Sophia wiped the sweat from her neck. For a girl who had lived her whole life in the icy wilderness of Siberia, the temperature at the landing site was almost unbearable. She had never experienced such heat—it felt like her skin was being stabbed repeatedly by hundreds of needles, flushed red and stinging. Compared to her discomfort, Lara simply took off her mountaineering gear and slipped back into her leather jacket.
Jonah was still in logistics, making preparations for the expedition and hadn't caught up yet.
"You'd better bring some thick clothes," Catherine said. "It won't help in combat, but freezing to death here would be pretty stupid." As the culprit behind the overuse of bunker buster missiles, Catherine hadn't received any punishment from the Immortal City. On the contrary, she was praised by Dita. The core doctrine of the Sisterhood was to achieve the mission at any cost—an avalanche was hardly enough to scare them. Catherine happily pressed a button on the assault transport; as the hatch opened, hot, dry air rushed in. She jumped out, her steel high heels crunching a charred bone fragment fused with something unidentifiable on the stone tiles. Scattered around the feet of the landing party were melted, blackened iron scraps of indeterminate shape and purpose—one of which nearly caused Sophia to twist her ankle.
Awaiting them was a giant bird of gold and red. It looked down haughtily at the girls disembarking the transport, acknowledging only Catherine once she saluted it. The proud Phoenix dipped its head in return, completely ignoring the shocked expressions of the other two women. This explained the dry heat of the landing zone: Phoenix had incinerated all the dead that dared challenge it, evaporating every last drop of moisture. It served as the failsafe for this mission—no matter what, it would ensure the girls completed the task.
Were it not for the ecological devastation full ice-melting would cause, Phoenix would've gladly turned the entire region into cinders.
Beyond the landing site, the lost city once built to honor divinity had only the decayed dead left to wander it. Meltwater and rot seeped through every building, and the stones placed there a thousand years ago constantly exuded a chilling cold. To this day, those entering the Lost City could still see the exquisite reliefs, urban layout, and ever-present stylized crosses of Kitezh. In contrast to the dense urban planning typical of the medieval period, the city was filled with the artistic elegance of ancient Greece—like a giant temple. Sculptures, murals, and columns adorned the entire area, a testament to Jacob's original vision: to build a kingdom of heaven on Earth.
But now, only the dead remained.
Due to Jacob's mishandling, the Divine Source that had sustained him was now under the control of the resurrected soldiers he had created. Over a millennium later, only iron-clad corpses still roamed the city, their armor clanking and echoing through the frozen stone cracks between blood and burnt bone. The moment they stepped out of the landing zone, the atmosphere grew eerie and oppressive. Perhaps it was the resonance from the transport engines, but massive icy stalactites began to fall from above, crashing down with thunderous impact and numbing tremors. Seeing this, Catherine regretted not bringing a heavy flamethrower—if she'd used the newly developed chemical fuel model, plus a few rockets, she was confident she could've cleared the area alone without waiting for the slow engineering crew to secure the terrain.
She even entertained the idea of using the assault shuttle to shoot down the icicles—until a more level-headed artificial human stopped her.
As Catherine stood there idly, waiting for the support team while fantasizing about being praised by the Sovereign, Sophia shivered. She'd heard stories about Kitezh since she was a child, but none of Jacob's tales had ever described the city's current condition. Back then, young Sophia hadn't cared anyway—nothing was more important than playing in the mud or snowball fights. Only thanks to Jacob's insistence did Sophia avoid growing up ignorant; she could speak Greek fluently and was proficient enough to read inscriptions that Lara couldn't decipher.
She also knew mathematics—an outcome of Jacob's relentless, force-fed education. The inclusion of Lara Croft in the expedition had been authorized by the Immortal City's Internal Affairs Office. Though Catherine disliked the meddlesome archaeologist, she still followed the stamped orders.
This was the only reason Lara and Sophia hadn't been kicked off the team.
"I'll avoid using artillery on the city—if you follow orders and don't wander off," Catherine warned, pointing to the fortress gate of Kitezh. To allow supply vehicles through, she had to order the engineering team to clear out the collapsed structures and rockfalls. Though the crushed homes held little archaeological value, Lara still objected—until Catherine presented her with excavation reports from Japan and Syria.
Lara "Cursed Touch" Croft, who left collapses in her wake, had nothing left to say. Sophia didn't object either—what she saw here was vastly different from the childhood stories. This wasn't the lost city she'd imagined.
"We'll clear out the undead before the Sovereign arrives," Catherine said.
"He's coming?" Lara raised her eyebrows in surprise. She had grown used to hearing the armored girls refer to Solomon as "the Sovereign," but the news of his arrival still caught her off guard. She had assumed she wouldn't be seeing him again for a while—after all, the way he left made it seem like he had delegated everything to the combat and engineering teams.
"The Sovereign is very concerned about that object," Catherine didn't mind sharing more before the operation began. Sophia, pretending not to care, leaned in slightly and listened closely. "The Sovereign believes the item he entrusted to the Undying Prophet has strategic value to the Immortal City," Catherine said. "It's a logical conclusion—everything is proceeding according to his plan."
Lara Croft nodded. She never argued about Solomon with these girls—because none of them tolerated any doubt cast upon him.
A few red flares shot up from the rear of the assault shuttle, buzzing downward toward the bluish-black city of Kitezh with beams of vertical light. These were signal relay drones. Once deployed, they would form a vast communications network, ensuring contact between the combat, engineering teams, and the outside world. At the same time, the drones would scan the city's interior and generate a full 3D map of Kitezh, charting every corner in detail.
It was a victory of technology. At least, seeing the flood of LED-lit drones dive into the dark gave Lara some comfort. To her, it showed Solomon's respect for relics and history—something rare from someone who lived surrounded by ancient artifacts. Suddenly, she felt a wave of intense envy toward Solomon's life. She clearly remembered the countless treasures displayed in the apartment of Solomon's adoptive mother. Any archaeologist who saw those items might redefine entire periods of Greek and Roman history.
As for The Hero's Journey, written by a woman named Minerva—Lara subconsciously ignored that book.
No one could change its fate as a commercial failure. That was the power of magic.
------------------
Enjoying the story? Support the author and get early access to chapters by joining my Patre@n!
Find me at: patre@n*com/Mutter
You can read each novel for $5 or get them all for just $15.
Fairy Tail: Igneel's Eldest Son (Chapter 256) — $5
I Am Thalos, Odin's Older Brother (Chapter 336) — $5
Reborn in America's Anti-Terror Unit (Chapter 542) — $5
Solomon in Marvel (Chapter 924) — $5
Becoming the Wealthiest Tycoon on the Planet (Chapter 1284) — $5
Surgical Fruit in the American Comics Universe (Chapter 1289) — $5
American Detective: From TV Rookie to Seasoned Cop (Chapter 1316) — $5
American TV Writer (Chapter 1402) — $5
I Am Hades, The Supreme GOD of the Underworld! (Chapter 570) — $5
Reborn as Humanity's Emperor Across the Multiverse (Chapter 660) — $5
Get access to all of them for just $15 on Patre@n!
[+50 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter]
[+5 Reviews = +1 Extra Chapter]