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"R-Really?" Sora asked, his eyes widening in shock. Did he just hear Azazel right? There would be another dimensional rift happening? It almost sounds like a horrible joke at the worst time. "But… you told me that it'll take a long time before another rift happens, right?"

"Nope. I told you that no one knows how long it would take before another one happens again. It may take a few days, a week, a month, a year, no one knows. Space-time is interesting but unpredictable, that's why messing with it is dangerous." Azazel said, sending a knowing glance at Sora who huffed.

"Yeah, yeah, what I did was reckless and dangerous…" The keyblade wielder rolled his eyes while Azazel chuckled in amusement. He would never regret his actions, though. "I already know, you don't need to rub it in…"

"Well anyway, it's not confirmed as of now. It's only a possibility that another dimensional rift could happen in a few days. It may or may not happen, but it's best to listen to reports about possible sightings of the rift."

"Oh. So… there's no guarantee that it's going to happen…?" Sora felt strangely relieved knowing that, because if another dimensional rift happens while there was still darkness in this world as well as that Organization member, it would only be a wasted chance since he knew that can't return home just yet.

"There isn't any," Azazel shook his head. "Although I'm surprised… I actually expected you to feel all sad and down after finding out about that, since the only way you can go back to your worldline is through those rifts. Did something happen to make you feel calm about it?"

"Uhhh…" Sora grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. Better not say anything about the fallen angels since they were, uhm… official devil business. "Let's just say I have a reason to stay for a bit longer."

Azazel smirked. "Is that so? Well, I won't bother asking about that reason since it seems personal. But it's good to see you all calm about this, because it makes things easier for me to tell you about my second point, and I believe that this is something you'd definitely like to hear, Sora."

Sora raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Which is?"

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me yet, kid… one of them happens to be the fact that I have connections to some very smart people, and they were considerate enough to listen to me when I told them about you being originally from another world."

The spiky brunette widened his eyes upon hearing that Azazel willingly told his secret to other people. "W-W-What…?!"

"Now, don't worry. I made them swear not to tell anyone else about it. The reason why I told them your secret is because they're starting to develop a machine that can artificially open up a dimensional rift in our world, which will enable you to safely return to your worldline without endangering yourself."

That made the boy quickly forget about Azazel telling othe people about his secret. If Sora wasn't already shocked before, then he was definitely in disbelief now. A machine that can bring him home? It almost sounded impossible, even though he has already seen some 'impossible' products of science before like the Replicas. Somehow, he felt that a machine that can make a dimensional rift was more impossible than replicas in which you can place hearts in to be real people.

"R-Really…? They can do that?!"

"I believe that they can, since I have a lot of faith in their abilities in the scientific field. However, the actual development of the machine will take some time before it happens, because the whole team dedicated to building it has only begun their research a few days ago." Azazel adopted a more serious look, thinking about how complicated this project was. "Making a device that's strong enough to tear through space and time is really tricky and complex, so it will definitely take some time before the machine can be developed, and eventually finished."

"N-No, that's okay… they can take their time." The boy spoke, shaking his head before letting out a sigh of relief. "Honestly… just hearing that there's a way for me to get back… already makes me feel a lot better. This just means that I won't have to hope for another one of those rifts to appear when I'm finally ready to go home!"

Azazel raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Hm, you're not worried that things might go downhill? There's bound to be failures while the project is underway. Like I said, it's not easy to make a machine that's strong enough to tear through space and time and it could honestly take a long time before it'll be finished."

"That's fine. If you trust these people, I'll trust them too!" Sora grinned, as a mental image of Ansem the Wise, Ienzo, and Even formed in his mind. It was because of them that Namine, Roxas, and Xion were able to live as normal people. "I've met a few scientists myself in my worldline, and they can do some pretty crazy stuff too!"

The older man laughed in amusement. This boy really knew how to turn a situation around in the blink of an eye. "Well, if that's how you feel, then I'm sure the whole team will appreciate your patience once I tell them about this. In return, they'll do their best to build that machine without failure so that you'll be able to get home, Sora." Azazel then held out his hand. "Let's shake on it then.

"Okay!" Sora grinned, before he shook hands with the brown-haired man enthusiastically, causing both of them chuckle.

"In any case, those are the two things I wanted to tell you about, kid. Now I believe that this is still an official contract between a devil and a summoner, so… I guess you can have this for washing the dishes. Thanks for the help, by the way." Azazel placed a snow globe on the table before the keyblade wielder.

