Chapter 893: Traffic Throat

Taking the Mermaid's Protection with him, Ma Xiu of the Red-and-White Rose family soon led the envoy delegation to set off, preparing to visit the Sapphire Duchy to meet his chosen "brother-in-law."

In his view, Sirens could not unite with humans, and Liszt was a typical noble by birth—though only the son of a count, he still counted among the high nobility. Such nobles shared a common attitude toward love: it had to be founded on mutual benefit.

Apart from a very few nobles, the vast majority prioritized family and personal interests—this was the core of nobility under the chivalric system.

"My sister Marilyn is the most beautiful woman in the Northlands and the Steel Pearl. In the entire northeastern corner of the Legendary Continent, no one is more suited to be the queen of the Fire Kingdom than her... To have a Dragon Knight commanding four dragons as my brother-in-law, and a king at that—what glory would my status then hold?"

Ultimately, his eagerness to arrange this marriage for his sister was mainly to strengthen the Red-and-White Rose family.

From ancestors generations ago, the Red-and-White Rose family had understood the importance of clinging to powerful allies. Without that crucial marriage alliance, the family would have long faded into history.

"Even if Liszt is incredibly strong, he cannot command four dragons simultaneously. Perhaps once Marilyn becomes queen, I too will have a chance to ride a dragon... The family's Ruby Dragon is simply too old, and the Steel Ridge royal family refuses to let me ride any other dragon... Uncle Osborn, while you are using the Red-and-White Rose family for this marriage, isn’t it also the family’s way of protecting itself?"

Ma Xiu had already begun fantasizing about how glorious it would be for the Red-and-White Rose family to thrive between two great kingdoms once the marriage succeeded.

And all this was predicated on one assumption—that Liszt was the kind of noble who prioritized interests, as he believed.

To this end, he led the envoy delegation not only bearing lavish gifts from the Steel Ridge royal family but also an abundance of presents from the Red-and-White Rose family—Red Dragon Water made from red roses, powerful magical elixirs crafted from white roses, and rubies produced by the Ruby Dragon.

"No matter how exceptional a young prodigy is, he will bow before the wealth of the Red-and-White Rose family!"

...

Unaware that someone was preparing to overwhelm him with riches, Liszt, after receiving a report from the blood attendant Mary, pondered briefly before setting aside the matter of the Steel Ridge royal family’s envoy delegation—the idea of an arranged marriage happening to him was rather amusing upon reflection.

Before coming to this world, as an utterly ordinary person, he had often wondered during his failed romantic pursuits why the state didn’t arrange marriages, sparing honest men from being left with nothing.

But the thought of marrying a noble lady he had never met made him uneasy—the lifestyle of nobles here was notoriously licentious.

Liszt cared deeply about the fidelity of his partner.

This was also one reason he maintained goodwill toward young girls like Emily, Lucy, Ruth, and Hippolyta. Young girls were innocent, untainted by the murky world, like lotuses rising pure from muddy waters. With careful nurturing, they could grow into the ideal he envisioned.

Of course, he welcomed the arrival of the envoy delegation and gladly accepted the goodwill of the Steel Ridge Kingdom.

As long as the three great kingdoms did not unite, it was excellent news.

The Fire Kingdom needed time to develop, and he himself needed time to grow—riding too many dragons in a short span had left him too little time to cultivate bonds with each. So far, he had not established a single mental bond and had made little progress in the Dragon Aura Manual.

The next day.

With the final magical material prepared, Liszt decisively left the comfortable Thorn Fortress and rode the Invisible Dragon Bard to traverse to Heart Island.

At this moment, a whirling magical portal slowly rotated on Heart Island, its dark passage leading deep into the island.

There was no water—this magic gate was entirely built on dry land.

"Brother, you're back." Acheronides stood at the edge of Heart Island, practicing her control of the earth elemental avatar—had it not been for the delay caused by the spatial elemental avatar, she would have proceeded with the earth element as planned after water and ice, all in preparation for a great undertaking.

Average great magicians could only slightly alter terrain with magic, but once an Archmage mastered the earth elemental avatar, reshaping the landscape became effortless.

Legends spoke of ancient Archmages possessing the power to move mountains and part seas—perhaps exaggerated, but their might was undeniable.

"Yes, I'm back." Liszt approached and stroked Acheronides' azure hair, while she tilted her head obediently, basking in the affection.

Between them, there was already an unspoken understanding and intimacy.

"Then, Brother, let's begin connecting the two magic gates to expand the wormhole space!" Acheronides said excitedly after enjoying a head pat.

"Alright!"

The two mounted the Invisible Dragon Bard and headed straight for the magic gate. After entering the immaterial world, Acheronides retrieved the magical materials and assembled them into the necessary magic array, continuously guiding Bard to activate it. Then, leveraging its innate abilities, she darted between the two magic gates to establish a connection.

This was a complex magical process, likely relying on the attraction between magic powers to align the gates.

Eventually, the "beacons" of the two magic gates were aligned, and through Bard's Spatial Magic, the connected magical lines were gradually expanded to forge a wormhole passage.

The mechanics were fiendishly complex.

Liszt didn’t fully understand them, but he simply followed Acheronides' instructions. After three days of intermittent work, the human, dragon, and siren were all utterly exhausted when the spatial wormhole between the two magic gates was finally completed. After further reinforcement, the magic teleportation array was officially finished.

"Channel bidirectional repulsion is normal, and the exit speed from the magic gate has been attenuated to match the entry speed... Brother, the Heart Island-Reed Marsh Magic Teleportation Array is officially complete!" After repeatedly traversing the two gates, Acheronides beamed a sweet smile, bursting with pride.

This was her first recreation of the ancient Archmage’s first wonder.

Standing before the Heart Island magic gate, Liszt was equally exhilarated. This great miracle, existing only in whispered legends, had been brought to life by his own efforts—his pride was no less than Acheronides'.

Taking a deep breath, he quickly made a decision: "Since this magic teleportation array is now complete, and the territory lacks the resources to build the Black Horse Island-Jade Mountain array for now, we’ll use this one as the main magical thoroughfare to deliver supplies and begin colonizing the Flame Archipelago!"

With the magic teleportation array up and running, Liszt promptly notified Marquis Niuwei, instructing the Tulip family to prepare materials and participate in Heart Island’s construction.

To protect the magic teleportation array, Heart Island would ideally be transformed into a fortress.

As the linchpin of this transportation route, Heart Island could fully become the trade hub of the Emerald Sea—at least until the Black Horse Island-Jade Mountain Magic Teleportation Array was completed.