Another wormhole opened beneath Adrian's feet.
Ataneya's tails shattered the outer defenses first. The thick tails tore through the surrounding machines from multiple directions and were about to coil around Adrian when he dropped straight into the wormhole below him.
The portal closed.
The small War Machines stayed behind.
With their original target gone, Ataneya's tails swept through the swarm and smashed scores of War Machines in half.
But the shattered machines didn't shut down.
Red lights came on inside the wreckage.
One self-destructing War Machine was dangerous enough. Now an entire swarm surrounded Ataneya's tails.
She had started pulling them back the moment Adrian disappeared, but the damaged War Machines dragged themselves after them, clinging to the ends of her tails before detonating in rapid succession.
The first wave of explosions triggered the second.
The second engulfed even more wreckage.
