Julius-"What do you mean you can't do that? I just explained everything"
Archimedes-"There's one thing you didn't say though. Ascended holy skill: god's forge"
Archimedes gives himself a pair of golden circular sunglasses.
Julius(in his head)-"What's an ascended skill?"
Voice-"It's the next stage up from an evolved skill, it's incredibly rare only an incredibly small percentage of people have unlocked them"
Archimedes-"With these glasses I can see the truth. And looking at you, Demone or whatever. I can see what you really are"
Damion-"If you can see the truth couldn't you see what my name was?"
Archimedes-"I know your name Damion. I just couldn't be bothered to remember it"
Damion-"You don't choose to remember things"
Archimedes-"I can. And I choose only to remember the names of real people. Not sub-sentient trash like you"
Julius-"You don't know anything about him"
Archimedes-"I know enough"
Archimedes looks through his glasses and sees multiple statistics around Damion.
Archimedes-"You're not just a dark magic user, you're not even just a curseborn. You're a demi-lich"
Damion-"Huh?"
Archimedes-"Demi-liches are classified as a potential S rank threat. Not to mention they can turn into a lich only some of the S ranks like me could take down"
Julius-"Damion doesn't have S rank level power. He's weaker than both you and Atlas"
Archimedes-"Well for one everyone is weaker than Atlas. And secondly I doubt this guy has reached his full potential yet. He's only just recently become a demi lich"
Damion-"Why does everyone hate me?"
Julius-"He hasn't done anything wrong. He hasn't hurt or killed anyone"
Archimedes-"Well he has hurt plenty of people, but he did only kill one person"
Julius-"Who?"
Archimedes points at Damion dramatically.
Archimedes-"His brother, and he didn't just kill him, he absorbed his soul. That sounds like pure evil to me. I would assume your brother was also a curseborn so you absorbed him to become a demi-lich. Doing that to your own brother to gain power is heinous"
Damion-"That's not what happened. My brother's soul was trapped within a monster. It was the only way to free him and stop that monster"
Archimedes-"A likely story"
Damion's image has a green glow within Archimedes's glasses.
Archimedes(in his head)-"Dang it, he's telling the truth. My glasses show the statistics of what a person has done in his life. It also shows me if they are lying or telling the truth. The only person he ever killed was his brother but now it seems like it might have been for a valid reason"
Archimedes-"So you came here to find your brother and steal his soul. He was just more powerful than you thought"
Damion-"I had no idea my brother was here. We came here to destroy dark magic infused plants so they couldn't be used to harm people"
Archimedes(in his head)-"Truth again"
Archimedes-"Well you've still harmed a bunch of people"
Damion-"Those were other people in an underground colosseum I was forced to participate in for the entertainment of nobles"
Archimedes(in his head)-"Truth again"
Archimedes-"Well, I guess that's about all"
Julius-"So now can you be done attacking?"
Archimedes-"You're still a demi-lich. I can't allow a walking disaster like that to wander free"
Julius-"Just go check with Atlas, I'm sure he will say we're fine"
Voice-"I wouldn't guarantee that"
Julius(in his head)-"Why not"
Voice-"Atlas was okay with you having Damion the curseborn on your team. Not Damion the demi-lich"
Julius(in his head)-"There shouldn't be a difference"
Voice-"Before your promise to keep Damion in check if he does turn evil had weight to it due to you being more powerful than him. Now that Damion has awakened into a demi-lich. He has closed the gap between you two"
Julius(in his head)-"I didn't think about that part"
Archimedes-"I can't just leave you here"
Julius-"Well if you're not going to go back there, you can do something else right? With your ascended skill you should have another option with its versatility"
Archimedes-"Oh yeah, I remember that Reinhardt told me this neat trick I could do. Ascended holy skill: god's forge"
Archimedes creates a small golden ink pen.
Archimedes-"If I write the word 'favor' on someone with this pen. Then they'll have to do me one favor whenever I choose. Also I can do it front anywhere I don't need to be next to him"
Damion-"What is the favor?"
Archimedes-"Whatever is best for the time I guess"
Julius-"Okay, who is Reinhardt by the way?"
Archimedes-"Another S rank. I'm pretty sure he's the lord of vampires. Also he outranks me which is stupid"
Damion-"Do I have to get that signature?"
Archimedes-"Reinhardt told me it's always good to have favors. And with my power it offers a failsafe if anything goes wrong"
Julius-"Damion, get the signature"
Damion-"Why? That seems risky to owe this guy anything"
Julius-"Trust me"
Julius(in his head)-"You're right voice, Adam doesn't know that Damion is a demi-lich so his opinion could have changed on him. It's better this way since maybe Adam won't find out"
Damion-"...Alright"
Damion hold out his hand upside down. Archimedes takes the pen and write the word favor on Damion's arm. The word briefly glows before embedding itself as a tattoo.
Archimedes-"Well that takes care of that"
Julius-"Can you... let everyone else go?"
Archimedes-"Oh yeah"
Archimedes snaps his fingers and the time binding chains disappear. The rest of the team falls onto the ground.
Marigold-"Wait!"
Joe-"You don't have to-"
Archimedes-"Relax everything's good now. Well I'll be off"
Archimedes spreads his wings.
Archimedes-"Hey Damion, don't be evil. Or I'll use my favor to make you kill yourself, bye"
Archimedes flies back through the hole in the ceiling.
Joe-"...What just happened?"
End of chapter 95