Time passed swiftly within the isolated domain, each moment stretching and compressing.
Inside a space severed from normal reality by Achilles' Temporal Dominion Field and encased within dimensions that existed parallel to standard reality, an hour had elapsed while mere seconds ticked by in the broader territories of the Sovereign Void Imperium.
The vast administrative networks that coordinated imperial policy across star sectors remained blissfully unaware of the systematic decapitation of their leadership hierarchy.
Communications flowed normally between distant worlds, tribute continued arriving from conquered territories, and the daily business of governing spatial distances proceeded without interruption.
But within the throne room that had once represented the pinnacle of imperial authority, devastation painted itself across crystalline architecture with artistic precision.
