They arrived too late.
Rick and his team broke through the outer district of Meridia Citadel, where chaos was already happening. The corrupted Kraken had gotten to the city three minutes before them, and those three minutes had been terrible.
Living coral buildings shattered, their bioluminescent glow flickering like dying stars. Normally, the water currents flowed in neat patterns, but now they swirled around in a chaotic way, bringing debris and hurt ocean dwellers through the streets.
The Kraken's huge body took up most of the plaza, and its tentacles were thrashing around in all directions. Every time they moved, the water shook and knocked people down.
The Guardian's body leaked purple corruption energy like poisonous blood, which spread through Meridia's clean water and ruined everything it touched.
But the fact that the ocean dwellers were already fighting back gave Rick a little bit of hope. Ocean dwellers quickly set up defensive barriers around groups of civilians.
