Guilliman's conversation with Ferrus Manus was abruptly interrupted by an invisible force.
The instant Ferrus said, "Continue devoting my strength to Father," visible changes began in the region of absolute temporal stasis behind them, which had swallowed the Throne and the Man of Iron.
The absolute darkness, which had devoured even light, began bleeding outward like an ink painting soaked in water, revealing blurred, distorted outlines.
The Custodians who had been caught along its boundary in various poses now resembled insects suspended in viscous amber. They "fell" toward the floor at an agonizing, almost motionless pace, their movement barely perceptible—a sign that the flow of time had begun eroding this frozen domain again.
More startling still, countless indistinct afterimages left by high-speed movement appeared densely layered in the center of the stasis zone, as though stamped instantly onto the thawing canvas of spacetime.
These were the motion trails left by the machine body Iax controlled while performing repairs under a thousandfold temporal acceleration. Now "caught" by the normal time stream, they appeared all at once in a bizarre spectacle, as though hundreds upon hundreds of machine bodies were working frantically in that confined space, overlapping and weaving into an indistinguishable blur of light and shadow.
Trajann Valoris and the surrounding Custodians were stunned by the incomprehensible sight, their knuckles whitening around their weapons.
Guilliman held his breath as well. The flames on the Emperor's Sword flickered uneasily, seemingly answering the violent disturbance in spacetime.
"Time is... flowing? Are the repairs finished?"
Guilliman murmured, his disbelief mingled with shock.
Ferrus's flaming figure swayed slightly. His "gaze" within the flames seemed to pass through Guilliman and settle on the core of the Golden Throne.
"Technology of old... born in an age beyond our imagining. Father's power has resonated with the Throne."
His