"Oh, that's right!" Sora face-palmed for a few seconds, as he temporarily forgot that he was here to complete a contract with a human. Having a nice discussion with Azazel must have made him almost forget about it. Taking the snow globe, Sora stood up from the bean bag chair and grinned nervously at the older man. "Thanks again, Azazel. I don't know how I can even repay for all you've done for me…"

"Just keep in touch. You have my number on your phone, right?" Azazel smirked as he crossed his arms.

"Yeah, and I will. See ya!" Sora summoned his keyblade and pointed it to the floor, creating the same magic circle he used to get there. Standing in the middle of the red circle, he waved his arm in farewell before disappearing.

"That kid sure is something else…" Azazel muttered to himself, before his expression turned serious. "But why does that keyblade really feel like some kind of Sacred Gear? I felt it when he went here the first time, and now I felt it again… also, why do I feel like I've seen a keyblade before?"

(Later That Night)

Sora found himself standing with Rias, Akeno, Kiba, and Koneko in front of a large mansion as the full moon shone brightly in the night sky. The group teleported here through a magic circle and spent a few minutes observing the place. Said mansion was already abandoned for decades and looked more of a haunted house at first glance. The walls were cracked and stained, while moss and vines covered most of the structure. The windows were broken and it gave Sora the gut feeling that this place was somehow infested with darkness.

He actually didn't know why they were here in the first place. After completing his pact, he teleported back to the clubroom where Rias congratulated him on a job well done, before telling him that they have an important task to do later on when Yuuto and Koneko come back from their contracts. And so he simply took a nap at the couch until his two fellow devils finally returned to the clubroom.

With his arms behind his head, Sora decided to speak out his mind. "Rias, what are we doing here?" he asked.

"We're here to do an 'order of suppression' from the Archduke, Sora." Rias answered, turning around so that she was facing her pawn. "This is very important for you to know because we'll be likely doing this again in the future. Now, I remember that you asked me about stray devils, right?"

Sora quickly remembered the second thing that their kind normally do, which was to get rid of stray devils. If Rias was bringing this up now, then that must be the reason why they were here. "Yeah. Are we going to fight a stray devil in the place?" he asked.

Rias nodded. "That's right. Stray devils are low-class devils who end up betraying their masters and go rogue. Most of them that strike out on their own act nothing more like rabid animals. And much like rabid animals, they need to be put down. One of the laws of the devil society is that if a stray devil is found, they are to be destroyed without a trace left."

"Scary…" Sora frowned upon hearing that strays betray their masters. Why would they even do that? Maybe they've gone insane or something? He felt a bit uncomfortable that they were going to kill a devil like them, but he could understand the reason why they're doing this. Plus, it was also given as an order by an Archduke. "The stray must be inside the house, then… and we're ordered to… k-kill it?" Saying that particular word left a bad taste in Sora's mouth, but he's been through worse.

"That is correct, Sora. We've recently received various reports that humans have gone missing around here. Normally, we wouldn't bother with rumors because a lot of humans go missing all the time, however, these reports claimed that the missing people were seen entering this house but never came out." Rias elaborated, which caused Sora's eyes to widen slightly. "That's normally a sign that a stray devil established a hideout and lures humans in to eat them. It also helps that the Archduke informed us that there was a stray in our territory."

"That's awful. I can't believe there are devils like that." Sora narrowed his eyes, wincing a bit at the thought of a devil eating humans. Now he knew that he shouldn't be feeling any sympathy for whoever this stray devil is.

"Sadly, yes." Rias nodded solemnly.

The Gremory group then made their way inside the house, as the heavy stench of blood filled the air. Sora quickly pinched his nose and pursed his lips together while fanning the air with his other hand, looking like he was about to vomit at any moment. It was the first time he encountered the scent of blood, and it was obvious that the young brunette was uncomfortable with it.

"Aeroga." Summoning his keyblade, he quickly casted his wind spell directly above them that blew away the foul stench and allowed fresh air from outside to go through the windows, causing the boy to sigh in relief and remove his hand from his mouth.

"Thank you, senpai." Koneko turned to him with a small smile gracing her lips. Apparently, she also wasn't comfortable with the smell of blood clinging to the air, and her enhanced senses only made it worse for her.

"No problem." Sora gave a weak grin, dismissing his keyblade as Rias turned her head towards him once again.

