The bracket had narrowed.
Eight fighters had become four and four had become the specific configuration the tournament's structure had been building toward since the first fight of the day—the final four, the stage where every fight was two steps from the end rather than multiple rounds removed from it. The crowd felt the narrowing in a specific way that earlier stages hadn't produced. Not louder. More concentrated. The investment more personal because the number of fighters remaining meant that every person in the stands had a clearer sense of what the outcome was going to mean.
The announcer raised the microphone.
"Final four. Fight one. Azula of Virex Academy against Drex of Aurelius Academy."
Both tunnels opened.
