There was a small sparkle in the mist on the ground. Sentenza stared down at it as he frowned.

"This is dumb," he muttered nervously as a bead of sweat dripped from his forehead.

"That's, something we definitely agree on," Narissa cooed.

Then he fell.

Sentenza's body plummeted down towards the ground. Narissa looked on in shock as he raced towards the hard ground with nothing but a small layer of mist to catch his fall.

"BAKADE!" Sentenza shouted as loud as he could. His voice reverberated around the room as he continued to fall to certain death.

----------------------------------------

"I...impossible..." Adargon stammered as he fell backwards.

Gzemnid groaned as she lied sprawled out on the floor. All of her many eyes blood shot and strained.

The crowd was stunned. Then, a single man started to clap. Before long another joined in, and then another, then another still. Soon enough the floodgates broke, and the crowd erupted in loud cheers.

"He won!" a voice cheered.

"I can't believe it, he actually beat Gzemnid!" hooted another.

Adargon sat in shame as the crowd shifted from his side and cheered uproariously for the new king of staring contests, the hollow king. He sat motionless in the exact same position as he had through all the contests. This seemed to rile up the crowd even more, almost like he was taking a victory lap to prove how far beyond his competition he truly was.

"Fine!"

Adargon's yell hushed the crowd almost at once. The fish man stood up, and his glowing lure bobbed back and forth as he shifted heights.

He breathed in and puffed his chest out before he stepped past Gzemnid and up to the hollow king. For a moment, he stared down at the eyeless man. Then, he closed his eyes and knelt down.

THUD

With a firm punch, he slammed his fist into the ground and bowed his head.

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"You've bested me. It was almost like it wasn't even a competition to you." Adargon said. "I know when I'm beat, and the difference in our abilities is obvious."

The fish man clenched his fist on the ground so hard his knuckles started to turn white, but then he relaxed.

He tilted his head up to look at the hollow king and said, "You've earned your title. You are now king of the blind."

An unnatural hush fell over the area. Everyone held their breath as Adargon stared at the new king of the blind.

Then, the fish man's countenance seemed to change completely. He smiled broadly and leaped up to his feet. "The old king is dead; all hail the new king!"

And just like that, the crowd erupted in cheers yet again. People echoed Adargon's words and mugs of alcohol were passed around.

Adargon let out a hearty laugh. "Enjoy it my man! You certainly earned it. If only it came with its own kingdom, am I right? Aha! Come on, no need to look so glum. have a drink. It's time we celebrate your coronation!"

The hollow king just sat there like a lump on a log. Gzemnid's eyes were clearly still strained, but even she seemed to allow some room for drinking as she avoided looking towards the creature who had so easily bested her.

A mug was shoved into the hollow king's hand, but when Adargon saw he didn't lift it up to drink, he smiled wickedly.

"Oh, I think I see the problem," Adargon said as he licked his lips. "You want us to do the work for you. No problem my king."

He turned away from the hollow king and shouted, "Bring the bong!"

A loud cheer erupted from the crowd. A cyborg stepped forward proudly. He looked at Adargon with a similar grin, and then pulled out a funnel and a tube from a pack on his waist. A stranger bug like creature came up with four barrels of alcohol and nodded towards the other two.

Adargon attached the tube to the bottom of the funnel, and then held it above his head.

A chant of, "Chug, chug chug." echoed out from the crowd.

As he stepped closer to the hollow king, the chanting got louder and louder.

Adargon opened his mouth to say something, but it was drowned out by the crowd. He unceremoniously shoved the tube into the hollow king's open mouth and held the funnel high above it so that the tube was almost straight.

The giant insect handed a barrel over to the cyborg who popped off the bung. The part machine part man held the barrel over his head as the cheers reached a crescendo, and then all at once everyone was silent.

"1, 2...3!" Adargon counted.

As he said three, the cyborg tilted the barrel. The alcohol drained out and down into the awaiting funnel. The crowd was silent as the alcohol flowed down and into the hollow king's mouth.

Before long, the entire barrel was drained, and the hollow king had not spilled a single drop. This was too much, and the crowd erupted into a wild frenzy of cheering and applause.

"Let's see how many our king can down before he's finished!" Adargon hooted as the second barrel was prepared.

The hollow king sat completely still, like nothing was happening. Except for his mouth. The edges had curled up slightly into the faintest hint of a smile as the party around him picked up, and another barrel of alcohol was poured into his awaiting mouth.

----------------------------------------

The robot's attack had already been bested by the wolf. At this point it was nothing more than a minor delay. But, for the brief moment the wolf was gone, the mist stopped expanding.

"Grrrrr."

But it was only a moment. The wolf forced his way back, and as he reappeared; the mist started to extend its reach bit by bit.

Squelch

As the wolf returned, the robot seemed to have been expecting him. With a sharp thrust, before the wolf had any time to settle, the machine stabbed into his side with a spear.

But no blood sprayed from the wound. Ice just crawled over where the spear connected to his flesh. Before the wolf could turn towards it, the robot backed away.

They held their arm out, and another spear extended from the center of their hand. With a quick snap they broke it off and held it in both hands.

The mist surrounded both of them making it difficult, if not impossible to see anything. Yet the wolf, and the robot both stared at each other. Almost like the mist wasn't even an inconvenience for them.

The two of them seemed to be waiting for the other one to act. Both tensed and ready to strike, but neither wanting to make the first move.

BANG!

A hail of bullets interrupted their standoff. It seemed to catch both of them off guard as several bullets landed on both of them as they rushed to dodge and block the oncoming storm.

Blood poured down Sentenza's face from under his hat. His eyes were shut completely as he fired and reloaded his two pistols seamlessly. His hands were moving so fast, it was surprising that they didn't catch on fire.

2...