[Setting: Ascent through the Temple of Kitezh, Frozen Waterfall]
The massive stone gate, opened by the Cosmic Ring, sealed shut behind them with a profound, final thud, plunging the tunnel into absolute darkness. Leo and Lara immediately ignited their custom-built torches, the flickering firelight casting wild shadows on the sheer, ice-coated walls. The air was colder here, dry, and heavy with the scent of ozone and millennia-old stone. They were no longer in the valley; they were inside the mountainside fortress guarding Kitezh.
The tunnel was a single, long, upward-sloping staircase carved directly into the glacier—the Path of the Prophet. Every footstep echoed, amplifying the silence, demanding absolute caution. The climb was grueling, a relentless test of endurance exacerbated by the thin, frigid air.
"This is designed to break invaders before they even reach the city," Lara gasped, pushing herself up the slick stairs, her breath clouding in the torchlight. "It's a psychological defense."
"Trinity will be ahead of us," Leo replied, his voice strained but steady. He was relying entirely on his maximized Strength (21) and Stamina (19) to power the ascent, his injured leg protesting with every step. "Konstantin knows the entrance is here; he'll be setting up the final siege defenses now, blocking the final gates to the city center."
They reached the top of the initial staircase, emerging into a massive, multi-tiered chamber carved entirely of ice and obsidian stone. In the center stood a colossal, frozen Prophet Statue, its hand pointing toward a distant, final archway—the true gate to the city.
The chamber was silent, but Leo's senses, honed by years of survival and his intense focus, screamed that they were not alone. His instinct, which he trusted more than any tool, detected multiple, non-human signatures surrounding the Prophet Statue.
"Lara, weapons ready. There's something here," Leo whispered, extinguishing his torch to rely on the faint ambient light reflecting off the ice. "They aren't Trinity. They're too still, too cold."
Lara nodded, immediately drawing her silenced bow and loading a Fire Arrow—a critical utility in an ice chamber.
Suddenly, a low, collective growl filled the air. Figures materialized from the shadows near the statue—massive, armored warriors wearing archaic, snow-caked plate mail. Their helmets were stylized like monstrous animals, and their eyes glowed with an eerie, cold blue light. The Deathless Guard.
These were not human. They were the Prophet's legendary, undying protectors, preserved in the ice, and animated by the protective power of the city.
The first five guards moved with terrifying, unnatural speed, their antique swords drawn. They were Tier 4 threats, combining heavy, ancient armor with supernatural strength.
"They're faster than they look! Aim for the joints or the gaps!" Lara shouted, immediately firing her Fire Arrow.
The arrow struck the nearest guard's shoulder. Instead of burning, the arrow's flame erupted with a massive, localized blast of heat that instantly shattered the ancient ice coating the guard's armor. The extreme temperature shock temporarily destabilized the undead warrior, slowing its movement.
Leo, seeing the effectiveness of the heat, pulled out his Phantom rifle. He didn't fire at the bodies; he aimed for the most critical environmental weak point his focus detected: the ancient, ice-crusted support chains holding the massive Prophet statue in place.
PFFT! PFFT! PFFT!
Three armor-piercing rounds from The Phantom struck the chains in rapid succession. The stress, combined with the extreme cold, caused the metal to snap with a screeching sound.
The colossal Prophet Statue began to tilt, slowly at first, then accelerating into a devastating collapse.
The five Deathless Guards, programmed only to attack immediate threats, were suddenly faced with a larger environmental catastrophe. They couldn't move fast enough. The massive stone statue slammed down, crushing three of the guards instantly beneath tons of falling ice and rock.
[Prophet Statue Environmental Kill: Deathless Guard (3/5) Neutralized!]
The remaining two guards roared, their focus now solely on Leo and Lara. They charged, their heavy swords hacking at the stone and ice.
Lara engaged the first, using the agility of her body to dodge the massive, slow swing of the ancient sword. She fired an Armor-Piercing Arrow into the seam of the guard's helmet, but the thick, ancient metal held firm.
Leo rushed the second guard, meeting the challenge head-on. He couldn't kill it with the rifle alone. He used the butt of The Phantom to parry the guard's sword, then drove the heavy Pry Axe into the gap beneath the guard's ribcage armor. It took every ounce of his Strength (21), but the ancient armor finally cracked with a sound like splintering bone.
As the second guard staggered, Leo spun and saw Lara struggling, pinned against a wall by the first guard's massive shield. The guard was about to deliver a killing blow.
Leo, ignoring his own pain, leaped across the gap and fired The Phantom at point-blank range, not at the guard, but at the ice wall behind the guard. The high-caliber round pierced the ice and hit an ancient, structural support.
The resulting vibration and ice fracture caused a localized ice collapse. A massive shard of ice from the ceiling fell, striking the first Deathless Guard's head and neutralizing it instantly.
The final guard, seeing its comrades destroyed by overwhelming, non-conventional force, seemed to hesitate—an unnerving sign of intelligence. It turned and fled down a dark passage, vanishing into the icy labyrinth.
[Deathless Guard (5/5) Neutralized!]
Leo slumped, breathing heavily, leaning on his rifle. The air was full of dust and ozone. "They're relentless. And they're waiting for us in the city."
Lara rushed to him, checking his side where a glancing blow from the guard's shield had struck. "That was not just fighting, Leo. That was engineering the fight. Thank you."
They recovered their strength and proceeded through the archway, which led to a narrow, carved stone bridge spanning a massive, frozen waterfall—the final approach to the city.
The bridge was heavily defended. Trinity forces, having bypassed the Deathless Guard using sheer firepower, had established a final, fortified checkpoint. They saw the faint, flickering light of Trinity generators and the outlines of armored figures in the distance.
"Trinity's final line of defense," Lara stated, pulling out the Cosmic Ring and examining the ornate ice wall at the end of the bridge. "That's the city gate. But they're blocking the only path."
Leo looked at the massive, thick ice that encased the entire bridge structure. "If we hit the ice just right, we can calve the bridge. But we'd lose all cover."
They looked at the distant gate, then at the frozen chasm below. The final phase of the siege was about to begin. They had to destroy the bridge, or die trying to cross it.
Chapter End.