The fighting hadn't slowed down at all. Scores of injured loed down across the ground. Some of them being used as cover, or weapons.

The hollow king and Abraham had their fight interrupted long ago, and were now separated by a sea of bodies. All of which were a myriad of strange shapes and sizes.

Whack!

"You still think a bit too highly of yourself," Azrail scolded the smiling man.

Azrail was holding a piece of rebar the size of a walking stick. He was using it as a weapon, and had slammed it against the smiling man. If the mysterious man hadn't brought up his arms to let it slam against his forearms, it would've hit him square in the jaw.

"Ah, if only you realized how far from the truth you were," the smiling man chuckled. "Then again, what difference does ten feet tall and a hundred feet tall really mean to an ant larva?"

Azrail smirked. He pulled back the rebar, and swung it around his body to pick up speed. Finally, he let it stretch out and let it fly towards his opponent's knee.

"Don't underestimate ants," Azrail chided.

This time, the smiling man didn't let the piece of metal even come close to its target. He reached his hand out and grabbed ahold of the makeshift weapon.

He stopped the momentum so abruptly that Azrail almost lost his balance and fell from the scaffolding. Then, he squeezed and the metal groaned as it bent under his grip. All while he smiled with his face pointed directly towards Azrail.

"Ants, maybe. But a single ant? So insignificant it's not worth even thinking once about." The smiling man snarled with a big grin on his face. Then he tossed the rear off to the side. "Just like you."

The rear pressed against Azrail's side as it was tossed towards the crowds below. The smiling man threw it right through where Azrail was with such ease. The robed man was carelessly swatted aside with his own weapon into the air.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Then, like most things suspended in air, he began to fall.

Azrail frowned as he watched the smiling man stand there passively. Why, his opponent didn't even look at him as he was soaring out to the side and down to the crowd below. Almost like he felt no threat from him, despite the fact that he still had the metal rear. Even if the end of it was bent a bit to the side.

Azrail sighed and shook his head. "I tried to warn him."

But, as he tightened his grip on the metal bar the entire thing cracked and splintered. Miniscule fractures ran through it one after the other, until finally it exploded into a puff of orange rust. Azrail blinked with a surprised look on his face as he slowly opened his hands to reveal nothing more than stained palms briefly holding bits of metal powder before it was blown away.

Gravity seemed to take a more serious role at that point, and Azrail started to fall quicker and quicker. All while the smiling man paid no attention to him whatsoever. He grit his teeth in a grimace as he fell into the fight below.

"So, do you think they look any more calm?" Will asked.

Will and Harold were still by the vast array of food. In fact, it seemed like they were the only two things on the strange island that had not joined in on the fighting.

"Well, I mean they are young." Harold reasoned as he mopped some nervous sweat from his brow with a handkerchief. "Sometimes they seem to have endless energy."

Harold let out a dry, nervous laugh. "I'm sure you can understand my apprehension at simply throwing myself in the middle of all that. I have to think of my own wellbeing I should think. After all, I can't quite lead these poor youth if I am holed up in a hospital bed now can I?"

Will smiled genuinely. "I mean, that makes sense to me."

Harold nodded. "Why yes, of course it does."

"Then, do you want to try some of this? I'm not exactly sure what it is, but it sure smells good, now doesn't it?" Will held up one of the stranger looking dishes towards Harold.

It looked almost like snails that had their shells replaced with lemon wedges. Lines of some kind of puke green sauce had been drizzled over it. It smelled almost too sweet, and had a hint of nuttiness underlying the sugary aroma. Worst of all though was that it seemed like the slug like creatures were ever so slightly moving around.

Harold's face turned pale, and the handkerchief he had been using on his forehead quickly flew in front of his mouth. "I uh...I'm afraid to say I'll pass on that one." He gulped.

Will shrugged. "Your loss."

Harold looked on in horror as the ordinary looking guy used tongs to grab a one of the creatures and toss it onto his own plate. He set the serving dish back on the table, and moved on to select food from different, yet equally strange dishes. All while Harold looked on with abject horror barely disguised on his face.

"I'm really more of a potato salad kind of guy. Adventurous foods were never really my kind of thing," Harold said as he tried to excuse his fear.

Will let out a genuine laugh as he shook his head. "Seriously, you don't need to worry about it. It's not for everyone, and that's perfectly fine."

BOOM!

Wind swept the two men's hair, or what little there was of it in Harold's case, as an oddly tall man with hands the size of minivans flew past them and crashed into the ground like a meteor. As smoke rose from his body, he lied completely still.

Harold turned even more pale as Will just smiled and nodded.

"Well, seems like things are finally starting to wind down." Said Will.

"Wh...what do you mean?" Harold stammered.

"I mean, he seems to be staying down. That's a big change from how these things start. So, that's a good sign if you ever want to step in."

"...ye...yeah," Harold gulped. "Sure."