The arena remained frozen for several seconds after Tang Yue's body hit the ground.
No one moved.
No one spoke.
Even the instructor stood still, his gaze lingering on the battlefield as if trying to process what he had just witnessed. The dust settled slowly, revealing the final image clearly. Tang Yue, an A-Rank Radiant Archer, lying motionless, her arms broken, her pride shattered. Lin Yi standing over her, calm and untouched.
Then a wave of sound erupted through the stands.
"Sh-she lost…?"
"Just like that?!"
"That wasn't even a fight!"
"He didn't even get hit… not even once!"
The disbelief was no longer restrained. It burst out openly, voices overlapping, arguments rising, some still trying to rationalize what they had seen, others simply staring. On the high platform, the guild scouts no longer bothered hiding their interest, some leaning forward and whispering among themselves while others watched Lin Yi with undisguised intensity.
"That kind of control…"
