Survival in the game world begins with Biochemical 2

Chapter 863 Atreus's Decision

"you……"

Seeing Li You standing in front of him with the Mortal Blade in hand, and Heimdall whose body and soul had been burned to ashes without leaving a trace, even the Lord of the Underworld, Herasvalg, was slightly flustered.

How could there be such a knife? How could it possess such power!

With a single strike, Li You killed Heimdall, then turned the Mortal Blade back into a small dragon, which circled around him twice before landing on his shoulder.

Li You casually teased it before turning to look at Heraswalg: "Thank you for your help."

The lord of the underworld had calmed down by now and said, "No need. I didn't help you with anything, nor did I witness your fight with Heimdall. You should leave; this is not a place for you living beings."

Li You smiled and said, "It seems you don't want to cause trouble, but I believe you are also very clear that unless we bring Odin down, his ambitions and claws will one day reach into this underworld."

"His corruption of the Valkyries has caused an imbalance of life and death in the Nine Realms and filled Helheim with the dead, which has already caused you a lot of trouble, hasn't it? If you let him continue, who knows what he will do next."

Heraswalg remained silent for a long time before replying, "In any case, I will wait for the day Ragnarok. Until then, Helheim has nothing to do with the affairs of the living."

"Let's go, don't linger here. Heimdall is dead, and Odin's spies will be here soon."

Although it appears to be an attempt to shoo Li You away, it's clear that Heraswalg is warning him about what might happen next. His phrase "waiting for Ragnarok" is essentially a reminder to "come back to me then."

Li You was satisfied with this answer.

In the fifth game, Herasvalg did indeed send people to participate in Ragnarok, but it was Mimir and Hildisvini—Freya's "boar" friend—who persuaded him to join the alliance at that time.

Mimir and Hildesvini were undoubtedly excellent strategists to persuade the Lord of the Underworld to join the war. Li You, while lacking such eloquence, displayed a strength worthy of Horasvalg's serious attention, thus achieving twice the result with half the effort and easily obtaining the Lord of the Underworld's promise.

However, Li You also did not intend to simply walk away and leave the mess to Heraswalg.

He essentially killed Heimdall right under Heimdall's nose. If he didn't leave something behind, Odin would probably cause trouble for the ruler of the underworld.

So at this moment, he raised his hand, and a flaming longsword appeared in his hand, which he casually stabbed into the ground.

The intense divine power lingering on it was immediately apparent to anyone who came, a clear provocation against Odin.

Li You then clapped his hands: "Alright, all done. I should go check on my companions now. See you next time."

Heraswalg gave him a deep look, and then the avatar dissipated and disappeared.

Li You smiled dismissively, then turned and left, leaving behind only the remnants of the battle and the longsword that burned brightly and eternally even in the cold winds of Helheim.

……

At this moment, Atreus is on the side.

He and Slud searched the surrounding area for a long time, but this time, no matter how they looked, the mask no longer reacted.

Atreus then realized that he must have misjudged the situation; the next fragment of the mask was not in this country.

She was still just a child. Slud had been overprotected since childhood and wasn't as composed as Atreus, who was actually younger than her. Realizing this, she immediately snapped: "You've come to the wrong place? How could you make a mistake! Do you know how important this mission is to me?!"

Atreus apologized to her, saying, "It was my fault. I will tell Odin that it seems there was a mistake in the interpretation of the inscriptions this time..."

But Slud wouldn't listen to any of that.

She paced back and forth anxiously, saying, "What should we do now? What should we do!"

It's not surprising that she reacted that way.

Slud's mother, Thor's wife, the goddess Sif, was overprotective of her and consistently opposed her becoming a Valkyrie.

Slud had pinned her hopes of realizing her dreams on this mission, but when she learned that the mission was going to fail, she, who was still completely childlike, naturally couldn't accept it.

Atreus, however, seemed much more mature than her. He was about to comfort her and calm her down when he heard a high-pitched roar that almost echoed through the sky!
Both of them looked up at the sky and saw a huge black shadow falling rapidly from the sky!
"boom--"

The dark figure did not land on the ground, but hovered in the air, completely overlooking the two of them. With the flapping of its large wings, it stirred up gusts of wind.

It was a strange flying dragon with two legs and two wings, covered with ferocious bony spikes from its head to its neck and back, and its large mouth was full of twisted sharp teeth.

The dragon's mere appearance and design were incredibly imposing, leaving Slud utterly astonished: "A dragon? In Helheim? How could this be!"

Upon seeing the dragon, Atreus was immediately taken aback!
Putting aside the question of why there was a dragon here, the main reason why Slud was so distraught was that this dragon was several times larger than any she had ever seen before, and it felt like it could swallow half of her whole in one gulp.

Slud swallowed hard, instinctively trying to back away, but the dragon's scarlet pupils were already fixed on her.

