Chapter 121: Identities Revealed!

"I’m actually..."

Janet dragged the words out dramatically.

Paulina leaned forward, Julia’s eyes narrowed, and Eunice waited with the solemn patience of a Priestess preparing herself for some earth-shattering confession.

Even Damian found himself mildly curious despite already knowing the most important part.

Janet inhaled deeply, then threw both arms wide.

"...just a perfectly ordinary Halfling!"

Silence.

A bird chirped somewhere in the distance.

Janet smiled brightly.

"Yup! That’s the shocking truth! No secret princess, no legendary father, no mysterious heritage. Just little old Janet, born from completely ordinary Halfling parents in a completely ordinary village with a completely ordinary childhood!"

Paulina, Julia, and Eunice stared at her speechlessly.

Damian slowly rubbed his forehead.

"...You really decided to try this."

Janet’s smile twitched. "Try what?"

"Lying your way out."

"Lying? Damian, I’m wounded!" Janet exclaimed dramatically, pressing one hand against her chest.

"After everything we’ve been through together, you would accuse poor innocent Janet of dishonesty?"

Damian folded his arms. "Come clean."

"I already did!"

"Janet."

"Damian."

"Come clean."

"I’m clean!"

Damian narrowed his eyes, but Janet simply smiled.

His eyes narrowed further, and Janet’s smile began visibly trembling.

Damian finally sighed.

"Fine. If you insist on making this difficult, I’ll string you upside down from that tree with your bare buttocks exposed and let the three of them pelt you with rotten eggs and tomatoes until you confess."

Janet’s entire body jolted, both hands immediately flying behind her.

"My butt?!"

"Your bare butt."

"No!"

"Completely exposed."

"Monster!"

"I’ll give Julia the first basket."

Julia’s expression immediately became thoughtful.

Janet looked horrified.

"Julia?!"

"I haven’t forgiven you for listening to everything this morning," Julia replied coldly.

Paulina slowly cracked her knuckles. "I want tomatoes."

"You people are savages!" Janet cried, clutching her backside protectively.

"And there is nothing to confess anyway!"

Her teeth were practically chattering by the end.

Damian stared at her, and Janet stared back.

One second passed, then two, then three.

Well, well, she really was actually going to commit to this bullshit!

Fine then, Damian had a trump card anyway.

He casually lifted one finger.

"I possess <Truesight>."

Janet froze, while the other three women blinked.

Paulina was first to react.

"...You have what?"

"The Feat, <Truesight>," Damian repeated.

Julia’s eyes widened. "You possess <Truesight>?!"

Eunice looked almost as surprised.

That reaction was understandable.

<Truesight> was not some cheap vision enhancement gained by every Ranger who spent too much time squinting into forests.

It belonged among the extremely rare perception Feats associated with beings operating near the upper reaches of Valoria’s power system.

Whether it involved illusions, invisibility, false forms, ordinary disguises, or many transformations, most things built around presenting one truth to the senses while reality contained another became considerably less useful against it.

Divine beings and their Champions were far more likely to possess such perception than an Adept adventurer who had barely been in Valoria for two weeks.

Paulina looked Damian up and down incredulously.

"How the hell do you possess a Feat like that at your Level?"

Damian shrugged. "Good build."

Julia stared with annoyance. "You cannot keep answering impossible things with ’good build.’"

"I absolutely can," Damian retorted with a teasing smile.

Unfortunately for Janet, everyone else’s shock was nothing compared to hers.

Her expression changed in stages.

First came disbelief, then realization, then pure horror, and finally...

Defeat.

Janet’s shoulders slowly slumped.

"...Ah."

Damian smiled.

The Halfling pointed weakly toward him.

"You... how long?"

"How long what?" Damian asked innocently.

"How long have you known?" Janet asked with trembling lips.

Damian considered the question for perhaps half a second.

"Since the first time I returned from Moonveil Forest."

Janet’s mouth dropped open while Paulina’s ears shot upright.

Julia nearly shouted. "That long?!"

Eunice looked between them with complete confusion.

Janet seemed personally betrayed by reality.

"You knew almost from the beginning?!"

"Pretty much."

"Then why didn’t you say anything?!"

Damian tilted his head.

"Because there was nothing to say."

Janet blinked.

Damian unfolded his arms.

"You weren’t attacking anyone, sabotaging us, manipulating the group, or doing anything that made your real race my business. If you wanted to look like a Halfling, that’s fine by me. Lots of people have secrets."

Janet’s expression became strangely complicated.

"But... you knew what I was."

"Yes."

"And you didn’t care?"

"Not enough to out you."

Janet became quiet.

After a few moments, a bitter little smile appeared across her face.

