His Adam's apple trembled continuously, showing signs of hesitation and fear, but soon, his expression became more and more fierce as if he had thought of something. Muscles on his arms flexed, and within an instant, he thrust decisively towards the air while shouting, "Helada!"
His spear was deflected by a dense energy, and the backlash sent Erik flying.
T'Challa had already closed his eyes, preparing to face death, but suddenly, he felt a familiar power enveloping him. He voiced his confusion: "Panther God Bast? Is it you? How ..."
With a hand over his chest, he tried to rise from the ground. Just then, a familiar voice rang out, "If I were you, I wouldn't move around, unless you fancy bleeding more, T'Challa?"
T'Challa's eyes widened as he asked, "Tony? Tony, is it you?"
As he turned his head to look for Stark's figure, a strangely-shaped portal appeared in mid-air. Several silhouettes walked out from it, one of which was Stark in his Mecha.
Of course, it wasn't just human figures that emerged but also a feline, or rather a panther. A black panther roughly the size of an ordinary leopard walked out of the portal. Once its tail tip left the portal, it closed.
Feeling the Divine Power, T'Challa coughed hard and said, "It really is you, Bast. Why at this time..."
No one paid him any attention because one person, wearing a trench coat, turned to Strange and asked, "What did that guy just shout? Did I hear it wrong?"
"What... Helada? Who's Helada?" Strange was also puzzled. Erik's posture just now seemed as if he was summoning a Demon God. Strange was ready with a defensive spell, but Erik ended up only shouting a phrase and collapsed.
With a furrowed brow and a solemn expression, Shiller said to Strange, "Open a portal to get Steve. If Peter is around, bring him along too."
Seeing Shiller's serious expression, Strange knew this was not a time for joking. He opened a portal straight away and left.
Stark turned to look at Erik. He murmured,"...Hydra? Hell..."
Shiller gave Stark a look, and the two spoilers immediately understood each other, deciding not to discuss further.
At that moment, the black panther had its paw pressed against T'Challa's chest. As a rich white energy poured into T'Challa's body, his complexion visibly improved.
However, a dark energy still lingered around the deepest wound. The panther tried several times to disperse it but only succeeded partially. The remaining energy stubbornly expanded T'Challa's wound like a persistent ulcer.
T'Challa placed a hand on the panther's paw and looked at Bast, "Thank you, Your Majesty, this is enough."
The panther's face showed a very human-like disagreement. It seemed a bit irritable, but that was understandable.
The reason why this group appeared here with Panther God Bast has to start with their plan to enter the Bast Realm.
After Christmas, Nick Fury finally enjoyed a rare moment of quiet. This period up until early next year was when he didn't have to worry about funding issues. Thus, when he received Shiller's invitation to negotiate with the Panther God, he agreed readily, stating that if the panther could help him resolve next year's funding, he would become a staunch animal rights activist.
The combination of the bat and Nick Fury was excellent. The duo taught Panther God Bast a lesson: even darkness has layers. One can be dark, but not too dark, especially not both in appearance and heart...
Not long after the duo entered the Bast Realm, they got thrown out. Bast, for the first time, allowed people of other races to enter his realm and then Shiller went in...
Of course, knowing the urgency of saving a life, Shiller took Strange to promote membership packages to the Panther God for two hours before explaining his intentions—asking Bast to save T'Challa.
Fortunately, time in the Bast Realm and the outside world didn't flow at the same pace. In the real world, only a few seconds had passed.
The one who attacked T'Challa, Erik, happened to be the kind of villain who died due to talking too much. After harming T'Challa severely, he didn't take advantage of the situation. Instead, he stopped in his tracks to rant, so the rescue team managed to arrive just as he was about to strike.
The Panther God was initially studying the patch of dark energy on T'Challa's chest, but T'Challa had already managed to stand up. The moment the Panther God turned around, he spotted the spear that he had earlier deflected with his defense power.
The spear tip shimmered with an ominous dark energy, the very end giving off a strange radiance as if it was poisoned.
The Panther God walked over and sniffed at the spear, revealing a puzzled expression. Right then, with a "thud," T'Challa, who had just gotten up, collapsed again.
"Ha ha ha ha, he's a goner! I smeared the spear with a potent poison; nobody can save him!" Erik shouted.