Casey knew full well that she can't possess these wyverns forever, and she was assigned to this job of training them by Demon Queen Anna, who was the first to recognize her potential. So, she would dedicate herself to training these wyverns into fine mounts that would serve Demon Queen Anna.
Both Alex and Anna were speechless upon hearing the wise words from Casey, who usually displayed a more rough-and-tough demeanor. They looked at each other to confirm they were hearing the same thing... and then they both laughed. Alex laughed heartily, while Anna giggled while covering her mouth.
Seeing them laughing made Casey confused. "Hmm? What's wrong? Did I say something funny?" Casey asked Alex.
Eventually, Alex stopped laughing to answer Casey. "No, it wasn't because of that," he replied. He and even Anna looked at Casey in a new light. "To what you said before: I think you're right, Casey. These wyverns are going to serve Queen Anna, so they better be properly trained." Alex then looked at Casey with determination in his eyes. "I would gladly take on the responsibility to train this girl."
Casey stared into his eyes, measuring how sincere his words were. "Alright... I believe your conviction, Alex! Kahaha!" She laughed jovially, accepting Alex's word to take care of one of her wyverns. "You better take care of my baby here, Alex." She sternly warned.
"Yes, ma'am!" Alex mock-saluted Casey, which earned another laugh from her. "Now... what should I name this girl...?" Alex pondered to himself. But then, he noticed that Anna was staring at him quite intensely. "What's the matter, Queen Anna?" Alex asked Anna. Casey also noticed the way Anna was staring at Alex and quietly ordered her wyvern, Lizzy-Lizzy, to slow down her flying so that they could leave Alex and Anna alone in their world.
"Sir Alex..." She muttered his name, which confused Alex a bit. Anna had a brief flash of memories of what Alex had said before on the battlefield.
~~~
"... I have learned and observed you demon guys a lot... in the short time since I was summoned to this world of yours."
~~~
"... You really do get along well with others..." She muttered again, which further confused Alex. Despite the briefness of their interactions, she had observed how Alex interacted with few of her demon brethren. He showed neither fear nor disdain toward them. Instead, he laughed and joked with them without much inhibition.
Then she remembered a few more things that he also said in the battlefield.
~~~
"I learned about your existence in this world,"
"I, Alex Lee, swear that I will help you achieve them all! So... let's conquer the world together, Anna!"
~~~
"... Sir Alex, do you really mean what you said?" Anna inquired Alex. At first, Alex was still confused to what she had been talking about, but... he finally understood what she was saying as he remembered what he had said to her back at the battlefield.
He had made an oath to help her conquer the world.
"Yeah... I meant what I said to you. I swore that I will help you conquer the world with my power, Anna." he answered her with a sincere and serious tone, forgoing not only her Demon Queen title but also refraining from using his endearing suffix for her. Anna was stunned by his response. She had anticipated that he might dismiss her question with a laugh or a shrug, but Alex reaffirmed his oath to help her achieve her dream and ambition. Slowly, a small smile spread across Anna's face, accompanied by a hint of blush on her cheeks.
"I am honored to receive your help, Sir Alex," she accepted Alex's oath, repeating the same words she had said to him before as well.
Alex heard her words and also remembered that she said the same thing as she did when he first made that oath. In response, he laughed heartily. Anna also giggled along with him. Together, they laughed heartily, finding humor in the entirety of their conversation.
Alex then stopped laughing as he started to remember something. "Ah, by the way, Anna-chan. What was that song that you sang back there? Did you write it yourself or was it improvised spontaneously?" He inquired about the song she had sung inside his Arcana Realm dimension. Anna had a blank stare as she took a moment to think about his words. Then, a deep red blush appeared on her snow-white cheeks.
"Uhm...! That was... mostly improvised..." she answered his question rather meekly, still blushing from remembering how she had performed in front of so many people.
"Improvised, huh? But that was pretty good, you know? Though what I didn't really expect was that you used 'world conquering' as the theme of the song. That was one hell of a theme! Hahaha!" He laughed fondly as he remembered how she sang a 'world conquering' theme song out of improvisation. Anna's blush deepened even more.
"What was it again? Hmm... World Conqueror~~~" Alex began to sing the song that Anna had created.
"Sir Alex?! Please don't tease me..." Anna pouted while blushing as she heard Alex start singing.
"I fight for my dream~ Unite the world with hope~~~!" Alex purposefully ignored her protest as he continued singing her song. "Oh, World Conquerors~ Let's unite the world~~~!"
He then encouraged Anna to join in. "Come on, Anna-chan! Let's sing it together! World Conqueror~~~."
Initially, Anna blushed hard from Alex's teasing, but when he invited her to sing along, she reluctantly joined in.
"I fight for my dream~ Unite the world with hope~~~!" They sang together, harmonizing their tones, enjoying the scene atop the wyvern they were riding, as if they were on a field trip.
"Oh, World Conquerors~ Let's unite the world~~~!" As they sang, the sight of the Demon Queen's Castle appeared on the horizon, illuminated by the bright morning sky.
"Oh, World Conquerors~ Let's unite the world with hopes and dreams~~ World Conqueror~~~." When they sang the final lyric of Anna's song, they had finally reached the Demon Queen's Castle.