Legend Of The Strongest Delinquent 27

Hey everyone, and welcome to this chapter. This chapter will cover the whole fight against Siegfried, plus a bonus for Kenichi, considering he missed out on doing anything in the last big fight. There will also be quite a bit of Martial Arts information on both fighters that I think the canon missed out on.

Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit fan-based parody. History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi is owned by Funimation and Syun Matsuena. Please support the official release.

"Shirou" Regular speech.

"Shirou" Thoughts.

SEIKUKEN Attack names.

(Shirou) Words said previously.

[Shirou] Words said in unison.

The Art Of Battle

—…

It was a quiet night at the harbor; most of the ships had already left port, and most of the workers had left for the night. The silent atmosphere was perfect for a fight, and right now, Shirou and Siegfried were ready and willing to start their battle.

"Let's begin. I want to see what the leader of the fabled Shinzaki Alliance is capable of." Siegfried was prepared to attack.

"It's for me, honestly." Shirou narrowed his eyes and smirked. "I'm anxious to see if the so-called 'immortal' Siegfried lives up to the hype."

Siegfried remained in his stance, leaving himself open as if he was inviting his opponent to attack him. Shirou suspected it might be a trap, but knew he couldn't win by being defensive, so he resolved to strike first.

He closed the distance right away and decided to test the waters with a straightforward attack.

SEIKEN!

WHAM!

Facing no resistance whatsoever, Shirou's fist buried itself into Siegfried's face and tore into his nose. The weight of his punch lifted Siegfried off his feet and sent him flying a few feet backward before he hit the ground and landed flat on his back.

"…What the?" Shirou blinked in confusion.

Shirou stared at Siegfried on the ground before gazing at his fist. To the untrained eye, it seemed like things were over, but they weren't, not even close, and Shirou was certain of that; in fact, he was sure that Siegfried would get back up.

"And the prelude comes gracefully to an end—"

Siegfried spoke while still on the ground before he sprang back up and leaped at Shirou. This time, he went on the offensive and closed in, but came in low and aimed a sweeping kick at Shirou's leg.

FEROCE! (FIERCELY)

Shirou didn't let himself get caught off guard and stepped back to avoid Siegfried's kick, but the Fifth Fist wasn't done there as he followed up by using his forward momentum to spin his body around. He used his upper body to hold himself up while using his legs to spin kick like a helicopter propeller.

ACCELERANDO! (ACCELERATE)

Once again, Shirou reacted in time and raised his arms to block the kicks with his guard. He then leaped back to gain some distance and move out of the range of Siegfried's kicks.

Siegfried didn't let him rest, however, and moved in with a high kick that transitioned downward into an ax kick. Shirou didn't get caught lacking and used one arm to block the kick while using his other arm to hit Siegfried in the chest with a palm strike.

The palm strike knocked Siegfried away again as he spun onto the ground. Shirou moved in for a follow-up kick, but Siegfried was the one who didn't get caught lacking, as he moved up and swung a kick at Shirou's knee. The kick caught him off guard and left him open as Siegfried finished with a high kick aimed at Shirou's head.

FORTISSIMO! (VERY LOUD)

The kick connected with Shirou's right cheek and knocked him back a few steps. Shirou regained his balance as Siegfried stood tall, held out his arms, and loudly proclaimed. "Animato! (Vividly Moving)"

Shirou shook off the damage from the kick and moved in to reset the pace. Shirou got into mid-range before he threw a left jab at Shirou while he jump-stepped forward at the last step to increase the speed of his blow. As his left hand speared into Siegfried's face, he was reeling back until, like the swaying tides, he shot back and fired a sharp, fast, counter blow that whipped into Shirou's face.

Both fighters were sent skidding backward as Shirou's head turned almost entirely around from the impact of the blow, while Siegfried hit the ground once again.

Shirou didn't bother wandering whether Siegfried would get back up, as it was obvious at this point. Shirou gazed at his fist as he replayed that last collision. Siegfried was certainly fast, but the weight behind his attacks was less than what he felt from previous members of the Eight Deadly Fists he had faced, which was good considering his attacks were harder to read as they didn't come from any orthodox style.

Siegfried soon got back up and was in his usual extravagant stance. "Lalala~! We've only just begun, but this is already proving to be a worthwhile endeavor! I can't remember the last time I faced an opponent with such a harmonious rhythm; it's merciless and filled with a ruthless passion. I can tell you aren't holding anything back!"

"You're right, and yet it still doesn't seem to be working." Shirou lowered his fist. "You take a punch better than anybody I've ever fought, it's like you really are immortal."

"Not like, that's precisely the case!" Siegfried confidently declared. "No matter the attack, I will always rise from the ground; I cannot be slain."

"So it would appear. But…" Shirou smirked confidently. "The truth is, you just want your opponents to think that. I've figured out your trick."

"Oh?" Siegfried frowned at him.

-O-

Meanwhile, the others were chasing after Loki. The guys were running, but Miu was faster than the rest of them and ran ahead. After he was out of sight, Loki hopped into a pickup truck and had one of his grunts drive as they fled, while #20 was in the back to watch if they were being pursued.

"Gah, where the hell is Loki?!" Takeda complained while they kept running.

"How the hell did we lose sight of him so fast?" Haruto wondered as he looked around.

"Forget Loki, I can't even see Miu anymore!" Kenichi noted with dismay. "I didn't think we'd have so much trouble keeping up!"

"Hey, can't you go any faster?" Ukita yelled at Nijima, who ran beside them. "I've seen you run faster than that!"

"Give me a break! I can only run at top speed when I'm running away!" Nijima explained.

[How the hell does that make sense!?] Kenichi, Takeda, and Ukita angrily snapped at him.

"Guys, listen!" Haruto hushed them as a strange sound echoed nearby. "Do you hear that?!"

