As Duke Charles led the other maids away, only Owen and Leslie remained in the dining hall, facing each other.
Owen looked at Leslie in confusion. "Why must I participate in this so-called Magic Competition?"
Leslie's eyes gleamed with profound light. "Don't you want to unlock the Godslayer Staff? This is the crucial first step."
"What does this have to do with the Godslayer Staff?" Owen was puzzled.
The Magic Competition was merely an exchange among geniuses from various countries. To him, participating seemed like a waste of time.
"Do you know why I burned down the third prince's palace?"
Seeing Owen's lack of understanding, Leslie revealed a mysterious smile and continued, "I discovered a fragment of the Godslayer Staff in the third prince's palace!"
"Oh?!"
Owen's expression instantly turned serious. He knew that with Leslie's information network, she must have some news about the Godslayer Staff.
"To be precise, it was the hilt of the Godslayer Staff. The third prince found it in an ancient ruin in the mountains bordering Kyrik, where three gold-tier masters had fallen."
"After obtaining the hilt, they sent it back to the royal treasury immediately. At that time, I set a fire to distract them and secretly infiltrated the treasury."
"Due to the urgency, I could only get a rough understanding of the treasury's structure and didn't have time to find the hilt. However, I did come across an unexpected delight."
"The Azure Kingdom's royal treasure map!"
At this point, Leslie narrowed her eyes.
Starting a war required money, a lot of money!
And the Azure Kingdom's royal family had accumulated wealth over thousands of years, enough to ensure no worries for the future.
"This treasure is crucial for my subsequent plans. However, after the fire and the breach of the treasury, the royal family strengthened the treasury's defenses. Now, the royal treasury is guarded by 12 gold-tier level 9 masters, and there is a powerful array outside, said to be capable of instantly killing platinum-tier masters!"
"Able to instantly kill platinum-tier masters... So..." Owen blinked, "after all that, what does it have to do with participating in the competition?"
Leslie looked at Owen, smiling, "Can't you duplicate objects from people's bodies? Just use that method to copy the princess's emblem."
"Currently, only direct adult royal family members have the privilege to pass through the array into the treasury, and the princess is one of them. The passage token is their royal emblem."
Owen's expression grew more serious upon hearing this. "Royal family members usually keep their emblems well-preserved and only wear them during important occasions.
To copy it, I need to get very close to Princess Marry, which is only possible during the competition. Otherwise, there won't be another opportunity."
"Exactly. During the competition, you need to charm her. I can see she has quite a liking for you." Leslie's initially serious expression turned playful towards the end.
Owen's mouth twitched.
After a moment, he continued, "What do I do after getting the emblem?"
Leslie tossed him a stone. "This is an echo stone. Once you have the emblem, crush it. I will take action immediately. You then go directly to the treasury, retrieve the hilt of the Godslayer Staff, and bring out the royal treasure map."
Owen looked at the white echo stone in his hand, feeling a bit bewildered.
He had never heard that the hilt of the Godslayer Staff was hidden in the Azure Kingdom's treasury.
This was never mentioned in the original story, nor was it ever stated that the Godslayer Staff had seven seals.
In the original anime, the protagonist John obtained the Godslayer Staff much later, and it was already in its complete form by then.
The time Owen had traveled to was still some distance from the main storyline.
Moreover, perhaps due to the butterfly effect, his presence caused some deviations in the original story.
This thought made Owen feel less secure.
As the plot progressed, the more it deviated, the harder it would be for him to navigate smoothly, and there would be no further guidance.
Everything would gradually rely on his own strength.
Taking a deep breath, Owen's eyes grew more resolute. Given the increasing uncertainty of the future, the Godslayer Staff would be his great reliance. Unsealing it was urgent.
"Let's settle this matter then," Owen nodded and left the dining hall.
As the sky darkened, it was an excellent time for night activities. He could take advantage of the quiet night to scout around the palace.
With his current skills, sneaking and scouting should still be quite safe.
So, finding a secluded corner in the duke's mansion, Owen made a large black robe out of some black cloth he found.
Using it to cover his body and face, he blended into the night. He then suppressed his aura and slipped out of the duke's mansion. As he walked through a corridor with an open window, he suddenly felt a breeze.
A sense of unease arose in Owen's heart.
Turning his head, he saw a mysterious figure in a hooded black robe approaching like a specter.
Before Owen could react, he felt his body lighten as the figure grabbed him by the back of his clothes and lifted him out of the duke's mansion.
Owen tried to use mana to break free, but in the hands of this mysterious figure, all his mana and mind power were confined within his body, as if his magical circuits had been choked.
No matter how he struggled, it was futile!
It was as if the other person was a cat, and he was merely a mouse being toyed with. Owen felt a bit panicked and nervous, but he quickly forced himself to calm down.
This person had managed to infiltrate the duke's mansion, easily taking him out without alerting anyone else, not even Leslie, whose strength was still unknown.
This indicated that the person's tier was extremely high, likely platinum-level advanced, no, diamond-tier! Perhaps even master-tier!
Under the guidance of the mysterious person, Owen was carried through the air to a small hill ten miles away from the duke's mansion.
Upon reaching there, the mysterious person landed with Owen on the hilltop.
Once on solid ground, Owen immediately looked at the mysterious person in front of him.
At this moment, her wide black robe was billowing in the breeze, and the cool moonlight shone on her face, giving her an ethereal, ghost-like appearance.
Owen's eyelid twitched; he didn't remember doing anything so heinous to deserve this.
In the next moment, as the moonlight fully illuminated the mysterious person's face, Owen's expression changed slightly.
He recognized this person!
John's mentor โ Ymir!
Ymir was a legendary figure. It was with her assistance and support that John was able to rise so swiftly!
Owen hadn't expected her to secretly bring him here.
"If you want to live, answer my questions properly!" Ymir's face was cold, with an aloofness and sternness that seemed otherworldly.
This Owen had too much talent and was too mysterious.
Even she was immensely curious about him.
Such a person, if not understood and used for her purposes, would need to be eliminated quickly!
"Why do you know about the Order of Thunder beneath Pharaoh's Tower? Which faction are you from?"
Faced with Ymir's interrogation, Owen, who had recognized her, calmed down completely and shook his head, saying, "I'm just a wandering mage."
A hint of killing intent flashed in Ymir's eyes but then slowly dissipated. "If you don't want to tell, that's fine. I'm here to propose a deal."
Owen looked at her and said, "I know you are interested in the Order of Thunder and the Order of Fire. Since it's a deal, what can you offer me?"
Ymir, with an air of arrogance, said, "I can give you a map of all the Godslayer Staff fragments!"
In her view, Owen's rise was likely due to the assistance of the Godslayer Staff. However, the staff was incomplete, and its power had not reached its peak.
Her initial intention was to seize the Godslayer Staff and give it to John. However, the fragments of the Godslayer Staff were scattered in extremely dangerous places. Rather than having John and herself take the risks to collect them, she decided to take advantage of this opportunity and let Owen collect them instead.
Once most of the fragments were gathered, she would then eliminate Owen, the tool, and let John wield the complete Godslayer Staff, significantly boosting his power!