He prepared ahead of the performance, scouting out the locations the kidnapper might strike from, but found surprisingly few spots that could offer a significant advantage. The fire mage had been well trained by his mother, but still could not figure out where the assassin will strike. He did figure out that striking in the middle of the play would make the most sense, as everyone's guard would be lowered by the performance; people would be too focused on the show to care about anything else and a competent assassin could easily strike their target in an instant. Having conducted his thorough sweep, the fairy mage retreated to a balcony and waited for the play to begin.
Indeed, it did not take very long at all. Just as Setesh predicted, the assassin would strike when the audience was completely distracted by the theatrical ongoings. As the lights on stage flickered dramatically, in what seemed like a single instant, a masked figure stood on the wooden canvas, with his hands wrapped tightly around the throats of two actresses. The people in the arena erupted in fear, as many simply chose to run immediately, fearing the worst.
"Now, now. Let's all play nice. I will be taking those little swans away as punishment for not heeding my warning. I don't recommend you try to stop me. If you do, someone may get hu-"
The assassin spoke, but did not get to finish his monologue, as a fiery bullet coming seemingly out of nowhere buried itself into his stomach and forced him back. Setesh knew - he had only one chance to rescue the actresses. He leaped into the air and used all his strength to bounce off the balcony rail in the direction of the stage.
A blink of an eye later, Setesh had clad his fist in a fiery aura and charged into the assassin, furher knocking him backwards and releasing his grip on the hostages.
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