The redhead gave him a sad look. Of course, the young keyblade wielder has never witnessed an outright killing in his life. "I'm sorry about this, Sora. Perhaps you have never been acquainted with this kind of thing before, haven't you? If what happens tonight proves to be too much for you to handle, then you have my permission to wait outside this mansion."

"T-That's okay, I can handle it. It's just like dealing with the Heartless, Rias!" Sora exclaimed, keeping up a strong demeanor.

Rias frowned at him for a few moments before sighing in defeat. "Very well."

As the group fully made their way into the mansion, their footsteps made loud echoes in the empty hallway. While they were treading through the dark place, Rias turned to her newest servant who surprisingly kept calm even though they were now likely the location of the stray.

"Sora, this will be a good chance for you to see how we devils fight. I should probably take this time to explain how the piece system works and what traits you gain as one." she said, easily getting the boy's attention.

He frowned in confusion. "Piece system? What's that?"

"I have already told you about the three-way war between devils, angels, and fallen angels. That war left all sides severely weakened in both strength and numbers. A large number of pureblood devils lost their lives, and there weren't enough of us to make up for the losses our side suffered. Because of this, our kind needed a way to build our forces back. That was how the Evil Piece system was created."

"Evil Piece system…" Sora repeated, finding himself intrigued with that particular concept.

"Do you know what chess is, Sora?"

"Yeah, but… I don't think I've ever played it. I don't really like board games." he grinned sheepishly. After all, he preferred games that required more physical prowess than mental ability. It was simply more fun to run around and get the muscles working.

"Well, easily speaking, the Evil Piece system was based on that. The pieces in chess are the King, Queen, Knight, Rook, Bishop, and Pawn. Each piece has its own unique traits."

"Lemme guess… you're the King, aren't you?" Sora asked, cupping his chin in deep thought. Since Rias was the one to turn him into a devil, he could only guess that the crimson-haired girl was the leader of the group.

Rias flashed a pleasant smile, confirming Sora's words. While she continued to explain the basic stuff about the piece system and its connection to Rating Games, there was no sign so far of the stray devil that they were supposed to eliminate.

The young brunette was surprised with how clean the place was, compared to when they first stepped in here. Since Rias said that this stray ate humans who went here, Sora was expecting to see signs of a struggle somewhere. However, upon entering the dining area, the group saw a broken table and chairs that were seemingly thrown to the side, which could only mean that they were close.

"There's the last room, Buchou." Akeno said, narrowing her eyes at the pair of large doors at the end of the destroyed dining area.

"I'm surprised there aren't any Heartless around here…" Sora remarked, noticing that this mansion seemed too quiet even for him. He had a gut feeling that there may more to this place than just being the lair of a stray devil.

"Maybe it's because the stray here ate them too as they appeared." Rias answered, grabbing the door handles as she pushed it open. There was a loud rattle which was followed by the creaking of hinges, meaning that this door hasn't been used for ages.

As the door opened slowly, the group of devils made their way inside. The room was pitch black and darkness was all over the area like a cloak.

Sora narrowed his eyes, while keeping his eyes open for any glowing yellow eyes. "If any Heartless appear, I'm dealing with them. This darkness is the perfect place for them to show up. It's strange that none of them have shown up ever since we got here."

Rias nodded with a smile. "Sounds good. It would be interesting to see how you fight up close and personal, Sora. After all, your normal abilities have been enhanced after becoming a devil. Also, I forgot to mention that I reincarnated you as my—"

"What a delicious scent." A voice interrupted Rias in her words, causing everyone to turn their attention towards the darkness beyond. With the door open, some light illuminated the room, but not much.

"It's coming." Rias said darkly, glaring around the room. Hearing those words, Sora prepared himself to fight, but made no move to summon his keyblade just yet.

"But it's also mixed with something foul…"

"Don't you mean yourself? Take a shower or something!" Sora covered his nose with a disgusted look and waved his hand like a fan in front of him, making fun of the stray since, after all, it caused this whole place to stink on its own. Rias and Akeno let out a small chuckle while Koneko and Yuuto smiled at his remark.

It felt good to have someone as upbeat as Sora in the group.

"Stray devil Viser, we are here to destroy you!" Rias shouted into the darkness. They still couldn't see anything due to the darkness, but judging from the continuous thuds that the group began to hear, it was heading towards them.

