[Iteration[1] snapped its attention towards the portal instantly, and what it saw made it feel uncomfortable, a towering mass of uniform [Iron ore] hauled itself through the portal. Its rusty claws dug into the flooring as it sought something to hold on to. With a large thud that shook its entire domain, the hulking mass of metal popped through.
[Iteration[1]'s mind went into overdrive as it sent orders to the [Golem forges] and all the [Combat golems] in its domain, the [Furnaces] churned out thick smoke and the [Combat golems] rushed forward in a single line.
Seconds later, the footsteps of 130 [Combat golems] echoed through the tunnel, it hadn't created anymore because they simply wouldn't fit, and would slow down the rest. The 30 [Combat golems] that had been empowered by it were at the front of the line, they were significantly faster than the rest, but even then, it would take at least two minutes before they reached the portal room.
The [Iron ore] monster started destroying things the second it got through, walls collapsed, and equipment crumbled as it crushed anything it could get its clawed hands on. [Iteration[1] was glad it wasn't very fast and moved at a snail's pace, though it made up for its speed with ungodly might.
A minute passed and the surrounding area around the portal had been utterly destroyed, during this time the portal constantly pumped out [Metallic mana] that was slowly eating away at the absolute influence it's [Automation mana] had over the area.
The only reason it hadn't contaminated its entire domain yet was because [Iteration[1] was battling it with its ambient [Automation mana] and managed to contain its spread. Its other selves were trying everything they could to help it. [Iteration[2] was churning through its database while drafting prototypes of things that would stabilize the portal and contain its infectious mana, even things that would convert it to other types of mana.
[Iteration[3] was doing the mana-related stuff, constantly shifting the ambient [Automation mana] into shapes that it slammed into the wild [Metallic mana] hoping to stop its spread. The wild mana fought back with animalistic fury, shifting through various forms as it sought to break its cage of [Automation mana].
[Iteration[3] swiftly willed the ambient [Automation mana] into the shape of a massive [Combat golem] that clashed head first into the massive serpent that was the [Metallic mana]. The [Metallic mana] shifted once more, taking on the form of a heavily armored [Goblin] that was massive and blindingly white.
[Iteration[3] willed the massive [Combat golem] to smash its left hand into the massive [Goblin], the [Combat golem] moved to complete the command but the massive [Goblin] was too fast and deftly dodged the blow before moving around it, stabbing it in the back as it did, causing some [Automation mana] to leak out.
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The wild [Metallic mana] used this chance to corrupt even more of their domain, much to [Iteration[3]'s displeasure. [Iteration[3] linked up with [Iteration[2] and accessed its massive catalog of [Combat golem] variants and used the knowledge to rapidly construct one out of [Automation mana]. The [Combat golem: Sniper] was very different from the normal [Combat golem] it wasn't very large, with a height of only 50 meters, and walked on four feet instead of two, but that didn't matter, mounted on its back was the true prize.
A sleek cylindrical 30-meter-long barrel sat atop its back, connected to machinery [Iteration[3] had no hopes of understanding but that also didn't matter, in a war of pure will and mana, only the concept mattered, anything was possible with those.
The massive white metallic [Goblin] rushed forward, intending to stop its plan, but it was too late. The 30-meter-long barrel shook as it discharged its payload, a massive arrow of pure [Automation mana] and the intent to kill, to end, and to murder. A subjective second later, there was a massive hole in the head of the [Goblin].
It dissolved into raw and wild [Metallic mana] later and began reforming into another shape, no, many smaller shapes, countless, easily tens of millions of tiny humanoid beings with horns and tails, with bat-like wings. [Iteration[3] felt a wave of annoyance and quickly dissolved the [Combat golem] variant, such a large thing wouldn't do much against so many smaller things.
Reaching into [Iteration[2]'s database, it searched for crowd control-related golems and found quite a few, one was called [The sprayer] and another [The reaper] these two interested [Iteration[3] the most, as when combined together, it could see them devastating anything in their way.
[The sprayer] shot out small capsules that exploded, spraying burning acid that transformed into a deadly gas seconds later. [The reaper] fired an orb that used mana to manipulate gravity and created a suction force wherever the orb landed.
The range of the orb was quite large too, it was perfect for the situation it found itself in, mind made up, it selected the two and felt the relevant knowledge appear in its mind, along with the concepts associated.
[Iteration[3] began construction as soon as the transfer was complete, thousands turned to millions, and millions into hundreds of millions in an instant. With a thought, [Iteration[3] willed great walls and obstacles into being, constructing the perfect battlefield for its troops.
The army of the wild [Metallic mana] arrived a subjective second later, crashing into spikes of metal that sprung up from the ground around them. From the walls above, millions of [Reapers] fired [Gravity orbs] into the army below, pulling in and cruising huge amounts of them.
The ones that weren't dead were finished off by the deadly gas from the [Sprayers] that rapidly melted them. But even with all this, their numbers didn't seem to decrease at all, [Iteration[3] knew this was false but it was going to take a while, a long while, and it didn't have that much time. The others were counting on it to finish this quickly, it needed another factor in the mix.