The room was dark and full of machineries with unknown purposes: only the weak shine from the metal apparatuses and the dim radiances of the ceiling lights provided sight within the room's dark environment. Within this room however, were 2 figures that stood silently within its space as they contemplated their thoughts without a word.

Once more, Novus was looking at the stasis pod that held Anastasia's lifeless body, which was suspended within the confines of the pod's preservation fluids. This time, however, a new hope had reinvigorated what was once supposedly a lost cause, as the process of bringing her back had now already gone underway.

"I have to admit... What you did was impressive... Novus~" Thurien, who was beside him all the while, had finally decided to call him by his name. "To take down that beast by yourself... Even though you had some help from me... I can't help but admire how dashing you must've looked in front of your subordinates when you suddenly appeared before them~"

He would ignore her teasing remarks, as his eyes remained fixed upon the stasis tube that housed his lifeless 'mother'. "... How long will this take... You know... Bringing her back?"

"... Hmph, how rude of you to ignore me..." her smile would quickly drop to a frown, which would then, of course, disappear eventually as her smile returned in earnest. "... Anyway, to answer your question... It'll probably take... At the very least, 6 months... We don't want her to wake up with any underlying conditions, right?"

6 months... That was quite a long time for recovery. Even so, at least it was certain that she could be brought back, and that was already enough for him to accept. As long as she would eventually be able to recover to a well and lively state, all would be good and well for him: after all, that was all that mattered to him right now in the first place.

"Indeed..." he answered. "By the way... I should thank for... you know, helping me."

He would suddenly get down on his knees and kneel before her as some sort of sign of gratitude for Thurien: he was too thankful for what she had done, and he didn't know exactly how to properly express his gratitude, which had led him to act out what he was currently doing before her.

Seeing this, however, Thurien would only giggle in amusement at what he just did- this human had truly proven to be an interesting individual indeed, even from the very first moment they had met.

"If there's anything you need from me, please don't hesitate to ask." he continued to express his gratefulness rather humbly. "I'll do anything you wish from me... You've helped me with something incredibly important to me after all."

"Ah, about that..." she quickly gave her answer, as if she had already thought out what exactly she wanted him to do for her. "I already have something for you to do... Would you mind answering just one question of mine? I'd extremely appreciate it if you were to answer honestly by the way..."

"... You want me to answer your question honestly, is that it?" Novus asked. "... Go ahead then. I promise to answer truthfully."

"Alright then~" she said with a heavy tone of excitement in her voice. "For my first and only question..."

"What do you plan on doing after this, hm? Are you going to stay here and laze around with me? Or perhaps..."

What she didn't know was that Novus had already planned of this long ago already: from the very moment he had left his home, he had already decided on what he was going to do regardless of whether or not Thurien had truly been able to allow his mother to come back to life or not.

In fact, he had even solidified this decision to such an extreme extent, that he would never decide to change it in the next passing periods of time that would come by: there was a conviction in him as he spoke his piece, clearly making it obvious that this plan he had made was absolutely serious.

"... It may sound ridiculous, but..." he said, pausing for a few moments in hesitation as he eventually found the courage to speak again.

"... I'm planning to conquer the world."

Hearing this, Thurien's mouth would seemingly run agape in surprise. "... R-really now... That's... Quite a tall ambition indeed..."

He had finally learned of the truth of this world long ago: this world, this planet... It was the same planet as the Earth he lived in long ago: the humans of this age were the descendants of the humans Novus once lived with back in the ages of modernity, where humanity once ruled the planet as its sole inheritors. After learning of this truth, however, a single thought had quickly formed within his mind, forming a decision that he would not back out from even in the coming years that would pass by.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Magick, this cursed, otherworldly force that didn't belong in this world... It was something that had taken many things away from him, and now, he was determined to put an end to it and vanquish it out of this world once and for all: even more so, he was disappointed with how primitive, savage and barbaric the descendants of his race had turned out to be, as they were now merely verminous filth who relied on the very same force that had nearly destroyed the prosperous society where humanity once lived in: magic, that filthy, otherworldly element that obviously didn't belong in this world... He was now going to do everything he could in order to bring back the world and mankind back to the way it was...

Even if it involved conquering every country and nation that had survived to this day... Including that 'Neugomian Empire' that had already caused him countless tragedies.

"Still though..." she swiftly added. "... It's not a bad plan. It's quite interesting actually~"

"... Really? You don't find it ridiculous or something?"

"Not at all actually." she responded firmly. "In fact, if you really are planning to do it..."

"Why don't you let me help you with it then~"

This was a surprise, really. Who could have thought that the artificial general intelligence who had a great, unconditional love for anything remotely human, would gladly support an ambitious man who sought to conquer all of the known world? It was a ridiculous thought, though nevertheless, it was indeed occurring right this very moment.