They opened their ears and heard a faint noise in the distance that somewhat sounded like a continuous popping noise.

"Hey, yeah… What is that?" Kenichi wondered.

"Whatever it is, let's follow it." Haruto determined their course of action.

As it turned out, the sounds they were hearing were #20 shooting rubber from a model, machine gun at Miu, who was chasing after the truck on foot and was right on its tail.

"Hahaha! So what do you think of my custom-made air gun, blondie?!" #20 laughed while shooting at Miu from the back of the truck. "It may not kill you, but it'll hurt like hell if you get hit!"

"Haaa!" Miu ran faster as she closed in while dodging every bullet fired at her.

"Like to play, huh?" #20 angrily kept firing.

Once she was close enough, Miu demonstrated her dexterity as she cartwheeled and backflipped through the hail of bullets before she landed on the back of he pickup truck right in front of #20. She immediately kicked the gun out of her hands before she slipped behind her, away from the edge.

Unfortunately, her kick caused #20 to lose her footing, and she fell backward. Miu saw she was about to drop out of the moving truck and onto the ground, so she reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Oh my gosh, you could have died!" Miu gasped with concern after she pulled #20 back into safety.

Rather than being grateful, #20 grinned at her. "You know, Loki keeps telling me—People with principles are really, really dumb!"

#20 caught her off guard and pulled out a shock baton before she turned around and swung it at Miu.

"Aaah!" Miu shrieked.

The baton didn't damage her, but it cut through her jumpsuit and created a large vertical tear from her stomach to her throat, and almost left her chest exposed.

"Darn it, I got careless." Miu scolded herself.

-O-

Back at the location of the fight, Siegfried kept his eyes narrowed at Shirou.

"Tell me, what exactly have you 'figured out' about my so-called trick?" Siegfried questioned him.

"The secret behind your apparent immortality isn't anything occult, despite what you'd have others believe." Shirou confidently accused him. "I noticed it the first time I hit you. Despite seemingly getting a direct hit, I felt no impact from the blow."

"Meaning what?" Siegfried asked.

"Even amateurs know that when you land a punch, you feel a bit of recoil in your fist all the way to your shoulder in some cases, but I felt nothing; it's like I touched you but didn't connect, except I didn't understand how that could be, so I kept attacking to gather more information and after landing all those consecutive hits, I finally pieced it together." Shirou stated confidently. "Your trick is a form of Martial Arts."

"Martial Arts?" Now, Siegfried sounded a bit intrigued.

"Tai Chi is an Art that involves self-defense and counterattacks; it's a soft-style centered around redirecting the flow of your opponent's attacks while the user remains controlled and balanced, but what you're doing deviates from that style into something unique. You anticipate your opponent's attack and relax your whole body right at the moment of contact, then, with a mix of balance and your own flexibility, you shift your body to make it look like they hit you, but it actually slides past you." Shirou dissected the nature of his style. "You hit the ground to make them think they hit you, and when they see you get back up without a scratch, it feeds into their fear that you really are immortal. The psychological damage that their attacks aren't working causes your opponents to become more desperate, and that makes them easier to read, falling deeper under your spell."

Siegfried said nothing and processed everything Shirou had said. After that, he smiled and gave him a small clap of applause.

"Well done, truly, you are my enemy, but I must applaud you." Siegfried gave him honest praise. "No one has ever understood my art so eloquently, especially in the heat of battle. I must ask, have you seen this method somewhere before?"

"A while back in the Philippines, I saw a few fighters use similar defensive techniques; they used the flexibility in their muscles and joints to twist their necks before punches landed, and had their opponents' fists just slide past their face, creating the illusion of being hit but taking no damage." Shirou explained. "But, I never thought someone could do the same with their whole body."

Shirou was actually much more impressed than he outwardly appeared. While it was true that Siegfried's style was possible theoretically, actually pulling it off was a Herculean task. In order to successfully divert the damage of an enemy's hit, Siegfried had to see the attack coming and time it just right to relax his body at the moment of impact, which meant that if his timing were off by even a second, he would take the hit while coming defenseless and suffer the full damage. It was a high-risk, low-return fighting style, and yet, he succeeded every time as if it were easy.

The only way that he could do that is if Siegfried had the depth perception and reaction time so great that he could read the timing and distance of his opponent's attack so well that he could fully grasp their reach and point of impact almost immediately. He could memorize the rhythm of every attack thrown at him so much that he could easily respond and counter. Meaning, Siegfried's reaction time was razor sharp, and his depth perception was otherworldly; as far as Shirou could tell, Siegfried's talent for fighting far surpassed any other member of Ragnarok he had seen until this point.

"No wonder he's ranked above Hermit." Shirou outwardly thought, deciding to kick things up a notch.

"I'm sure you understand by now, you won't be able to stop using conventional methods or standard techniques." Siegfried proclaimed.

"I guess I have to freestyle then." Shirou replied with a smirk.

Shirou changed his stance. He started bobbing his head a bit like a boxer, but went further and started moving his whole torso, and instead of moving back and forth, he appeared to be moving in a circular motion. Not only that, he was rotating his shoulders, matching the rhythm of his body to the pace of his arms.

"Hmm?" Siegfried noticed the change in his movements and became suspicious. "His rhythm has changed. I don't recognize that stance. Even so, I cannot remain complacent!"

This time, Siegfried went on the offensive; he charged in and swung his arm back before throwing a palm strike at Shirou's head. Shirou responded by shifting to the side and throwing off Siegfried's balance by hitting him with a shoulder tackle before knocking him to the ground with a slam.

"Gugh!" Siegfried let out a gasp of air as he actually felt the impact this time.

"Ha, I wonder, how long has it been since you felt real damage?" Shirou taunted him with confidence. "Hopefully your 'immortality' has dulled your pain threshold."

