"Thank you."
Seeing Daniel and Carol stand up, the Panther Goddess quietly expressed her gratitude. At the thought of finally escaping her imprisonment, excitement welled up inside her. It felt as though her entire body was about to float away.
That wasn't just her imagination, as she actually was floating in the air. Flying like this consumed more divine power than walking on the ground, but at that moment, she couldn't have cared less.
"T'Challa should come too."
Halfway to the door, Daniel suddenly spoke.
Since the Panther Goddess had said there would be benefits to killing those gods, Daniel decided to bring T'Challa along as well. T'Challa was one of the few friends he truly considered close, and Daniel had no intention of leaving him out.
Besides, he was always baiting him and often came over to freeload new combat suits. Daniel honestly felt a little guilty about it.
"Go."
T'Chaka gently pushed T'Challa forward. With Daniel around, he wasn't worried about his son's safety. Because right now, standing beside Daniel was probably the safest place on Earth.
The three of them, along with the Panther Goddess, stepped through the portal and entered the Panther Goddess's divine kingdom. The entire divine realm trembled violently, as though it could barely support itself.
The Panther Goddess was clearly struggling, so panting heavily, she explained, "A divine kingdom exists between reality and illusion. Living people entering it places an enormous burden on it."
"We need to hurry."
"The other gods' divine kingdoms are nearby."
T'Challa found himself surrounded by a pride of panthers. The Panther Goddess glanced back at them.
"They are every Black Panther who has ever existed. After death, they become panthers and live within my divine kingdom. They've been my companions all these thousands of years."
"My ancestors..."
T'Challa murmured. He then gently stroked each panther's fur, in return, the panthers affectionately licked the palm of his hand.
The divine kingdom shook even more violently, and it looked as though it might collapse at any moment.
"I've found them." The Panther Goddess spoke urgently.
"Let's go."
She was genuinely beginning to panic. If these people stayed inside much longer, her divine kingdom would collapse, and that would cost her half her life.
The Panther Goddess secretly glanced at Daniel, for the first time, she regretted bringing them inside.
She had wanted to show off her divine kingdom. Instead, Daniel's mere presence was placing such an overwhelming burden on her that she could barely maintain the realm. This was a terrible deal for her.
This man is ridiculously heavy! I can't take this anymore!
"Hurry!"
"Get out!"
The Panther Goddess urged them again. Sweat had already formed across her nose. Leaving the Panther Goddess's divine kingdom, the group arrived in another realm.
There was a forest, a river, and a vast grassland. Three completely different environments met together in a way that felt oddly unnatural.
"This is where those three stay." The Panther Goddess wiped the sweat from her nose.
"I'll lure them out, and the moment they appear, you attack."
With that, she walked forward alone. Her body gradually began to grow until she reached more than ten meters in length. Then she faced the open plain and called out.
"Meow..."
It sounded remarkably like a cat. Just, much louder.
The moment they heard it, Daniel and Carol burst into laughter. Watching a panther over ten meters long produce such an adorable cry was simply too funny.
Neither of them looked remotely nervous. Completely confident in their own strength, they seemed more like tourists than people preparing to fight gods.
T'Challa, however, was the exact opposite, every muscle in his body tightened. He crouched slightly, as every hair on his body stood on end.
He had already entered full combat mode. The atmosphere here was suffocating, and he felt as though he were a tiny boat drifting through storm-tossed seas, on the verge of being overturned at any moment.
The instant the Panther Goddess's "meow" echoed across the land; the entire realm came alive.
The river churned violently, and a pair of enormous eyes emerged from beneath the water's surface.
Deep within the forest came the sound of trees snapping, as though some gigantic beasts were charging toward them.
A thunderous roar erupted from the distant grasslands.
Compared to the Panther Goddess's catlike cry, this roar was vastly more imposing. Seeing the three of them looking at her, the Panther Goddess snorted dismissively.