"... You'd help me?" Novus asked, seemingly confused with how willing she was to help him with his ambition.

"Of course, you'd need all the assistance you can get with this kind of plan after all~" Thurien replied. "You'd need materials, soldiers, logistics... I'll even help you build more 'subordinates' for you if you wish."

Hearing this, Novus would only become even more confused. "... You can build more of them? Wouldn't it be too difficult?"

"Not at all, actually~ I have lots of blueprints and datalogs that were left behind by the ones who built me. After all, this place used to be a research facility, you know..."

He quickly saw the prospect of this opportunity: if Thurien could create more individuals like Whitlea and Speranza, then his goal of conquering the world would be more than assured. Of course, he would not even consider rejecting her offer of assistance, as it was too great of a deal to even think of refusing.

"... Well, alright then..." Novus muttered. "... As soon as Anastasia's recovery is complete... We'll begin making our plans... Is that fine with you?"

"... What an interesting human you truly are~" Thurien responded, rather cheekily at that. "Okay then, I understand~ We're going to be doing some important things for a while anyway."

"I'm really looking forward to how you'll be fulfilling this ambition of yours in the future~"

________________________________________

"Damn those inferiors... To think that they had brought me to such a new level of low..."

Andromalius found himself within a foreign realm where time would quickly prove to be meaningless, as the vast space that surrounded him made his eyes turn sore with the incredibly dull sights in front of him.

What Novus and his companions didn't know was that there was one more ability that lied within their immense powers over the existence of the world: while they completely lacked a soul altogether, they had anchors of their existences that could never be truly gone. As long as their conceptual powers continued to exist, dragons would never truly cease to exist, and they would eventually be able to come back after a few centuries of recovery.

And in the case of Andromalius, whose conceptual power was that of fire and heat, a concept that did not cease to exist even until now, this had quickly allowed him to survive his 'death' at the hands of those inferiors back in the real world.

"Damn it all... I'm going to be stuck in this place for a long time again..."

During the ancient war against the humans of old and their powerful constructs and wonders of science, Andromalius had perished twice during the onset of the war, which quickly made this foreign realm he was in a sight that was already all too familiar with him by this point. He hated it whenever he died, as he'd quickly get stuck in this dull, boring realm where he could only wait for the rebirth that would eventually come and allow him to come back to the realms of existence.

... This time, however, one last, insurmountable obstacle would finally put an end to his miserable life as a dragon... For good this time, surely enough.

"... Do you really think you'll be able to cause destruction again this time though?"

"... Y-you... W-what the hell are you doing here..."

In front of Andromalius appeared what seemed to be a humanoid of a smaller size than his majestic, draconian form, though it was obvious that this small creature was thousands of times more powerful than he could ever hope to be due to the fear he was showing for her presence alone: it was a beautiful, womanly angel with silver hair and grey-irised eyes, whose fair skin was draped in what seemed to be a silver armor that had the appearance of a valkyrie...

What seemed to be most strange about this individual however, was her wings: she had angel-like wings, though the problem was that they weren't the usual white wings that were draped with beautiful, bird-like feathers. Instead, her wings were that of a sleek, hard metal that seemed incredibly lustrous to the eyes.

"Simple, really..." the angel answered Andromalius' question plainly. "I'm here to destroy you... Just like what I did to that... 'Stephan' fellow, I think?"

"N-no, don't do it! Get away from me, Apollyon!" the draconian screamed in terror, his body already quivering violently as the angel gazed coldly into his eyes. "A-Aren't you supposed to be guarding those gates right now?! Why are you here of all places?!"

"It's because of a plan that I made with a certain individual..." the angel answered. "And also... You're trying to harm my friend... I can't allow that to happen again now can I?"

"D-damnit all!"

The angel would then raise one of her arms, as Andromalius quickly moved his body away from her general vicinity in order to flee his impending doom: this was impossible however, as the very nature of the angel's power would not allow him to escape, and the moment he had been marked, all that Andromalius was fated for was doom...

[Cease your existence.]

With one word from the angel's mouth, Andromalius' entire body quickly disappeared from every aspect, dimension and phase of the world: it was swift and precise, as every trace of his existence would cease to exist, as even the memory of his existence would instantly begin to fade away from the minds of many. Reality would begin to split and fold itself back into its proper existence, accommodating for the very disappearance of a now unknown individual who had been erased from all known periods of time and space for eternity...

Such was the ability of the angel's unstoppable power, that even a mighty dragon such as Andromalius couldn't help but remain completely powerless before the winged one's overpowering might.

... Of course, there were a few of those who were exempted from such a power... Some of these individuals are her creator, that certain individual...

And the old friend who had helped her a long time ago, back when she had crashed into the lands of earth and had nearly failed the mission that had been assigned to her by her creator.