Something then flew out of the darkness, causing everyone to tense and prepare for what it is. They relaxed a moment later, although only for a bit, when they realized that it was a human body that flew towards their direction and landed just before them. There was a pool of blood underneath it and causing the floor to be stained.

"Oh no…" Sora whispered, mortified at seeing a corpse in front of him. His eyes widened in horror as he quickly had to look away to prevent himself from throwing up.

"What a nice scent. It smells so good that I just want to eat you up. Perhaps when I do, I'll get the chance to see if your blood is as red as your hair."

The keyblade wielder quickly turned his head towards the source of the voice, as the stray devil whom they were all waiting for finally came into view; a somewhat attractive female with black messy hair, red eyes, with nothing covering her chest that left her bare.

That wasn't what caused Sora to look absolutely disgusted, though.

At least, she would have been a somewhat attractive female if it wasn't for the fact that her lower half was anything but human. Sora had no clue what kind of creature she was… a centaur? A spider? A lion? All he could notice about her were the four large legs with paws for feet with along thick tail behind her, and that her entire lower body was covered in fur.

Seriously, Sora had never seen a creature as ugly and messed-up as this in his adventures… and he already fought against many kinds of enemies too.

"What an unsightly appearance." Rias crossed her arms under her bust and smirked. "It suits you well."

"You are cunning for a little girl. I will rip your body and color it in red just like your hair!" Viser snarled out, as two bloody spears appeared on each of her hands.

"Hmph," Rias' smirk widened. "I guess it's true what people say about rabid dogs having a pathetic bark."

Viser donned a twisted look of anger on her face, realizing she had just been insulted. "Y-You bitch! I'll eat you and throw up your remains!" Rearing one of her spears back, she prepared to throw it at Rias, only that she would never get the chance to do so.

"Yuuto!"

"I'm on it!"

Kiba launched himself forward, his hands held out on either side while his body became nothing more than a blurry streak like he was moving at the speed of sound. Twin swords appeared on his hands as he approached Viser, who switched her attention from Rias towards the blonde teen.

"Woah, what's going on? How can Kiba move so fast? Is that his Sacred Gear or something?" Sora asked in awe, his eyes widening at the speed that his friend had. It honestly reminded him of how Larxene used her speed to her advantage when he they fought at Castle Oblivion and the Keyblade Graveyard.

"Well then, I suppose I should continue our lesson from earlier." Rias said calmly with a hand on her hip, as they watched the proceedings closely. Kiba had dashed towards Viser in speeds that she couldn't keep up with, using his twin swords to slice off one of her arms in a shower of blood. As the stray devil roared in agony, Rias continued her explanation. "As you can see, Yuuto can move at incredible speeds, which is the unique power of a Knight."

"Wow… that's so cool!" Sora grinned, eager to know more about his friends' abilities and what they can do.

"Die, insect!" Viser bellowed out as she lifted another foot to squash Yuuto flat. The young swordsman however, did not move an inch from his place as the giant foot descended on him. From that moment, Koneko had jumped in with her arms stretched out above her head.

"Koneko-chan!" Sora shouted in worry, about to run in and save her but Rias held up her arm to stop him.

"Don't worry, Sora." the crimson-haired girl said as they watched Viser try to stomp Koneko into the ground. The spiky boy looked at Rias incredulously for a moment, before his eyes widened at what his own kouhai was doing.

"W-What?!" The stray was unsuccessful in her attempt to crush Koneko, as the white-haired loli managed to hold the hairy foot above her head without breaking a sweat.

"Koneko is a Rook…" Rias continued, while Koneko literally shoved the stray's foot away from her, causing Viser to stumble. "...and a Rook's trait is insane strength and defense."

"You little brat! Take this!" Recovering quickly, Viser used her long tail to lash out at the little girl, sending Koneko flying and crashing through a wall. While Sora looked a bit worried for her, Rias only smirked and twirled a strand of her crimson hair in boredom.

"That level of attack won't work on Koneko."

To the keyblade wielder's surprise, just when the smoke cleared, Koneko walked out looking completely unscathed. Not even her uniform was ruined in any way.

"I'll blow you away." With the same bored look on her face, the white-haired girl launched herself from the ground and into the air, her right hand clenched into a fist and rearing it back. Viser looked completely frozen in her place, unable to move.

Like a mini-rocket, the cute little first-year crashed straight into the stray's midsection, driving her fist full-force towards Viser. The power behind her attack was proven too much for the larger devil that she got blown away and crashed straight through a wall.

