Face to face, gun against gun, we get lost in a silent battle of power. His eyes locked onto mine, he doesn't notice Paola squirming. It's only when she bites his hand, tearing off a piece of skin and eliciting a cry of pain, that he loses focus and drops his grip.

Freed, Paola takes the opportunity to escape, running towards Mario's nightstand. Fabio fires a shot and hits her in the shoulder, causing her to fall. In the panic, I fire at him, hitting him in the right side of his torso. My shot throws him off balance, but he manages to shoot me in the leg before collapsing. I scream through clenched teeth from the pain and fall to the ground, my strength sapped.

Flooded with adrenaline, I keep my mind clear and roll under Mario's bed to buy some time to recover and analyze the situation. Lying on my stomach, I can see Paola still unconscious on the floor and Fabio regaining his composure. A pair of sneakers rushes into view, and from the voice, I recognize it's his brother Enrico. He curses upon seeing Fabio on the ground and demands to know where I am.

Realizing Fabio is about to give me away, I muster all my courage, roll to the other side of the bed, and escape through the balcony window that Paola had opened earlier.

I hear Enrico pursuing me, and without hesitation, I follow my instincts and vault over the railing. Facing him, his face veiled with rage and despair, he points his weapon at me. Suddenly, Salva appears behind him and strangles Enrico, causing him to lose balance and shoot into the air.

I seize this opportunity to escape. I lower myself over the edge, my body hanging in the void, supported by the strength of my hands gripping the railing. I hear another gunshot, followed by a body falling, then a second shot. With my legs dangling, I swing them to gain momentum. I let go of the railing and land on the balcony below. My gunshot wound weakening my leg, I fall to the ground and take a moment to get back up. In front of me are large windows. Suddenly, one of them opens, revealing a tall and menacing man. I start to draw my weapon when a gunshot rings out. The man collapses in front of me, lifeless.

"May ? Are you alright ?"

Andrea rushes towards me, and I pale at the sight of his bruised face.

"Don't worry about me, it takes more than this to knock me out," he reassures.

He helps me to my feet, and I follow him inside. We find ourselves in a winter garden, tastefully decorated in warm tones and filled with well-maintained plants, a stark contrast to the rest of the manor.

"Paola is injured. I left her upstairs, and I hit Fabio but didn't kill him," I inform Andrea.

He doesn't have time to respond as Enrico bursts into the room. I realize then that Salva didn't survive their altercation. Overwhelmed, I feel my tears blurring my vision and my heart skips a beat. Unable to afford mourning his death now, I gather my strength to suppress the sorrow welling inside me.

Seeing Enrico, Andrea shoves me so hard I fall behind the couch. He quickly takes cover behind an armchair. Bullets fly, but no one falls. From my position, I see Andrea and realize he's out of ammunition.

"May, I know you're here. Come out so we can end this once and for all."

Without seeing him, I sense he's scouring the room for me. I look around and spot the fireplace next to the couch where I'm hiding. I see the poker and crawl towards it. Reaching out, I notice Enrico standing to my right, his back turned. I swiftly grab the poker and stand up. The clinking of iron alerts him, and he turns, but I don't give him a chance to shoot. I stab him in the stomach. He drops his weapon, clutching the poker with both hands. His face twists in pain and shock. He stares at me before collapsing to the floor. With the silence restored, I decide not to use my gun to finish him off. I pull the poker from his stomach with a quick, sharp motion, eliciting a cry of pain and a spurt of blood. Standing over him, poker in hand, his gaze stops me. He begins to plead with his eyes, raising his hands in a weak attempt to shield himself, and in a feeble voice, he begs:

"May, please don't do this. I didn't agree with my father and brothers. I wanted to let you live. We had killed your grandmother; it was supposed to end there. Her life for our brother's life, that was all. They forced me; otherwise, they would have killed me. I beg you, you must..."

I don't let him finish. I drive the poker into his skull with all my might. His hands drop lifelessly onto his body. I stand up and see Andrea, shocked by my violence.

"What ? He shouldn't have brought up Nonna. He deserved me to heat the poker in the fire before finishing him off, but we don't have time."

I crouch beside him and take his weapon, then hand it to Andrea. He takes it and moves in front of me. He then rips a piece of curtain and hands it to me.

"Tie this around your thigh to make a tourniquet. It'll prevent it from getting worse."

I follow his instructions, then limp after him towards the door. He checks if the coast is clear and signals me to follow. I grab his arm and whisper:

"I need to go back upstairs and find Paola. She needs our help."

Andrea sighs but doesn't stop me. He follows and covers me. We climb the stairs, which betray our presence with their creaking. Once on the landing, we ensure the way is clear, then step over Leo's body. I find Paola, who has propped herself up against the nightstand, Mario's gun in hand.

"Paola ! You're alive !" I exclaim, rushing towards her.

"Not for long if we don't finish this quickly and get me some help," she whispers, grimacing in pain.

Her wound is closer to her heart than I thought. Her breathing is weak and labored, causing her more pain than relief. Andrea approaches her and gently helps her up. She screams in pain and struggles to stay conscious.

"Paola, stay with us. We're going to get you out of here."

Supported by Andrea, we manage to leave the room and start descending the stairs when Agnès meets us. She freezes, one foot on the first step. I grip my weapon in my pocket. Paola's warnings about Agnès flash through my mind, and I prepare to draw if necessary. I lower my guard when I see tears welling up in Agnès's eyes.

"Oh Miss Paola and Miss May, you're hurt ? Let me take care of that... Death would suit you wonderfully."

She finishes her sentence by revealing a weapon hidden under her apron and fires at us.

The bullet grazes Andrea's ribs, causing him to stumble. He falls with Paola, dragging me down with them. We tumble down the stairs and land on the ground floor, Agnès having disappeared.

I struggle to get up, pain electrifying my body. I turn to see Andrea already on his feet as if he felt nothing and find Paola weakened at his feet. I try to help her up with Andrea, but her cries of pain make us leave her lying down.

"Leave me here and go. I'm just dead weight, I'm done for anyway."

Andrea and I exchange looks of despair.

"That's not an option," he says, resigned, lifting her in his arms despite her moans.

"I'll cover you until you get to the kitchen, then you can put her in the hidden passage," I announce.

We descend from the first floor and reach the silent manor's entrance.

We move slowly and carefully into the next room. It's the living room. Gloomy and dark, I concentrate on making out what's ahead of me and forget to watch where I'm stepping. I stumble over something and struggle to identify it at first. I look more closely and realize it's a body. I quickly step back, shuddering at the thought of having tripped over it. I lean over the face, fearing it might be Ezio, then sigh in relief when I see it's not him. The black suit and earpiece still in his ear leave little doubt about his function.

He's probably one of the guards monitoring the cameras.

We keep moving and enter a hallway. I hear someone running and instinctively point my gun towards the sound, firing without thinking. There's a heavy thud as the body hits the ground. I look at him with wide eyes when I realize I've killed a servant.

"Oh shit, shit, shit, I didn't mean to, I'm sorry," I panic, my voice trembling as I turn him to face us.

"May, we don't have time to dwell on this, we need to move."

I pull myself together and stand up. We continue our advance, desperately searching for the kitchen.

We finally find the kitchen when I hear a dull noise behind me. I turn around and see Andrea and Paola, unconscious on the ground. Standing behind them, weapon in hand, is Agnes, piercing me with her murderous gaze.

"So we meet again, but this time I won't miss."

Without hesitation, she points her gun at me and fires.