บท 25: Ragnarök
Releasing a deep breath, I crouched down, stretching my left leg out fully, leaning my body weight entirely upon my right foot. Once that side was done, I shifted to my opposite leg, stretching out my other.
Around me, people dressed in fancy and expensive suits and dresses talked excitedly. Glances were spared at the odd people like myself wearing the bare minimum in terms of clothing. Those that wore either very little or very loose and cheap clothing. Why wouldn't we draw their attention, not only did we stand out, but we were the main attraction of the evening. The reason they all came here in this old rundown warehouse.
"Are you ready?" Kaede asked, standing close by and looking through her phone with a frown on her beautiful face. I had only caught a glance at what was on there, but it seemed things were not going easily for the secretary. The new Gold Pleasure Group business opening in the ever-expanding town of Kouh was seeing a little struggle.
Not only under Kaede's inexperienced leadership, but also with a few rival establishments. I honestly felt bad for Kaede in a way, she wasn't a business manager and despite being dedicated, she was already at a disadvantage. The only reason she was overseeing its managing was that she was effectively my agent in a way. Rino was running a company and it was Kaede's job to see that I was properly taken care of.
Of course, thanks to my family situation, that was unnecessary. As a result, her only duty was organising worthwhile fights for me in the Kengan Association, fights that would bring profits for the Gold Pleasure Group. That didn't take much time, and so, to take up the rest of her time, Rino had named her the manager of the new establishment her company was opening in Kouh.
"Always," I replied easily.
My magic training with Ingrid was coming on quite nicely, the fact that I didn't need to do what most humans did in order to learn magic made my life that much easier. So learning the basics hadn't taken me that long and thanks to the Fallen Angel girlfriend that Issei now had, Ingrid was more than willing to push things along a little further in my training.
I was not complaining in the slightest.
That was not to say I didn't understand the importance of basics because I did. Without a strong foundation, every house was destined to crumble. I had no intention of being purely just a house, but something much grander and bigger which meant my foundations had to be even stronger. However, I also needed something to give me an advantage when fighting against enemies that could fly, something that could rip them out of the sky or attack them from a distance.
Ingrid was helping me on that front which put my mind at ease. Would it make me instantly a top contender in this world? Not in the slightest, but in Kouh I was one of the most dangerous people here, yet I wasn't unbeatable. I needed something like this that could give me that edge in every fight I enter.
"Who am I fighting?" Kaede looked at me, turning my eyes away from her pencil skirt-clad ass and up to meet her gaze before she realised just where I had been looking. If I caught a glimpse of her generous bust on the way up then I am hardly to blame, they are quite large and standout.
Kaede took a moment, checking her phone. "A member of a new company in the Kengan Association called Ragnarök. His name is simply put down as Siegfried, no given name."
Ragnarök.
So they had infiltrated the Kengan Association? Why? Did they honestly think that because they were skilled on the streets that they would do any good here? Perhaps in the lower tier fights, they might do, but this wasn't one of those days. This was a day with big money on the line and even bigger stakes. The Gold Pleasure Group had come second in the Kengan Annihilation Tournament thanks to my efforts. And when Motorhead Motors forfeited the rights to become the new Kengan Chairman, as ranked second we had effectively won.
From that tournament, despite not taking the position of Chairman for herself. Rino had massively grown the Gold Pleasure Group, they were always a powerful company, but now they were one of the biggest.
Again, that beggared the question as to why Ragnarök had agreed to this competition. Wait, did they think they could actually beat me?
I smiled at the thought, chuckling lightly.
This would be fun.
-X- Line Break -X-
His task was simple, the same given to all the Fists. Enter the Kengan Association and earn profits for Ragnarök using the funds provided to them by their leader, Odin from their mysterious backer. This fight especially was highly important for a number of reasons.
Ragnarök did not have much in the way of businesses or real estate to change hands with. Nor did they have much in the way of money. Over the course of dozens of fights, Ragnarök had been building up a sizeable pool of money and more recently, real estate with which to bet and earn more.