"The one making the biggest noise is actually the weakest."
"It only knows how to bark. The truly powerful gods are dignified, like me."
"Elegant and low-key."
The Panther Goddess gracefully strutted forward with an exaggerated catwalk.
Daniel looked at her.
"I honestly can't tell."
The Panther Goddess's steps faltered for a moment. Then she continued walking with dignity.
"I won't stoop to arguing with you!"
...
"Bast!"
A giant white gorilla emerged from the forest. In its hand was a black staff more than ten meters long, but its material was impossible to identify.
"So..." The White Gorilla God sneered. "You've got itchy skin again?"
As it spoke, a crocodile over twenty meters long crawled out of the river, and a lion of roughly the same size also approached from the grasslands.
Among the three Beast Gods, the Gorilla God was the strongest. Despite how fierce it sounded; it hadn't actually dared to speak until both the Lion God and Crocodile God had appeared.
If it had been a true one on one fight, the Panther Goddess could have beaten all three of them badly enough to make them call her "Queen."
Unfortunately, the trio were incredibly smart. They lived together, ate together and never separated. They were just like three inseparable best buddies.
"You three beasts are out of luck today!" The Panther Goddess declared triumphantly.
"I'm having lion meat tonight!"
She had always been annoyed that the Lion God's roar sounded far more majestic than her own. They were both members of the cat family, so why did that lion get the cooler roar?
At the same time, she shouted.
"Attack!"
Daniel looked towards Carol.
"How should we split them?"
"I'll take the lion," Carol said with a big grin. "It looks like it'd make a pretty good mount."
The first time Daniel and Carol had come searching for Wakanda, Carol had wanted to ride a lion then, too.
"Fine."
"I'll handle the gorilla."
Daniel sized it up.
"It looks pretty durable."
Its muscles bulged all over its body, making it appear immensely powerful.
"Then I'll deal with that stupid crocodile."
The Panther Goddess bared her fangs.
"I've already placed a spiritual blessing on all of you, so their mental attacks won't affect you."
The moment she finished speaking, the two siblings and the Panther Goddess each charged towards their chosen opponent.
Leaving T'Challa standing there, completely bewildered. He had just been about to ask, who am I supposed to fight?
Facing the Gorilla God head-on, Daniel smiled, "So, is your weapon actually as tough as it looks?"
His tone was full of mockery.
"You dare challenge me?"
"Mortal!"
It swung its enormous staff straight at Daniel's head.
From that alone, it was obvious these three gods were far weaker than the Panther Goddess. When the Panther Goddess had first met Daniel years ago, she had immediately sensed how powerful he was.
These three, couldn't tell at all. Part of that was because of Daniel's recent transformation, as his overwhelming power had become completely restrained.
The Gorilla God brought the staff crashing down. It didn't even bother watching the result, as it had complete confidence in its own strength.
No one could survive a direct hit from its weapon, not even that infuriating panther. So already assuming Daniel was dead, it prepared to pull its staff back and go help the Crocodile.
Then, it noticed something was wrong. Its beloved staff had suddenly become lighter.
Looking down, it saw Daniel staring up at it with a completely expressionless face. Scattered beside him were countless fragments of the shattered staff.
Daniel slowly floated upward until they were eye to eye, their gazes met. The Gorilla God's eyes filled with disbelief, then panic. Daniel's, meanwhile, held only amusement.
"You hit me once."
"I think it's only fair that I return the favor with one punch."
Daniel spoke calmly, and almost instinctively, the Gorilla God nodded.
The next thing it saw was Daniel's fist.
Boom!
After that, the Gorilla knew nothing. Daniel's punch blasted straight through its skull, and its entire head exploded into a mangled pulp.
Daniel just casually shook out his arm.
"So weak."
"This is what they call a god? I thought it'd be able to take a beating, but it couldn't even survive a single punch."
"What a disappointment."
He turned to look toward Carol and the Panther Goddess's battlefield.