CHAPTER 93 — THE TITAN'S WRATH
The Seventh Realm pulsed with a sickly, crimson light, the sky above twisting into jagged streaks of black and red. Kratos stood on the jagged cliffs of the plateau, Leviathan Axe clenched, every fiber of his being alert. The ground beneath him trembled with each beat of the Heart of the Realm—the massive, pulsating entity they had come to face.
Atreus crouched behind a rock, arrows strung to his bow, threads of fracture energy running along his arms. His pulse raced, not from fear, but from anticipation. He could feel the Heart of the Seventh Realm thrumming through him, a chaotic power tugging at his core.
"Father… it's… awake," Atreus whispered, his voice trembling.
Kratos did not answer. He could sense it before he saw it—the towering form of the Titan emerging from the rift in the land. Shadows clung to its massive limbs like smoke. Its head, impossibly large, bore eyes like burning coals, dripping darkness and light in equal measure. Its roar shook the cliffs, and the wind seemed to shiver under its fury.
"You will not escape this realm," the Titan rumbled, voice deep and resonant, echoing in Kratos' mind rather than through sound. "You will fall like all who come before."
Kratos advanced, moving with the calm precision of a predator. "We do not fall. We fight."
Atreus fired arrows imbued with the fracture's threads, striking the Titan's lower limbs. Shadows flared with each hit, writhing violently, but the Titan's attention was singular, fixed on Kratos. One massive hand swept forward, crashing into the plateau. Stones exploded outward, and the Spartan rolled to avoid being crushed.
"Father! Watch out!" Atreus shouted, scrambling to his feet.
Kratos leapt, axe swinging in a wide arc, the frost exploding on impact. Sparks and shadow collided as the Titan staggered back slightly. Its hand rose again, and a second, third strike followed, each one a whirlwind of destructive force.
Atreus' threads lashed outward, binding smaller shadows that emerged from the Titan's writhing mass, stabilizing the collapsing ground. "They keep coming! Father, we can't—"
"We will survive," Kratos growled. "Focus. Control it. Together."
The Titan roared, and the very air shimmered with malevolence. Tendrils of shadow shot toward Kratos, coiling around rocks and forming spiked shapes aimed at impaling him. Kratos swung his axe with deadly precision, severing the tendrils, frost spraying across the jagged stone.
Atreus, feeling the pull of the fracture, resisted with every ounce of will. Release it… unleash the power… consume… destroy…
"No," he hissed, forcing control. Threads lanced outward, binding the shadow tendrils to the jagged terrain. Every strike he made disrupted the Titan's formations, giving Kratos openings for attack.
Kratos charged, leaping onto one of the Titan's lower arms, climbing with relentless fury. Every swing of the Leviathan Axe tore through shadow and sinew, sparks erupting from its massive body.
The Titan stumbled, then roared again. Its head snapped toward Kratos, eyes blazing. Shadow erupted in a wave, sweeping him off the arm. He hit the plateau hard but rolled to absorb the impact, Leviathan Axe already raised for the next strike.
Atreus fired again, arrows streaking through the air like streaks of moonlight. One struck the Titan's eye, causing it to flinch and stagger. "Father! Its eye—strike there!"
Kratos' lips tightened. He leapt, blade raised, and drove the axe directly into the Titan's eye. Frost exploded outward as the creature reeled back, shadow tendrils thrashing in a desperate frenzy. The ground shook violently, cracks forming under their feet.
The Titan roared—a soundless, mind-shattering vibration—and tendrils shot outward, colliding with the plateau, breaking stones into fragments. Atreus and Kratos barely held their balance.
"Push forward!" Kratos shouted. "We cannot give it time to recover!"
Together, they advanced, moving in perfect synchronicity. Kratos leapt onto a massive tendril, slashing as it twisted violently. Atreus fired threads and arrows, destabilizing the Titan's shadow forms and buying critical openings.
The Titan thrashed, attempting to crush them both. Kratos swung his axe again, striking the center of the creature's chest, where the red veins of power pulsated furiously. Sparks erupted, shadows screamed, and for a moment, the Titan faltered, staggering backward.
But it was not done. Its roar split the air, and a massive shockwave radiated outward. Kratos was thrown back, Leviathan Axe clanging against stone. Atreus rolled, narrowly avoiding a spike of shadow that slammed into the plateau.
"You will not prevail!" the Titan bellowed, voice echoing through the realm and into their very bones. "You cannot contain what is eternal!"
Kratos rose, muscles taut, breathing steady. "We do not contain it. We destroy it."
Leaping again, he drove the axe into the Titan's chest, frost erupting violently. The creature screamed, shadows exploding from its form like volcanic eruptions. Atreus' threads lashed outward, binding the Titan's tendrils to jagged pillars of stone. The collapse of shadows slowed, giving them a fleeting chance.
Kratos withdrew his axe, spinning with brutal precision, striking again and again. Sparks, frost, and shadows collided in violent bursts. The Titan staggered, staggering closer to the edge of the plateau, the abyss yawning beneath it.
"Father—now!" Atreus shouted, directing Kratos' attention.
Kratos charged, leaping high, and drove the Leviathan Axe deep into the Titan's chest, right above the pulsing Vein. Frost spread violently, freezing shadow and sinew. The creature thrashed, tendrils snapping and writhing, before letting out one final, deafening roar.
The Heart of the Seventh Realm cracked violently, shattering from the impact. Red lightning erupted in all directions, shadows screaming and dissolving into nothing. The Titan collapsed into the abyss below, leaving only silence, the jagged plateau trembling in the aftermath.
Kratos and Atreus stood panting, bodies battered, bloodied, but alive. The shadows had vanished, and the Heart's pulse was faint, dormant, possibly destroyed—or at least neutralized.
Atreus lowered his bow, his hands trembling. "Is it… over?"
Kratos' eyes scanned the plateau, Leviathan Axe at the ready. "For now. But the Seventh Realm does not forgive trespass. Something will rise again if we linger."
He turned to Atreus. "We continue. Every second wasted here risks the Convergence moving further ahead. The next gate waits, and we must be ready for what comes next."
Atreus nodded, swallowing hard. "Together."
Kratos' grip on the axe tightened. "Always together. And we finish this."
The crimson glow dimmed, but the remnants of shadow and energy swirled faintly in the distance. A reminder that even when destroyed, some powers are never truly gone.
The Seventh Realm remained dangerous, silent, and patient. And Kratos knew that whatever awaited them next would test them beyond all reason.