When the largest divine power shockwave in the history of the universe erupted from the center of the Dark Abyss, the battlefield between Order and Chaos on the outskirts of the Dark Abyss also entered its bloodiest phase since the war began.
The defensive lines began collapsing layer by layer.
As the Destruction Engine entered an almost self-destructive state of overload, the power of Madness from the Dark Abyss instantly ran amok. The claws of Chaos no longer poured out of those twisted structures batch by batch. Instead, they filled the entire star sector almost instantaneously. In every inch of space around the Dark Abyss, countless derivatives appeared out of thin air with every passing second, rapidly contaminating Order's defensive lines like paint splashed into a pond.
In the face of this sudden and drastic assault, the first defensive line centered on Watchtower Fortress barely held out before breaches began to appear. Soon afterward, the entire defensive line gradually collapsed around those breaches.
The powerful combined shields were corroded and dismantled by the Chaos monsters. Drone swarms were submerged beneath the tide of darkness. Celestial bodies transformed into fortresses and strongholds were blown apart, one after another. The drone nests held out for a while with their dense fixed artillery emplacements, but soon lost contact with the collective consciousness one by one.
Before the unstoppable assault, the Guardian Fleet and the Night Watcher Fleet could only temporarily retreat behind the second defensive line, preparing to reorganize their defenses with the still-intact fortifications there.
Countless starfolk and Guardians turned into cosmic dust to cover the main forces' retreat.
A chain of explosions spread outward from the Central Control Tower. Other than the central complex, most of Watchtower Fortress's buildings had already gone completely dark. Madness Derivatives emerged from all directions, passed