In the endless void, a higher dimensional being with a wolf's head and a human body crossed countless dimensions and arrived at a large hall in an unknown dimension.
Inside the hall, four beings of the same level were already seated.
"Lycaon, you're late!" said the figure sitting at the highest place. She had the head of a cat but the graceful body of a woman, and her voice was cold as she looked at the arriving wolf-man.
"Hehe, Bastet, you know my dimension is more distant and I'm not that strong, so being late is normal," the werewolf grinned, showing his bloody teeth.
This cat-headed woman was Bastet—the Black Panther Goddess once worshipped in Wakanda. She had tried to intervene when Wakanda was destroyed, only to be badly beaten by the Ancient One.
She was a mid-level beast-type Dimensional God. (TL/N: AU not a marvel thing)
The werewolf named Lycaon was also a Dimensional God, and was known in Greek mythology as the God of Werewolves.
The term "Lycan" used for werewolves on Earth comes from his name.
The other three present were also Dimensional Gods, and two of them, like Bastet and Lycaon, were associated with Earth mythology.
They were the bear goddess Artio and the crocodile god Sobek.
Artio came from Celtic mythology and Sobek from Egyptian mythology.
The last one was different—a Hawk God.
Although he was also a beast-type dimensional god, this Hawk God was much more mysterious and powerful than the others.
"All right, Bastet, no need to waste words on this useless thing. Just tell us why you called us here," the Hawk God said, glancing at Lycaon.
Being called "useless", Lycaon, although he looked fierce and dangerous, only tilted his head slightly, his eyes flashing with anger. But he dared not say a word.
He had once seen this Hawk God invade a dimension ruled by a god as strong as himself, kill that god, and completely devour his dimension.
So he didn't dare to speak back. If he angered the Hawk God, he wouldn't even have a place to cry.
"My faith and my legacy on Earth have been cut off," Bastet honestly replied to the Hawk God's question.
As soon as she said that, the faces of the other dimensional gods, except for the Hawk God, changed.
Their expressions were a mixture of anger and a little bit of glee.
Lycaon even wanted to whistle to mock her, but after looking at the Hawk God, he held back. Instead, he asked honestly, "Don't tell me it was the Ancient One again? Didn't you sign a contract with her? Did she break it? But if it really was her, we might as well go. There's nothing we can do to her anyway—unless, of course, the mighty Hawk God is willing to act. Then there might be a chance."
Why did the other dimensional gods have such strange expressions? Because, like Bastet, they once had followers and legacies on Earth.
In fact, not just them—many Dimensional Gods had connections to Earth.
But with the rise of the Vishanti and the intervention of the Celestials, over countless years, 99% of these gods lost their faith and influence on Earth.
And when the Ancient One became the Sorcerer Supreme, this situation reached its peak.
For many gods, simply losing their worshippers wasn't the worst part—countless angry ones were even killed by the Ancient One and the followers of the Vishanti.
Many Dimensional Gods absolutely hated the Ancient One and the Vishanti with all their hearts.
Over the past few hundred years, only a small handful of "well-behaved" gods managed to keep their legacies alive by signing unequal contracts with the Ancient One.
Bastet was one of them. As for Lycaon, Artio, and Sobek, they had already lost their Earthly faith long ago.
So even though they got along with Bastet, deep down they were still jealous and bitter—why did she get to keep her worshiper and they didn't?
Now that Bastet's legacy was finally cut off, their feelings of shared loss returned, but they also couldn't help but feel a little pleased.
But just as Lycaon said, if the one who severed Bastet's legacy was the Ancient One, they might as well give up now. There was no way to defeat her.
As for Lycaon's suggestion that the Hawk God fight her, it was pure provocation.
But the Hawk God ignored it completely.
He might be strong—but he wasn't stupid.
Fighting the Ancient One? What would he gain from that?
"It wasn't the Ancient One. The ones who cut off my legacy were other humans. So this isn't a violation of the contract I made with her," Bastet said through gritted teeth.
This was the most frustrating part for her.
Her agreement with the Ancient One only protected Wakanda's development and allowed Wakandans to continue to worship her.
But her beliefs had to stay within Wakanda—they couldn't spread freely. And she herself was not allowed to appear on Earth or cause any destruction.
