Hmmmm... Now that you mention it, I wouldn't terribly mind being a smear on the pavement.

[He crouches down and releases the snake into the cobbles as he continues talking.]

I've failed in my grand endeavor, so I might as well perish by the hands of the greatest of all sorcerers. 'Tis certainly preferable to dying by the hands of an inferior man.

[Slowly, he stands, brushes his gloved hands on his robe, then looks back to Emet-Selch.]

Were you offering?