Locked on by the dragon, knowing there was no way to escape, Slud immediately frowned, shouted, gripped her iron rod tightly, and activated the divine power inherited from Thor, causing streaks of lightning to wrap around the iron rod!
"Want to eat me? Then come and try!"

The flying dragon seemed to understand her words and immediately let out a long roar!
"Roar--!!"

Within the dragon's ferocious mouth, faint black flames with a hint of eerie green hue swirled.

Atreus: "That's...!"

Slud was still inexperienced and didn't see the dragon's brief build-up of power. While she was still figuring out how to lure the dragon to the ground, the dragon had already breathed out at her!

"Boom boom boom——"

Slud: "!!"

Atreus shouted, "Get out of the way!"

He didn't just shout; he lunged forward, grabbed Slud, and shoved her away!

"boom!"

The two crashed heavily into the nearby building. Atreus rolled over and got up, looking at Slud: "Are you alright?"

Slud was clutching her left arm, sweating profusely. Although Atreus had come to her rescue in time, she was still grazed by the strange, dark flames, and her left arm was instantly injured.

However, as she pressed her left arm, she uttered words completely contrary to common sense: "...So cold!"

The areas on her arm where the flames had touched did indeed show signs of frostbite.

Atreus was surprised to see Slud injured, but at that moment the dragon outside crashed down, ramming into the frozen building where they were hiding. The dilapidated building was about to collapse under the impact of the dragon.

There was no time to treat the wounds now. Atreus pulled Slude up: "This house won't last much longer, let's go!"

Although Slud was inexperienced, she knew what was good for her at this moment, gritted her teeth, got up, and followed Atreus outside.

But it was too late. The next moment, the roof of the small house collapsed under the violent impact of the flying dragon!
"Boom——"

Slud watched as a huge frozen boulder fell toward Atreus's head. She didn't even have time to warn him; she just lunged forward without thinking!

She shoved Atreus aside, avoiding the rubble, but was hit by the shockwave as it fell, sending her flying and crashing into the wall to the side.

“Slud—!!”

With Atreus's shouts echoing in her ears, Slud thought that at least she had repaid his favor, and gradually lost consciousness.

However, in her fading consciousness, she didn't notice that she hadn't crashed into the wall on the other side, but rather into a transparent barrier; and the impact of the falling rock in front of her was much smaller than it should have been.

Just as Slud was about to fall unconscious, a hand reached out, grabbed her by the back of her collar, and lifted her into the air.

When Atreus turned around, this was the scene he saw: Slud was being carried in the hands of the man who had suddenly appeared, like a chick.

Atreus, however, was not alarmed; instead, he beamed with delight: "Li You!"

Li You, carrying Slud, also looked at Atreus and smiled: "You did a good job."

Atreus didn't understand that Li You was referring to his earlier decision not to rashly unlock the chains of the hellhound Gam. He simply looked at Slud and said, "Li You, she's my friend..."

Li You reassured him, "Don't worry, I won't do anything to her. The attack and illusion just now were just to make her faint in a plausible way."

As he spoke, Edge walked into the small building.

She came to Li You's side, took Slud from his hands, and placed it on the ground.

Edge merely glanced at the frostbite marks on her hands before releasing her magic to cast a simple healing prayer for the daughter of Thor. However, she deliberately didn't fully heal her, as Atreus didn't know such complex spells.

Atreus glanced at Edge, then at V standing in the doorway, and at Yuzu, who was still in her dragon form and waiting quietly outside. He realized something: "You're planning to..."

Li You smiled and said, "It's not confirmed yet."

“I know you probably want to ask about your father first, and that's perfect, I've already informed him.”

As he spoke, he snapped his fingers, and a black portal with a golden spiral halo appeared outside the small building next to him. Kratos strode out of it.

At first glance, he saw Atreus, who was also looking at him, inside the half-collapsed building.

"son--!!"

Needless to say, Kratos and Atreus needed some space to talk, so Li You naturally didn't disturb them and went to the other side with his companions to talk.

Yuzu, who had just arrived in Helheim from another country, transformed back into human form and, together with Aige, reported their progress to Li You.

"Has the Night Demon's Lair core been placed?" Li You had already received the system notification, but he still wanted to confirm, "Is it placed in the intended location?"

Edge nodded and said, "The environment there is indeed exceptionally favorable. However, in the past, even the core of a lair wouldn't have been able to take root in such a place—those curses were too extreme."

Li You smiled: "Yes, but that's no longer a problem."

The core of the Living Night Demon's Lair, the key source of manpower for the upcoming war, has already been set up.

As for the location, it was nowhere else but in the Ivadi workshop in Niflheim.

There are three reasons why we finally decided to place the nest here.

First, the Ivadi workshop is filled with a large amount of cursed mist, which has special powers and is both a threat and a resource.

However, as Edge said, the core of the old lair could not withstand this power, and that cursed power was highly poisonous to all living things.

