Casey and her wyvern flock landed on the battlefield near where Alex and the demon gals were. She hopped off the wyvern mount she was riding on and then ran to them.
"Hey, everyone!" Casey shouted with a big grin on her face as she waved her hand to them. When she finally reached their place, she let out a huge sigh of relief. "I'm glad you guys are okay, 'cause I'm really worried, you know!" She joked with them, but her concern was evident. She especially directed her concern towards Alex as she stared him straight in the eyes.
Alex was taken back a bit by Casey suddenly staring at him. "Ah...? Ahaha... well... a lot of things happened, and I had to use my 'Arcana Realm' skill for my grand plan..."
"You guys disappeared all of a sudden! Everyone on the battlefield vanished too! Was that really your doing, Alex?" She quickly inquired, closing in on him and staring directly into his face. Casey's proximity made him a bit nervous, but her expression showed genuine concern, which really surprised him. Her genuine concern made him feel a little guilty.
"...Yeah, it was all my doing. I'm sorry if I made you worry, Casey..." Alex solemnly replied, offering his sincere apologies to Casey.
Casey continued to intensely stare at Alex for quite a while, which made him increasingly nervous. But... she broke into a huge grin and laughed heartily. "Kahaha! As expected of our summoned hero!" She stopped her intense stare, which was a relief for him, but then she smacked his back.
"OW!" Alex yelped in pain from Casey's enthusiastic and intense way of approval.
"You're quite a riot, Alex! Kahaha!" She exclaimed, still laughing, while Alex was left rubbing his sore back. Suddenly, one of Casey's wyverns snuck between them, surprising Alex. But, it then snuggled and rubbed its head to Alex in an affectionate way. Alex was even more surprised by its action, but then he remembered that this wyvern was the wyvern mount that he had ridden before.
"Kahaha! See, Alex? You made her worry too." Casey teased Alex.
"Hey, easy girl. Sorry that I made you worry." Alex apologized to the wyvern too while rubbing her large wyvern head, which earn a tiny roar of approval from her. He thought that these wyverns must be really smart if they could understand his words... or it could be attributed to Casey's exceptional training and teaching skills on them. Her Dragon Tamer Job and Animal Trainer talent likely played a significant role.
General Bella then approached them and directed her attention to the laughing lizard lady. "Casey, can you recount the details of what happened prior to Sir Alex's involvement? Did we really disappear from the battlefield?" She inquired for confirmation. This brought the attention of everyone as well, wanting to know the event outside of the Alex's Arcana Realm. Casey stopped laughing and turned toward the General with a slightly serious expression.
"Yup. I saw the whole thing from the sky while riding on my babies here," she answered the General's inquiry while rubbing the side of the wyvern that was currently still snuggling with Alex.
"Alex and Mira dismounted from their wyvern mounts, in the sky, onto the battlefield and landed right in the middle of the duel between our Queen Anna and the Hero Yulia." she started recounting the situation. "I wished that I could have helped them both back then. I had ordered my babies to assist them, but they stubbornly refused to get close. It seemed that they were afraid of the confrontation between our Queen and the Hero," she added while looking back at her flock of wyverns.
General Bella was listening intently to Casey's account, understanding the intensity of their Queen and the Hero's prior battle before Alex's involvement. The rest were also listening to Casey's account... except for Mira who was still in a dazed state.
"This gal here was different, though! She tried to go assist Alex." She grinned while rubbing the side of the wyvern snuggling with Alex, which earned another tiny roar of approval from the wyvern. "But... it was already too late for any help. Alex said that he activated his 'Arcana Realm' skill, right? Well, most likely after he cast it, some sort of light veins suddenly appeared and spread quickly to the entire battlefield's ground. After that, a massive bright light enveloped all of you guys. Then... you all disappeared! Not a single trace in sight. Not even a single demon nor human in sight…"
"... .... ...." General Bella was silent after hearing Casey's account. She had heard of the 'Arcana Realm' skill and understood it was supposedly an advanced mage's spell that created an alternate dimension, but she never thought she would experience it firsthand, let alone something as chaotic as Alex's Idol Realm... until today.
"I was really surprised, you know! I was panicking real hard back there...!" Casey clenched her fist in frustration as she continued her recounting. "BUT! My gut feeling was telling me that you guys are gonna be okay!" She exclaimed while giving them a thumbs up, showing her confidence in their survival.
