Assassin's Creed: Renaissance

Chapter 25

"Ezio!" Mario laughed.His beard was thicker than ever, and his face was tanned by the Tuscan sun. "Welcome back!"

"uncle."

Mario's expression turned serious. "I can see from your face that you have experienced a lot in the past few months. After you take a shower and sleep, you have to tell me everything." He paused, then said, "We heard a lot about Florence, and I - even I - prayed for a miraculous survival of you. But you not only survived, but you beat the Pazzi family to pieces! Knights Templar Will hate you to the bone, Ezio."

"That's exactly what I was hoping for."

"Go and rest first--then tell me about it."

That night, the two sat down in Mario's study.Mario listened intently to Ezio's account of what had happened in Florence.He returned the pages of Vieri's ancient book to his uncle, handed over the one he had taken from Lorenzo, described the structure of the Poison Blade, and demonstrated it to him.The weapon impressed Mario, though he quickly turned his attention to the page itself.

"My friend could only decipher the description of the weapon itself," Ezio said.

"That's fine. Not every page has similar descriptions, and he's only interested in those design drawings." Mario said, but his tone was a little cautious, "In short, we can only wait for all the pages to come together. Only together can we fully understand the meaning of this ancient book. But this page, together with Vieri's, should help us get closer to our goal."

He stood up, walked to the bookcase, pressed the switch, and searched for a suitable position on the stone wall behind.He placed one of them next to the other pages.The other one is placed next to it. "It's interesting that the pages Vieri and his father owned are clearly connected," he said. "Okay, let's see..." He paused, thinking. "Hmm." He finally spoke, but his tone was very confused.

"Uncle, are we getting closer to our goal?"

"I'm not sure. We may still be groping in the dark, but there is clearly a reference to a prophet—not a biblical one, but either living or unborn..."

"Who would that be?"

"Let's not get too hasty," said Mario, looking intently at the page, his lips moving, speaking in a language Ezio could not understand, "in my opinion, the text here can be roughly translated as 'Only the prophet It can only be opened...' There are also two 'Pieces of Eden' mentioned here, but I don't understand what they refer to. We must be patient until we obtain more ancient pages."

"I know that ancient book is important, Uncle, but I have more urgent things to do than unravel its mystery. I am looking for Jacob de' Pazzi on the run."

"After escaping from Florence, he must have gone to the South," Mario hesitated for a moment, then continued, "I didn't want to talk to you about this tonight, Ezio, but this matter is very important to me and to you. Both are equally important and we must start preparing as soon as possible. My old friend Roberto was kicked out of San Gimignano, which once again became a stronghold of the Knights Templar. It is too close to Florence and us, and we cannot Just sit back and watch. I think Jacob is probably hiding there too."

"I have the list of other conspirators in my hand," Ezio said, taking the paper from his wallet and handing it to his uncle.

"Very well. Some of them are not as strong as Jacob, and are easier for us to get rid of. At dawn tomorrow, I will send spies into the countryside to find traces of them. In the meantime, we must be ready to retake St. Jimmy Arno's preparations."

"You can send your subordinates to prepare, but I can't waste time—I must wipe out all these murderers."

Mario thought for a moment. "Perhaps you are right—alone can often cross the high walls that the army would be amazed by. We should also do it as soon as possible while they are paralyzed." He thought for a moment, and then said, "Therefore, I will give You give permission. Go ahead and see what you can find. I know you're taking better care of yourself than ever."

"Uncle, thank you very much!"

"Don't be too quick to thank me, Ezio! I have one condition."

"What conditions?"

"You have to leave in a week."

"A week?"

"If you're going to go into battle alone, and you don't need backup, you'll need something other than the weapons in the ancient books. You're already a man, and a brave fighter of the Assassin Order. But your reputation makes the Templars jealous of you, And I know that you still lack some skills."

Ezio shook his head impatiently. "No, Uncle, I'm sorry, but it's going to be a week!"

Mario frowned, but his voice only lifted slightly.that's enough. "I've heard a lot about your feats, Ezio, but there are also some bad ones. You let yourself out of control when you killed Francesco. You strayed away again almost out of affection for Cristina. The road under your feet. All your duties now are to serve the Assassins, because if you neglect this duty, the world may turn into something you don't like," he straightened his back, "I demand in the name of your father You obey."

