Chapter 74: The Person Sarah Harundas Met (2)

Three figures appeared—two men and a woman—dressed in revealing outfits, heavy makeup, and oversized jewelry. Beside them stood a woman in plain shirt and pants, unremarkable by comparison.

Sarah already knew of the Demonkin from Killia’s dragon ally, aware they were far beyond her party’s current strength.

“Everyone, stand down! Don’t attack. Don’t even draw your weapons!” Sarah commanded, stepping forward as her party reached for their blades.

“You’re Demonkin,” she said. “What brings you to human territory?”

“Well, look at that. These otherworlders know us too. Why does everyone seem to know us?” grumbled a male Demonkin with large earrings, only to fall silent under the glare of a red-lipped female Demonkin.

The central Demonkin seemed indifferent to Sarah and her group. He gestured to the plainly dressed woman—who looked distinctly human—who then approached Sarah. She had short hair and a well-trained physique.

“Sarah Harundas,” the woman said.

“How do you know my name?”

“As you guessed, they’re Demonkin. Our world, allied with them, is at war with the Giants.”

“Your world?”

“Earth. Integrated into the system last February, alongside Idea. You’ll hear more later. I’m Onil, an Earth awakener, assisting the Demonkin as an ally.”

Speaking with a slight accent, Onil waved her hand, summoning an object from thin air. It was slightly larger than a finger, its shape strikingly familiar.

“…A key?” Sarah asked.

Onil nodded and tossed it to her. It seemed lightweight, likely a fake crafted to show its form.

“The Demonkin came here for this key,” Onil said.

“Is one of us supposed to have it?” Sarah asked.

“No. It’s somewhere in this field. You need to find it.”

“We don’t have time for treasure hunts. We’re in a fierce war with the Giants and need to join Central Command.”

“You’re fighting a few Giant bases, each with, what, twenty Giants at most?”

“…”

“The Demonkin are battling billions in the Demon Realm.”

Billions. The number staggered Sarah, especially considering the grueling effort to reclaim a single base.

“Find the key, and the Demonkin can enter Titan, the Giants’ homeland. First, they’ll seize the spatial teleportation circle, cutting off support to your world’s Giant bases, leaving them isolated.”

“…”

“The Demonkin don’t expect minor players like us to fight in the Demon Realm. They just want us to show some effort.”

As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. The Demonkin saw the minor worlds’ inhabitants as allies, requesting minimal aid.

“Finding this key counts as showing effort?” Sarah asked.

“Exactly.”

“…Fine. I’ll take the mission.”

There was no choice. Killia had advised against hostility toward Demonkin, and refusal might brand them as enemies. The woman added:

“If this field vanishes, the key will teleport elsewhere, and retracking it could take ages. You must secure it here, now.”

“We’ll do our best, but with the seal breaking soon and the exit vanishing, we can’t stay long.”

“The seal breaks in eight days, and the exit vanishes then too.”

“You know the seal’s timer?” Sarah’s eyes lit up.

Deciding to ally, Sarah’s outgoing nature kicked in. She grabbed Onil’s large hand, startling her stoic expression.

“Tell us how! The Giants are spawning fields everywhere, driving us mad. Is it an aura skill? A magical device? A scroll? How’d you do it?”

“Let go of my hand,” Onil said.

“Knowing seal timers would let us prioritize fields! Can’t allies share this? I’ll search for that key tirelessly—digging, scooping water, till my fingerprints wear off. Tell me!”

“You’ll figure it out soon…”

“Hey, how long you gonna chat?” the red-lipped female Demonkin snapped venomously.

Sarah kept her eager gaze on Onil, but the stoic woman yanked her hand free.

“You’ll learn the method soon,” Onil said, glancing at the female Demonkin kicking the ground in irritation. “If you don’t leave by the deadline, a rescue team will come. Among them will be a brown-haired, green-eyed mage. Tell him to hold the key. We’ll come for it later.”

“You know him?”

“…Yes. And give him this too.”

Onil pulled a ring from her inventory. The Demonkin vanished into a black void, as they’d appeared.

Sarah’s party scoured the field—digging earth, splitting rocks, draining puddles. But finding a finger-sized key in a field as vast as Somind Kingdom was like finding a needle in a desert.

Time passed fruitlessly. Then the rescue team arrived.

Seeing the brown-haired, green-eyed mage, Sarah knew—this was the one Onil meant.

“Wow…” Zieg broke the silence after Sarah’s explanation.

“How revealing were their outfits? Details, please.”

Clang!

Semir smacked Zieg’s head with her staff, producing a metallic sound.

“Ow! Why hit me?”

“That’s your question after hearing this?” Semir snapped.

“Huh? What’s so big about it? I zoned out after the ‘revealing outfits’ part.”

Ion thought of Uiji Krilin—Zieg was worse. Sarah, laughing heartily, slung an arm around Ion’s shoulder.

“Master Ion, what’s your deal with this Onil? Lovers?”

“Just acquaintances,” Ion replied, examining the ring. It bore Daon’s initials: [DIO]. No other markings, no special abilities—just an itemized keepsake. Ion couldn’t guess why it was given. As usual, he buried it in Sansevieria’s pot.

“Whoa, it’s a seed, not a ring!” Zieg exclaimed.

“It’ll grow into a plant!” Semir added.

Sarah clapped to shift focus. “Alright, let’s find that key! Three days till the seal breaks. If we fail, the Demonkin might retaliate, thinking we’re useless.”

“Where have you searched?” Semir asked.

“Don’t ask. Everywhere— even the sky,” Sarah said, gesturing dramatically. Her party showed their worn nails, recounting their futile search.

Ion scanned the grassy field, dotted with low hills. Zieg smirked.

“Master, staring won’t find a tiny key.”

“Yes, it will.”

“What?”

“Think about it. It’s a key used by Giants. How big would it be?”

It was likely the key to stop the Giants’ madness, one they’d sought. I thought they’d reclaimed it, but maybe not. Perhaps it was lost in their war with the Demonkin. Regardless, it opened a temple guarded by Giants, built for ancestors a hundred meters tall. The key would be massive.

“…”

Ion raised his staff, forming a mana orb. The chatter stopped, all eyes on him. He fired the orb at a hill a kilometer away.

Boom!

The hill exploded, shaking the ground and raising a dust cloud.

“Warn us first!” Zieg yelped.

“Spicier than he looks,” Sarah remarked.

Ion said calmly, “Found it.”

“What?” Zieg summoned wind to clear the dust.

A massive key lay in the shattered hill.

The Demon Realm was inhospitable to humans. Ninety percent of its ground was swamp, sinking with every step. Sulfur rain fell at dawn, and the air was toxic.

It wasn’t always so. Once, it had clear skies, blue seas, and vast greenery like Earth. The Demonkin hadn’t altered it to suit themselves either.

Their appearance told the story.

“The air’s worse today! Are you managing the borders?” a Demonkin barked, entering Onil’s room. Attendants bowed.

“No issues reported…”

“Check again. The air alarms are blazing red. Fragile humans would die fast. We can’t lose our capable ally.”

“Yes, we’ll contact the border guards.”

The attendant retreated. The Demonkin, Pii, sat across from Onil, who opened her eyes. Pii, the red-lipped female who’d tamed a kraken with a whip, smiled.

Onil, valued for securing Solminium, stayed in Pii’s mansion as an honored Earth ally.