The first wave of corrupted creatures charged in a coordinated assault. The massive whale charged directly at Ao Shun, its multiple rows of teeth gleaming in the golden light, while smaller creatures charged right behind it.
Ao Shun met the charge head-on, his claws extending as he shifted partially into his dragon form. The impact when they collided sent shockwaves through the ancient stone beneath their feet, but the whale-creature's enhanced intelligence showed immediately—instead of trying to overpower the Dragon King, it used its momentum to grapple him, wrapping those unnatural arms around his torso to prevent him from moving too much.
"Father!" Lin called out, but she had her own problems. The school-of-fish amalgamation had split into three separate writhing masses, each attacking from a different angle. She created barriers of crystalline ice, but the creatures' enhanced teeth chewed through them faster than she could form new ones.
