Wizard: I crush legends with martial arts.

"Is the earth dragon Fiar still in the labyrinth?" Sera asked hesitantly.

"I killed him," Alphonse replied truthfully.

This astonishing discovery left Sera speechless with shock, but a sliver of hope remained in her heart; she dared not fully believe it. "If Godin's magic notebook is in your hands, I'm willing to pay any price to exchange it with you!"

"Really, there aren't any!" Alphonse spread his hands helplessly. Sera's suggestion was good, but unfortunately, Alphonse really didn't see any books.

Just as the Demon Sword said, over the centuries, Godin's magic notes and research materials had long since turned to ashes.

How could Alphonse conjure it up out of thin air?

"You're not a magician, what do you need Godin's magic notebook for?"

Sera was utterly dejected. Hearing Alphonse's question, she replied dejectedly, "Godin is the only person in legend to have ever left Fantalia. He has the ability to open dimensional portals. If we could obtain this magic from his magic notebook, our race could leave Fantalia. This is the long-cherished wish of our Dark Elf race."

"Is it that hard to leave Fantalia? Just walk out." Alphonse asked doubtfully. Apart from a strange no-fly zone, the environment in this desert was also quite harsh, but it seemed that he hadn't encountered any real danger.

"You don't understand! The border is guarded by the Lord of Barriers—Casobia of Twilight. No one can leave this place! Anyone who tries to cross the border will be killed by him and become his slave!" Sera exclaimed excitedly.

"Casobia at dusk?" Alphonse was even more puzzled. There were troops guarding the border? And they couldn't break through?

"Casobia?" The Demon Sword also let out a soft "Eh" at the same time.

Only Oz remained silent; it had never left Godin's Tower and had no recollection of what the outside world was like.

"You know it?" Alphonse turned to look at the magic sword floating in mid-air.

"I have a vague recollection of him; he seemed to be a master-level expert among the human race," Demon Sword replied.

Alphonse was taken aback. That was an old thing from the same era as the Demon Sword. If it wasn't one of those long-eared elves, its bones would be rotten by now.

"Master? What level is that?"

"This is a general term with a broad scope. For swordsmen, this level is called Sword Saint; for warriors, it's called Destroyer; and for mages, it's Archmage. The names for elves and dwarves are also different," the Demon Sword mage rambled on.

Alphonse nodded to indicate that he understood, meaning he was on the same level as Riske and Queen Junon.

Sera quickly picked up the conversation, "Casobia is no longer human. According to legend, during the great war against demons a thousand years ago, his lover Milina was wounded by a demon assassin's poisoned blade and died. After that, he somehow merged with a demon and became a wandering monster on the border of Fantalia!"

Although the demons have been banished to another dimension, the resentment of Kasobia has not dissipated. It lingers among the various races of Fantalia, and almost none have been able to leave this land of exile! In the past thousand years, only Godin has been an exception!

Alphonse then understood what was going on.

In that sense, Kasobia could be considered a devoted lover.

That's quite pitiful.

His method of revenge was a bit strange; instead of wiping out all the half-demons, he trapped them in the desolate desert of Fantalia.

Is this to let the half-demons fend for themselves? To make them suffer more torment?

"I'm neither a half-demon nor a dark elf. If I want to leave, he shouldn't stop me, right?"

"Everyone says that Kasobia has become a monster. He has lost the ability to distinguish right from wrong. Anyone who gets close to the border will become his enemy and be killed by him!" Sera said irritably.

"He can't possibly stop all the border areas by himself, can he? What if a lot of people spread out and rush out together?" Alphonse raised another question.

"You think no one's tried?" Sera rolled her eyes. "No matter how many people try, Kasobia will always appear before them. He's a monster! That's why he's called the Lord of the Barrier!"

Could it be a clone technique?

Alphonse stroked his chin thoughtfully. Usually, clones are weaker than the original body, right?

"Then the only option is to defeat him."

Although I sympathize with his plight, if he tries to stop me from going home, then he'll be an enemy.

Perhaps, letting him be free would be a better ending for him.

"You have no idea how terrifying Kasobia is! How could you possibly defeat him!" Sera's voice rose excitedly. "Don't think that just because you can kill the earth dragon in the Baskervilles, you can deal with Kasobia. I've seen earth dragons before!"

"You've seen the earth dragon Fiar?" Alphonse was surprised. Sera's small frame didn't seem capable of crossing the lava lake. How could she have reached the third level and seen the earth dragon?

"I've never seen it." Sera bit her lip, sheepishly recounting the embarrassing incident. "But when I was exploring the Baskervilles, I sensed its presence, and then I couldn't control my fear and ran away! I'm sure it's strong, but definitely not as terrifying as Casobia!"

"Are you sure you've reached the depths of the third level and sensed the earth dragon's presence?" Alphonse still didn't believe it.

Sera froze, staring at Alphonse in astonishment. "There's a third level?"

Alphonse immediately understood from Sera's expression that she must have mistaken another monster for an earth dragon.

"Of course there are. The first level is a very large cave, like a maze. The second level is a lake formed by lava. The third level is also a vast cave, but without intricate paths. The earth dragon's nest is deep inside the cave."

There was no sense that there were any powerful monsters in the first level of the cave, yet Sera was so frightened that she ran away at the first sign of trouble. She's such a coward.

Sera's facial muscles twitched awkwardly as she listened to Alphonse's explanation, realizing that the aura she sensed was not that of an earth dragon at all.

But looking at Alphonse's ambiguous smile, I felt inexplicably angry.

With a stiff neck, he declared, "In short! Kasobia is not someone to be easily defeated! You'll only know how terrifying he is once you see it for yourself!"

"We'll only know after we fight it." Alphonse smiled nonchalantly; Sera's forced attempt to save face was quite amusing.

"His power has become incredibly strong! He's probably already at the legendary level! Are you confident you can withstand an attack from a monster that has advanced to the legendary level?" Sera said angrily.

Alphonse was confident he could fight someone at the level of a Sword Saint, but he had never actually encountered a legendary-level expert.

Without witnessing it firsthand, it's difficult to make a judgment.

We'll have to see. (End of Chapter)