The barrier stays shut, but the arena has already slipped past anyone's control.
The shouts hit the containment and come back louder. Whole sections of the stands are on their feet. Some repeat the winners' aliases, others point at the suspended screens while the best moments of the fight run in sequence: Motorhead crushing White Wake's guard, Eventide stopping against Freya's neck, Void Monarch closing over Split Fang.
Then Duvilin's shot comes up again.
The white image crosses the smoke, destroys the wings and the plates, hits the barrier, and rises over Azure Prime. Every replay makes the crowd react as if they were seeing it for the first time.
I knew the great Oathring events. In my other life I watched a few and heard stories about nearly all the rest. None of them ever ended with the stands like this.
People start leaving their seats.
