Chapter 592: The Disintegrating Shell

The final meeting concluded that Coral Island would commit all its resources to this expedition, with a scale larger than the previous Iron Hoof Island campaign and the defeat of Marquis Bull.

Having recruited many land knights during last year's expedition, they could now deploy nearly 1,100 land knights for battle.

Among them, Liszt would lead sixty land knights into battle and assume the role of commander of the Black Knights. However, his primary duty remained swordsmanship, while the actual command of the knights was delegated to Marcus. Until Emily matured, Marcus would remain his right-hand knight.

The well-trained Blizzard Beast Squad was also set to make its full debut—it was time for the nobles of the Kingdom of the Eagle to experience the terror of giant hounds wreaking havoc.

With that, the meeting ended.

The nobles returned to their territories to prepare their knight companies.

The departure was set for July 20th, leaving little time before the expedition. Fortunately, preparations had been made long in advance, so Liszt wasn’t particularly busy and continued his routine. He visited the Dodo Island volcano twice, pushing hard the Fire Drake Leo to further enhance his own strength.

He then entrusted Leo to Acheronides, arranging for food deliveries every few days to ensure the drake wouldn’t starve to death by the time he returned from the expedition.

"Don’t worry, brother. I will take good care of Leo."

"Please also look after Pyke and the others."

"Mm-hmm." Acheronides suddenly thought of something. "Will you take Rose with you, brother? Rose can protect the fleet in the sea."

"Rose? No, let her stay with you."

Liszt had no intention of bringing the Rainbow Whale Rose along. Aside from the twenty or so days spent traveling back and forth, most of the fighting would take place on land, where Rose wouldn’t be of much help.

"By the way, Acheronides, have you started writing your book yet?"

"I'm still organizing the categories for the books. There are so many ideas—enough to fill many magic books. By the time you return from the war, I should have completed a portion."

"Then I’ll look forward to reading your work when I return."

……

Before they knew it,

the departure date was almost upon them.

All affairs of the territory had been meticulously arranged. The officials, led by Gort, would oversee everything—though not the most progressive, they could at least ensure smooth operations. The knights, under Parris’s supervision, would focus on safeguarding the territory, while Acheronides would also keep a covert watch.

Parris, in her black dragon spirit form, was a formidable fighter, and Acheronides, as a great water magician, was exceptionally powerful in water-based combat.

If pirates dared attack Black Horse Island, Acheronides alone could likely handle them. Standing in the sea, a few powerful magic spells would be enough—without a sky knight to intervene, no one could stop her. Meanwhile, any spies sent in secret would be exposed under Parris’s scrutiny.

With her invisibility, investigating individuals was effortless for Parris.

Additionally, with the great magician Cris Truth guarding the mage tower, Liszt had no need to worry about the territory’s safety.

The only thing troubling him was the Tulip bug. Despite being driven by pressure, its magic power had been waning day by day after entering the pupation stage, even with Liszt’s daily encouragement. By the time of departure, the bloated, grayish Tulip bug’s magic had grown fading in and out.

"This is dangerous… Could it be failing?"

Liszt grew uneasy. He could no longer sense the Tulip bug’s emotions—its will to survive had nearly vanished. No matter how he tried to connect, he couldn’t elicit a response.

"Why is this happening?"

"Even though the smoke mission altered fate's course, the Tulip bug continues to wither?" His expression darkened. The pupation-stage Tulip bug in the castle was clearly deteriorating.

Meanwhile, in the tulip fields of the flower farm, the tulip bug plant had begun to curl and yellow, its leaves wilting away and the bloom atop it drooping lifelessly. Despite Liszt’s repeated attempts to nourish it—spreading jade powder and even grinding up magic herbs infused with chaos energy to restore its magic—nothing made a difference.

Still unable to halt its decline.

Finally, under Liszt's helpless gaze, on the night before departure, the magic of the Tulip spirit bug in its chrysalis stage completely dissipated. With a light touch, its plump body turned to ashes, vanishing into the air. The Tulip spirit bug plants in the Tulip fields also scattered with the wind.

Since his arrival in this world, this was the first time a spirit bug belonging to him had died.

A failed evolution meant complete erasure—aside from his memories, no trace of the Tulip spirit bug remained.

"My lord."

Carter stood behind Liszt, calling softly, wanting to comfort him. The death of a spirit bug meant little to those without contracts, who had never experienced the wondrous feeling of a mental connection and thus lacked deep attachment.

For many, a spirit bug's failed evolution was a perfectly normal phenomenon.

The chance of a spirit bug evolving into a higher form was only one in several dozen, and most spirit bugs couldn't pass this hurdle. Cases like Jie La and Mickey's in the castle, who evolved successfully one after another, could only be attributed to the Glory of Knighthood's favor. Many lesser nobles even suppressed their spirit bugs' evolution.

They would rather let a spirit bug live out its ten-year lifespan until natural death than risk premature demise through evolution.

"I'm fine, Mr. Carter. I'm just a little upset." Liszt looked at the empty box, took a deep breath, and forced himself to rally. "It was just one spirit bug. I saw many Tulip spirit bugs fail to evolve at the Tulip estate when I was young... There will be more cases like this in the future."

"Indeed, humans face birth, aging, sickness, and death—so do spirit bugs."

"I leave tomorrow. I leave the castle in your care."

"Rest assured, my lord."

"There's nothing to worry about. As for the beach villa, follow my previous arrangements—have it cleaned occasionally, but don't let anyone approach casually."

Carter the steward nodded. "As you wish, my lord."

Liszt turned his head and smiled. "I know what you're thinking, Mr. Carter. I have many secrets, and I believe you'll keep them for me, won't you?"

Many of his actions were unusual, and as his trusted steward, Carter couldn't have failed to notice.

The gray-haired Carter gave a playful smile. "From the Sapphire Duchy above to a single serf in the fields, everyone has secrets. My lord's secrets are Carter's secrets, locked in the castle's cellar with only one key to open it. They'll go with Carter to the grave."

"May you live long and well."

Liszt chuckled knowingly. "Don't overwork yourself. Take care. My castle can't do without you. Leave the less important tasks to the servants."

...

The conversation with Carter the steward eased the weight in his heart.

After returning to his study, Liszt sat in his chair and pondered for a moment before calling forth the smoke task—this was the first time a task had failed, and he wondered what changes the smoke task would show.

Focusing intently,

The wispy, shifting smoke slowly rose and soon formed serpent tongue script.

"Task failed. The Tulip spirit bug has died."