But now that Li You has an understanding of this curse, he has designed a targeted protective magic.

He also specially asked the Brock and Sindri brothers to prepare a filtration system. With the two working together, they could perfectly utilize the omnipresent cursed mist and turn it into an almost inexhaustible resource.

Secondly, Ivardi's workshop is located right at the entrance to the teleportation point from the Temple of Tyr. This originally made it difficult for outsiders to approach Niflheim, but it also made it very convenient for them to transport troops when the war started in the future.

Finally, these cursed mists also serve to repel outsiders and conceal the internal situation. Combined with the labyrinth surrounding the workshop, even the defenses of the lair can be largely omitted.

In conclusion, Li You chose Ivadi's workshop to place the nest core. Yuzu and Aiji had previously gone there for this mission.

When they returned, they brought good news, which greatly pleased Li You.

All that's needed now is time. Given just one month, the core of the lair will be able to spawn a massive army of Night Demons.

One of the cornerstones of the future military has been laid.

As for the remaining cornerstones, they can be built step by step, and Li You is already making preparations.

Just then, Kratos and his son seemed to have finished their conversation and came to Li You.

Kratos looked at Li You: "You've helped us again."

Li You glanced at the father and son and noticed that they didn't seem to be arguing; they were calmly communicating the situation. So he nodded to himself.

This time, Atreus seems to have convinced Kratos by saying, "I do have some secrets, but I can't tell you right now, please believe me."

That's not a problem. After all, although the general events are similar to the game's plot, the underlying reasons are quite different.

When Atreus said that in the game, Kratos refused to believe him because Atreus had lied to him before.

That won't happen now, so as long as the father and son talk things out, even Kratos won't get angry.

So Li You looked at Kratos and said, "It's nothing. You all came here to help me, which is why this accident happened. I'm just making amends."

Kratos didn't answer, but judging from his expression, he clearly didn't think so; he still remembered Li You's help.

But he never showed his sincere gratitude outwardly, so he simply nodded and said, "Then we'll head back now."

With that, he prepared to leave with Atreus.

Li You was taken aback, while Atreus gave him a look, then looked at Kratos: "...Wait, Father, there's something else I want to say."

Kratos looked at him with some confusion, while Atreus took a breath before saying seriously, "I think I won't go back with you right now, but will go back to Asgard again."

Kratos: "!?"

Needless to say, Atreus had to use a lot of persuasion to convince Kratos.

Although Atreus didn't mention a word about the Iron Forest or the prophecy about Kratos's fate, he still sincerely explained his purpose to Kratos.

He wanted to change the prophecy, change the future, and protect the important people around him.

“You said I am worthy of the title of warrior, Father.” Atreus looked earnestly into Kratos’s eyes. “Now that I am a warrior and a god, I should have moments to fight for a goal.”

“I feel that moment has come. Please believe me, Father.”

It must be said that Atreus's choice of expression and content at this point was far more intelligent and mature than his portrayal a few years later in the game.

Kratos looked at his son. Although he had already acknowledged his son's growth when he completed the journey to scatter his ashes, the old father still felt a sense of disorientation, along with relief and pride.

His son has indeed grown up.

So in the end, Kratos neither got angry nor forbade it sternly, but instead reached out and placed his hand on Atreus's shoulder, saying:
"Protect yourself, and then go face your battle, son."

Atreus, pleased with the approval, smiled and nodded emphatically: "Yes!"

Even Li You, watching from the sidelines, felt happy for the father and son.

They no longer had to argue every three days or every five days like in the game's storyline, which ultimately hurt their companions and led to Ragnarok in their quest for revenge.

Now that the father and son have reached an agreement, it goes without saying that it's Li You's turn to make his appearance.

“So let’s get to the point. I’ve already killed Heimdall, so first of all, we need to make sure you have no weaknesses when you go back.”

As Li You spoke, ignoring the surprise in Kratos and Atreus's eyes, he began to arrange and set up the scene.

……

Soon after, Slud slowly awoke from her coma.

She instinctively tried to sit up, but a sharp pain shot through her arms and back, causing her to wince.

Slud looked around and found herself in a small, old house. There was no brazier inside, and it was still cold, but the good thing was that it was very quiet, which seemed to be a safe place to stay.

She looked at herself again; her arms and legs were wrapped in simple bandages, but apart from the bruises that were difficult to heal, all the external injuries had been treated.

"This is... I'm still alive?"

Immediately afterwards, Atreus's voice came from the side.

"you're awake?"

Slud turned her head and saw Atreus walking in from outside.

"How are you feeling? Can you move?"

Slud looked at him: "You... saved me?"

Atreus nodded very naturally: "Fortunately, the dragon didn't pursue me. I pulled you out of the rubble and then found this place."

“Take a break. If you feel okay, let’s find a place to call Fokin and teleport back to Asgard.”

(End of this chapter)