***
{Outside The Projection}
"...Huh?"
"...Wait... what?"
"...Eh???"
That was pretty much the reaction.
The entire hall. The world. Mortals. Magi. Nadhirs. Jinns. Mithqals. Nobels. Royals. Nobodies. Everybody. Blank faces. Mouths half-open. Neck twisted sideways like they misheard something major about life itself and only now had discovered the truth.
"Did... did that actually just happen?"
"Brother... brother... HE WON—right?"
"YEAH, HE WON!"
"HE WONNNN!"
"AFTER TWELVE DAYS OF FIGHTING!"
"AFTER RESETTING LIKE THOUSANDS OF TIMES!"
"HE DID IT!"
Screams.
Cheers.
Shock.
But then...
Silence.
Because—wait. WAIT.
"...Why the Hell did he let him GO?"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'I LOST'?"
"NO SERIOUSLY, WHAT?"
"AFTER ALL THAT? AFTER BREAKING HIS NECK?"
"AFTER USING THE SAME TECHNIQUE THAT DID HIM IN, IN THE NORTH?"
"HE HAD HIM! HAD HIM! HIS ELBOW WAS RIGHT ON HIS NECK!"
"AND—AND—AND HE JUST... LEAVES?!"
Many gripped their heads, not understanding this at all.
