NOVPUB"One."
Diablo said the number and the person with that number stood up.
GASP!
All the candidates and even some guests gasped when they saw the person.
Pablo smiled.
And the person turned his head behind.
"I hope it’s you." He said.
"Careful what you ask for." Pablo replied as number 1 belonged to Adolf Hustler.
Hustler strided towards the stage and he instantly shoved his hand inside the box of slips.
He didn’t do any second guesses and took out the first chit that came on his hands.
He didn’t open it though. He gave it to Diablo.
"I don’t want to see what’s inside. You say the number."
"Sure thing." Diablo took the slip and opened it right away.
"Ohho. So everyone, the opponent of number 1 is…" Diablo made some build up and hollered the number.
"Ninety Nine!!"
"Tch. Fucking hell!" Hustler yelled. He missed Pablo by just one number. Pablo was 100 and he got 99. Tough luck.
The other candidates also heard the number and some of them looked at Pablo.
"He wanted you as his opponent. You have some good luck, white guy." One man said.
Pablo stared at the man.
"It’s his good luck that he didn’t pull the slip of my number."
"Yeah. Keep dreaming." The man didn’t take Pablo’s words seriously and Pablo didn’t care as well.
"Ninety nine! Come inside the circle. Number one, you too. Go inside." Diablo said.
Hustler had a sour face but the rules were rules.
He had to get inside the circle and he did.
Number 99 stood up from among the candidates as well and walked towards the circle as well.
Now both candidates were inside the circle and Diablo moved forward with the program.
"Everyone, look at the screen."
All heads turned towards it.
The screen was now divided by a white line and on either side, number 1 and number 99 was written.
"Now, all the guests, you have a device with you. Numbers are written on the device and you just have to press the number you want to bet on. The betting amount is one million gold coins and it’s the same for all the guests.
I would have shared the name of the candidates and their overall performance till now to all of you but that would have made betting easier. What’s the fun in that? So I want you all to use your instincts and bet on the person who you think would win this fight.
You have to bet before the fight starts and you all have only five seconds to bet. And your time starts…"
Diablo spread his arms.
"Now!"
BEEP!
BEEP!
BEEP!
Such sounds rang around the garden as all the guests bet on their favorite candidates.
"Time’s up!" Diablo shouted. Five seconds were up.
"Now, let’s see who has more money on their heads." Diablo looked in the sky.
Everyone else did the same. They all were looking at the floating TV or screen.
"What?" The candidates exclaimed.
"Oho. This is surprising." Diablo said.
"It sure is." Graham chimed in as well. 𝚗ov𝚙𝚞𝚋.c𝚘m
The screen showed this :
Number 1 - 10 Million
Number 99 - 1990 Million
Hustler received less betting amount than the number 99.
"Everyone, let me tell you something. In total, we have two thousand guests present here. And one person could only bet 1 million. So it means that only ten people have bet on number 1 and all the others chose number 99." Diablo shared.
’Interesting.’ Pablo liked the information.
"We’ll see who’s intuitions are right. Thanks for betting." Diablo stopped talking to the guests and carried on.
The other candidates were surprised though.
"Why did so few people bet on Adolf?"
"Did they not know about him?"
"Are these guests dumb?"
"It’s because of his shout." Pablo answered their questions.
"What shout?" They asked.
"Just after Diablo read the number of his slip, Adolf cursed so loud. And that sent a message to everyone that Adolf is cursing because he can’t fight number 99. That was enough for the guests to bet on 99. They didn’t know he was cursing for some other reason."
"Oh. Right. That must be the case."
Everyone understood what Pablo said. They would have ignored him but they were all going to a fight to the death so they decided to have some peace while they could.
"Alright. Are you all ready to see the fight?" Diablo yelled.
"Yess!!" The guests were all excited. But the special guests were not shouting like a fanboy. They were just clapping. And the five members from the Abyssal Butchers weren’t even clapping as well. They were just watching.
"That’s the spirit. And the candidates, are you guys ready to kill?"
"Yeah." 99 said.
"Just start it." Hustler was disinterested.
"Okay. You shall start the fight in…" Diablo paused and began the countdown.
"Three!"
"Two!"
Everyone joined him for the last second as they all shouted :
"Oneeee!!"
"No hard feelings." Hustler took one step towards 99 and…
PUCK!
A hole appeared on the chest of the man.
THUD!
The man then fell down.
The fight was over.
"And the winner is…" Diablo already saw it coming.
"Number 1. His name is…" Diablo did a three-sixty degree circle on the stage and revealed the name :
"Adolf Hustler!!"
Diablo and the other candidates clapped but the Guests were wide eyed.
Number 99 died with just one punch.
"Wait. I have heard this name before." One man from the guests spoke.
"Adolf Hustler? You have heard about him?" Another man asked.
"I am the Duke of the neighboring City, Selka. And I have heard that the personal Duke of the King Fuhrer Jamal took a liking to a boy he sees potential in. That boy lives in this Numb city and that boy kills anyone with just one punch."
"Fuhrer Jamal? That man? Did this boy really impress that man?"
"I have only heard of someone called Hustler and this boy is also named Hustler. He also killed the man with just one punch. All these things suggest this is the same boy."
Both men gulped.
"If what you said is true then this boy…" The other man spoke, staring at the bloodied fist of Hustler.
"He got himself a Mammoth."