Koneko then landed on the ground and clapped the dust off her hands. "Piece of cake." she said in her usual monotone voice.

"You're really strong, Koneko-chan! I had no idea you can do that! Maybe we can spar every once in a while!" Sora exclaimed with a shit-eating grin on his face, earning an honest smile from his white-haired kouhai. "You too, Kiba! Let's grow stronger together!" He then turned towards Yuuto and flashed the same grin, causing the blonde swordsman to chuckle along with Rias and Akeno.

Even while they were in the middle of something completely serious, Sora was able to lighten up the mood with his upbeat demeanor.

"Ugh…" Viser moaned in pain, dragging herself back towards the group. "How can a group of brats be so strong…?"

"Now Sora, you'll get to see the last member of my peerage." Rias continued, which got the boy's attention as she looked towards the raven-haired girl beside her. "Akeno, if you would?"

"Of course, Buchou." Akeno said happily, clapping her hands in front of her while she stepped forth. There was something clearly disturbing about that sweet pleasant smile on her face, which caused Sora to instinctively take a step back. That smile of hers really creeped him out. "I wonder how I should do this?"

As a smiling Akeno made her way to the struggling Viser, Rias continued her lecture. "Akeno is my Queen. Since the Queen is a very powerful piece in chess, it also gives Akeno a wide range of abilities."

"Y-You bitch…"

"Ara, ara…" Akeno smiled despite the insult, or perhaps even because of it, before she tilted her head and looked down at the stray. "It seems that you're still very much energetic. I guess that means you can withstand more punishment."

A flash appeared within the room, specifically coming from Akeno's hand that was outstretched towards the downed Viser.

"How about I try something like this!"

Akeno raised her hand and sparks of lightning shot from her fingertips into the air, before it descended upon the helpless stray.

"RAAAAAAAGGHHHHHH!"

"As a Queen, Akeno has all the abilities of a Knight, Bishop, and Rook. She's the invincible Vice President of our club." Rias stated with pride, while Sora had her complete attention on Akeno. Something seemed… strange about her zapping lightning at Viser.

The raven-haired Queen's breathing picked up drastically, even though her attacks didn't look like they were enough to tire her out. She was blushing heavily too, all while squeezing her thighs together and shuddering in ecstasy every few seconds.

"Oh my~" Akeno licked her lips as she stared at the charred body of the stray devil, as the blush on her cheeks became deeper. "It looks like you can still continue. I wonder how long you can keep this up?"

"Uhhhh… Rias, what's happening with Akeno?" Sora asked, looking terribly confused with the lightning-wielder. It didn't stop him from feeling weirded out with this strange demeanor that Akeno was exhibiting, though. It clearly reminded him of Larxene, but somehow on a much bigger scale.

"Akeno mainly specializes in attacking her opponents with magic."

Akeno's breathing became erratic as though she had just finished running a marathon, before she lifted her hand again with that sweet smile on her face. The way she licked her lips freaked out Sora to the point that he turned his head away from the scene before him.

"She's also the world's biggest sadist."

Oh, so that's why.

No wonder Akeno reminded him of Larxene.

Two sadists who have freaky smiles, both lightning-users and are also insanely powerful.

Though, there was something about Akeno that somehow made her worse. Sora was capable of dealing with Larxene despite her attitude but something about Akeno… something about her honestly sent chills down the boy's spine.

"GRRAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHH!"

That was the sound of Viser getting electrocuted again, and again… and again… and again. Akeno, as it seemed, loved to toy with her opponents like a true sadist. The only thing missing would be a foul mouth and she could be a carbon copy of Larxene.

As Sora became increasingly creeped out from watching Akeno take sexual pleasure from causing mass amounts of pain, Yuuto made sure to reassure him with a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it too much. Akeno-senpai is very gentle with her allies."

Phew… at least there were some differences between her and Larxene.

"Ha…" Akeno sighed, her body shuddering with post-orgasmic bliss as she held a hand to her cheek. "It seems that still wasn't enough to kill her." Sora had a massive sweat-drop as he stared at the girl, before turning towards Viser. She didn't look like she was dead, but certainly not enough to stay alive. "I suppose I'll have Buchou deal the final blow."

Rias walked up to the defeated Viser, stopping just a few feet away from the stray. Her face was completely emotionless, a perfect mask that befitted an executioner out to behead a criminal. "Stray devil Viser. Do you have any last words?"