"Right... you’re an Otherworlder."

Damian raised an eyebrow.

Janet looked away. "Your ideas about certain things are probably different."

That finally exhausted Paulina’s patience as the Wolf Beastwoman stepped forward.

"Enough vague nonsense. What are you?"

Julia nodded immediately. "And no more jokes."

Eunice’s expression hardened as well.

"Janet, please."

The Halfling looked at her three companions, then at Damian.

She released a long breath.

"Fine. But before I do this... don’t react badly."

Paulina frowned. "That is not a reassuring thing to say."

"And don’t be shocked," Janet added with a sigh.

Julia’s eyes narrowed. "That makes it worse."

Janet grimaced. "Just... remember that I’m still me."

Then crimson light erupted from her body.

WHOOOM!

A wave of hot, unfamiliar energy rolled through the surrounding forest.

Paulina’s feet immediately shifted apart, Julia threw one arm across her eyes as the sudden brightness overwhelmed her vision, and Eunice’s robes snapped around her legs while divine instinct caused pale light to gather around one hand.

Only Damian remained completely relaxed as he had already seen the truth beneath the disguise countless times.

The crimson radiance wrapped around Janet’s small figure for barely two seconds before collapsing inward, then the forest became still.

Paulina lowered her arm, Julia looked up, and Eunice froze where she sat.

Janet stood exactly where she had been before.

Her height had not increased by even an inch, which Damian considered extremely funny for some reason.

However...

Nobody could possibly mistake her for a Halfling anymore.

Two curved horns rose from her head, each roughly as long as an average man’s middle finger.

Her skin had transformed into a rich dark maroon that stood out dramatically against the greens and browns of Moonveil Forest, while behind her swayed a slender black-and-red tail ending in an unmistakably heart-shaped tip.

Her messy auburn hair and brown eyes remained.

If anything, the familiar mischief within them appeared even stronger now that the disguise no longer softened her natural features.

And her figure...

Damian’s eyebrows rose slightly.

Yeah, that disguise had been hiding more than horns.

Janet had not become any taller, but her true body possessed curves that seemed almost offensively exaggerated upon such a petite frame.

Apparently her racial genetics did not respect proportional restraint, though nobody else was appreciating that particular detail.

All three Valkyries shot to their feet.

"Demon!" Eunice cried.

Of all people, Eunice reacted the strongest.

Her golden eyes widened with genuine horror, and holy power surged immediately around her body.

Julia’s hand snapped onto her bow while Paulina moved even faster.

The Wolf Beastwoman stepped directly between Damian and Janet, body lowering into a combat-ready stance as though Damian, the man who had killed Ravelhorn yesterday, somehow needed her protection.

Damian almost smiled... almost.

Because this part mattered.

Janet, the mischievous little Halfling Rogue who stole food, talked too much, eavesdropped shamelessly and somehow transformed every serious discussion into something irritating...

Was actually a Demon.

And in Valoria, that revelation carried weight, a great deal of it.

Demons were not merely another strange race people distrusted because of cultural differences.

They were the villains of enough recorded catastrophes to make suspicion almost instinctive.

Kingdoms had fallen because of Demonic invasions, entire regions had been corrupted for amusement, and wars had been orchestrated simply because some powerful Demon found mortal suffering entertaining.

Outside the occasional Undead Tide, Insect Tide or natural monster disaster, an absurd number of Valoria’s greatest historical calamities eventually traced back toward Demonic influence somewhere.

Naturally, the degree of hatred differed between races and civilizations.

Humans and Beastfolk possessed enough chaotic cultures, bloodlines and morally questionable societies that many tolerated peaceful Demons to some extent.

Elves? Much less so.

And the organized Churches, especially something like the Holy Light Church?

Absolutely fucking not!

The Elven Kingdom and divine churches had repeatedly stood at the front of wars against Demonic forces throughout history.

Which explained why Julia looked prepared to put an arrow through Janet’s eye while Eunice appeared one prayer away from requesting Orpheus descend personally and handle this nonsense.

Damian remained silent.

He could have interfered, but he deliberately didn’t.

This needed to happen.

Janet had her reasons, whatever they were, but she had still hidden her identity from three women who trusted her with their lives.

Damian accepting the secret did not erase their right to react badly upon learning it.

Janet seemed to understand that too, her tail curling nervously around one leg.

She looked at Eunice, then Julia, and finally Paulina.

"...Would you believe me if I told you I’m a good Demon?"

Silence.

Even Damian’s lips twitched.

Paulina slowly relaxed her stance slightly.

Then she shook her head.

"There is no such thing as a good Demon. Only a less evil one."

Janet looked offended.

"That’s racist."