Siegfried shot back up from the ground and moved back. He dusted himself off and sneered at Shirou, now cautious at his change in style.

"I was right, I've encountered countless Martial Arts users before, but I've never seen what you're doing now. What is that style?" Siegfried questioned him.

"I'm not surprised you don't know it; it'd be stranger if you did." Shirou sarcastically reassured him. "You won't find it anywhere in Japan. I picked this up overseas; they call it Systema."

"Systema?" Siegfried repeated, still surprised.

Systema — Originating as a Russian military Martial Art, it's a form of practical fighting that focuses on how to handle certain situations that may come up in hand-to-hand combat. There are no pre-choreographed patterns in Systema; instead, fighters mix flexible movements, starting from a relaxed stance, to counter their opponent's attacks and suppress them. Aikido and Systema are often compared to each other.

"Systema isn't just effective in throwing off my opponent's offense, but because it has no fixed patterns, you can't anticipate my next move." Shirou informed, still confident. "Can you still fight me without grasping my rhythm?"

"Hmm…" Siegfried looked intrigued by Shirou's Systema. "A flexible counter-based style that emphasizes relaxation and has no conventional method patterns. I'm genuinely surprised. I never thought I'd face a Russian style, especially not one that bears many similarities to my own." He admitted, further impressed. "You truly surpass all expectations. It's like facing a phantom version of myself. But, that is precisely why I cannot lose!"

Siegfried moved in and attempted to set the pace with a right cross at Shirou's head, but Shirou ducked his body to evade the punch. Siegfried followed up with a chop with his left hand, which Shirou avoided with a step back. Siegfried then caught him with a right kick that connected with Shirou's midsection, but he was mistaken as Shirou dodged at the last minute and used the stepping method to circle behind Siegfried.

Siegfried reacted right away and turned around to hit Shirou with a palm strike, which Shirou dodged with a back step before he chained that into a side step to move into Siegfried's right flank. Shirou then leaped into a jump kick that hit Siegfried in the head and knocked him back. Shirou saw that his opponent was vulnerable and dashed forward for his next attack. Siegfried saw that he was preparing a palm strike aimed at his head, and with no time to dodge, he brought his arms to defend his head. Shirou responded by alerting the line of his attack and thrusting his palm into Siegfried's neck.

"Augh!" Siegfried coughed out in pain as Shirou's attack struck his throat. Fortunately, it was that deep, but it hurt enough that he doubled over and was gasping for air. "Agh! Gugh!"

Shirou moved into a quick step-in. He closed the distance right away before he zipped past Siegfried and circled him to make him struggle to figure out where he would attack next. Shirou then moved in with a closed fist.

"Match the timing!" Siegfried thought as he prepared to counter.

His guess was wrong, however, as Shirou's overhand punch was a feint, and his real strike was a sharp, low kick that hit Siegfried's kneecap.

"Why?!" Siegfried inwardly cried out through the pain. "Why couldn't I see that coming?! Again?!"

Siegfried's gift for being able to read his opponent's rhythm was working against him. The more in tune a fighter is with their style, the more difficult it is to ignore their natural instincts. Shirou's timing, rhythm, and the speed of his attacks constantly change with each attack, and the inconsistency of it all is messing up Siegfried's ability to read his movements. All he can do is respond to the incoming attacks, but that makes him fall deeper into Shirou's pace.

Unlike all his previous fights, this time Siegfried was the one facing psychological damage. He found himself unable to relax, which made it harder for him to use his style to nullify the damage of his opponent's attacks.

Shirou came at him with a chopping right that sliced at him like a guillotine, but Siegfried avoided it with a sway back.

"I thought I saw that attack coming?" Siegfried thought, struggling to recompose. "So why—?"

His thoughts were cut off when Shirou used the distraction of his last attack to hit Siegfried in the chin with an uppercut. Shirou continued his assault by preparing to swing a kick at his disjoined foe.

"A roundhouse kick!" Siegfried saw the attack coming. "I'll dodge and counter!"

To his surprise, he didn't have to, as the kick failed to reach him. Shirou's kick was off by a few inches and sailed past harmlessly. It seemed as though he misread the distance, but this was another calculated move to throw off Siegfried's rhythm as he used the momentum of the kick to spin his body and hit Siegfried in the face with a backhand punch.

Siegfried took the full brunt of that punch and was rattled as Shirou struck again with a high knee-kick aimed at Siegfried's chin. The damage would have been severe if Siegfried hadn't lifted his arms in time to block the kick, but Shirou used that to fuel his next attack and threw a heavy punch at one of Siegfried's arms, damaging his forearm.

The pain caused him to lower his arms for a moment, and Shirou took full advantage of that moment by hitting Siegfried in the face with a savage overhead chopping right.

WHAM!

The punch tore into Siegfried's cheek and knocked his head back before he was lifted off the ground and hit the ground with a thud. That last punch shook him to his core. He was struck by the full weight of Shirou's fist, something that brought down many other fighters without fail, and it seemed this would be no different.

Shirou stepped back and stood over his opponent as if he were waiting for him to get back up again, although it appeared that the fight had been settled.

-O-

Back with Miu, 20# stood over her confidently after electrocuting her with her stun rod.

"Hahaha, so what did you think about my custom stun rod, blondie?" 20# gloated while twirling her weapon. "Oh, I think it's pretty cool, I wouldn't try to get up or anything 'cause it takes even the biggest guys at least an hour to get over my attacks. This rod comes in handy when chicks try to get too close to Loki, forget it, ladies."

To her surprise, though, Miu still had the ability to move. She clenched her fist before lifting her body from the floor and gave 20# a vengeful glare.

"Whoa, how'd you do that? It's impossible." 20# fearfully stepped back. "No way, you shouldn't be able to move."

