[Setting: Ancient Archive, Central Rotunda - Leo POV]
The world shrank to the six menacing figures in black armor surrounding him. Leo's chest burned with the effort to breathe, but his fear was cold, calculated, and focused. His mind, honed through training and sheer will, filtered the chaos into actionable data: six targets, heavily armored, using coordinated flanking maneuvers.
Konstantin's laughter echoed from the ledge above. "Execute him! End the game!"
It's not a game, Leo thought, every fiber of his being straining against the odds. It's survival.
His only chance was to turn their strength—their heavy, restrictive armor and reliance on coordinated formation—against them. His mind instantly mapped the environment: the deep, boiling chasm below; the steaming vents; the loose scaffolding above.
Leo initiated the attack by simply vanishing. He sprinted not toward the exit, but toward the perimeter scaffolding, melting into the confusing patterns of shadow and rising steam along the rotunda walls.
The commandos, momentarily deprived of a stationary target, spread out, their heavy boots thudding on the stone floor.
Leo moved with terrifying efficiency. He was silent, using his years of trained physical discipline to move without sound, the condensation from the steam covering his tracks. He dropped down directly behind the commando nearest the scaffolding.
He couldn't risk a gunshot. He drove the reinforced tip of his Partner Bow like a short spear, using his full body weight to strike the unarmored neck seal of the commando's suit—the one weak point his intense visual focus had revealed.
SHINK!
The man crumpled instantly, silently, his heavy armor thudding against the stone floor.
The remaining five commandos heard the slight disturbance and snapped their attention to the fallen man.
"He's using stealth! Secure the center!" a commando yelled, his voice muffled by the helmet.
Leo used the resulting confusion to create a massive, terrifying distraction. He hurled a fragmentation charge at the massive, rusted gears of the celestial model.
BOOM!
The explosion didn't damage the stone, but it ruptured the old iron scaffolding above, sending a cascade of heavy, rusted metal poles and loose stone raining down on the center floor. The commandos were forced to dive for cover, breaking their tight formation.
Leo leaped from the shadows, engaging the two closest commandos in a rapid, desperate melee. He used the shaft of his bow to deflect a rifle butt from the first commando, then delivered a focused, devastating kick to the knee joint of the second. The kick was perfectly placed, shattering the vulnerable armor seam with a horrible crunch.
As the second commando buckled, Leo spun, throwing his Pry Axe with everything he had. It struck the first commando directly in the power pack on his spine.
CRUNCH! The pack exploded with a shower of sparks, instantly paralyzing the man.
Konstantin, watching from above, roared, his voice laced with pure hatred. "Stop him! Fire at will!"
The remaining three commandos abandoned formation, leveling their rifles and spraying concentrated fire. Rounds ricocheted off the ancient stone, forcing Leo to scramble backward, seeking the inadequate cover of a thick, broken pillar. The hits he took felt like being repeatedly struck by a sledgehammer. His heavy survival jacket and sheer endurance were all that kept him on his feet.
His position was untenable. He had to unleash the environment.
He spotted the still-open steam vent—the source of pure geothermal power he had used for the puzzle. He needed a massive, final surge.
"Lara, can you hear me? The final water valve! Give me everything you've got!" Leo yelled, his voice raw, hoping the sound carried.
He loaded his last Explosive Arrow and aimed it not at the commandos, but at the main water pressure regulator valve high on the rotunda wall. He needed a catastrophic feedback loop.
Leo fired. FTHWIP! KA-BOOM!
The explosion ripped the ancient regulator apart. Water pressure surged violently into the stressed geothermal system.
Simultaneously, through the smoke, Leo saw a rapid movement near the valve controls—Lara. She had heard him and was already heaving the massive final valve open, adding a massive surge of water pressure to the ruptured pipe.
The chamber was instantly plunged into a suffocating cloud of superheated steam and high-pressure water. It erupted from every pipe, vent, and ruptured joint, turning the rotunda floor into a blinding, scalding trap.
The three remaining commandos, disoriented, screaming, and scalded, stumbled backward, their vision lost. Leo, protected by the thick stone pillar, burst from cover, wielding his Pry Axe in a ferocious, final assault. He slammed the axe head into the knee of the first commando, collapsing him, and then brought the axe down hard on the head of the second, ending the fight instantly. The final commando, blinded and flailing, stumbled backward, his scream cutting off abruptly as he pitched into the wide, deep chasm at the Rotunda's center, swallowed by the boiling river below.
Leo collapsed against the pillar, drenched, shaking, his body radiating pain, but alive. He retrieved his axe and looked up. Konstantin was gone, having prudently retreated the moment the steam bath began.
"Leo! Status! Are you safe?" Lara's voice crackled through the comms, filled with a raw, desperate fear she rarely showed.
"I'm alive," Leo rasped, pushing himself up. He was exhausted, but the victory was total. "Just need a minute to dry out. Konstantin retreated. He kept the map, but we have the Cosmic Ring."
He grabbed the heavy, armored backpack of the fallen commander—the only material that mattered—and secured the valuable Tier 4 Composite Plating.
"The escape route is clear, Lara. But this chaos just told the entire valley we're coming. We need to move now, and we're going deep."