"Just kill me…"

"As you wish." Rias smiled, her eyes sharpening and somehow becoming feral. "Begone from this world." She then held up her hand as a ball of dark energy erupted from it, before letting it loose towards Viser almost absentmindedly.

The effect was impressive and instantaneous. The ball of energy slammed into the stray, creating a blazing inferno of dark flames that, upon vanishing into the air, revealed that Viser was no more. There was no trace of the stray, not even a drop of blood to stain the floor with.

Sora looked at Rias with wide eyes, amazed at the power she had even though he was sure that she only showed a fraction of it. He had seen his fair share of magic before, but there was never a spell that focused on completely destroying something that no remains would be left. "What was that? It looked almost the same as Riku's Dark Firaga… is it Rias' magic?" he thought, just as the redhead returned to her group.

"It's over, everyone…" Rias smiled.

While the group was satisfied with their victory and success in eliminating a stray devil, a dark corridor appeared from the far end of the room and out from it came an unknown figure wearing a black coat.

"What's all this about? You can't just leave without showing me what you can do, kiddo." With a wave of his hand, a massive four-legged Heartless appeared beside him. "You're a devil now, ain't ya? Aren't you supposed to be stronger now? Give me a good show, kiddo." At that, the black figure left the area through the same corridor.

"Hey Rias, I was wondering…" Sora asked with his arms behind his head, as they all began to walk out of the room. "You never explained to me what piece I am."

"Oh, I must have forgotten. Forgive me for that," Rias smiled sweetly. "Sora, the piece I gave you was—"

The redhead got interrupted from her words the moment they felt giant and ominous footsteps from behind them, causing the entire group to quickly turn around. All of them widened their eyes at what they saw, most especially Sora.

A large, quadrupedal Heartless stood before them menacingly. Like most Heartless, it had yellow eyes and a jagged maw. Its body was of the color lilac while it's back and legs were violet. Each leg had two toes with black claws. It had two large, curved tusks sprouting from its lower jaw and a distinct black horn on its forehead. Its Heartless emblem was found on its chest.

It was a Behemoth.

"Heartless!" Sora cried out, summoning his keyblade and getting into his battle stance. Almost immediately, the boy had his eyes set on the creature's horn, knowing that part was its weak spot after fighting against it multiple times during his first adventure.

Rias quickly prepared herself for a fight, as did her other peerage members, only to remember that this was supposed to be Sora's battle. She turned towards the Behemoth, then to the keyblade wielder, before looking at the monster again, and finally setting her eyes solely on Sora.

An amused smirk appeared on her face as she began to speak. This would be the perfect opportunity to see her pawn's skills for herself. "I suppose this is the perfect time to explain to you what piece you are in my peerage, Sora." she said, getting the boy's attention. "Your role is the Pawn."

"Pawn?" Sora's eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

"The Pawn is normally seen as the weakest piece in chess, but that's a very big misconception. A Pawn possesses a very special trait that no other piece has, which is Promotion. Much like in a real game of chess, the Pawns in the Evil Piece system can be promoted to any piece other than the King once it enters enemy territory."

The boy's eyes widened upon hearing Rias' words, with a wide grin making its way on his face. "So that means…"

"That's right. Since we are in enemy territory, you can promote to any piece you want." Rias winked, amused with the shit-eating grin that Sora had. "I shall give you the freedom to choose what piece you think is the most suitable to help you deal with this Heartless. After all, you know these creatures the best."

"Oh, that's easy!" Sora sent a thumbs-up at Rias' direction and winked back, before turning his attention to the Behemoth that looked like it was prepared to charge at him. "These guys are slow even though they're really big… which means… I need to be really fast!" he thought, twirling his keyblade in his hand before pointing it upwards.

"PROMOTION: LIMIT KNIGHT!" Sora yelled out, causing bright light to cover his body for a few moments before it died down, with his overall look seemingly having no change whatsoever. The rest of the Gremory peerage widened their eyes at the fact that Sora utilized light during the promotion as the keyblade wielder went back to his battle stance and charged at the Behemoth.

The massive creature let out a deep roar as it leaped towards the boy, only for Sora to disappear in a blur with no trace of where he went.

"Over here!" Sora shouted out, rebounding off the nearest wall with Flowmotion and dashing towards the Behemoth's horn with incredible speed. He landed on top of the monster's head and began to attack the black horn like a complete madman, using the enhanced speed he possessed as a knight to his advantage.

