Editing Ezio Auditore da Firenze (section)

====A convoluted plot unravelled====
Recognizing that they were approaching a war zone, the two Assassins became more vigilant and split up to sweep the outlying villages of Templars. Ezio assassinated five Templar soldiers alongside ten other of their men, quelling the worst of atrocities being committed in the area. Even still, bands of undisciplined soldiers continued to roam about abusing civilians, and the two split up once more to rescue these people. The fourth such civilian that Ezio encountered cried that soldiers had kidnapped his wife and child, but it was a ruse to lead him into an ambush. When the Assassin followed after him into a Roman amphitheatre, the gates closed around him, trapping him with scores of Spanish swordsmen on the arena floor and archers in the ''caveae''. Despite these incredible odds, Ezio survived, killing all of the swordsmen and fighting his way out of the town to rendezvous with Raphael at a church.

Raphael was not the only one waiting for Ezio there. Beside him was Luis de Santángel, this time introducing himself as a fellow Assassin. Both Luis and Raphael worked for Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand, but they suspected that the Templars did as well and that they were vying with them for influence over the Catholic Monarchs. At the same time, they had learned of a Templar spy who was feeding Muhammad XII false information so that he would continue the futile war. While another group of Spanish Assassins led by Benedicto fought to preserve the Moorish state with all their might, Luis and Raphael were of the view that prolonging a war where the outcome was inevitable only served to exacerbate the common people's suffering, bring more bloodshed to the region, and play into the Templars' goals.

As ordered by Luis and Raphael, Ezio located the spy at a Spanish military post that was installed into a deep valley nearby. He overheard his conversation with a subordinate where he alluded to the Templar plot to deliberately prolong the war, confirming Luis's suspicions. Before the spy could enter into a secret passageway that would bring him into Alhambra, Ezio assassinated him and reported back to his allies. With the new intel, Luis and Raphael deduced that the convoluted Templar scheme was part of a broader plan to delay Christoffa's westward voyage as long as possible by constraining Spain's ability to fund it. In this way, the Templars might embark on the expedition first and have advance claim to the wonders that lay beyond.