Tonight, Hibiki was fighting in perhaps the most important of all the fights any Fists had been a part of. Not only did they have the most bet into this that if he lost, but they would also be back to where they started. It was also against a recognised target of Ragnarök, someone who had immediately been marked before he even entered Kouh Town as to be avoided. Of course, by the time the news spread to all their members, one of their Divisional Commanders, Saizō Tsukuba went and fought him.
Though according to his words, it had not been much of a fight more of a slaughter.
Hibiki would not deny that he was nervous, especially when he looked upon the fighter he was going up against. Handsome, tall and strong. His body was toned and rippled with muscles, each of which was highly defined. Scars decorated them, yet he stood there relaxed and calm, an easy-going smile upon his face.
Hibiki did not hold the same confidence.
Even less so when he thought back to the reports on his opponent, Mikoto Hyoudou's achievements within the Kengan Association. The amount of money and other goods he had earned for the Gold Pleasure Group was more than five times all the Ragnarök members had accumulated combined. Not to mention coming second within the Kengan Annihilation Tournament.
Hibiki was confident in his skills, but he wasn't so certain about the outcome of this fight.
"You can win, Siegfried." Looking over his shoulder, he nervously nodded his head at their leader, Odin. He couldn't afford to lose here, not when it would more than likely mean earning his wrath.
-X- Line Break -X-
You know, I'll give Siegfried this, he is definitely an annoying fighter, talented also. His movements wasted little energy and he had mastered the art of reading people's actions. Not many his age could claim to have done the same. But what made him the most annoying was his ability to move his body in just a way to avoid taking any serious damage.
Fighters like those were cunning.
Swinging my fist around, Siegfried wouldn't be able to dodge, that much I knew for a fact and so did he. So, in order to mitigate the damage he received, Siegfried leapt backwards, twisting his body as my knuckles scraped against his cheek.
A cut opened up, blood dribbling down lightly, but it wasn't a knockout blow. However, it didn't need to be because despite all his talent, Siegfried was terrified and a terrified fighter was already beaten.
That psychological edge meant that the moment that bell rang no more than a few minutes ago gave me the instant victory. My constant pressure and powerful strikes only ensured that Siegfried couldn't recover.
Talented? Yes.
Experienced? No.
All around us, people screamed and shouted excitedly, profanities being thrown my way more so than my opponents. Though not hard to understand, many expected this fight to be over with long ago.
Well, I could have done just that.
But I wanted to see just what exactly Siegfried had, especially considering he's meant to be part of the top brass within Ragnarök, one of their strongest fighters. I wanted to know what one of the strongest amongst their organisations amounted to and to be honest, not all that much.
Sure, he was impressive for his age.
But Saeko was much more so, even without her magic.
"I guess that's all you have," I noted throwing a few more punches and easily deflecting the counterattacks with minimal effort on my part. "You counterattack and that's it. Sure, you've got a pretty good grasp on it, but that's all. Did you really think that you could come to this level of the Kengan Association and win with those skills?"
Siegfried never said a word, eyes flickering towards the crown. I turned, looking upon the well-dressed young man who stood there. Ryūto Asamiya, Odin and the leader of Ragnarök. I recognised him instantly and to be honest, he didn't seem all that impressive. Sure he looked much stronger and more dangerous than Siegfried, but only about on the level of Imai Cosimo. Which is by no means weak, don't get me wrong.
I don't know why, I just expected more from one of the main antagonists of the History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi story.
"Oh well, I've seen all I needed to anyway." I had learnt a few things from Siegfried in this fight, analysing and watching the way he fought. Impressive sure, but he was a one-trick pony. I drew out the fight in case he had some surprises that weren't in the manga/anime up his sleeves. He didn't and so, with everything I need logged in my mind, I could end this now.
Fighting guys like him were annoying and difficult; if you didn't know how to handle them.
Unluckily for Siegfried, I knew how to handle guys like him.
I threw my punch, once more Siegfried leaping backwards and twisting his body to mitigate the damage he would receive. Except, I had not fully extended my arm nor my stride. A quick-shifting of my footing and a second explosive moment from my arm and I fully drilled my punch into his face.
The guy didn't stand a chance, skidding along the ground before skidding to a stop, unconscious.
All in all, informative but a massive disappointment.
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