The crimson liquid was visible at Ixion's high vantage point. While it was not what the assassin had intended to happen to her, but it was a good consolation, especially with his observations with the attack. The way she had reacted when he first teleported and then noticed him when he teleported a second time. It was at that point that he realized that she was sensing him out. That was why she had been able to react to this attack. Was it also the reason that she was able to find him in the first place? It was at that moment in time that a lot of the pieces to the puzzle of this woman was able to fall into place. [i]If she is good at detecting magical presences in her immediate vicinity,[/i] he thought as he slowly fell towards the beam he was on a moment ago. [i]Is she capable of creating wards to detect people capable of magic?[/i] If that was the case, then she must have created a ward specific on picking out the Grand Master's presence in him. And if there was one ward... He then realized that even if he had retreated from this area earlier, he might have triggered another one of her possibly-many wards. There was no way for him to leave without being detected at least once.

As the woman dodged the attack and flicked the chain further away from her, he instantly tugged the weapon back up to him, the weapon flicking back up into his right hand with the tug. As the blade was too far away from the woman, the blade was unable to inflict any further damage. Instead of teleporting, he wanted to see what the damage was on the woman. As he landed onto the beam, he inspected the woman further. The kama had struck her on her right side, leaving a nasty gash across the rib cage. While the would could have been more severe, it could be a problem for her if it continued to bleed. That would be something for him to exploit or for him to consider as he attempts to damage her further. After all, there must be a limit that she has before she has to back off from this fight. Obviously, due to her being the aggressor in his opinion, even if she was to back down, he would not. Even if it means angering the Duke of Zerul, she will perish at his hands.

The woman had moved further away from where she was, presumably further away from where he was to avoid further attacks. Not that it mattered to him. The second figure had finally reached the same level as the woman. She surely must know that he is there in the case this figure was able to use magic? Whether this was right or not didn't concern him. There were other things that should be pressing on her mind, such as the assassin himself. Then she did something that he didn't expect. [i]”Would you say that these are 'desperate circumstances' for me?”[/i] Now what did she mean by that, he wondered. Well, no matter the case, he made the assumption that if he said yes, she would launch a more devastating attack against him, if not both of them. He would certainly not be coy to that. His mind was made up. The time for deception and intimidation was long over. Now it is for action.

“No,” he retorted at the woman, his hand gripping the kama's handle firmly. “This is not a desperate situation for you. Your actions have gotten you in this situation and the consequences are ongoing.” The chain that was around his left hand started to fall, the weight resting on the beam while the chain dangled off the beam. “And when you beg for your life, you will know that it is this face...” With his free hand, he reached for his cowl and pulled it down. Underneath it was nothing but scarred tissue, in some of the places there was nothing but bone, but even that was damaged in one form or another. Most of his nose, although it appeared as intact, was also disfigured, with the fleshy tip and nostrils being non-existant. Although most of his neck had been covered by the now, but the extent of the scarring was visible to extend down to his neck. “This face is the one to send you to the damned afterlife you deserve. No... this is not a desperate situation for you. This... is your retribution.”

He teleported again, this time behind the woman. The instant he appeared again, he swung the weighted end of his weapon towards her at neck height. He was at the right distance that not even dodging backwards was going to avoid the weight at the end of the chain. If she was going to be relentless when she wanted to examine his eyes, he was going to be unabated in his attacks. He was going to make her regret in confronting him after his final refusal.