Miu started winding up her arm as her eyes lit up like the Masters of Ryozanpaku when they were serious. Not wasting any time, she shot forth and hit 20# with a vicious uppercut to her stomach that knocked the air out of her lungs before she hit the floor and lost consciousness.

"It'll take a lot more than that to keep me down." Miu declared with her hands on her hips before she nervously looked over her torn-up jumpsuit. "That brat got me pretty good. I shouldn't have been so careless. My outfit is totally ruined. If Grandpa finds out about this, he'll kill me. I'll just have to keep this secret, and I've gotta make dinner before anyone notices I'm gone."

Miu climbed on top of the truck and took off her hair clip. She then unfolded it to reveal a hidden blade the size of a finger. Miu raised her arm and jammed the blade into the windshield of the truck.

"What the hell is going on?!" The driver cried out at seeing the windshield slashed.

"Damnit!" Loki cursed in the passenger seat as he knew what this meant.

After craving an X-shaped cut in the glass, Miu leaped back and kicked through the windshield, shattering the glass and breaking into the truck. Her action not only knocked out the driver but also caused the truck to completely lose control as it veered off its straight path and crashed into a nearby chain-linked fence.

With the truck stopped, Miu leaped through the broken windshield and aimed a kick at Loki, but he slipped out of the way and dashed out of the passenger seat, safely escaping the truck.

Now that 20# was unconscious and the driver was dizzy and barely awake after the crash, Loki was all alone against Miu, who leaped out of the truck and stood in front of him.

"You're not getting away this time." Miu warned him.

"Grr, you really did it this time." Loki was pissed at her.

"Miu!"

They both turned when they heard Kenichi's voice. Kenichi and all the others were nearby and running toward them. Miu was happy to see them, but Loki looked angrier.

"You guys finally caught up." Miu addressed them.

"Don't say it like that." Kenichi complained as they stopped after reaching her. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep up with you when you take off like that?"

"Hate to tell you this, but not everyone can keep up with a moving car." Haruto pointed out.

"Ahaha, sorry, I guess I got carried away." Miu sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.

"Honestly, I doubt we would have found you at all if you hadn't made all that noise." Takeda noted, not upset.

"Heh, now we have Loki isolated, this is the perfect chance to take out two of the Deadly Fists in one night." Nijima proclaimed mischievously. "Hear that, you don't stand a chance against these numbers! Say your prayers, Loki!"

Loki just stood there looking irate and deep in thought. It seemed like he was trying to think of a way to escape this situation, but right now, that appeared impossible. However, an opportunity came to him as Kenichi stepped forward.

"Wait." Kenichi got their attention. "Let me fight him, alone."

"Huh?!" Nijima looked flabbergasted. "What are you talking about? This is a rare moment where victory is guaranteed. Why shouldn't we take it?"

"Oh, come on, as if anyone but you would do something sleezy and underhanded like that!" Kenichi snapped back at him before facing the others. "We left Shirou to fight Siegfried alone, and right now, I know he's giving it his all to win that fight, so I want to do the same. As his friend, I want to be the one to beat Loki."

"Kenichi…" Miu smiled at his conviction.

"Ha, oh well, I was hoping to take Loki, but what can I do when you look like that." Takeda humbly gave in. "Give him hell, buddy."

"He's all yours." Ukita stepped back as well.

"Don't hold anything back." Haruto tapped his shoulder.

"Thanks, you guys, I won't lose this." Kenichi promised as he stepped forward to confront Loki.

Nijima was the only one who didn't look happy but didn't say anything. "Well, if he wins, that's good, but even if he loses, the others can finish the job; either way, I have nothing to lose."

Loki's cocky smile returned as he faced Kenichi. "Ha, I actually thought I was in trouble back there, but I forgot how idiots like you are always obsessed with doing things the clean and heroic way. Once I beat you, I'll make my escape."

"Don't be so sure." Kenichi got into his stance and narrowed his eyes. "I'm putting an end to this right now, Loki."

"Is that so?" Loki smirked and raised his fists. "Let's see you try."

Kenichi charged forward while Loki braced himself. Once Kenichi closed the distance, he began with a flurry of punches, which Loki dodged for a bit before he reached out and grabbed Kenichi's arm. Seeing an opportunity, Loki smirked and swung his other fist before revealing a hidden dagger in his hand.

"He's got a dagger!" Ukita urgently realized.

"Kenichi!" Takeda called out with concern.

But their worries were unfounded as Kenichi used his experience and training at Ryozanpaku to easily react to Loki's hidden weapon and used his free hand to chop the dagger out of his grasp.

"I won't fall for a dumb trick like that!" Kenichi warned him.

"Oh yeah?" Loki remained cocky and stepped back. "Well, I'm just getting started."

Loki reached into his coat and pulled out a stun baton like the one 20# used. But before he could use it, Kenichi moved in and struck first with his own offense.

YAMAZUKI!

Kenichi used his signature Karate technique and punched Loki in the stomach.

KAO LOI!

Kenichi, now in close range, grabbed the back of Loki's head and slammed Loki's face into a Muay Thai knee kick.

UGYUU HAITOU!

While Loki was reeling from the pain, Kenichi followed up with a Kenpo-style headbutt that knocked Loki off balance.

KUCHIKI DAOSHI!

Kenichi finished it off with a Judo move where he ducked down and grabbed Loki's ankle before flipping him off his feet, causing him to fall backward and hit the ground hard, headfirst with an audible thud.

With that, Loki was knocked out, and Kenichi stood over him victoriously.

"He did it!" Takeda pumped his fist in triumph.

"Alright, he really took down Loki." Ukita was pleased as well.

"Kenichi!" Miu went to congratulate him. "That was amazing."

