He could not hear her steps over the volume of his own lecture, and the students, while no doubt curious, surely thought it rude to interrupt. Although she could see on their faces they were starting to reconsider.
She found herself right behind his scarlet-coated back, the same color he was about to bleed. There was no reason to cover his mouth this time. She stabbed him hard.
He cried out, scream filling the vast auditorium.
"Oh mon Dieu! Meurtre! Meurtre!"
The students began to scatter.
She retracted her blade. As the Austrian's body went limp, Élise graciously followed his descent, ensuring he had a gentle landing on the hard wood behind the podium.
His face was long and thin, much like Bailly's. She removed her hands and stood, looking down at her defeated adversary, yet another soul to be sent to the void, by her hard steel and feminine hands.
He laughed bitterly. "So now the greatest question is to be answered: What lies beyond death's door? Are you this Élise de la Caen I've heard about?"
She was darkly flattered, but did not waste time saying so. "What brought you here, Ignaz?"
"That which brings me everywhere: Study. Curiosity. I came to see that marvelous device from the New World, the one that can ensare minds."
"You mean the Apple? The second one? They never told me where they found it."
"They had no reason to." He lifted his head and coughed up blood onto the polished university floor. "I was the leading scientific authority in the Templar Order, until... until Weishaupt took me under his wing. He gave me permission to come and see that..." He winced. "...splendid artifact in action."
"Whose minds are you enslaving?"
"Enslaving?" he chortled ruefully. "Hardly. Memory implantation on a select few individuals. And for a good cause. The end of monarchy is nigh. First in France, then in Europe, then perhaps, even the world. The people of France just need a little...a little push."
"The Illuminati are intemperate and impatient. If we don't bring about change gradually, you'll bring war to France, just as your treachery in Bavaria brought war between our two orders. Then all this progress will be reversed."
"There's little doubt that is on the horizon. Has the Templar Order become so craven that war is too high a...price to be...paid?" Then as if coming undone, let out a final sigh.