When his uncle said these words, Ezio only felt that he was getting taller and taller.And although he didn't want to admit it, he knew that what Mario said was true.He lowered his head bitterly.

"Very good," Mario said in a more amiable tone, "You will thank me for this. The new combat training will start tomorrow morning. Remember, full preparation is more important than anything else!"

A week later, Ezio, armed and ready, set out on the pilgrimage to San Gimignano.Earlier, Mario had asked Ezio to communicate with the mercenary patrols he had arranged around the town to keep tabs on people coming and going.Thus, Ezio spent the first night after leaving Monteriggioni at one of their bivouacs.

The lead sergeant was a strong man in his twenties with many battle scars named Gambalto.Gambalto gave him a thick loaf of bread and Roquefort, and a large glass of Vinaccia, and as he ate and drank he told him of the latest news.

"I don't think Antonio Maffei should have left Volterra. He's out of his mind. He always feels that the Duke has ruined his hometown, but Lorenzo just included it in the scope of asylum. Now Ma Fee was completely mad. He hid on the top of the cathedral bell tower, surrounded himself with a group of Pazzi archers, and every day he either preached a sentence from the Bible or had people shoot arrows at random. God only knows what he has Intend to - convert the citizens to his ideas with sermons, or kill them all with arrows. The common people of San Gimignano hate him, but as long as he maintains this reign of terror, the city is powerless to stand against him .”

"So someone should deal with him."

"Oh, it will undoubtedly weaken the Pazzi family's power base in that city."

"How solid are their defenses?"

"There are plenty of guards on the watchtowers and at the city gates. But they change at dawn. That way someone like you can climb over the walls and sneak into the city without anyone noticing."

Ezio pondered for a moment, wondering if this would interfere with his mission to hunt down Jacob.But he realized that he had to look at the big picture - this Maffei was also a supporter of the Pazzi family, and Ezio, as a member of the Assassin Order, was responsible for overthrowing the lunatic.

At sunrise the next morning, particularly observant citizens of San Gimignano might notice a slender, hooded figure with gray eyes wandering like a ghost through the alleys leading to Piazza Duomo .The bazaar vendors had set up their stalls, but it was the low tide of the day-night cycle, and the weary and weary guards dozed off, leaning on their halberds.The west side of the clock tower was shrouded in deep shadows, and no one saw the black figure climb up with the agility and lightness of a spider.

The gaunt, sunken-eyed, disheveled priest had reached the top of the tower.Four tired Patzi crossbowmen each took their positions in a corner of the tower.But Antonio Maffei seemed not to trust the crossbowmen to protect him: although he clutched a Bible in his left hand, he held a dagger in his right.He had begun to babble, and Ezio, who was near the top of the tower, overheard him.

"Citizens of San Gimignano, listen to me! You must repent. Repent! And seek forgiveness... Pray with me, my children, against the shadows that hang over our beloved Tosca Darkness of Nam! O heaven, heed my words; O earth, hear my words. Let my teachings rain down, let the essence of my words be like nectar, like nectar that falls on the blades of grass. Rain, like a storm that pours on grass. For I will declare it in the name of God! He is steadfast! His creation is perfect, as his deeds are just! He is just and honest, but those who give themselves up to fall, they Not his people—a dirty, perverted, twisted generation! Citizens of San Gimignano—have you ever done this to God? O foolish and thoughtless people! If he is not the Father, you Where did it come from? Be cleansed in the light of His mercy!"

Ezio deftly climbed over the parapet of the tower and landed near the trapdoor leading down.The crossbowmen tried their best to aim at him with their crossbows, but the space here was small, and he had the advantage of surprise.He reached down, grabbed one of them by the ankle, and threw him over the parapet, sending him wailing down the cobblestone road two hundred feet below.Before the others could react, he turned to the second crossbowman, stabbing him in the arm.The man looked at the small wound in surprise, then his face turned pale, and he fell to the ground, his life leaving him in an instant.Ezio had strapped the Baneblade to his arm earlier, as he had no time for a fair life-and-death fight.He whirled to face the third, who dropped his crossbow and tried to squeeze past him and run to the stairs.When he reached the trapdoor, Ezio kicked him in the rear, sending him falling headfirst on the wooden steps, with several broken bones.The last one raised his hands and muttered something.Ezio looked down and saw the man peeing his pants.He stepped aside, bowed ironically, and let the terrified crossbowman scramble down the stairs.