When he saw Miu, Kenichi lowered his stance and became bashful. "Oh, ah, really? You think so?" He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah, you used all the different Martial Arts styles you learned at the dojo." Miu informed him. "Did you plan that?"

"Uh, actually, I was really thinking about it." Kenichi confessed, his gaze fixed on his hands. "It just felt so natural."

"He's grown; he can pull off high-level techniques without having to think about it now." Miu thought with pride.

"I hate to rain on your parade, but doesn't this situation feel familiar to anyone?" Nijima pointed out, getting everyone's attention. "It feels a little suspicious how easy that was."

"He's right, check his face." Haruto instructed them. "We need to know if it's the real one."

Ukita leaned down and removed Loki's goggles. Unfortunately, once Takeda and Ukita saw his face, they shook their heads in dismay.

"Nah, it's another fake." Takeda regretfully informed them. "Loki fooled us again."

"I'm pretty sure it was the real Loki we saw when we first arrived." Haruto reasoned. "He must have switched with a decoy while we were chasing him."

"He used a fake to make us chase after the wrong target." Nijima realized with irritation. "The real Loki's gotta be long gone by now, damn him."

Kenichi looked frustrated at this result and clenched his fists tightly. "I can't believe this, all that just for him to be another fake, my efforts meant nothing."

"That's not true." Miu argued, hoping to console him. "You didn't know he was a fake beforehand; the courage you had to face Loki was real."

"She's right, don't sell yourself short, Kenichi." Takeda agreed with a thumbs up. "You had the guts to take on the Fourth Fist, that's something to be proud of."

"You guys…" Kenichi didn't know what to say, but was touched by their words and felt his spirits lifted. "Thanks a lot."

"Well, since that's done, let's head back." Haruto suggested. "My brother's still back there."

"Hmm, you guys don't think he's still fighting Siegfried, do you?" Nijima wondered.

"No way, we've been gone for a while, there's no chance they're done by now." Ukita doubted it.

"Normally, I'd agree, but remember, Siegfried is immortal; ordinary thinking doesn't apply to him." Nijima reminded them, creating an ominous tension in the air.

"I never had any doubts that he'd win, but I still think we should be there." Haruto urged the others.

"Yeah, we'd better get going." Kenichi spoke for all of them.

With that, the group took off in the direction they had come and made their way back to where they had left Shirou.

-O-

Meanwhile, contrary to their thoughts, the fight was still going on, but the situation was hardly dire, for Shirou at least.

Siegfried was breathing heavily as his body was bruised, and he was barely able to hold his ground. Because he couldn't follow Shirou's rhythm, he was vulnerable to Shirou's relentless offense, and now he had been beaten up to a degree that he wasn't sure he'd ever experienced before.

BAM!

Shirou moved in and struck Siegfried with a powerful hook that tore into Siegfried's elbow, causing the Ragnarok member to grimace in anguish.

"The damage isn't too severe, but I can't see it coming…!" Siegfried thought despite the pain. "I don't know how much more my body can withstand."

Shirou didn't let him rest and let loose a barrage of punches, unleashing a flurry of left and right jabs at Siegfried. Siegfried was locked on both sides and couldn't escape, so he had no choice but to raise his guard and bob and weave around the relentless swarm of punches.

But Shirou didn't limit himself to punches and a high kick at Siegfried, which he avoided with a sway back. However, that kick was a feint as Siegfried attempted to counterattack with a palm strike at Shirou's head, but Shirou easily dodged and swung another kick at Siegfried's exposed abdomen. At the last second, Siegfried stopped his kick by lowering his elbow, which connected with Shirou's ankle and diverted the angle of his kick enough that it gave Siegfried the opportunity to step back out of range.

It looked like he was keeping up, but sadly, all he was really doing was running away, and Shirou wouldn't let him escape. Shirou stepped in and aimed a sweeping low kick at Siegfried's back foot, but he lifted his foot and avoided it. But that was only a distraction, which Shirou took advantage of and hit him in the cheek with a shallow straight left before he chained that into his next move.

With both hands, he grabbed hold of Siegfried's shoulders before pulling him forward and slamming a vicious knee kick into his stomach. The force of the kick doubled him over and knocked all the air out of his lungs.

"Phewwww…" Siegfried gasped out.

After exhaling and a stream of air, he planted both feet firmly on the ground before he lowered both his arms and kept his head down as though he was unresponsive.

"He stopped running?" Shirou noticed as he prepared his next move. "Did his strength fully give out? In that case, I'd better finish this."

Now that his foe was no longer capable of resisting, Shirou resolved to lay the finishing blow and dashed forward. Siegfried made no move to defend himself and remained frozen in place as Shirou closed the distance. Shirou stopped at point-blank range and shifted his weight into his right arm before he swung upward and threw a soaring uppercut at Siegfried's chin.

MODULATION! (AMPLIFY)

WHAM!

Shirou stopped one inch short of reaching Siegfried's chin; instead, he gasped in pain, and he felt a sudden burst and needed a moment before he lowered his gaze and saw Siegfried's palm spearing into his chest.

"Very good…" Siegfried coldly muttered with a sharp gaze aimed at his opponent. "That truly was an excellent melody!"

With his opponent momentarily stunned, Siegfried then twirled past Shirou and was behind him before he struck him with a powerful chop to the back of his neck.

"Gugh!" Shirou felt a jolt through his whole body.

He turned around to punch Siegfried in the face, but that last blow slowed him down, and Siegfried had no problem knocking his fist aside before he countered with a barrage of palm strikes all over Shirou's torso. Siegfried's blows rained down like rounds from a machine gun, tearing apart his defense. As he relentlessly let loose his spearing attacks, he finished it with one final chop across Shirou's face that sent him flying before he hit the ground.

