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[I]Oooo, so scary![/I] the murderer thought to himself, smiling amusedly behind his even wider-smiling mask. This Ixion was a lot more talkative than he had expected him to be, though; as far as he knew the fellow had hurt his throat or something, so it hurt him to speak. Should he be flattered, then, that this usually taciturn assassin - or, apparently, 'sword-for-hire' as he had just reclassified himself - pushed through and said as much as he did now? Although... he had said quite a bit to Blue, too, and her performance had been somewhat underwhelming. Like, really? Come on. It was just two-on-one; even if one could teleport effortlessly and the other possessed superhuman speed and strength, and even if Blue was one of the less combat-oriented tools, the fact that she let herself get wounded and driven to the point of desperation was disgraceful.
And then the oblivious bastard went on to hint at something bad that would have happened if he had been the one to kill Blue... [I]Hey now, I don't appreciate you making Blue look even worse by saying stupid things like that.[/I] That one annoyed him a little; obviously his own statement about it being better that he killed her than Ixion should have revealed that he already [I]knew[/I] what would happen if in that event. He knew all about Ixion Echtalion, from his beheaded fisherman of a father to the dirty little deal he had made with the Ancient One. Not only was he making Blue look bad by seeming too dull to catch such a clear confession, it also completely ruined the awe it was supposed to have inspired. He loved seeing people's reactions when he did things like that; that moment when they finally came to realize that there was more to him than met the eye, that he had been studying them from the shadows, that they stood before an opponent more terrifying than they had ever faced before. It was a rare pleasure, too, considering how infrequently he actually met other people face to face... and even when he did, they almost never survived long enough for him to have any fun with it.
Because that was where the good Ixion was mistaken: he did not leave witnesses... normally, that was. Some people he let go, which was how word of him had started circulating among those invested in that kind of business. Only people meeting one of two certain criteria were allowed to survive laying eyes on him, though: either they seemed like they could be fun given time, or the boss said to let them live.

And then the other one spoke... yes, the other one. Said some nonsense about him being wrong and that he was going to kill him, and leaped across the alley and initiated an attack aimed at him. The violet-eyed man did not react outwardly to this at all beyond his eyes betraying a certain degree of annoyance and impatience; his left hand remained in his pocket and his right held his book calmly in front of him. He did not even change his stance in the slightest; he just stood there in what one might interpret as incredulous awe, but was really just a result of indifference. Who was this other one, though? He had not made a bargain with the Ancient One, that much was clear... yet he exhibited superhuman speed and strength. A Warden, perhaps? No... ah-ha, now he saw why Blue had had so much trouble with that one; focusing his magical senses, which were admittedly nowhere as sharply honed as Blue's, he realized that this man did not give off an aura at all. How come? A Warden would be unable to conceal its own soul like that. Speed, strength and no aura... a Harvester? Now that was a prospect that would have gotten him excited, had it actually been likely and not immediately dismissible as it was; the man had showed plenty of emotion, after all, and had neglected to massacre Ixion, which was not what a Harvester would have done. What then, what then... curious how he had covered himself up so completely. Would hide... tattoos. Sniffers did not give off auras, but they did not possess the other powers this one had demonstrated either. Hmm... upon thinking back, he had moved a lot differently when he had attacked Blue than he did now, despite apparently being angrier now. He had been faster then, and more direct, telegraphing his attack clearly in advance and not employing any of those flamboyant acrobatics he was displaying now. Almost as though he had been enraged, somehow... or frenzied. Ixion had wounded Blue immediately before all of this, he recalled; could this other one be a vampire? Clothes that blotted out sunlight, speed and strength, frenzies upon seeing blood; seemed likely. Ha. A Sniffer vampire... that was a new one. Really reaffirmed his decision not to kill him before he could react to Blue dying.
He had still not moved beyond his eyes unconcernedly following the Sniffer's movements, and the other had not yet reached him. Even people who he deemed worthy of fighting rarely came to realize why he had achieved the position he had, why the boss valued him so, and the most important reason that he was one of the most dangerous single men in Reniam; he was a man of many strengths, but none could really rival the sheer scope of the processing power of his mind. Nothing was faster than his thoughts. No one could outsmart him. And in the end, no one could really entertain him beyond the satisfaction of killing them.

Just when he was about to actually consider doing something to avoid having his legs broken by the Sniffer's staff Ixion interfered, though, casting a spell that he was not familiar with, but which he could deduce from the incantation was probably an illusion spell of sorts, in this case targeted - surprisingly - at the Sniffer. And then they... well, what do you know? They were actually fighting over who had the right to kill Blue, and apparently also who was entitled to kill him, although the latter question was so ludicrous that he could not help but chuckle to himself. As if they were so certain that they were superior to him that they were convinced that they did not need each other as allies in fighting him, but could take him on individually. Ha! They would barely even make for a distraction even if they both fought him at the same time. Ixion was on the boss' no touchie-list, though, and the Sniffer... although he was painfully inept now, his instincts told him that he could have the potential to one day make an interesting opponent. He was too weak now, though... no fun at all. The Sniffer would die without even making him use both hands.
Despite how close both of those who had declared themselves his enemies were to him, the man's stance remained relaxed, his left hand still in its pocket while he turned his attention to the book in his right, using his thumb to open it and turn the pages. It was a thin book, containing less than thirty pages, and the lettering in it was rather large; he had written every word in it himself. There also was an inscription on the spine of the book, difficult to see though it was on the black background since it was the same dark-red color as his clothes. It was written in the Human Cipher, but in Kirkinian rather than Rodorian; not a significant complication to someone trying to decipher what was written, since those languages were considered mutually intelligible, but it would probably be enough for someone not to immediately realize the meaning of a word just from glancing at it. The word on the spine, though spelled a bit differently in Kirkinian, read "Necrology".

"Look," he said, turning pages in the book as he spoke. His impatience showed in his voice, as did his disinterest in their quarreling. "So'y I went 'n' ruin'd yer fight wi'h Blue 'n' stuff, but can't we just, y'know, not fight? The boss-man'll be right mad wi'h me if I went 'n' kill'd one of his 'investments in continuous profits', Ixie, 'n' I real don't wanna kill whoever yer mate is while he's still this weak. What'd'ya say, eh? We just walk our separate ways, eh? No one gets hurt, eh?"
How annoying. He could have let them kill Blue - in fact the boss would probably have preferred if Ixion killed her, considering the circumstances - but he did not personally want Blue to lose her soul to Ixion's bargain like that, and he wanted to make sure that she died while her Dirge was drawn. If the Dirge had been sheathed when she died it would have self-destructed, and he wanted it. If it had not been for how obsessively reluctant the tools were to draw their Dirges, he would have killed Blue days ago; she had gotten way too annoying with those wards she had been setting up all over the place. Was getting in the way of business in Zerul City, which was unforgivable. He was a lax man in most regards, but he could not allow someone to become a nuisance... even if that person was a tool.
If the Grand Master gave an order, he had to obey; those were the terms of his contract. He felt no compulsion to do so, and the boss allowed him a lot of freedom on accord of him being the boss' right hand and strongest servant, but he was determined to keep his end of the bargain. It mostly involved killing people anyways, which was fun, so it was a win-win situation.
And the Grand Master of Evil did so cherish having his own private broken tool... his very own Fixer.