The group emerges with four minutes left on the canister. The Camerlengo hands the canister to a guard while he climbs into the waiting helicopter, and Langdon takes the canister from the guard and boards the helicopter. Langdon tells the Camerlengo, “[Y]ou fly! I’ll throw!” (495). He meets Vittoria’s eyes as the helicopter takes off.

The Camerlengo flies the helicopter straight up, and Langdon tries to work out where his destination is. There are two minutes left on the countdown. The Camerlengo says to Langdon, “I wish you had not come, my friend. You have made the ultimate sacrifice” (497). Langdon realizes that the Camerlengo’s intention was always to fly upward as far as possible.

Vittoria, who understood the Camerlengo’s plan, wonders with anguish why Langdon joined him in the helicopter. The St. Peter’s bells begin to toll, marking midnight. A pinpoint in the sky expands into a huge flash of light, accompanied by a thunderous explosion: The antimatter has exploded.