The silence lasted exactly three heartbeats.
Then the Crucible Arena lost its collective mind.
Twenty thousand people surged to their feet like a single organism responding to electric shock, their voices merging into a roar that rattled the ancient volcanic stone beneath their seats. Signs waved frantically above heads, half declaring allegiance to the Onyx Hounds and half proclaiming devotion to the Scarlet Phantoms. Someone in the student section ignited purple and crimson flares that sent smoke spiraling toward the artificial sky dome.
Up in the broadcast booth suspended high above the arena floor, Park Hyun-Jae slapped both hands against his desk hard enough to make his co-anchors flinch.
"Are you kidding me right now? Are you actually kidding me?" His voice cracked on the last word, raw with genuine shock. "That was the single most intense tag match I've witnessed in seventeen years covering this tournament, and it ended with both teams unconscious on the platform!"
