CHAPTER 96 — DESCENT INTO NIGHTFIRE
The crimson mist of the Seventh Realm thickened as Kratos and Atreus advanced deeper into the spiral. Every step felt heavier, the air thick with the acrid tang of shadow energy, the whispers of the fallen curling around them like venomous serpents. Silence had returned after the last confrontation, but it was a false calm, an oppressive stillness that pressed against their minds with the weight of inevitability.
Kratos tightened his grip on the Leviathan Axe, frost shimmering faintly along its runes. "Do not be distracted," he warned. "The Realm does not forgive hesitation. One mistake, and it will claim us."
Atreus' threads laced along his arms, bow drawn, eyes scanning the swirling mists. "I can feel it, Father. The Realm is changing. Every step we take, it shifts… like it's alive."
Kratos' jaw tightened. "It is alive. And it's learning from us."
A tremor shook the spiral, forcing them to brace against jagged stones. From the swirling mists, shadows began to crawl upward, taking form in ways that defied logic. Limbs elongated impossibly, faces twisted in silent screams, eyes glowing faintly red as they emerged from the mist.
Atreus fired, threads lashing around the creatures, binding and striking simultaneously. The arrows cut through shadows with bursts of fracture energy, but each shadow that fell only birthed two more from the darkness.
Kratos swung the Leviathan Axe with brutal precision, frost erupting violently as tendrils of darkness lashed at him. He spun, cleaving through one shadow after another, each strike scattering fragments into the swirling crimson mist.
The Realm pulsed beneath their feet, stones quaking violently. Kratos' instincts screamed that the spiral itself was alive, ready to collapse, crush, and trap them in its ever-shifting depths.
Then a low rumble echoed through the mist—a soundless vibration that resonated in their bones. The pulse of the Realm grew stronger, thrumming like the heartbeat of an ancient predator.
Atreus' eyes widened. "Father… it's… the Heart of the Realm. It's… reacting to us."
Kratos' gaze hardened. "Then we must force its hand. Do not falter."
From the shadows ahead, a massive figure emerged. Taller than any Titan they had faced, its body a twisted amalgamation of the Realm's jagged stones and pure shadow. Veins of crimson energy ran along its limbs, pulsing in sync with the Heart below. Its eyes burned with intelligence and fury, scanning them with a predatory awareness.
"You trespass," it intoned, voice echoing in their minds. "You will pay for your intrusion… your defiance…"
Kratos tightened his grip on the axe. "We do not pay. We survive. We strike. And we move forward."
The figure lunged. Shadows exploded around them, sending jagged stones raining down. Kratos rolled aside, axe swinging in a wide arc, frost erupting across the figure's form. Atreus fired arrows in a continuous rhythm, threads binding the creature's limbs and destabilizing its movements.
The creature adapted instantly, its form shifting with unnatural speed, each limb moving in unpredictable angles. Kratos' strikes barely slowed it, while the crimson veins along its body flared violently with each blow.
"Father!" Atreus shouted. "It's… it's drawing power from the Realm itself! Every strike strengthens it!"
Kratos growled. "Then we do not strike blindly. Every blow must count. Every move must be precise."
He leapt onto one of the creature's massive arms, running along its sinewy mass as frost spread violently across its body. Tendrils of shadow lashed at him, but he moved with predator-like precision, driving the Leviathan Axe deep into a glowing vein along the creature's torso. The crimson pulse faltered momentarily, sparks erupting violently.
Atreus seized the moment. Threads lashed outward, binding the creature's tendrils to jagged stones and piercing the air with fracture-infused arrows. The creature staggered, its movements slowing as the frost and threads combined to disrupt its connection to the Realm's energy.
The spiral quaked violently beneath them. Cracks split the stones, sending fragments tumbling into the abyss below. The mist thickened, forming shapes that resembled fallen warriors, screaming silently, reaching for them with shadowed hands.
Kratos roared, his voice cutting through the mental assault. "We do not falter! Strike with precision, strike with purpose!"
Together, they advanced. Kratos' axe smashed through the creature's limbs, frost cracking veins of crimson energy. Atreus' threads coiled around tendrils, yanking them into sharp stones, forcing the creature to stagger.
The Realm pulsed violently, responding to the battle. The spiral trembled, threatening to collapse entirely. Shadows lunged from the mist in endless waves, clawing at their limbs, twisting the ground beneath them.
Kratos' voice was calm but lethal. "Focus. Control. We survive, or we die. Nothing in this Realm is mercy."
He leapt high, driving the Leviathan Axe into the creature's chest with a violent explosion of frost. Shadows shattered into fragments, scattering into the crimson mist. The creature screamed—its voice resonating inside their skulls. Tendrils lashed wildly, trying to drag them into the depths, but Kratos' precision strikes and Atreus' threads held them steady.
The creature's chest glowed brighter, pulsing violently, veins of crimson energy flaring across its body. It threw itself backward, crashing into the spiral walls, sending massive shards of stone down the abyss.
Kratos and Atreus braced, leaping to avoid the debris. "We finish it!" Kratos shouted.
Atreus nodded, drawing his final arrows, threads coiling like living weapons. "Together."
Kratos drove the axe into the creature's chest once more, frost exploding violently, scattering shadows across the mist. Atreus released arrows imbued with fracture energy, striking the creature's pulsing veins. Sparks erupted, crimson energy fracturing, shadows screaming as the figure's form began to collapse inward.
The plateau trembled violently one last time. Stones cracked, mist twisted, shadows dissipated. The creature's massive form imploded, fragments of shadow drawn into the heart of the Realm. The whispers faded, leaving only the faint pulse of residual energy, slow and weak.
Kratos and Atreus stood, bodies bloodied and battered, the mist curling around them like smoke from a dying fire. The spiral ahead was clearer, though still treacherous.
"Atreus," Kratos said, voice low, measured. "We have survived another trial. But the Realm… it remembers. It will grow stronger. And we must be stronger still."
Atreus nodded, threads shimmering faintly along his arms. "I can feel it, Father. The Realm is alive… but it's afraid. We've made it hesitate."
Kratos' eyes swept the spiral, calculating the path forward. "Fear is temporary. Survival is our path. We move deeper. There is more to this Realm. And we will face it… as we always have—together."
The crimson mist swirled around them, shadows retreating, coalescing in the distance. The spiral ahead led further into the heart of the Seventh Realm, deeper into darkness that even Titans feared.
Kratos tightened his grip on the Leviathan Axe, muscles taut and ready. "The Realm tests us, boy. But we are not to be tested. We are to endure. And we will endure… or we die trying."
The whispers returned faintly, carried on the wind of the spiral, promising terror, promising pain. But Kratos and Atreus ignored them. Their focus was unbroken. Their resolve absolute.
The Realm had not finished with them. Not by far.
And Kratos knew, deep in his bones, that the true darkness of the Seventh Realm was still waiting—patient, hungry, and merciless.
They were walking into the heart of it now. And there would be no turning back.