But the destruction of Wakanda this time was all planned by Josh, a so-called "normal person," and carried out by almost all the major powers on Earth together. It didn't involve any supernatural powers—things like super-soldier serum or beastification serum were seen by these dimensional gods as mere technological creations, not true supernatural powers.
So from that perspective, the destruction of Wakanda wasn't seen as the Ancient One breaking their agreement.
On the contrary, it was Bastet who broke the rules when she tried to take personal revenge on Josh, the one responsible for Wakanda's fall.
So even by reasoning, Bastet was the one in the wrong.
But for a god—especially a feline goddess known for her vengeful nature—it was impossible to admit fault. The one in the wrong could only be that damned mortal, Josh.
Even after being beaten and chased away by the Ancient One for the last time, Bastet couldn't let go of her desire to take revenge on Josh and the other humans who had destroyed Wakanda. She wanted to restore her faith.
Even though the country was gone, and the royal family—her main supporters—had been wiped out by Josh and shipped off to Westeros, there were still former Wakandan citizens left behind.
These people were now working as hired miners for the countries that had taken over the vibranium mines.
As long as they were there, there was still hope for Bastet to rebuild her faith system.
But first—revenge was necessary.
"To be beaten down like that by a human... you're really slipping. And this is Earth. The Ancient One is not going to sit back and watch. Calling us won't help," the Hawk God said after hearing Bastet's explanation.
"If I act directly, the Ancient One will not allow it, of course. But what if we use the native beings of the physical universe? If other humans were allowed to wipe out my faith, why can't I use other mortals to destroy them?" Bastet said coldly.
"That's actually a good idea. Sounds like you already have someone in mind. So what do you need us to do—and what do we get in return?" the Bear Goddess asked.
"Recently, a very interesting mortal sensed my presence and made a connection with me. He's willing to offer faith in exchange for power for himself and his tribe," Bastet replied.
"But as you know, even with a connection, sending power across dimensions is difficult. A lot of energy is lost in the process. I can't give power to many of them. And if their numbers are too small, they won't be able to take on these humans. So I need your help.
In return, I'll share this tribe's faith with all of you. And after it's done, that human also possesses some interesting things that we can all share."
As she spoke, Bastet explained what she had learned from Wakanda's last remaining followers about Josh and his people—namely, that they had super soldier serum and beastification drugs.
To the dimensional gods, things like super-soldier serum and beastification drugs were personally useless.
But they weren't alone in the universe. While their faith on Earth was gone, they still had followers among other planetary races.
And if they relied solely on their power to help those believers, it would consume a great deal of power.
So these dimensional gods, who weren't very powerful, usually used additional methods to give their followers strength.
For example, Bastet had once used the Heart-Shaped Herb to channel her power—although the Wakandan tradition was that you had to worship Bastet to gain the power of the herb, that wasn't exactly true.
The so-called Heart-Shaped Herb ritual was really just a way to strengthen the soul of the person who took it, to create a bond with Bastet, through which their souls would belong to Bastet after death.
In reality, even without believing in Bastet, the Heart-Shaped Herb could still give people power.
Just like Killmonger in the movie—how likely was it that he actually believed in Bastet?
Or M'Baku of the Jabari tribe, who followed the Gorilla God—yet when Black Panther fell off the cliff, his mother tried to take the herb to M'Baku in hopes that he would avenge T'Challa, clearly showing that the power of the herb wasn't limited to Bastet's followers.
But aside from Bastet, the other dimensional gods didn't have anything like the heart-shaped herb, a tool that imparted power without using their own energy.
However, the Super Soldier Serum and the Beastification Drug that Bastet had now mentioned had definitely piqued their interest.
Borrowing a little power in exchange for a new faith-based race—and tools that could grant blessings without draining their energy—was a win-win.
"I agree!" said the Wolf God first.
"Me too," added the Bear Goddess.
"Interesting. I've been bored lately anyway," the mysterious Hawk God smiled.
Finally, everyone turned to the Crocodile God, who had been silent the whole time.
"...I'm busy with some personal things right now, so I'll have to pass," he said after thinking for a while.
His answer immediately annoyed the others.
But they couldn't do anything to him just because he refused to join.
Knowing that he had angered them, the Crocodile God quickly found an excuse to leave, leaving Bastet and the other three to begin planning how to proceed—and how to divide the rewards afterwards.
But none of them could have guessed that from the very beginning, this was all part of a massive trap aimed directly at middle-tier dimensional gods like them.
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