"An assassin, hm? I believe I'm aware of more than your contractor can comprehend." Corban shouted from behind his prismatic flake-storm. Myros would hear him, but see nothing from behind the refractive cloud. Of course this too would apply to Corban. Luckily for him he didn't need eyes to see! Ishtalle was more than capable of spotting an ant from several dozen yards, and the similarity between herself and the diamond storm allowed each particulate shard to become a remote sensor she could co-opt with the earth mage at will. He was still watching with all the same precision that doctors were famed for."I'm afraid to say I won't be turning back. I will compost this land in a circle of life and bring this country back to its former splendor, and...."

The diamond shards had finished amassing in the man's palm, a shy spark melding them into a eutactically smooth 250 carat monstrosity. Clenching his fist around the biggest wedding rock you've ever seen, the dual life-systems pulsing through his veins pulsed power into the rainbow bauble. "Don't think you're going to stop me!"

Just as both would finish their speeches, corban would flick-fire the tankbuster. Its density immense, its cross-section small, the bauble was railgunned across the 100 or so foot gap faster than any mortal could blink with all of the energy that could be squeezed out of a 2,500 calorie diet, displacing wind in a blast circle. A dispel sabot was placed upon it increasing its lethality two-fold, aimed to blow a hole through his book the same size as the hole that would be left in his sternum. Regardless of what quick-draw defense the man could muster, Corban figured he had it covered. 

The diamond storm slowed its fluttering to a slow revolution, and the air around him seemed to chill, the earth about him slowly icing over[?].