False memories
Lucious-"Do any of you know where they are at this moment?"
Joe-"Yes, I remember I was spying on Julius and Damion creating some new kind of weapon. I would have tried to stop them but I know they would have killed me if I did"
Adam-"What was this weapon?"
Joe-"It was some new kind of golem, I didn't see how far along they got in its creation.
Elise-"So you don't know if they finished it yet or not?"
Joe-"I'm sorry I don't"
Elise-"It doesn't matter, even if they had hundred golems I could burn them all down easily"
Lucious-"Still, if Julius can make tons of more powerful golems and send them from town to town think of all the damage he could do. Not to mention how dangerous that curseborn is on his own, all of the lives he has taken"
Adam-"Right, I will never forgive him for what he did to our friend May"
Elise-"She was innocent, she didn't deserve her fate at the hands of that monster Damion"
Joe-"And he would have been caught if it wasn't for Julius helping him escape"
Lucious-"Their crimes cannot be forgiven. Joe lead the way, we'll surround them and then attack all together before they have a chance to counter"
Joe-"They are hiding out in the woods, follow me"
The group of Adam, Elise, Joe, and Lucious begin running into the forest.
Adam-"With this we'll avenge Mary, as well as everyone whose lives they have taken"
Meanwhile with Julius, Damion, and Marigold.
Julius-"Our friends are in danger?"
Marigold-"Yes, and I don't think we have much time to help them"
Damion-"You said we can't trust Lucious?"
Julius-"What did he do?"
Marigold-"He lied about what kind of magic he has. It's not simple water magic or any other ordinary magic, he has the power to alter one's memories"
Julius-"So he has mind control?"
Marigold-"Not exactly, rather than forcing someone to do his bidding he removes certain memories and replaces them with new ones"
Damion-"Sounds dangerous"
Marigold-"We have to hurry, we need to stop him before he can turn your friends against you!"
Julius-"Hold on, if he can alter a person's memories, couldn't he have removed your memories of knowing he can do that?"
Marigold-"I have holy magic so it doesn't work on me"
Damion-"So his memory magic is a dark magic skill?"
Julius-"What?"
Damion-"Dark magic doesn't work against holy magic"
Voice-"What Damion said is correct. Dark magic skills that alter aspects of a person such as their memories are ineffective against people with holy magic. However, dark magic attack skills could still harm holy magic users so it depends on what kind of dark magic they are using"
Julius-"So you're saying that Lucious is changing Adam, Elise, and Joe's memories?"
Marigold-"That's correct, and I need your help to stop him"
Julius-"Won't we just get our memories changed too then?"
Marigold-"His ability is limited. First it won't work on Damion because he also has dark magic. And it won't work on you because you didn't eat the food"
Julius-"Because I didn't eat the food?"
Marigold-"Lucious gathers some herbs that greatly strengthen his skill's abilities. Normally he is only able to affect more recent memories but when he mixes the herbs into chocolate it allows him to alter memories far further back"
Julius(in his head)-"So he can alter short term memories but not long term memories. Unless you eat that food I guess"
Marigold-"Since you didn't eat the chocolate he can only alter your very recent memories. I'm not certain how far back it goes but it's an hour at most"
Julius-"Those herbs must be very powerful to boost his magic that much. Where does he get them"
Marigold-"He goes somewhere not too far from here, it's called the dark forest"
Damion-"You said we should hurry but we have been talking for a while now"
Julius-"You're right! We should head over to them right now"
Marigold-"Before we go, there is something I need to do first"
Julius-"What?"
Marigold-"I should try to evolve your skill"
Julius-"I thought I wasn't able to have my skill evolved"
Marigold-"That was only because Lucious forbid me from evolving your skill"
Julius-"If it will help us save our friends, go ahead and begin"
Marigold-"This will only take a moment"
Marigold held out her hands to begin to cast the skill. Suddenly an arrow made of magic bursts out of the forest flying towards Damion who dodges out of the way but get's cut by it. From the west Elise jumps out of the forest with a large fireball and from the east Adam jumps out with his sword ready.
Elise-"Evolved skill: Nova bombarment"
Adam-"Evolved skill: crescent moon"
Elise's fireball splits into several beams headed towards Damion. Adam slashes the air and creates a huge cut headed towards Julius.
Damion-"Dark skill: heat unbinding"
Damion uses his unbinding skill to remove the heat from Elise's attack. Damion was still partially burnt due to her attack being so fast that he was only able to remove the heat from half of it. The force from the attack slammed Damion into the ground.
Julius-"Special skill: particle accelerator"
Julius just barely dodges out of the way of the attack which creates a huge slash in the ground. Joe comes running in and grabs Marigold in his hands and runs away into the forest.
Julius(in his head)-"They both have reached light speed attacks"
Julius looks over and sees Damion in a crater.
Julius(shouting)-"Damion are you alright!?"
Damion sits up out of the hole.
Damion-"Dark skill: damage unbinding"
Damion removes the burns from his body.
Elise-"It's pointless. Even if you remove the heat from my attacks, the amount of force behind them is still enough to crush you"
Julius-"Damion needs help"
Adam-"You won't help him escape again!"
Julius-"What? Listen Adam you're being-"
Adam-"You'll pay for what you and him did to May!"
Julius-"Who? Adam you need to listen"
Adam-"Enough! Evolved skill: Orbital slashes"
Adam creates multiple long range slashes that fly towards Julius.
Julius-"Wait!"
Big explosions are going off in the forest with Joe running away with Marigold.
Joe-"Don't worry Marigold, I'll keep you safe from those two"
Marigold(muffled)-"Let go of me! Water skill: geyser"
Water explodes out of Joe's hands with Marigold escaping. Joe stumbles backwards.
Joe-"What are you doing? You have to get out of here quickly"
Marigold-"Listen Joe you don't understand, you-"
Lucious-"Don't understand what?"
End of chapter 57