"Kite and a few of her fellow harpies managed to avoid Alex's Arcana Realm too because they were at a higher altitude like me and my babies. We regrouped and had a discussion about you guys' disappearance. We all agreed that you guys were most likely safe." Casey continued her recount.
"Where are they, then?" General Bella interjected on Casey's account, inquiring the whereabout of the Harpy Scout Force.
"Kite and her harpy force spread out to scout the situation in other places right now. She asked me to keep watch here to see if you guys are going to come back to the same position where you guys disappeared." Casey answered the General's question. "And lo and behold! The same intense massive bright light suddenly appeared again, and you all came back! Kahaha!" She laughed after finishing her recounting.
"Hm...." The General was deep in her own thoughts as she pondered the information she just received from Casey.
Anna began to stare closely at Alex's direction with an almost unnoticeable expression of interest. Alex then noticed her intrigued gaze. "Hmm? What's wrong, your majesty?" He asked nervously. Anna didn't reply to Alex's nervous question but continued staring at him, as if she was contemplating something. Alex could only manage an awkward smile as he was being stared at.
"... Nothing," she finally replied after a while, which left Alex feeling confused. Then she turned away and approached Casey. "Casey, I would like to borrow your wyvern squadron to return to my castle," she requested.
"Sure thing, your Majesty!" Casey answered the Demon Queen's order, a grin on her face. She then turned to her wyvern flock. "Gather up!" She commanded, and her wyverns soon began to approach en masse.
Roxane then suddenly joined their conversation, ambushing Anna from behind and hugging her tight again. "Ah! Roxane?!?" Anna was surprised once again by Roxane's sudden hug.
"Casey~, did you know you missed out on something really fun?" Roxane teased with a mischievous grin.
"Eeehhh? What is it, Lady Roxane?" Casey inquired, intrigued.
"Did you know that Anna-chan can sing? Her singing was so beautiful~!" Roxane revealed enthusiastically.
"Really?! Ah, I want to hear her sing too!" Casey expressed her excitement.
"Roxane?!? Please stop teasing me!" Anna pleaded with a hint of embarrassment.
General Bella was in disbelief upon seeing this conversation between the demon gals, but... she had an expression of longing from seeing these demon gals' interactions.
Meanwhile, seeing that Anna was in a distress spot, both Alex and the wyvern, who had been snuggling to him, looked at each other and nodded. He hopped on the wyvern, and they quickly approached the demon gals. The wyvern let out a mighty roar that startled the demon gals.
"Ladies, please contain yourselves for now. Our dear Queen Anna-chan is tired and needs some rest here," Alex said from atop the wyvern with a 'prince'-like voice. He then extended his hand to Anna for her to hop onto his wyvern mount, continuing his 'prince-charming' pretend role of picking up the fair lady.
Anna was stunned upon seeing Alex offering his hand to her, a slight blush on her cheeks. Slowly, she accepted his hand, and Alex pulled her onto the wyvern, with her sitting in front of him. Surprisingly, Roxane didn't hold Anna back from getting onto the wyvern. However, Roxane was smiling as she witnessed Anna being quite intimate with Alex.
"Ah, no fair! You had a head start!" Casey jokingly complained to Alex, but she had a huge grin on her face from seeing Alex and the wyvern already getting along so well. She then went to one of her wyverns and was about to mount it, but before that... she picked up Mira, who was still in a daze like a sack of potatoes. She then threw Mira on top of the wyvern and hopped onto said wyvern herself.
Anna, who was riding on the wyvern with Alex, then directed her attention to the General and Roxane. "General Bella, Roxane, would you kindly assist our people in Penelope City? I am heading back to my Castle to assist ours there," she ordered both of them.
"As you wish, Your Majesty!" General Bella stood up straight and saluted the Demon Queen.
"As you wish, Your Majesty~!" Roxane copied the General's speech, which earned a glare from the General herself. "Have a safe trip, you two~" She added her wish at the end.
"Thank you, I will," Anna replied to Roxane's wish with a nod and a small smile. As if on cue, all of the wyverns spread their wings and began to float. Soon, they all began flying into the sky, leaving the General and Roxane on the battlefield, with the latter waving goodbye to the departing wyvern flock.