Siegfried stood tall as he looked down on his foe while he kept his arms outstretched. "Lalala~ Like a pendulum, this battle has swung back in my direction."

Shirou pulled himself up from the ground while gripping his stomach. "…How?"

"Your Systema was indeed a unique brand of Martial Arts, but still Martial Arts all the same, which means even with its lack of pre-set patterns and focus on practicality, it's something you were taught and trained to learn, so it still has a rhythm." Siegfried pointed out, which Shirou knew was correct. "It took much longer than usual for me to memorize it, but I still did, regardless, and now that I know your rhythm, Systema will no longer be effective against me."

Shirou got back on his feet and glared at Siegfried. "I figured this would happen, but I had hoped to finish this before it did."

"Lalala~ Lalala! Despair, that is the symphony that fills the body! Now, the time for our Tempestoso has arrived!" Siegfried announced with dramatic flair.

"He's a lot together than I expected from someone who hardly ever takes real damage." Shirou thought with mild annoyance before he made a decision. "Well, fortunately, Systema was just one of the cards I had to play."

Shirou charged forward, but Siegfried was already prepared. Shirou threw a straight punch, Siegfried took and nullified the damage again as he twirled and used the momentum to throw a chop at Shirou.

"I told you I've already grasped your rhythm!"

But Shirou surprised him by parrying his chop with an elbow.

"What?" Siegfried was taken aback.

That sudden action caught him off guard, and Shirou used that opening to hit him with a left jab, followed by a high kick that hit Siegfried's face, and chained that into a tight hook to his cheek.

"His rhythm changed?" Siegfried realized. "This is Muay Thai."

It was true, Shirou had changed his approach to Muay Thai techniques specifically. If Siegfried had a full grasp of his Martial Arts style, he could throw off his timing by shifting to a different style. However, Siegfried only had a hard time memorizing the rhythm of Systema because he had never seen it before; by comparison, memorizing the rhythm of a commonly known style, such as Muay Thai, was hardly a challenge.

RONDO! (RECURRING)

Siegfried landed a counter palm strike on Shirou when he came in for a straight right. But Shirou responded by shifting his feet with the stepping method and got into Siegfried's right flank. Shirou surprised him again by hitting him with a pushing strike to throw him off balance before he grabbed hold of Siegfried's wrist with a tight grip. He finished the move by throwing him hard to the ground.

As Siegfried hit the ground hard and landed flat on his back, one thought immediately sparked in his mind. "Judo?"

Shirou had changed his style again. Now he swapped Muay Thai with Judo, and he prepared his final blow by pulling back his fist in order to hit Siegfried with a punch to the head while he was on the ground to knock him out.

ACCELERANDO! (ACCELERATE)

Siegfried was faster and saved himself by using his helicopter kicking technique again, forcing Shirou to jump back to avoid the hit.

Siegfried got back to his feet, but wouldn't give him time to think of breath, as he was already in position for his next attack, and threw a series of punches at Siegfried. While Siegfried could avoid taking damage, the continuous barrage left him no opening to counter, and he could only defend. Siegfried, however, recognized the stance and rhythm of these punches.

"Now it's Karate?" Siegfried noticed the change again. "He keeps changing his rhythm!"

"Siegfried, I'm glad." Shirou thought while attacking, knowing his strategy was working. "Unless you were truly talented, you wouldn't have even noticed the differences… Fighters like Miu and Kisara are the type who aggressively attack without regard for their opponents' styles; on the other hand, Takeda and Hermit are the type who remain calm under pressure and grasp their opponents' style before developing countermeasures as the fight progresses. Both types are fun to go against, but since I know you fall in the latter category, that means I know you'll fall right into my trap. So, I just need to keep luring you in."

Shirou continued to press the attack, keeping Siegfried on the back foot until he changed his style again. After throwing one final Karate punch, he now had Siegfried focused firmly on his arms, so he had neglected to watch out for his legs, which Shirou took advantage of and hit him with a rising high kick. Siegfried evaded the kick by stepping back, but Shirou had planned that and moved in.

But, unlike before, when he would charge in a straight line, his movements resembled Kensei's, where he would use his speed to move in a zigzag pattern to escape his opponent's line of sight and dash into their blind spot, which he did.

Shirou hit Siegfried with a series of kempo strikes on seven different parts of his body. While none of them were very powerful on their own right, piled on top of each other at a fast pace, they clearly damaged Siegfried. Shirou followed up with another onslaught of attacks, but this time, Shirou surprised Siegfried more than ever by using a style he was familiar with. Shirou started swinging his limbs like they were steel whips and struck Siegfried at long range.

"Impossible!?" Siegfried could hardly believe it while taking hits. "This is… Hermit's Piqua Quan?!"

In terms of sharpness and mastery, Shirou couldn't hold a candle to the original, but this rough version of Piqua Quan was still strong enough to be a threat to Siegfried. But not only was it damaging him, Siegfried was also struggling to grasp the timing. Because he had seen Hermit fight and knew his style, he already had a grasp on the rhythm of his Piqua Quan, but Shirou's rougher version was offbeat and uncoordinated, leaving him off rhythm and taking the brunt of Shirou's attacks.

"He's switching so fast, whenever I think I'm close to figuring out his rhythm, it changes into something different." Siegfried thought as he struggled to keep up as Shirou hit him with a whipping strike in the stomach. "It's like I'm fighting more than one person!"

The last blow made Siegfried's body lean forward while he lowered his head. Shirou capitalized on that opportunity to move in from long range to mid range and cocked back his fist before he pivoted his front foot, shifted his stance, and hit Siegfried in the chin with a ferocious uppercut that rocked him from head to toe and lifted his whole body upward.

Siegfried was so dazed by that last blow that his consciousness began to darken, and his vision blurred; he even felt he was seeing double.

