Editing Ezio Auditore da Firenze (section)

====Eliminating the Piagnoni====
The presence of flames billowing in the middle of the night from the garden of the Palazzo Pitti was the first to draw Ezio's attention, and though he had advised against attacking the palace, this was where he began his hunt. There, a former artist was presiding over the destruction of artworks, books, and the utensils to make them, throwing them into pyres and urging the nobles around him to do the same. He cried that they were "abominations" and "doors" by which the Devil corrupted them, but in the midst of his fervour, Ezio approached from among the crowd and silently stabbed him with his Hidden Blade. In his dying moments, the lost artist expressed horror at his own deeds and though Ezio tried to reassure him that his mind had been warped by the Apple, the man confessed that it was his own self-doubt that had allowed it to take control.

The Assassin next investigated the Basilica di San Lorenzo where an uneasy silence hung around the premises and not a soul was in sight. As he entered its courtyard, he was suddenly surrounded on all sides by soldiers dressed in black, signifying that they were the enforcers of Savonarola. The captain of the guards greeted from above on a scaffold, revealing that he had become an agent of the monk and that he regularly lured dissidents into the courtyard to be ambushed and killed. Calling his victims "challengers", the captain commenced his trap, but the skilled Assassin was able to slay all twelve of the agiles who attacked him on the ground before climbing up to the roof to confront the captain and the rest of his men. None of them were a match for Ezio, all falling at his blade. Like the artist, the guard captain expressed remorse in his last moments.

Entering the Mercato Vecchio, Ezio found another lieutenant, a nobleman, waiting for him on top of the market arcade. The nobleman taunted Ezio for defying Savonarola, but he broke into flight when he saw the Assassin unfazed and ever intent to kill him. After a brief pursuit along the rooftops, Ezio caught up with the noble and ended his life. Unlike with the artist and the guard captain, he had little sympathy to give to the noble, for the man only protested that he was a victim without fault.

From the Old Market, Ezio moved onto the Florence Cathedral, assassinating a priest of Savonarola who had been chanting at the top of the dome. On a trading ship anchored off a dock in the Santa Maria Novella District, he air assassinated a merchant who had planned to withhold shipments of food to those resisting Savonarola's rule. Both of these lieutenants felt appalled at their actions when they woke from the Apple's spell while passing away, but this was less so with the next three that the Assassin targeted.

First there was the doctor operating the Ospedale degli Innocenti who offered free healthcare to any devotee of Savonarola but viciously refused treatment to any who did not submit. Like a ghost, Ezio passed through his audience and neutralized him. Then there was the farmer who had his guards hoard hay and grains from the people in the hopes that through starvation he would not only force them to surrender but teach them to respect his low station. Ezio killed him from one of his own haystacks and as his parting words, told him that he could not respect him—though he was an Assassin fighting for the downtrodden, the peasant's methods were unacceptable.

With all of Florence north of the Arno freed from Savonarola's control, Ezio struck at the Ponte Vecchio which a condottiero commanding Savonarola's forces had occupied and locked down, demanding that the entire city submit to the monk. The Assassin assassinated the mercenary, causing his troops to melt away and allowing the people to retake control of the bridge; the mercenary could only cite power-lust and greed as his motives as he passed away. Finally, Ezio returned to the Oltrarno District, located the last of Savonarola's lieutenants preaching in front of Santa Trinita, and finished him. As he bled out, the preacher was unique in asserting that he had never fallen under the machinations of Savonarola, proclaiming himself to have been a true adherent to his beliefs.