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At 11:42 P.M., Langdon leads a frantic pursuit back into the darkened basilica after the camerlegno, fearing the wounded priest will die inside. Vittoria, Chartrand, and the guards follow, but their weak flashlights cannot locate him in the enormous darkness.

Chinita Macri forces her way in with her still-broadcasting camera, despite Chartrand’s order to leave and Glick’s fear. Her camera spotlight illuminates the nave and reveals the camerlegno running ahead while shouting, “Upon this rock I will build my church!” The group gives chase down the long main aisle, with Macri broadcasting and Glick reluctantly narrating.

Chartrand interprets the camerlegno’s behavior as shock or madness, but briefly wonders whether he is witnessing something holy when the camerlegno appears to glow and sink into the floor. Langdon recognizes the illusion: the camerlegno has reached the Niche of the Palliums, where oil lamps illuminate a sunken chamber from below.

Langdon follows the camerlegno into the chamber and sees him ignore the famous golden box, instead lifting an iron grate set into the floor. Langdon realizes the grate leads to the Necropolis, the maze of sacred crypts beneath the basilica, and physically stops the camerlegno from descending. Chartrand and the others arrive and plead with the camerlegno not to enter such a dangerous place.

The camerlegno, now lucid and determined, says he has received a revelation: the antimatter is hidden “upon this rock,” meaning at the foundation of the Church. Langdon first dismisses the phrase as metaphor, then understands when the camerlegno explains that Peter is the rock; St. Peter’s tomb lies beneath the basilica. The camerlegno adds that the grate was unlocked, proving someone recently entered, then grabs an oil lamp and moves toward the opening.