"It's not just different rhythms… Even timing and angles change and shift…" Siegfried realized through his waning consciousness. "I can't even hope to keep up anymore."

The reason why Siegfried could no longer stop Shirou's attacks was that Shirou purposely used as many different styles as possible to disassemble Siegfried's advantage and turn it into a disadvantage. Siegfried's style is all about memorizing his opponent's rhythm and using that to anticipate and counter their attacks, thereby diverting the impact to nullify the damage. However, there is a limit to what a person can memorize all at once. Shirou used this fact to overload Siegfried's learning capacity.

It's impossible to try and be prepared for every possible attack; by constantly overwhelming him with so many different rhythms, Siegfried got lost in all the options as he struggled to keep up. Siegfried felt himself falling behind with every change in Shirou's style, and little by little, the damage started getting through until now, where he could no longer keep up and was feeling the full weight behind Shirou's blows.

Shirou wasn't done as he pulled back his fist and prepared for a final blow. Before, when he had fought Hermit, he attempted a technique that the aspects of Seiken that caused heavy damage to the opponent from the outside, with the Hakkyoken that caused explosive damage to the opponent from the inside, but ultimately, he failed to do so, and only managed to deliver a rough but powerful punch. Ever since that day, Shirou had constantly been training and practicing to master that same technique to the point where he could use it in a real fight—A final attack that could end the fight in one blow.

It took a lot of time and repetition, but eventually, Shirou finally managed to master the new technique. Now, with Siegfried dazed after that last uppercut and the center of his body entirely vulnerable to attack, Shirou knew this was the perfect time to use it. He fixed his stance, now a combination of Karate and Kung Fu, and focused all his power on his fist and hit Siegfried directly in the midsection.

TENSEIKEN!

GOOOOOON!

Siegfried was rocked to the core. That last hit felt like nothing he had ever experienced before; it was as if an explosive impact blast threw him and reverberated from the center of his body down to the tips of his fingers and toes. The weight behind the punch blew him away. Siegfried flew back a few feet and was heading for the ground, but he knew this time he would not rise again. Even so, his mind was racing.

"I was wrong before; it wasn't that his rhythm was changing, it was that there were so many different rhythms playing in harmony." Siegfried felt a wave of realization. "So many rhythms coming together to create a brilliant melody… It's like—"

Siegfried visualized his thoughts and had a clear picture of it in his mind. He saw a grandiose stage with a large band of musicians all playing different instruments, and yet they played together to make a harmoniously beautiful song. The front row, the back, the woodwinds, the strings, and the brass—All of their rhythms were played to perfection, and the one leading the whole thing was the conductor. His ability to keep every individual rhythm moving in harmony was beyond words and a testament to his brilliance.

"—Like a grand orchestra… Worthy of even Mozart!" Siegfried finished his thought.

THUD!

Siegfried's body hit the ground with an audible thud, and even though his consciousness was about to fade, he cared little about the pain he was feeling through his body, as all he could focus on was the wave of inspiration he was suddenly experiencing as he breathed out.

"I have to… Get to work on my new song…" Siegfried whispered before he blacked out.

With that, the fight was truly over this time. Siegfried the Fifth Fist of Ragnarok lay on the ground, defeated. For some, you'd be forgiven for feeling that he would rise to his feet again any second, but as the moments ticked by, it was apparent that he was down for good this time. But Shirou was already certain of that before his foe had even touched the ground.

Shirou exhaled and wiped some sweat off his brow. After all that trepidation, the fierce battle was finally over, and he approached his fallen opponent. The night that was so loud a moment ago was now quiet enough that his footsteps echoed; he didn't bother checking if Siegfried was all right because that wasn't his concern. Shirou merely reached for Siegfried's hands and removed both of his Ragnarok gloves before putting them on his own hands as proof of his victory.

"The Immortal Siegfried." Shirou murmured as he turned to walk away. "He really was an incredible opponent. I haven't had a fight like that in years."

With that, Shirou departed, leaving Siegfried behind, and headed toward the direction the others went.

-O-

A short while later, Shirou made his way through the warehouse district. There wasn't much noise anymore, so he assumed either the others had chased Loki away or the fighting had already ended; either way, he stopped when he arrived near a clearing that was beside the harbor.

"All the ships are gone." Shirou mused as he stared at the ocean.

"Shirou!"

Shirou looked when he heard Kenichi's voice and saw the rest of the group heading toward him.

"There you guys are." Shirou noted as they stopped in front of him.

"Shirou, the fact that you're here means that…?" Kenichi guessed.

"I won?" Shirou smirked, lifted his hands, and showed off the gloves he took from Siegfried. "See for yourself."

"You beat Siegfried." Miu voiced with joy.

"Awesome." Ukita pumped his fist.

"Never had a doubt." Takeda congratulated him with a pat on the shoulder.

"What about you guys? Did you catch Loki?" Shirou asked them, and some of them became disappointed.

"Unfortunately, Loki slipped away before we even noticed. The one we were chasing was another fake he prepared in advance." Nijima answered, obviously irked at being outsmarted again.

Shirou clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Can't be helped then, it's enough of a victory to have taken out one of the Eight Fists, we handle Loki next time."

"Speaking of which, how was Siegfried?" Haruto stepped forward and asked curiously. "Was he as strong as you were expecting?"

"Maybe even stronger." Shirou confessed, having enjoyed the bout. "He may have been the strongest Ragnarok member I've faced thus far, including Valkyrie and Hermit."

"Seriously, he was that good?" Kenichi was surprised at that assessment.

"Definitely, he was a rare one of a kind genius." Shirou praised his opponent. "I honestly didn't expect I'd have such a fight on my hands; he had an answer for my Systema."

"You used Systema against him?" Haruto was both surprised and irked. "Ah, I wanted to see that."

