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Langdon and Vittoria reach the locked entrance of Santa Maria della Vittoria, and Vittoria shoots apart the bolt with Olivetti’s gun. Inside, they find the baroque church transformed into a scene of ritual murder: pews have been stacked into a huge blaze beneath the cupola, and a naked old man hangs above it by incensor cables, arms stretched apart and chest branded.

Langdon realizes the suspended victim is still alive and tries to rescue him. The heat prevents Langdon from reaching the fire, so Langdon looks for another solution and notices that loosening one of the high wall cleats would slacken the cables and swing the man away from the flames. Langdon climbs onto pews to reach the cleat, but it is far too high, and the ladder that might have helped is burning in the pyre.

At the rear of the church, Vittoria hears a metallic vibration and follows the sound while still holding her phone. Vittoria realizes her earlier call to Olivetti has set off the commander’s vibrating phone, and she finds Olivetti dead on the floor with his neck twisted completely backward. Before Vittoria can react, the killer strikes her from behind and tells her she is his.

Langdon, still trying to save the cardinal, notices Vittoria is missing and calls for her. When Langdon shouts that he needs water, the Hassassin answers from the back of the church, saying water is next, and advances with the gun Vittoria had been carrying. The Hassassin fires at Langdon, who dives over the pews and scrambles beneath them to escape.

Above them, Cardinal Guidera suffers his final moments as the flames burn his legs. Looking down at the brand on his chest, the cardinal sees the word clearly even upside down, confirming the Illuminati’s cruel symbolic staging.