The clanging of metal spread through the somewhat narrow Pedestrian Street.
The pedestrians cried out in fright and hurriedly fled into the distance.
Those slow to react who still remained on the street
were promptly driven off the roadway by the arriving armored soldiers.
Before long, the entire street had been cleared. No idle wizards remained, and aside from the Black Cat, even the other small animals scattered in panic, fleeing until not one was left.
The armored soldiers did not use their arm shields. Instead, they removed ornate pointed-bottom shields from their backs and drove them in sequence into the Bluestone Path at both ends of the street, physically adding another barrier.
The Black Cat noticed that the crests on those shields were inconsistent. Presumably, these armored soldiers were house guards drawn from different families in town.
The shopkeepers on either side of the street had no idea what was happening.
They took down their doors and windows one after another and hung up Door Closing Talismans. The timid ones even drew their curtains tightly shut, while the bolder ones pressed their faces to the window glass, staring nervously yet excitedly at every tiny movement in the street.
Flap, flap—
Several Gargoyles hanging beneath the eaves finally could not bear the increasingly oppressive pressure in the air. They beat their wings and tried to flee the district they had originally been assigned to guard. Yet before they flew very high, it was as though they had crashed into an invisible spiderweb. No matter how they struggled, they remained stuck in midair, unable to leave.
Clang—
The lead armored soldier drew the long blade hanging at his waist.
Professor Yi looked up at the panic-stricken Magical Creatures dangling in midair and gave a slight shake of his head. "—They have