@Purple:
Air alone probably will not be sufficient to defeat one of the eight kings, but after consuming the entire course they should be on a more level playing field. As it stands, the handful of people probably capable of handling one of the eight kings are probably Midora, Jiro, and Joa, perhaps also Setsuno, and it doesn't seem like the shitenou are anywhere close to them just yet. And Toriko doesn't need to beat Heracles. He just needs to stall all of the horses long enough for Komatsu to cook Air.
Kinda weird that the order of eating the dishes isn't the general course order though, but I guess that it helps the plot not to go for the reality bending Hors d'Ouevre first.
I highly doubt that Heracles will even be defeated. I was saying if Heracles was for some reason defeated this arc, that would be the most plausible way. Overall I would prefer them to wait till the end to beat one of the 8 kings. Just getting to see some action from Heracles would be good enough for now. Also, I want focus on Branchi and Zebra, this is an opportunity for epicness.