That's when the heavy iron pommel of a dagger hit the back of his neck hard.Maffei had already recovered from the shock, and touched his back.Ezio took a few unsteady steps forward.

"I'll put you on your knees, sinner!" screamed the priest, foaming from the corners of his mouth, "beg forgiveness!"

Why do people always waste time talking?Ezio thought.While the pastor was speaking, he had regained his balance and turned around.

The two faced each other in a small space.Maffey hacked and stabbed with his heavy dagger.He was obviously not skilled in combat, but his desperation and freneticity made him very dangerous, and more than once Ezio was forced to dodge the flailing dagger, leaving no time to fight back.But in the end, he managed to grab the priest's wrist and pulled forward so that their bodies almost collided.

"I'll let you cry to hell." Maffei roared.

"My friend, when it comes to death, show some respect," Ezio retorted.

"I'll leave you with a dead body!"

"Forget it! I'll give you time to pray."

Maffei spat in Ezio's eyes, forcing him to let go.He then screamed and stabbed the dagger at Ezio's left forearm, only to find his weapon slipped away - the metal bracer beneath his suit deflected it. "Is there a demon protecting you?" he snapped.

"You talk too much," Ezio said, stabbing the point of the sword slightly into the priest's neck, tensing the muscles in his forearm again.At the same time that the toxin flowed into the jugular vein, Maffei's body stiffened and he opened his mouth, but he only let out a bad breath.He drew back, staggered back to the parapet, stood against the wall for a moment, and then fell into the arms of Death.

Ezio standing over Maffei's body.He took out a letter from the other party's robe, unsealed it, and scanned it quickly.

Grand Leader:
It is out of fear in my heart that I write these words.The Prophet has arrived.I can feel it.The birds began to behave strangely.They hover aimlessly in the air.I can see them from my tower.I will not attend the meeting as you requested, simply because I can no longer be exposed to the public eye, lest the devil find me.Forgive me, but I have to listen to my inner voice.May the father of cognition guide you.Also guide me.

Master
Gambalto was right, Ezio thought, the guy has lost his mind.He thought darkly of his uncle's warning, and closing the priest's eyes, said at the same time, "Rest in peace."

Realizing that the crossbowman he had spared was likely to warn the others, he looked down from the parapet, but saw nothing worrying.The guards of Patsy's house were still slacking off at their posts, and the market was open, although there were still few customers.There was no doubt that the crossbowman was fleeing to his hometown in the country at this time, because desertion was better than court-martial and possible torture.He stretched out his gloved hand, carefully put away the sharp blade, concealed it in his sleeve, and then walked all the way down the stairs of the tower.The sun had already risen, and if he still chose to climb down from the outer wall of the clock tower, others would easily spot him.

After joining Mario's mercenary force, Gambalto greeted him excitedly. "Your presence has brought us good luck," he said. "Our scouts have found Archbishop Salviati!"

"Where is he?"

"Not far from here. Do you see the mansion on the hill over there?"

"I saw it."

"There he is," Gambalto said, as if remembering something, "but first, Captain, I must ask, how are you doing in the city?"

"No more hateful sermons will come from that tower."

"The people will bless you, Captain."

"I'm not a captain."

"For us, you are," Gambalto replied curtly, "and please bring a detachment. Salviati has many guards around him, and the house is old but has strong walls. .”

"Very well," said Ezio, "it is a good thing that they are so close."

"The others probably haven't gone very far, Ezio. We'll try to find them while you're gone."

Ezio selected twelve of Gambalto's best melee fighters and led them across the fields towards the mansion where Salviati was hiding.He fanned his men out, but kept within hearing distance of the others shouting, and they easily avoided or dealt with the sentries Salviatian had planted there.In the process, however, Ezio lost two of his men.

Ezio had planned to take the mansion by surprise without the enemy noticing, but when he approached the strong gate, a figure in the robes of the archbishop appeared on the wall, holding his hands like claws. with the battlements.His greedy face peered down, but quickly drew back.

"That's Salviati," Ezio said to himself.

There were no other guards outside the gate.Ezio waved his men to stay close to the wall, keeping the archers from shooting them at an angle.There is no doubt that Salviati gathered the rest of the guards within the high, thick and seemingly impregnable wall.Ezio wondered whether to climb over the wall and open the gate from the inside to let his men in, but he knew that the soldiers inside would surely find him.

(End of this chapter)