"Is it dead?" Diana asked.
Thea examined the corpse carefully for a long time. "Physically, yes. From the perspective of this body, it is dead. The mental burden was too great in such a short time, and its soul was crushed. But just before complete dissipation, it used some secret technique to abandon this body. If I'm not mistaken, your friend Minerva is the new host."
Thea's judgment wasn't baseless nonsense. The evil aura lingering in the soil, sky, and jungle was dissipating rapidly. As for those women pretending to be Amazons, she couldn't be bothered with them. After regaining their sanity, they would likely fall seriously ill, but escaping this evil place was a good thing for them.
"Do we still need to question this guy?" Diana asked, holding up the old woman in her hand. Leita had been closest, and coincidentally had the most evil god energy on her, so she bore the brunt of the impact. Facing Thea's magnified psychic shock, she had fainted without any resistance.
Thea scratched her head. She had indeed forgotten about this one. But under those circumstances, not using an AOE (Area of Effect) attack wouldn't have been appropriate. One could only say this old woman was unlucky.
"Put her down. You ask her; I'll deal with this corpse." Thea looked down and groped the black panther's body.
There wasn't much divine power left in this body; Thea guessed it had all transferred to Cheetah. However, this carcass was undeniably a divine corpse, slightly higher in rank than the Shark God Kamo their five-man squad had killed before. Taking it back to craft new armor would definitely yield good results.
Since they hadn't fought directly, Thea was afraid the opponent wasn't thoroughly dead. What if it was faking death? Or what if, like in those cheap soap operas, it suddenly came back to life after a while?
Taking out an alien laser cutter and attaching a portable power source, Thea went to work on the spot, dismembering the panther corpse into eight pieces. With the body scattered like this, if it could still revive, Thea would eat her hat.
Summoning water magic to wash the filth off her hands, Thea finished just as Diana concluded her interrogation.
"This old woman says she ordered Minerva to steal the God-Killer Dagger. Minerva also stabbed herself in the chest with the blade under her orders, turning into that half-human, half-beast monster. But she doesn't know Minerva's specific whereabouts, only that she headed South."
Diana put away her lasso. The old woman saw Thea brutally dismantling the panther corpse nearby; realizing something, her mind seemed on the verge of collapse.
South again...
Thea was a bit depressed. They had gone from Louisiana north to find this camp, and now they had to go South again. Tossing back and forth like this. But seeing the unwillingness in Diana's eyes, Thea could only accompany her to continue the pursuit.
...
The Amazon Rainforest, Brazil.
"I hate this place!"
To prevent a sudden ambush from Cheetah, the two had to pursue in full armor. Tracking all the way from North America to the Brazilian Southeast, the rainforest climate made Thea miserable—hot, humid, and sticky.
They didn't dare fly in the sky; the trees below were too dense, and they were afraid of losing the trail. The only good news was that Gideon had finished collecting various data on the target: footprints, fur, speed per second, walking characteristics—all recorded one by one.
The AI would calculate the opponent's route using the Queen Consolidated satellites and supercomputer, correcting the direction from time to time via traces like footprints.
Without Gideon's calculations, relying on Thea and Diana to track Cheetah—who avoided human society and only fled through the jungle—would be a pipe dream.
"The climate here is unbearable..." Diana also felt uncomfortable all over. She was familiar with the African savanna and the Mediterranean climate, but the humid climate of the tropical rainforest was very foreign to her. Her body felt like it was constantly sweating, but given her divine physique which far exceeded humans, she couldn't sweat even if she wanted to.
As they marched, they suddenly sensed an anomaly. They exchanged a glance. "The tracks disappeared?"
Diana took her shield off her back, held her sword in one hand, and looked around vigilantly.
Thea no longer cared about conserving magic power; the Eye of Horus scanned at full power for suspicious figures.
"West!" Thea shouted. At the same time, the freeze gun on her arm sprayed several streams of freezing gas toward the opposite side.
A golden blur flashed past her eyes. The metal armor on her chest—which could technically withstand a nuclear blast—was sliced open, leaving a cut five centimeters deep.
"Thea!" Diana hurriedly protected her flank, throwing out the lasso simultaneously. Unfortunately, the opponent was too fast. Missing the strike, she vanished into the forest again, preparing for the next ambush.
Actually, dealing with this kind of speedster was easiest by flying high and bombarding from above. But they had to capture her alive, which required some effort.
"Not coming out, huh?" The two stayed vigilant for a long time, but the opponent was very patient, silently waiting for a good opportunity.
Thea and Diana established a telepathic link. They could discuss plans at any time during battle without worrying about alerting the enemy.
"Darkness!"
Thea channeled her mana and suddenly burst it all out. This was the spell Thea was most proficient in. Although low-level, sometimes low-level spells were the most effective.
A wall of darkness swallowed the forest, cutting visibility to zero for several miles. Although Thea couldn't see either, this magic was released by her, so she had some sensory feedback. She quickly discovered Cheetah hiding among a pile of dead leaves.
The opponent was stunned by the sudden darkness. But her bloodthirsty nature didn't make her flee; instead, her fighting spirit soared, wanting to kill the two women.
Thea's magic sensed the opponent approaching her cautiously.
You sneaky bastard! Do you think I'm a pushover? If I don't skin you alive today, I'm not Thea Queen.
"Close your eyes!" Thea instructed Diana in the telepathic channel.
Visually estimating Cheetah was three meters away—staring dead at her, knees bent, about to launch an attack—Thea instantly cast another spell. "Light!"
In the pitch-black darkness, a blindingly bright light flared up.
Cheetah was completely unprepared. Especially since she was staring right at Thea, eyes wide open, afraid the opponent would move nimbly to avoid her attack. Plan B, Plan C... Cheetah had pondered several sets of scenarios in her heart, preparing for possible situations.
But these all had a major premise: Thea dodging her attack. Otherwise, all thoughts were useless work. Cheetah calculated many possibilities, but unfortunately, she missed the versatility of magic.
A low-level spell like Light—let alone Thea, even Damian Wayne could cast it instantly. Cheetah hadn't anticipated this possibility. The intense light was instantly received by her retinas. Pupils shrank, eye muscles spasmed. Cheetah instinctively covered her eyes with her hands.
Diana coordinated with her perfectly, slamming down with her shield.
At the same time, Thea didn't stop. She cast mire and slick oil across the ground, and dense webs between the trees. The goal was singular: Slow. Her. Down.