Even if the intruder had passed through Wakanda's protective barrier and reached the Heart-Shaped Herb cavern, even if he had seen through her psychic disguise, taking a full-force blow from her staff was still beyond what any human could endure.
She had clearly seen where the staff struck. It had landed squarely on the spot where that insect stood.
With a cold snort, she spread her vast Psychic Power across the entire domain and swiftly repaired the fractures in space. The withered grass turned green again at her will, and the sky shifted from lead gray back to azure, as though nothing had happened.
"Hmph. That is the price of blasphemy against the Gods."
Bast's voice echoed through the domain, now peaceful once more.
Then a voice came from the heart of the white light.
It was calm and composed, with a faint note of disappointment almost too subtle to catch:
"Looks like you're even more confident than I am. Is this the divine power you said I should fear from the Gods?"
The white light silently dispersed at his will.
Russell still stood in the same place, hands in his pockets. His position and posture were exactly as they had been before the staff hit him. Not even the hem of his clothes was creased.
Bast's blue pupils contracted again.
Her gaze lingered on Russell for two seconds, as if searching beneath his calm exterior for some trace of damage. She found nothing.
Russell stood quietly in this newly revived world, on the grass that had turned green again. There was not a wound on him, nor a trace of blood.
Bast fell silent for a long while.
In that silence, her thousand-yard divine manifestation slowly shrank from a towering form that pierced the clouds to the size of