"It’s accurate."

"...Still racist."

Paulina ignored that.

"You being a Demon actually explains a disturbing amount about you," she admitted, causing Janet’s mouth to fall open.

"What doesn’t make sense is why you’re here," Paulina pointed out.

Julia’s grip remained tight around her bow whereas Eunice had not lowered the holy light gathering around her palm.

Paulina continued.

"Why become an Adventurer? Why travel with us? Why hide among ordinary people when you could have remained wherever Demons live?"

Janet hesitated, causing three sets of eyes to sharpen when she took one small step backward.

Julia drew her bow halfway. "Don’t you dare run, Janet!"

Janet stopped and raised her hands. "Alright! Fine!"

Her tail stiffened.

"The reason is..."

She glanced around desperately, apparently hoping some convenient monster would attack and postpone the conversation. ℯℯ𝑙.

Nothing did.

Moonveil Forest had chosen the worst possible moment to become peaceful.

Janet gulped.

"It’s because... I’m also a princess."

Silence returned.

Paulina blinked, Julia’s bow lowered slightly, and even Eunice’s holy light flickered.

Damian stared at Janet.

"...You’re fucking kidding me."

Janet scratched one horn awkwardly.

"Nope."

Paulina slowly looked toward Eunice, then Julia, then Janet.

Her expression became almost offended.

"Am I the only person in this group who isn’t technically royalty?"

Damian coughed.

"Your father rules one of the Four Hound Clans."

"That is not royalty!"

"Close enough."

"Hmph!"

Julia ignored them. "What Demon kingdom are you a princess of?"

Janet’s expression became even more awkward.

"Well... that’s the complicated part."

Her tail made a small circle behind her.

"My grandmother is Ifrit."

Nobody moved.

Damian’s brain required a moment, then it connected.

His eyes widened like copper bells.

He shot upright so quickly that the nearby pile of monster materials scattered beneath one of his forgotten <Mage Hand> constructs.

"IFRIT?!"

Janet winced. "Please don’t shout."

Damian stared at her in utter shock and disbelief.

The malevolent little gremlin who had spent the first day he met her joking about selling him...

Was directly descended from one of the Four Pillar Gods of ancient Phantasia?!

That was one of the primordial beings that existed before Valor, before the Valorian Overworld System, and before this world had even become Valoria!

Holy shit!!

Janet immediately raised both hands.

"Don’t look at me like that! It’s not nearly as amazing as you’re imagining. Grandma is terrifying!"

Damian remained speechless.

Janet began complaining as though discussing an overly strict family matriarch rather than one of the foundational gods of the world.

"She’s cruel, strict, impossible to please, and somehow always knows when one of us embarrasses the family. Do you know how stressful that is?"

No, Damian absolutely did not.

Janet sighed. "Grandma has seven children."

As she spoke, Damian’s religious and historical knowledge from <Arcane Knowledge> immediately supplied the names.

Haris the Guardian, Samael the Vengeful, Zaral the Infernal, Azazel the Warlord, Qabiz the Vile, Mephisto the Cunning.

And finally...

Iblis the Enchantress.

Janet pointed toward herself. "I... well, I descend from Iblis."

Damian stared speechlessly again.

Of course she did.

Of fucking course!

Somehow, among Ifrit’s seven terrifying children, Janet descended from the only daughter and arguably the one possessing the least catastrophically evil reputation.

The fact that this was an achievement said a lot about that family!

Iblis the Enchantress, mother of all Succubi, infamous across more legends than Damian could currently remember.

She was considered incredibly lazy and lustful even by Demonic standards, and also extremely dangerous by everyone else’s standards.

Yet somehow, she was still regarded as relatively tolerable compared with siblings carrying titles like ’The Vile’ and ’The Warlord’.

Damian looked at Janet, then at the horns, then at the heart-shaped tail.

"...Yeah, I can see it."

Janet kicked his shin.

"Ow!"

"You deserved that!"

The remarkable thing was how quickly the tension changed afterward.

Julia finally released her bowstring, Eunice’s gathered holy light faded, and Paulina fully stepped away from her protective position.

Janet blinked in relief, then noticed something.

All three women casually repositioned themselves closer to Damian.

Janet’s eyes narrowed.

"...Wait."

Paulina folded her arms, Julia watched Janet carefully, and Eunice’s gaze had become deeply suspicious.

Janet pointed accusingly.

"You aren’t worried I’m evil anymore."

"No," Eunice admitted.

"Then why are you all looking at me like that?!"

Julia’s eyes moved toward Janet’s tail, then toward Damian, then back at Janet.

"Oh." Janet’s expression flattened.

Damian understood a second later, and almost laughed.

