Vittoria and Langdon run to the Church, and Vittoria shoots open the lock on the front door. Pews have been pulled into a pile in the middle of the Church and are ablaze in an immense bonfire. A cardinal is strung up above the fire, and he starts to scream as the blaze reaches his feet.

Vittoria finds Olivetti dead, his head twisted unnaturally. The Hassassin elbows Vittoria hard in the back of the neck and she collapses, unconscious.

Langdon climbs atop a pew, trying to untie one of the cardinal's hands and swing him to safety. The ladder that he needs is burning in the fire. Langdon, overwhelmed and panicked, wonders where Vittoria and Olivetti are. The Hassassin appears wielding a gun, and he tries to shoot Langdon. Langdon jumps away, and the bullet misses him.

Cardinal Guidera, screaming in pain, decides that he must be in hell.

The third round of ballots at the Vatican returns no consensus; the cardinals continue to hope that the preferiti will arrive. The chapel door is unsealed, and the cardinals assume it is the preferiti finally arriving. Instead, the Camerlengo arrives and tells them there is something they must know.