After sorting through his thoughts, Marc made his way to the other adventurers. He didn't enjoy socializing, but he needed to establish connections in case he required help in the future.
Marc reflected deeply on the benefits of socializing with them. However, it was easier said than done. He didn't know how to start a conversation. Some may find it amusing, but for him, it was a serious concern. He tried to boost his confidence but ultimately still felt antisocial.
It was easier to talk to people you knew you would never meet again, but Marc intended to see these adventurers in the future.
Pushing those thoughts aside, he decided that next time, when he was on a mission, he would try to socialize a bit more. With that resolved, it was time to head to Gilamesh. If anyone was wondering why Gilamesh was chosen instead of Silicon, which had more resources to destroy a cursed tool, the answer was simple: The church was afraid that information about a powerful cursed tool would spread, alerting their enemies and those looking to steal it for its power. That's why they were handling it in Gilamesh.
Gilamesh was a beautiful farming town. Almost all the residents were farmers, with their fields adding a charming touch to the landscape. The air was fresher than ever.
After a few minutes of walking in Gilamesh, the caravan had to maintain its cover of simply selling goods, which caused the adventurers to wait for a while.
However, it wasn't all bad, as Marc thought, because they shared stories with the townsfolk and even had a party with them. It was quite wonderful.
After selling all their goods to the townsfolk, they made their way over to the church. The church resembled any normal church, but behind the statue of Esmeil was a hidden door. The young priest asked everyone to form a mana oath, pledging never to speak or share what they had seen. Everyone was hesitant at first, but they eventually agreed. This was normal behavior since the mana oath functioned like a contract with your soul as collateral; breaking it meant death—there wouldn't even be a chance for rebirth.
Once everyone had formed the mana oath, they were led down a flight of stairs, carrying a box that contained the cursed tool. In a separate room, a group of priests, determined to destroy the abomination inside the box, awaited them.
However, disaster struck as the ritual began and the box was placed in a magic circle.
Thirteen of the twenty adventurers drew their weapons and attacked those nearby. Fortunately, only two died, which didn't significantly diminish their fighting force.
With the priests backing them up, dealing with the attackers would have been easy, but the priests were vulnerable since they couldn't stop the ritual. With no priests on their side and only five adventurers remaining, the situation was dire.
Luckily, Bandage Head, who was ranked E-, was on their side, with the rest being F+, including Marc. The assailants were similarly matched, all F+ adventurers with only one E- among them.
Bandage Head instructed everyone to fend off the rest while he aimed to take down the leader. They were evenly matched as they fought against the traitors. Suddenly, one of the traitors screamed, "Boss, should we use it now?" With their leader's approval, all their eyes turned pitch black with red pupils. Their skin turned red, and their hair became silver. They lost their sense of reason and began attacking without fear of death.
Marc recognized this transformation; it mostly occurred when battling demonic worshipers. They were part of a large undercover organization that blindly worshipped demons. This organization presented players with a choice—either save the world or destroy the problem from its root.
They were known as dangerous individuals, even the low-ranked worshipers. With their power boost, they would either go insane or exhaust all their mana while inflicting damage, which might help them regain their senses.
Then a thought popped into Marc's head. Could he steal the cursed tool amidst all this chaos?