CHAPTER 89 — THE BURIAL OF THUNDER
The storm broke at dawn.
Not the simple roar of clouds tearing open, not the gentle hiss of rainfall. No — the heavens split like a wounded titan, bleeding light and fury across the shattered expanse of the Eighth Realm. The ground trembled beneath every echo. Jagged lightning carved through the thick ash-filled sky as though some ancient god was clawing to escape the clouds.
Kratos stood at the edge of the broken cliffs, the wind ripping his cloak like a hungry beast. His blade-scarred hands hung at his sides, tight, trembling — not with fear, but the kind of stillness that comes before something deadly awakens. Behind him, the land he had crossed bore the marks of ruin: scorched plains, collapsed mountains, and the bodies of fallen beasts littering the path like reminders of a past drenched in violence.
Beside him, Atreus tightened his grip on his bow. His breaths came slow, steady, but Kratos could hear the strain beneath each inhale. The boy wasn't the same child he had trained years ago — not anymore. Shadows had settled on his shoulders, the kind that never left once they entered the heart.
The storm above them roared again, and Atreus finally spoke.
"Father… he's close. I can feel it."
Kratos did not turn. "Then steel yourself."
A pulse, deep and heavy, vibrated through the air — a presence so powerful it bent the wind itself. The sky darkened, swirling in a violent funnel of thunder. The cliffs beneath their feet cracked, sending shards tumbling into the endless void below.
And from the heart of the storm, a figure descended.
A silhouette wrapped in lightning, carried by the weight of a thousand years of bitter wrath.
Thor.
But not the Thor they knew.
This version — this resurrected, corrupted incarnation — bore eyes stained black with the mark of the Convergence. His veins glowed with lightning twisted into something unnatural, something born from the Nine Realms collapsing into darkness. His hammer crackled with storms that did not belong in any world.
"Ghost of Sparta…" Thor growled, his voice layered — as if something darker, ancient, was speaking through him. "Your time ends today."
Kratos stepped forward, muscles coiling like iron forged by fire.
"You were given a chance at honor," he growled. "But you return as a slave to corruption."
Thor's laugh cracked like thunder.
"I return as the storm that will bury your legacy."
Lightning drowned the cliff in blinding white.
Thor struck first.
The blow shook the entire world. Mjölnir came down like a falling star, and Kratos barely rolled aside as the ground erupted into molten shards. Atreus fired an arrow, then another — each sparking against Thor's corrupted energy before dissolving into nothing.
Thor roared and hurled Mjölnir. The hammer flew with a scream of torn air — not at Kratos, but at Atreus.
"ATREUS!" Kratos lunged.
The boy leapt aside at the last second, but the hammer carved through a stone tower behind him, shattering it into dust. Thor summoned the hammer back, laughing through gritted teeth.
"You brought the boy here," he mocked. "A father's last mistake."
Kratos slammed his blades together, summoning fire that curled around his arms.
"Face me, Thunderer."
Thor answered with another thunderous strike.
The two titans collided in a violent clash that shook the storm. Kratos pushed against Thor's hammer with both Blades of Chaos burning bright, their chains singing with ancient rage. Sparks flew between them — red flame against twisted lightning.
Thor shoved him back, then drove his massive fist into Kratos' chest, sending him crashing into a jagged pillar of rock. The Spartan staggered up, blood dripping down his lip.
Atreus screamed, "Father!" — but Thor snatched him by the throat before he could move.
The boy kicked, clawing at the crushing grip.
"Your son carries too much destiny," Thor hissed. "Let me lighten his burden."
His grip tightened.
Kratos saw red.
He sprinted forward, flames erupting from his feet like detonating fire. He threw his blades — chains streaking — and they wrapped around Thor's wrist, pulling him backward. Thor snarled, releasing Atreus just long enough for Kratos to drag him across the ground.
The battle became a blur of rage and thunder.
Thor swung Mjölnir in a wide arc that hissed through the air. Kratos ducked, grabbed Thor's arm, and slammed him into the cliff edge so hard the sky itself seemed to crack. Thor retaliated with a blast of lightning that tore through Kratos' chest armor, sending the Spartan flying.
Atreus, panting, fired a Light arrow infused with rune magic. It struck Thor's shoulder, exploding in golden sparks. Thor roared and turned toward him.
"That all you have, boy?"
Atreus didn't answer.
He shifted into his wolf form, dark fur swirling into existence, eyes glowing icy blue. He launched himself at Thor, biting at the corrupted lightning around the thunder god's arm.
Thor swatted him midair, sending him rolling across the stone.
Kratos saw him tumble — but Thor was already charging for a killing blow.
Kratos clenched his fists. Power rippled from his skin — the old, primal power he rarely called upon.
"NO MORE."
He unleashed the Spartan Rage.
His roar cracked the darkness.
Red energy flooded his vision as he crashed into Thor with the force of a collapsing mountain. He hammered fists into Thor's face, chest, ribs — each blow shaking loose waves of corrupted lightning. Thor struck back with thunder that tore open Kratos' flesh, but the Spartan did not stop.
Not this time.
Not with Atreus watching.
The cliff collapsed beneath their feet.
Both gods fell — crashing through layers of broken stone until they slammed into the lower ravine. Dust drowned the air. Thunder cracked above.
Thor staggered up first, rage twisting his features.
"You think rage makes you strong?" he spat. "It only makes your end slower!"
He charged — and Kratos caught Mjölnir in his bare hands.
The earth went silent.
Thor's eyes widened as Kratos held the hammer steady, flames swirling around his arms.
"I do not rage for power," Kratos growled.
"I rage for my son."
He yanked Thor forward — and head-butted him with a crack like snapping bone.
Thor stumbled. Atreus rejoined the fight, panting, his wolf-form fading. He nocked an arrow glowing with unstable runes.
"Father—move!"
Kratos stepped aside.
The arrow shot through Thor's chest — glowing, pulsing, then erupting with a silent flash.
Thor fell to one knee.
Lightning flickered around him like dying fire.
He looked at Kratos and Atreus — not with hate, but with something broken.
"Perhaps… perhaps I was meant to fall," Thor whispered. "Tell… Sif…"
His words dissolved as the corrupted power tore him apart from within. A final thunderous crack echoed — and Thor, god of thunder, collapsed in a burst of fading lightning.
Atreus lowered his bow, chest rising and falling rapidly.
Kratos stared at the spot where Thor had vanished, the storm slowly calming overhead.
"Father… is he—"
"Yes," Kratos said quietly. "The thunder has been buried."
Atreus swallowed, wiping dirt and blood off his face. "What now?"
Kratos turned toward the distant horizon — where the storm clouds parted just enough to reveal a faint, burning crack in the sky.
The entrance to the Seventh Realm.
"The war continues," Kratos said. "And we must reach the next realm before the Convergence consumes it."
Atreus nodded.
And together, father and son walked through the fading lightning toward their next battle.