Ethan had not expected the Merfolk King to attack so suddenly. All it took was a question about canned fish and a little too much talk from the wrong man, and the King's temper snapped like a line under a weight it could not bear.
The King's power was not ordinary, and the Megalodon Clan King across from him was no weakling either. Starfall and Regis stood frozen, both having felt that momentary surge from the Merfolk King, a surge that far outstripped their own strength. They had come with Ethan ready to use their Apex State to smash any resistance and bring Lyla back, and for the first time since they arrived, they were relieved no full clash had broken out. Had a fight begun, they might not have lasted.
"My great-nephew," the Merfolk King said, his voice cold as it cut across the gathered ranks of a hundred thousand Sea Clan warriors, "for this canned fish, do you prefer live fish or dead?"
