

When Mikhail uncovers the Ark, he finds that it actually contains a golden scepter with the figure of a snake wrapped around it (likely Aaron's Rod). Outside the church, Father Mikhail begins to express doubt that the Grail is really what is hidden inside the Ark of the Covenant. With help from the local resistance, Sam and his friends arrive at the church and defeat Lord Achriman, whom Sam kills personally to avenge Kenny. In Carcassonne, Sam is confronted by Achriman, who kills Kenny, another one of Sam's friends, in front of him before fleeing. There, Sam retrieves a book that reveals that the Grail is located in an abandoned church in Carcassonne, France. Upon returning to Rome, Sam meets a gun-toting old lady called Nonna who provides him directions to the Vatican, which Father Mikhail believes contains the next clue to the Grail. Jones, one of Sam's companions, is killed by one of the alien monsters during the mission. In order to get back to the city, Sam and his companions retreat to Pompeii, where they remotely use the seismic capabilities of the HAARP complex to trigger an eruption on Mount Vesuvius that disrupts Achriman's air forces. However, the team is forced to abandon the city when it is overrun by the army of Lord Achriman, one of Mental's generals. As the whole planet scrambles to repel the alien invasion, a unit from the Earth Defense Force led by "Serious" Sam Stone is sent by General Brand to Rome to meet Father Mikhail, a priest who claims to have found some clues leading to the Holy Grail, which, according to him, is a powerful alien artifact hidden inside the Ark of the Covenant that may aid them against the invasion. An unknown amount of time before the events of Serious Sam 3: BFE, a massive portal opens in Tunguska, Russia which serves as a bridgehead for Mental's forces to invade Earth.
