In American comics, all your teammates are the main characters and bosses

Chapter 97: Balder Arrives

Is Kratos powerful? Yes, very powerful.

From a Spartan warrior, he became a leader step by step, and killed all other competitors in the fight for the immortal fruit. After finding out that he was fooled by the god of war Ares, he killed him himself and called himself a god killer. Then, in order to resist the tragic fate, he slaughtered the entire Olympus step by step, one sword at a time. The once glorious Greek Pantheon was left with only blood, flames, ruins, and countless corpses of gods in front of Kratos's butcher knife.

But Kratos is also fragile. All his sources of power, and even all his motivations, come from a very pure emotion - "anger".

Until God of War 4, even though Kratos was considered the toughest protagonist in the game, there were still quite a few people who thought that Kratos' image was extremely thin. Many comic authors and rating websites also believed that Kratos was the most overrated game character.

This evaluation lasted until God of War 4. When this Spartan ghost who killed himself and then slaughtered all the Greek gods became a taciturn father, Kratos finally got rid of the thin image of "anger". The many annual game awards are the best proof.

But if the theme of God of War 4 is father and son, then the theme of God of War 5 is past and rebirth.

It was not until the end of God of War 5 that Kratos decided to let go of the past and shoulder the responsibility of rebuilding the Nine Realms and prosperity with Freya and others who were suffering the same grief as him. With the appearance of DLC Valhalla, Kratos truly let go and accepted his past calmly.

And before that... Kratos just thought he had let it all go.

"You thought you had accepted it all, let it go. But in fact, you hadn't."

Looking into Kratos' eyes, Ron said calmly: "You haven't let go. These memories are still tormenting you. Just like the name of Atreus... This is a Greek name. You keep reminding yourself not to forget the past. You are still a ghost bound by the past."

"..."

Kratos gritted his teeth, and clenched and unclenched his hand on Ron's collar, but in the end, he just said indifferently: "This is my business, it has nothing to do with you."

"That won't work." Ron said calmly:

"Don't worry about what happens in the future. At least you are still a member of the team now. It's okay if you have any bad habits. After all, I'm not a good person either. But your current problem is too serious."

"Divinity can give people great power and immortality, but this kind of spiritual defect is more fatal than a physical defect. I don't want to be in the middle of a battle one day and suddenly be controlled by the enemy's mind and become a puppet filled with anger again."

"Besides, I'm not talking to you now. You don't have to listen if you don't want to." Ron suddenly said loudly: "Atreus! What do you mean, do you still want to listen?"

"what?"

Seeing Ron, who was engaged in a verbal battle with his father, suddenly called him, Atreus was stunned for a moment, then looked to Freya and Mimir for help.

But this time, both Freya, who treated Atreus like her own mother, and Mimir, who was used to being noisy and complaining, tacitly kept silent.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this is Kratos's family affair. Although Ron is not a member of Kratos' family, it is obvious that Ron is trying to untie Kratos's knot... Whether it is good for Kratos or not, Atreus is obviously eager to know more information.

This was undoubtedly the first time Atreus knew what his father had experienced in the past.

"Don't look around, just follow your heart." Ron looked at Atreus and said:

“When you know these things, it means that you are no longer the protected child in the past. You need to make your own choices, take responsibility, accept it all, and walk your own path.”

Atreus had not been deeply touched before. But now, after hearing the words "walk your own way", Atreus was silent for a moment, took a deep breath, raised his head, looked at his father's complicated eyes, pursed his lips, and for the first time looked directly into his father's eyes firmly and said:
"I would like to know."

"..."

Kratos couldn't help but clench his hands, but it was not because of anger, but rather a complex mixture of pain, confusion, melancholy, and joy.

After a long silence, Kratos just let go of his hand and patted Ron's shoulder. When he turned around and walked past Atreus, he also patted Atreus' shoulder and said:

"Once you've made your choice, go ahead."

It was a very simple sentence, obviously just a very simple sentence, but it was this sentence that made Atreus feel such strong joy for the first time.

After hearing these words from Kratos, Atreus even opened his mouth in disbelief for a moment, looking at the back of his father walking to the side. Atreus even felt that he was happier than when he learned that he was a god!
As a child, Atreus did not know that what made him happy was the respect from his father.

"I...I? My father means..."

"It means you are an adult now." Ron patted Atreus on the head without any hesitation, which made Atreus dodge twice in dissatisfaction. However, Atreus did not retaliate arrogantly.

In addition to knowing that he was a god, Atreus's arrogance was also due to his contact with the rune stone, which gave him a lot of knowledge and power that was not commensurate with his character. This is why he became so arrogant that he even went against Kratos.

Now, he had only just begun to realize that he was a god, and before he had figured out what that meant, he had learned about his father's past experiences and received his father's recognition... The little pride that had grown up with great difficulty was extinguished by a hot pee before it could even start to burn. Although there was still a possibility of a resurgence, at least for now, Atreus had regained his composure.

In other words, curiosity about his father's past suppressed the inner arrogance.

"Come on, let's continue the previous topic." Ron sat on the ground and took out some food from other worlds from the space.

Although he is a god, and although he raises sons in poverty and daughters in wealth, it has to be said that Kratos' family lives a very simple life.

