[Setting: Maintenance Shaft, Beneath the Central Temple of Kitezh]
The maintenance room was little more than a junction point for ancient geothermal pipes and the narrow, vertical shaft leading straight up into the Chamber of the Divine Source. The air hummed with a palpable, oppressive energy—the raw power of the Source itself, resonating through the stone.
Lara secured the zip ties on Ana's wrists to a massive, stable pipe. "Stay here, Ana. If you try to warn him, or if you run, we won't hesitate."
Ana, huddled against the wall, looked up at them with a strange mixture of defeat and desperate belief. "He'll kill you both. He has the ATLAS; he knows the ritual. He only needs to place the Source at the heart of the temple. The power will make him unstoppable."
Leo didn't waste breath arguing. He checked the clip on The Phantom and secured his Pry Axe. He looked at Lara. "It's a vertical climb. It'll be the fastest route, but the most exposed."
Lara nodded, her eyes blazing with singular determination. "We go up. Together."
Leo started the ascent, using the thick, ancient chains and corroded iron rungs of the shaft. Lara followed immediately behind him, covering his six. The vertical climb was brutal, testing their endurance against the increasing pressure of the atmosphere and the confined space.
Halfway up the shaft, the humming energy intensified, and they heard sounds from above—the sharp clack of modern weaponry and the low, guttural snarls of the Deathless Guard.
Konstantin had anticipated their path.
"Trinity patrol above us!" Leo shouted, scrambling for cover beneath a protruding pipe section.
A heavy volley of rifle fire rained down the shaft, the rounds ricocheting dangerously off the metal walls.
"He's using the height advantage!" Lara yelled. She fired a quick succession of shots from her pistol, forcing the Trinity soldiers to momentarily duck behind their cover.
Leo saw his opening. He spotted an extremely thin, brittle section of the central pipe running alongside the climbing rungs. He couldn't kill the soldiers directly, but he could create a massive, chaotic diversion.
He loaded his last two Explosive Arrows. He launched the first, aiming for the brittle pipe section.
KA-BOOM!
The resulting explosion wasn't massive, but it was perfectly placed. It ruptured the pipe, sending a massive geyser of freezing-cold water shooting up the shaft.
The two Trinity soldiers above, stunned by the cold shock and blinding spray, momentarily lost their grip on their rifles.
Before the confusion could clear, two Deathless Guards charged in from a side tunnel above, their ancient swords swinging—believing the Trinity soldiers were the intruders.
The shaft instantly became a vortex of conflict: Trinity soldiers fighting the relentless, silent Deathless Guard in a confined space, all while dealing with the freezing, high-pressure water spewing from the ruptured pipe.
"Go! Go! Go! Use the chaos!" Leo yelled.
They climbed with desperate speed through the swirling fight above them, dodging swinging swords and flailing rifles. Leo used the side of The Phantom to deflect a blow meant for Lara, and Lara used the shaft of her axe to push a Deathless Guard momentarily into the path of a Trinity soldier's fire.
They burst out of the top of the shaft, soaking wet and gasping for air, into the Inner Antechamber of the Central Temple—a vast, circular room covered in icy mosaics.
Konstantin was there.
He stood on a raised dais, a massive, imposing figure, his custom heavy rifle slung across his back. He was not alone; two more Tier 4 Elite Commandos guarded him, and standing next to him was a terrifying new threat: a massive Deathless Commander, wearing gold-laced obsidian armor and wielding a massive, two-handed battle axe.
In the center of the dais, placed on an ancient stone table, was the objective: the Divine Source—a small, glowing, intensely beautiful crystalline cube that pulsed with blinding blue light.
Konstantin held the ATLAS fragment—the map—in one hand, and he was staring intently at the Divine Source.
"I knew you wouldn't die in the tunnels, Leo. Predictably persistent," Konstantin said, his voice cold and flat, yet tinged with a manic fervor. "I have the map; I have the artifact. The ritual is complete. I win."
Lara, ignoring the commandos, fixed her gaze on the crystalline cube. "That power will destroy the world, Konstantin! It has to be sealed!"
"No! It will save me!" Konstantin bellowed, the sound echoing through the chamber. "The Source grants eternal life and heals all infirmity! It grants power!"
Konstantin raised the ATLAS fragment, preparing to slot it into a recess on the stone table, which would presumably activate the full power of the Source.
"Leo! Stop him! The ATALS!" Lara yelled, immediately engaging the two Trinity Commandos, buying Leo a critical few seconds.
Leo didn't hesitate. He took aim with The Phantom, not at Konstantin's head, but at the ATLAS fragment itself. He fired a rapid burst of armor-piercing rounds.
PFFT! PFFT! PFFT!
Konstantin, alerted by the sound of the rifle, moved just in time, but the rounds struck the heavy, leather-bound artifact in his hand. The ATLAS fragment shattered into dozens of pieces, scattering across the stone floor, its ancient knowledge destroyed.
Konstantin stared at the pieces, then looked at Leo, his face twisting into a mask of absolute, incandescent rage.
"You fool! You destroyed the map! You have doomed us all!" Konstantin roared, pulling his massive rifle off his shoulder.
The Deathless Commander let out a bone-chilling shriek and charged Leo, its massive battle axe raised high. Lara was locked in a deadly close-quarters fight with the two Elite Commandos.
Leo was alone, facing the Deathless Commander—the deadliest, most resilient enemy in the entire city—with the final battle for the Divine Source raging around him.
Chapter End.