The first batch of War Fortresses from the Mechanical Civilization entered Destruction Time-Space while the Crystal Tide Wrath Beast was struggling madly.
They had not charged in through the Bronze Gate.
Instead, Saine used a cross-dimensional deployment array to "press" them in, one fortress after another.
Each War Fortress was like an enormous metal wedge. Its outer layer was coated in dark gray Final Silence plating, while its inner layer was engraved with vast numbers of Self-Sealing Technique runes. At the very core of each fortress floated several Final Silence Gray Seals and Final Silence Ash Crystals.
These were the key to Saine establishing a stable foothold within the entrance zone.
The instant the first War Fortress passed through the Bronze Gate, the Destruction Crystal Tide slammed into it, stripping away huge swathes of its outer armor.
Countless dark-gold crystal fragments pelted the fortress like a torrential downpour, and tens of thousands of alarms lit up simultaneously across the Skynet sectors.
But the fortress did not retreat.
Following Saine's preset orders, it fired twelve rule anchor spikes outward the moment it arrived at its designated coordinates.
Half of those rule anchor spikes pierced into the Shattered Black Continent, while the other half nailed themselves into the warped space around it.
Then, the Final Silence Gray Seals lit up.
Gray halos spread outward, briefly suppressing the activity of the violently surging Destruction Crystal Tide by a fraction.
This was not permanent suppression.
Much less purification.
But it was enough!
As long as the Destruction Crystal Tide slowed for an instant, the War Fortress could deploy its second layer of armor.
As long as the second layer of armor deployed, the miniature Skynet Node within the fortress could begin operating.
As long as the Skynet Node operated, the Mechanical Civilization could truly