Looking at the corpse of the giant purple panther on the ground, the lingering brutality in the Executioner's eyes refused to fade.
The panther guarding the Wakandan temple hadn't given him anywhere near enough satisfaction in killing it.
But just as he was about to heft his giant double-bladed axe and storm into the Wakandan temple to wreck everything, a faint, phantom-like rumbling echoed from above.
The sound rolled in from the distance in waves, like rolling thunder.
The Executioner's expression instantly changed. He looked up to see dust rustling down from the ceiling of this underground cavern.
"Ah!"
Just as the Executioner looked up, the Enchantress, who was holding Venom Robin's face in her hands nearby, suddenly let out a sharp shriek.
He quickly whipped his head around and saw the Enchantress kneeling on the ground, scrambling backward away from Venom Robin, her face pale with terror.
"Amora! My Amora! Did he hurt you?!" The Executioner rushed over, reaching out to support her.
But the moment his hand brushed against her, the Enchantress slapped it away in utter disgust.
"Get away from me!"
The Executioner submissively pulled his hand back, though he still stared at her with deep concern.
The Enchantress breathed heavily, her emerald green tube top rising and falling with her breaths. Not daring to steal another glance, the Executioner redirected his fierce glare toward Venom Robin.
"I'm sorry, Skurge." After taking a few seconds to compose herself, the Enchantress's tone softened. She pointed a finger at Venom Robin. "Kill him."
The Executioner had barely opened his mouth to speak a single word before the Enchantress's displeased gaze locked onto him.
"Skurge, I was planning to reward you once you killed him."
Conflict instantly flared in the Executioner's eyes. He swept his gaze across Venom Robin, who was standing blankly in place.
A smirk played on the Enchantress's lips. She knew that no matter what she demanded, the Executioner would fulfill it just to please her.
But this time seemed different. After only a fleeting moment of internal struggle, he ultimately rejected her demand to kill Venom Robin.
"Amora, it's not that I don't want to be your blade... but listen!"
The Executioner pointed to the ceiling.
Confused, the Enchantress tilted her pale, swan-like neck upward.
The series of muffled, thunderous booms echoed once more. The massive weight of the Villain Mech trampling the ground above reverberated through the earth, sounding practically identical to rolling thunder by the time it reached this deep underground cavern.
Whoosh! The Enchantress's expression warped in horror. Without leaving so much as a word, she instantly dissolved into a mass of shadows and vanished.
First, she had pulled Batman into an illusion, yet found herself utterly unable to unmask him. Then, she had mind-controlled Venom Robin, only to glimpse a terrifying, spine-chilling greatsword within his psyche.
And now, hearing this rolling thunder, the Enchantress didn't have the mental capacity to process anything else. Her only thought was to flee this place as fast as possible.
"Amora?" the Executioner called out to the empty air in confusion.
He looked all around, but Amora was nowhere to be found.
As the thunderous booming grew louder and louder, the Executioner gripped his giant double-bladed axe tighter, gritted his teeth, and glided his eyes over to Venom Robin.
Amora had left him here instead of taking him with her—she must have wanted him to finish the task she ordered before fleeing!
Boom!
Leaping high into the air, he brought the giant double-bladed axe over his shoulders with both hands and swung it down heavily toward Venom Robin.
Watching the razor-sharp edge of the axe close in on Robin's head while the little monster just stood there motionless with his tongue lolling out, a flash of pure brutality erupted in the Executioner's eyes.
Five meters, four meters...
At the absolute critical moment, an incredibly agile figure materialized from the Wakandan temple. Seeing that Venom Robin was about to be obliterated, the figure lunged forward with explosive speed.
In this moment of dire peril, T'Challa had successfully inherited the blessing of his ancestors and the Panther God, becoming Wakanda's true "Black Panther"!
His speed had skyrocketed to more than triple what it was before. Charging on all fours, he looked like a blur of purplish-black shadow as he intercepted the blow.
Thud!
The axe blade slammed deep into the ground. Meanwhile, Black Panther T'Challa scooped up Venom Robin, rolling across the dirt for dozens of meters until they crashed into a protruding boulder and came to a halt.
Having missed his mark, the Executioner wrenched his double-bladed axe out of the earth and weighed it in his hands.
Watching Black Panther T'Challa roll on the ground while holding Venom Robin, the Executioner didn't mind the interference at all. Instead, his eyes lit up.
A grotesque smirk pulled at his cheeks, making his face look exceptionally menacing.
"Killing one or killing two makes no difference to me! Once I kill both of you, I can report back to Amora!"
With that, the Executioner took a violent step forward, his foot kicking up the earth and gouging a slope into the ground.
Using the momentum of that stride, the Executioner swung his double-bladed axe, cutting a shockwave through the air. Like a demon descending upon the world, he chopped down toward Black Panther T'Challa and Venom Robin.
"Robin! Wake up!" T'Challa's heart skipped a beat when he saw the ferocious axe cleaving toward them. He grabbed Robin and rolled across the ground a few more times.
Although T'Challa didn't know who the Executioner was, the sheer malice radiating from him and the air pressure generated by his swings made it clear that T'Challa was completely outmatched.
If Venom Robin remained in this catatonic state, the two of them would eventually meet their ends here.
Only by waking Robin up would they stand a fighting chance in a two-on-one battle.
With that thought, T'Challa instinctively raised his hand to slap Robin's shoulder to snap him out of it.
Just as the wind from his hand whipped up, merely centimeters away from Robin's shoulder, Venom Robin suddenly moved. He reached up and tightly clamped his hand around the Black Panther's wrist.
"Robin, you're awake!" T'Challa barked immediately. "Prepare for battle!"
Venom Robin blinked. He casually tossed Black Panther T'Challa dozens of meters away by his wrist, then turned his gaze toward the ferocious Executioner who was bringing down his axe.
"Bring it!" Although he didn't quite know what was happening, combat had always been Venom Robin's favorite pastime.
Back in New York, monsters like Batman and the Hulk were completely out of his league, while he had to pull his punches with everyone else to avoid accidentally beating them to death.
Having suppressed his battle lust for so long, Venom Robin was absolutely not going to let this perfect opportunity slide.
Clink!
He reached down and tore off a crescent dart from the chest of his mummy-shroud suit, gripping it with the curved tips pointing outward.
"Robin! Don't do that!" Black Panther T'Challa roared as he was flying through the air.
Hearing this, Venom Robin thought it made a lot of sense. Staring at the Executioner's giant double-bladed axe, the black symbiote matter and white shroud on his body began to surge and extend outward. Soon, a massive double-bladed axe with a white handle and a pitch-black blade materialized in Robin's hands.
CLANG!
A deafening metallic screech shattered the silence of the underground Wakandan temple complex, sending a shockwave visible to the naked eye rippling out from the epicenter between Venom Robin and the Executioner.
"T'Challa! Execute the plan!" Venom Robin roared.
The moment Black Panther T'Challa hit the ground, he saw the two of them clash in mid-air before rebounding away from each other. Hearing Robin's shout, his mind raced through the options for a fraction of a second before he turned on his heel and bolted.
Had he been even slightly indecisive, T'Challa would have chosen to stay and fight by Robin's side.
But based on that single clash, T'Challa could tell that Robin was more than capable of holding his own, whereas his own presence would only get in the way.
He needed to seize this opportunity while Robin bought him time against this dangerously powerful, mysterious adversary. He had to return to the surface city of Wakanda, broadcast his return to the entire nation, and officially challenge the current King of Wakanda, M'Baku the Man-Ape!
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