"Maybe next time, though, I don't know when I have to use Systema again." Shirou admitted.

"Exactly, that's why I'm disappointed I didn't see it this time." Haruto pointed out.

Most of the others were confused as Ukita whispered to Takeda. "Uh, what's Systema?"

"You're asking me, how should I know?" Takeda shrugged and looked at Kenichi. "You have any idea?"

"Uh, no." Kenichi nervously scratched his cheek. "I'm guessing it's a kind of Martial Arts style?"

"Systema—It's a type of Russian Martial Arts that is based on practical fighting and doesn't depend on orthodox or fixed patterns." Nijima explained in textbook fashion.

"Russian Martial Arts?" Ukita was surprised by that part. "You guys have been to Russia?"

"No, what are you nuts?" Shirou quickly denied. "But my Dad has, and he taught me some of the things he picked up over there."

"Seriously, where has your Dad not been?" Kenichi sarcastically asked. "Still, I'm surprised you knew about it, Nijima."

"Ha, don't compare my intellect with yours." Nijima bragged with a laugh. "I have a much deeper wellspring of knowledge that you muscle heads could never imagine."

While he was bragging, Kenichi noticed the PDA tucked in Nijima's pocket. "Hey! You just looked it up on your PDA, didn't you!?"

He squeaked at Kenichi's accusation as the others stared at him.

"Yeah, he's right!" Ukita pointed angrily at him. "Quit attacking like some kinda genius, you didn't know what it was either!"

"Yeah, wellspring of knowledge, my ass, without the internet, you're no smarter than us!" Takeda insulted him.

"Ah, shut up!" Nijima snapped back at them. "Just 'cause I don't know some random trivia doesn't mean I'm as dumb as you guys!"

While the four of them kept bickering, Shirou turned to Miu and sighed. "You make sure Kenichi gets back to the dojo."

"Sure." Miu accepted his request, knowing that he could sense this would take a while, and he didn't feel like waiting.

"Come on, let's go home." Shirou addressed Haruto.

"Hmm." Haruto nodded with no argument, and the Tsukiharu brothers departed the scene.

-O-

Later, at a place called the Dokobana shooting range, Loki was standing casually by the shooting area. This is where he escaped to after fleeing the warehouse area, and now he was waiting patiently for news of the expected victory of Siegfried.

He wasn't alone, though, as the First Fist and leader of Ragnarök—Odin—was also there and placed to use skeet shooting as part of his training.

Odin is a fair-skinned boy who is near-sighted. He wears round frameless glasses and a white suit with a light yellow cravat. He has purple hair that has grown into a mass of strands. Though he looks thin and slender because of his suit, he is rather tall and has a well-developed, muscular build.

Soon enough, 20# arrived and ran toward Loki.

"Loki! Terrible news!" She cried out before informing Loki of the results.

"Impossible!" Loki grimaced in frustration after hearing what had happened. "How could he have defeated Siegfried?"

"That's not all, big boobed girl kicked my butt!" 20# cried, though she was ignored.

"Damn!" Loki crackled his knuckles in anger. "Can't wait to get my hands on that punk. He ruined the perfect plan."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Loki, things not going your way. Did you underestimate your enemy?" Odin sarcastically consoled him while fixing his glasses. "So, who is this formidable opponent of yours?"

"Shirou Tsukiharu." Loki answered with a frown.

Suddenly, after he heard that name, Odin stopped as a wave of thoughts blasted through his mind. His shock came at a bad time, though, as the four skeet shooters went off at the same time and fired four disks at him in four different directions. Still, Odin wouldn't be caught lacking and immediately reacted by shattering one of the disks with his left hand while also shattering another one with his right. At the same time, he jumped and did the splits to kick and smash the remaining two disks with his kicks. Thus, he hit all four targets at the same time.

Now that that was over, Odin could refocus on the name he had just heard, and it caused him to look up at the night sky, deep in thought due to the fact that it was a name he knew quite well.

"Shirou Tsukiharu?" Odin thought with wonder and nostalgia. "Shirou, don't tell me it's him."

—…

And that's the chapter.

First of all, I didn't mean for this chapter to take so long. But it took much longer to get everything done than I expected, and time kept getting away from me. I'm just relieved I finished it.

Now on to the fight, I decided to include a breakdown of Siegfried's style, as the canon never really explained how Siegfried is immortal; everyone just chose not to question it. In this case, I wanted to make it clear just how difficult it is to actually fight like that, and only he can make it look easy because he's that gifted a fighter, and nobody really understood that—Siegfried is genuinely one of a kind.

I also wanted to emphasize that Siegfried's entire style is dependent on reading his opponent's rhythm, and without that, he can't stop the damage. That's why he was such a terrible match-up against Berserker, who doesn't have a rhythm. Shirou tried to defeat him by using a rhythm he had never seen before, and after he adapted to that, he overwhelmed him with so many rhythms that he couldn't keep up. I thought that was a better solution than the one Kenichi came up with.

Speaking of which, I decided to have Kenichi defeat a fake Loki so he would have the chance to use his special technique, where he combines his different Martial Arts into one combo, since he didn't get the opportunity to do it back at the Matsue Lark.

Remember, he told Takeda he wanted a style that combines aspects of all Martial Arts. Unlike Kenichi, who builds his style through training and repetition, Shirou learns through experience and combat. He learns from both the opponents he fights and his friends, and grows from every encounter. Even this fight with Siegfried will add to his growth.

Finally, as you saw, Shirou perfected the technique he first attempted on Hermit. That move will be the first of many techniques Shirou will develop as the story continues, and like this one, they will all be something he creates through trying something different and unorthodox.

Anyway, thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed. If you want more, leave a review. If you liked the story, click the follow/favorite, and as always, have an awesome day.