They did not distrust Janet as a person anymore.

Rather, they distrusted a descendant of the Mother of Succubi around him.

That was somehow far more insulting.

"Wow! Over a year together, and this is the faith you have in me!" Janet muttered bitterly.

Paulina nodded solemnly. "Correct."

"You evil wolf!" Janet cursed in anger.

Damian finally chuckled.

"Alright, enough."

The Demon Princess looked toward him as Damian’s amusement faded into something gentler.

"There is one thing left."

Janet immediately knew what he meant, her expression changing greatly.

The others looked between them.

Damian folded his arms.

"You heard everything this morning, so you already know what I asked the others."

Janet’s tail stopped moving.

"Have you made your choice too?"

For once, she did not joke immediately.

Janet inhaled slowly, then she looked Damian directly in the eyes.

"I can’t."

Paulina became still, Julia’s expression softened slightly, and Eunice watched quietly.

Janet forced a smile.

"Sorry, Damian. I like you. Probably more than I should, actually. But I simply can’t be with you."

Damian stared for several seconds, then sighed heavily. "I see."

Janet’s smile weakened.

"You thought about this deeply, didn’t you?" Damian asked her gently.

"...Yeah." Janet nodded sadly.

"That’s truly terrible," Damian sighed with lament.

Janet blinked as Damian shook his head mournfully.

"All that thinking for nothing."

"...What?"

Damian gave her a pointed look. "I’m not accepting no from you."

Janet’s mouth fell open, Paulina coughed violently, Julia stared speechlessly, and Eunice actually looked offended on Janet’s behalf.

"Damian!"

Janet’s face turned crimson beneath maroon skin.

"You...!"

Her finger rose shakily.

"You shameless, despicable, arrogant, cruel, wicked, domineering tyrant!"

Damian raised his chin proudly while Janet’s outrage increased.

"Overbearing bastard!"

Damian nodded.

"Heartless oppressor!"

He accepted that too.

"Romantic dictator!"

His smug grin became utterly punchable.

Janet trembled with rage for several seconds before visibly running out of titles.

"...Asshole."

"That one lacked creativity."

"Fuck you!"

"See? Much better."

Paulina burst out laughing, and even Julia failed to hide her smile.

Janet’s shoulders finally slumped, and the fake anger drained away, her voice becoming small.

"...Are you sure?"

Janet looked down at herself.

"I’m a Demon, Damian. And not just any Demon either."

Her fingers lightly touched one horn.

"My clan is hated by women and used by men. Succubi and their descendants are something people fantasize about, sleep with, hire, summon, blame, love..."

Her smile became weak.

"But nobody really trusts us."

There it was.

Damian had already understood this about Janet long ago.

Her words earlier had not been a rejection out of circumstance or truth, but out of fear and insecurity.

He rolled his eyes.

"Janet."

She looked up.

"I gave you the option after I already knew you were a Demon, remember?"

Janet froze.

"If your race bothered me, I wouldn’t have fed you those pills that night. I definitely wouldn’t have offered to bring you deeper into my life afterward."

Damian stepped closer.

"I don’t care where you come from or what your race is known for. I care about you, Janet. Who you actually are."

The Demon Princess’s eyes widened.

For several seconds, she looked dangerously close to becoming emotional.

Naturally, Janet could not allow such a disaster.

"So what you’re saying is... my incredible breasts successfully overcame racial prejudice?"

Damian stared at her, then flicked her forehead.

THWACK!

"OW!"

"No. I’m saying your personality somehow survived despite them," Damian retorted with an amused smile.

Paulina snorted, Julia covered her mouth, and even Eunice laughed.

Janet rubbed her forehead indignantly.

"That doesn’t even make sense!"

"It made enough sense to hurt your feelings."

"My feelings are indestructible!"

"Your forehead isn’t."

Janet tried to glare at him, then failed as a smile slowly returned to her face, a real one this time.

Damian smiled back.

Good.

That was enough emotional warfare for one morning, because they still had Dark Goblins to kill!

The group gathered their equipment, finished storing the harvested monster materials and broke from the cleared sector.

Whatever the Four Valkyries were becoming now could wait until after the operation.

Whether it was rebellious princesses, demonic heritage, relationships, religious vows or Pack Sisters, all of it could become tomorrow’s headache.

For today, dozens of scattered Dark Goblin groups were attempting to disappear throughout southern Moonveil Forest.

And unfortunately for them...

Damian Baines had already decided they were not getting away.

The five moved toward the rendezvous point assigned to every operating group near the center of southern Moonveil Forest.

Damian rested one hand against Longtian’s hilt as the trees passed around them.

It was time to deal with the Dark Goblins!