In daily life, they only grilled and boiled meat, relied entirely on hunting for protein, relied entirely on wild vegetables for vitamins, and used salt as seasoning most of the time. Although it was also limited by factors such as the living environment, this level of diet was obviously limited to filling the stomach, and it was still a long way from really eating well.

Older women like Frigga didn't have much interest in such fancy fried food, but Atreus was different - he was only fourteen or fifteen years old, at the age of growing up. All his previous food was boiled in salt water, and now he had no resistance to such junk food.

"Well, can I have a taste?" "You don't have to eat it if you don't want to~"

"what?"

Atreus seemed a little hesitant.

In this regard, Ron just sighed that Kratos's education was almost destroying Atreus' confidence...

"Eat it, buddy. I'm not so stingy that I won't share this."

"Oh, thank you!"

Atreus ate with great interest.

Although it is annoying when he is self-aggrandizing in the game plot, if you really want to count, at least half of the blame lies with Kratos. But if you think about it more deeply, it seems that Kratos cannot be blamed. After all, Kratos himself grew up in this situation. It can even be said that he is worse off than Atreus, because Zeus's old Biden is not a guy who will help with the aftermath and have no worries about food and clothing.

Born in Sparta, a place with tough folk customs, a single mother trying to raise two children... Kratos must be a natural fighter, otherwise he would have to endure a lot of hardships.

"But even so, your father's fate was not much better." Ron said with a sigh as he ate, "He watched his brother die tragically, and killed his beloved wife and daughter with his own hands. In the end, even your father's mother, your grandmother, was fooled by the gods and turned into a monster, and then he killed her with his own hands."

"That's why your father didn't want to tell you that you have divine blood flowing in your body," Ron said.
"Because your father knew very well how evil and hateful God's character was. He was also afraid that you would become that kind of person. You can understand that, right? Although he hid it very well, he never really relaxed or felt relieved."

“…Is that so?”

Atreus seemed to understand why his father was always vague about his past and unwilling to recall it.

"Then what should I do?"

As Atreus ate, he looked at Ron curiously.

Although Ron looked like he was of the same generation as his father, to be honest, compared to his father, Atreus felt that Ron was much easier to approach. At least, he respected him and was willing to tell him about the past that his father was unwilling to talk about or even unwilling to recall.

"Do what you want to do, but think clearly before you do it. Do you do this out of your own heart or out of a momentary evil thought? Do you take the path you choose or the path others lead you to take? Only you can decide. Anyone else only plays a supporting role."

What Ron said was very simple, even as if he hadn't said anything. But for Atreus, there was no need to say so much. Because Atreus's character inherited the kindness of his mother Laufey - well, the main reason might also be that Kratos was really bad at educating children.

In this case, there was no need for a long speech. It was enough to make Atreus realize that the blood of the gods in his body represented not only rights but also responsibilities. It was enough to prevent his long-suppressed inferiority from growing excessively into paranoia and arrogance.

After all, there are still many days ahead, and there is plenty of time to slowly cook it up~
Looking at Ron who suddenly laughed, Atreus shrank his neck inexplicably, feeling that the uncle in front of him was not as good as he had imagined.

After finishing the conversation with Atreus, Ron stood up and walked to Kratos' side. Seeing the disappointment on the face of this burly man, Ron asked with a smile:

"Atreus is OK, how are you doing? You look like you're not in a good mood."

"You know why."

Glancing at Ron, Kratos shook his head and didn't dwell on the matter too much. He just said calmly: "But let's stop here. Atreus has stabilized. I am not interested in your long speech."

Is he not interested or unwilling to face it? Ron did not ask too much about this, but raised his head and said, "Someone is coming."

"Ok?"

Hearing this, Kratos narrowed his eyes slightly, then stood up and pulled out the Leviathan Axe behind him, and said in a deep voice: "Who's here?"

"I don't know. It's probably because your divinity just got out of control." Ron unceremoniously put the blame on Kratos - although Ron had more or less guessed that Kratos would most likely not be able to suppress the resentment and anger from the past.

But when Kratos really felt angry and out of control because of the scars of the past, the burst of power still made Ron feel sincerely amazed.

Not only did it blast out a vast expanse of white ground, it even directly shook the spell set up by Freya, causing some interested people to notice that there were some guys hiding here who were unwilling to show their faces.

The first person to arrive here, who had been chasing Kratos, was none other than...

A leap fell from the sky, and the seemingly thin body exploded with a roar the moment it landed. Looking at the wall woven by vines in front of him, Balder squinted his eyes and looked at it for a moment, and then a deep excitement appeared in his eyes.

"Hahaha! So they are here! I was wondering why I couldn't find them! It turns out you, woman, hid them!"

As Freya's biological child, Balder is very familiar with Freya's abilities and aura.

Without being touched, Freya could hide herself from the world by relying on her magic power that was unrivaled in the whole of Northern Europe, and even Odin could not detect her. But when they were face to face and touching each other, even Balder could recognize Freya's spellcasting aura at a glance!
Although he is a god, compared to Kratos, Balder's figure can only be described as thin and short.

But even so, the divinity in his body was still violent. His muscles tensed, and then he rushed towards the vine wall in front of him.

"All of you, come out!!"

(End of this chapter)