At noon, the Ding-rank Plaza in front of Forest Goods Market had still been bustling with streams of visitors and gathered peddlers, lively yet peaceful.
But only a few hours later, before the sun had even shifted thirty degrees across the sky, the peaceful atmosphere of the little plaza had vanished without a trace.
In its place were tightly shuttered shops, squads of neatly dressed hunters with solemn expressions, and tension and unease hanging everywhere.
The wind howled strangely, sending scant dust skittering across the clean streets.
Taofeng carved from Iron Skin Shi Hu and Gargoyles wrought from obsidian hung silently from the rooftops and eaves of the buildings surrounding the plaza. Only the occasional roll of their eyes showed the wizards that they were not truly lifeless objects.
Before Forest Goods Market and across the plaza, the reinforcements arriving one after another stood in clear formations and orderly ranks.
At the very center of the plaza stood the forces of official institutions such as the Beta Town Public Security Bureau and the Wizard Alliance Investigation Bureau. They formed the core of the defensive position: rune-covered cheval de frise and tower shields gleaming coldly stood in layered formations at the front. Hunters armed with talisman rifles were scattered among them, staring intently at the entrance to Forest Goods Market beneath the cover of their comrades.
The position looked somewhat thin, but it was exceptionally resilient.
Under the threat of the Wild Hunt and the Black Tide, Beta Town's Management Committee had received substantial sponsorship from merchant groups and purchased ample talisman rounds to deal with the present situation.
Beta Town had not summoned friendly giants or dragons to join the battle, nor had it hastily made powerful stone golems that could both take and deal blows as cannon fodder.
According