Finding Flamecourt Kingdom turned out to be relatively easy and didn't take Owen too long.
Of course, that was mainly because they were incredibly easy to identify.
Carrying a large golden banner with a flaming emblem stitched onto it—there was no mistaking them.
Who in their right mind would carry a banner around like that?
Only these lunatics would do something so ridiculous.
After confirming the location of Flamecourt Kingdom, Owen began to recall the events from the original story.
If he remembered correctly, John had just entered the second floor of the Tower when he decided to leave with Emily to act independently. That's when they encountered Flamecourt Kingdom.
"If eastward is the direction... then it should be this way."
Although relying solely on his sense of direction in this desert was challenging, Owen could easily determine his bearings by observing the direction of the setting sun.
After racing forward for nearly ten minutes, Owen finally caught sight of the outline of a temple.
From a distance, it resembled a massive lion statue lying in the desert, with several platinum-tier spellbeasts guarding the area.
These spellbeasts posed no threat to Owen at all.
With a casual flick of his hand, he unleashed two high-level lightning spells, frying them to a crisp, the scent of roasted meat wafting through the air.
This brings up another significant reason why Owen was considered so gifted.
Typically, when someone awakens their mana core, it is aligned with a particular attribute.
For example, Emily has a fire-attribute mana core, giving her a higher affinity for fire elemental energy.
Her fire magic is enhanced by her mana core, with the degree of amplification varying based on the quality of the mana core.
Owen, however, was extremely special.
He possessed an attribute-less mana core.
Being attribute-less didn't mean that Owen had no affinity for any type of magic.
On the contrary, it meant that his affinity for all elemental energies in the world was far beyond that of ordinary people.
With his SSS+ grade mana core, any magic Owen cast, regardless of its element, was amplified to a terrifying extent, doubling its power!
Because of this, when Owen joined Crossbridge Academy, he didn't align himself with any particular group of students but instead directly apprenticed under Headmaster Catalina.
Catalina also had an attribute-less mana core, but hers was only of SS-grade, which still left a gap compared to Owen's.
As a result, Owen not only mastered the basic elemental magics of fire, water, earth, and nature but also learned the variant magics of ice, lightning, and wind, the downgrading magics of shadow and blood, the upgrading magics of holy and necromancy, and even the dimensional magics of space, time, and gravity.
If Owen had survived until the later stages of the original story, he might have been able to master the stellar magics of Starlight, Moonlight, and Sunlight, making him truly omnipotent!
And yet, despite all this, Owen was still killed by John.
It's something that's simply beyond comprehension.
As these thoughts swirled in his mind, Owen stepped into the Desert Temple. The moment he entered, the abnormal gravity inside made it nearly impossible for Owen to move.
It was clear that the gravity within the Desert Temple was far greater than that of the outside world, and the intensity of the gravity seemed to be directly linked to one's level. With Owen currently at diamond-tier level 9, he could barely stand upright!
Fortunately, this wasn't much of a challenge for Owen.
By adjusting his level down to iron-tier level 1, Owen immediately felt much lighter and could move with ease.
However, in such a weakened state, he'd be vulnerable if he encountered any danger.
After some experimentation, he found that diamond-tier level 1 provided the optimal balance—enough pressure to be challenging but still leaving him with sufficient strength to handle any sudden threats.
After stretching his body a bit, Owen began exploring the temple.
"If I remember correctly, the gauntlet should be worn on one of the statues. In the original story, John triggered a mechanism, activating the temple's guardian beast. After defeating it, he found the hidden passage."
As for the mechanism, the original story was clear: it was a solar stone embedded in the statue.
It didn't take long for Owen to lock onto the mana fluctuations of the solar stone.
The pure and intense mana was too obvious to miss, and its fiery red hue was striking.
Owen approached and gently pried the solar stone loose.
In the next moment, he heard a deafening roar that seemed to tear through the very air.
The statue before him suddenly cracked, and a large, furry paw came crashing down!
"Just as expected, a golden lion sealed within the statue."
Owen wasn't surprised. Using wind magic, he quickly distanced himself from the guardian beast, observing it from afar.
The spellbeast was at diamond-tier level 1, the same level as Owen currently, making it neither too strong nor too weak.
Owen couldn't quite understand how, in the original story, John managed to defeat the guardian beast while being at gold-tier, a whole two levels below.
The story claimed that John had some kind of explosive awakening and, after a tremendous struggle, finally defeated the guardian beast. But Owen thought it was nonsense.
With such a significant gap in levels, it was doubtful whether John's magic could even penetrate the beast's defenses. It was purely the result of the protagonist's plot armor.
Fortunately, an opponent of this level posed no real threat to Owen.
"Why not use this as an opportunity to test the power of the new forbidden magic I've just mastered?"
With that thought, Owen retrieved his staff, something he hadn't used in quite some time.
In truth, with Owen's current affinity for the elements, he rarely needed a staff to channel magic.
Only when casting sage-tier or higher spells did he require a staff.
And Owen's staff was quite extraordinary.
This staff was a gift from his beautiful mentor, Catalina, when he advanced to diamond-tier.
It was a master-tier staff, carved from sacred magical wood, with a Holy Shard embedded in it, increasing the power of holy magic by nearly thirty percent!
And the spell Owen was about to cast happened to be a holy magic spell.
[God-Emperor's Curse]
Arcane syllables began to flow from Owen's mouth.
Although the golden lion had no intelligence, it could sense the ominous danger that made its heart tremble!
This human before it was terrifying!
If it didn't stop him, it would die!
With that thought, the golden lion didn't hesitate for a moment. It immediately unleashed its racial innate magic, Lion's Roar. The soundwaves, powerful enough to shatter the sky, exploded forth, rippling through the air and relentlessly crashing towards Owen!
But it was too late!
The soundwaves had no effect on Owen. As the final syllable left his lips, Owen abruptly opened his eyes and struck his staff down forcefully!
In the next moment, a towering beam of light pierced through the clouds, enveloping Owen, and condensed into a phantom, as if the Supreme Holy Emperor himself had descended!
"Be annihilated."
Owen lowered his gaze, his eyes containing what seemed like two blazing suns, making it impossible for anyone to meet his stare.
At this moment, Owen was the legendary Holy Emperor!
Boom!
It was as if the entire space quaked at that moment!
The phantom of the Holy Emperor wielded the staff, and the golden beam of light instantly swallowed the golden lion.
In less than a single breath, it was obliterated, leaving no trace of its existence, erased entirely from the world!
The power was so immense that even those hundreds of miles away could feel the ground tremble distinctly!
Of course, the price was steep—this single strike nearly drained Owen's mana reserves completely, his face turning pale as he almost passed out.
It was clear that casting forbidden magic at diamond-tier level 1 was pushing the limits.
Forbidden-level magic typically required three or more sage-tier mages to chant in unison. For Owen to chant it alone without any preparation was nothing short of miraculous!
"Though it drained quite a bit of energy, the power... it's no joke."
Owen couldn't help but click his tongue as he looked at the scorched ground.
Fortunately, he had confined the spell's area of effect to the golden lion. Otherwise, the entire temple might have been obliterated by the blast!
But...
With the golden lion dead, the secret chamber's switch finally appeared.
After Owen casually fired a blast of air to activate the mechanism, the chamber slowly opened, revealing a solid gold statue.
But the most striking feature was the earth-brown gauntlet on the statue's left arm.
Owen couldn't help but curl his lips into a satisfied smile.
"[Terradrake's Aegis]—I finally found it."