The toad wasn't listening to all of that as it burst forward, the ground disintegrating where it stepped, a streak of bursting yellow, and Galthor was there to meet it.

They clashed, slamming into each other with a force that made the ground shake. In that brief moment they clashed, several things happened at the same time. The toad monster's acid tried its best to burn through Galthor's own essence coating, but it found it nearly impossible. At the very least, it was slow in doing so.

Galthor grinned when he realized what the monster was trying to do. "You're far weaker than the cursed monster I fought the other day, so you're not all at the same level, eh?"

He didn't hold back. With his hand formed into a fist, he brought it down ruthlessly and hit the monster squarely on the face. The blow was so strong that it sent the toad back into one of the bigger, stronger trees, and it bounced back from the force.

He gave it no rest as he sent another punch at it, but this time the toad managed to dodge, flipping itself back several feet.

The two of them stared at each other from the distance.

Galthor was much stronger than he had been when he killed the first cursed monster by chance. This time, by granting lesser miracles, he had already turned almost all the villagers into his worshippers, and the divine aura he was able to farm from them was keeping his core well filled. Of course, it wasn't at the level of a mid lesser spirit god, not even close.

But it was enough that he didn't have to fear the cursed monster that was staring at him with a dark expression. Galthor grinned at it. "Well? Come at me then!"

The toad let out a roar, but it didn't jump at him as he expected. Instead, the monster gestured with its hands. The yellow acid on it flowed upward, turning into seven tentacles.

And its skin seemed to be secreting more. The seven tentacles on it grew bigger and bigger, cracking the air like whips. It was only then that the monster leaped forward.

Some of the tentacles propelled it forward, churning the ground as it leaped with explosive speed.

Galthor grunted as he saw a tentacle lash at a tree and burn off its first bark.

The toad leaped at him like an angry cat, its seven tentacles wrapping around him in a bid to suffocate and twist his body. Galthor didn't avoid it.

He had already made up his mind to let the monster come to him instead of him going to it. Even though Galthor could keep up with its speed, he wasn't as fast as it.

On the other hand, the monster couldn't compare to him in terms of strength either.

The instant the monster latched onto him, Galthor's right hand snapped forward, ripping through all the acid as he gripped the toad.

As expected, the filthy monster was slippery and slimy, but Galthor wasn't letting go for anything. He began to squeeze his fist with the intent of crushing the beast within.

When the monster realized it could not break through his essence coating, it began to move frantically in a bid to escape, but in the end, Galthor crushed its head to a pulp.

"This thing is weak!" Galthor declared, feeling strangely disappointed with the fact that he killed the cursed monster so easily.

"Eh, Chief, why don't you check your surroundings?" Karathra said, giving him a strange look from her place.

Galthor blinked and looked around him. His eyes widened with surprise. "When did I enter a pit?"

It was a shallow pit, and yet it was expanding rapidly, smoking and bubbling.

The yellow acid from the toad was now pooling beneath him, and the liquid was so corrosive that it was even eating through the ground.

If Galthor did not have his divine energy, then it would have melted through, but it was stopped cold.

He flung the cursed monster's body out and climbed out, dusting himself off. "How then do we find the relics? We've killed the cursed monster."

Hrothgar grunted. "Before that, does anyone have healing potions or pills? I'm wounded."

The big barbarian raised his fist as demonstration, and Karathra agreed with him by raising her slightly limp hands as well. "My hands too."

Galthor looked at their wounds. "Why don't the two of you pray to our god? Who knows, he might decide to answer your prayers."

Karathra and Hrothgar looked at each other, then shrugged and went to their knees. It was a bit awkward for them, but they said their prayers.

The prayers rang in Galthor's mind, and he answered them without blinking or using much effort. He simply did it with a thought, spending lesser miracles and accumulating prayers as well.

The answered prayers were instant as the two felt a glow of red and silver envelop their wounded hands, healing them within minutes.

Of course, they had all heard of the miracles happening in the village, but it was the first time any of the masters had seen it directly, and they were shaken. They had seen Galthor use incredible powers, but it was different for them to see a prayer getting answered. It shook them.

They really had a god again.

Their faith increased, and they vowed to pray to Unchanging Warth.

Who doesn't want free healing?

Karathra gave Galthor a bow. "The Abyssal Land is the domain of dead gods and demons. At least, it's their graveyard and battlefield, as well as where our world's Supreme Deity perished. That means strange things happen here.

"The relics can be found in different ways—either in the lair of slain monsters, inside them, or they might even transform into relics after their death."

Galthor looked at the dead toad monster and shook his head. "This one is not turning into a relic, that's for sure. Alright, I'll split it open because of the acid. The rest of you should get down to searching its lair."

Everyone grimaced. They had to enter the swamp.

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Thank you, Alura_Trout for reading my other work, I really, really appreciate it. Thank you so much.

And if others are interested as well, I would be really grateful.

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