The Behemoth howled in pain as it shook his head to try and get rid of the nuisance atop it, but Sora only jumped high into the air before crashing back down with his keyblade dealing a large impact of energy upon landing. Almost immediately, the boy went back to slashing and attacking the horn as fast as he could, knowing that these creatures were as tough as they were big.

The Gremory group had varying reactions as they watched Sora fight against the giant Heartless. Koneko had her usual bored look, but she was actually feeling amazed underneath under her mask. They were watching the keyblade wielder fight not as a human, but as a devil and they were seeing the results of it.

"Sora is really using the attributes of a Knight to his advantage, and it helps that he is also a swordsman with his keyblade." Yuuto commented, now feeling the sudden urge to test his skills against his fellow second-year in a spar.

"Look at him go…" Akeno muttered, putting a hand on her cheek. The way that her kouhai fought against the giant monster was turning her on. "Just watching Sora-kun relentlessly attack the enemy makes me wish he was like this with me~"

Rias sweat-dropped at her friend's usual antics, before turning her attention towards her pawn. "Amazing… not only has Sora's mobility has increased exponentially, but he also made the right decision on what promotion to use. This Heartless is slow-moving, which makes a Knight the ideal promotion to fight against it." The crimson-haired girl crossed her arms, feeling proud of her servant for having good battle instincts. I'm quite surprised he didn't think of using the Queen piece already… but I guess I'm used to those surprises by now."

"Not good!" he exclaimed upon seeing dark energy starting to form in the creature's head. Sora quickly turned towards Rias and the others. "Guys, be ready! This thing's gonna make it rain dark orbs in this place! Make sure to dodge them!"

"Will do, Sora!" Rias nodded her head as the whole group prepared for such an attack. At the same time, the Behemoth shot out the dark energy out of its horn into the air, creating many orbs of darkness that started falling to the ground.

While everyone else were doing their best to avoid the dark balls of energy from getting to them, Sora began to run in circles around the Behemoth, causing the monster to be confused because all it could see was the smoke trail that the boy left behind due to his incredible speed. Due to this, he was also able to dodge the orbs that continued to rain down on the place.

"Got 'em!" Sora yelled out as soon as the hail of dark orbs was over, stopping just behind the Heartless, its horn in within range for the spiky boy. "Strike Raid!" He quickly threw his keyblade towards the horn, doing this for 6 consecutive times before gathering some of his light into his weapon and throwing it for the seventh time, weakening the Behemoth all the more.

The monster roared in agony before collapsing on its whole body, on the verge of defeat. Rias and the others waited for Sora to finish the monster off, only to be surprised when the young brunette suddenly appeared in front of them, his eyes darting towards the blonde Knight of the group.

"Kiba, let's team up!" he exclaimed with his left fist clenched.

Needless to say, the whole peerage was caught off guard with that, especially the blonde teen who blinked a few times in confusion. "W-What?"

"Let's pull off an attack together, and we can defeat it while its down like that!"

Yuuto had no idea how to respond to that. Honestly, he was perfectly content with sitting back and watching how Sora handles things, so… he was surprised that his friend would want his help. "Uhm… isn't this supposed to be your fight? Surely you can defeat this Heartless on your own, right?"

"Well honestly I can, but it doesn't feel like a real victory for me if my friends aren't by my side." Sora replied while rubbing the back of his head, as everyone else widened their eyes. Was he becoming mature again? "And no, this isn't my fight. I'm a member of Rias' peerage, so this fight is also yours! One more attack should be enough to finish it off, but it has to be really strong. So what do you say?!"

Kiba understood the logic behind Sora's words as he couldn't help but smile at how he valued his friends. It would feel good to defeat an enemy together. A sword then appeared on his left hand and he gripped it tight.

"Alright, let's do it." Yuuto nodded firmly.

"Great! Here, take my hand. We'll charge in together!" Sora grinned, outstretching his left hand for his friend to take. The blonde teen nodded and took it with his own, linking their energies together.

The rest of the Gremory peerage widened their eyes as Sora got covered in light while Yuuto had a dark aura. The shocking thing was that Yuuto didn't look like he was affected by the light radiating off of the keyblade wielder, simply keeping his eyes at the down Behemoth.

(Play: Trip -Innocent of D-)

"Now!" The duo exclaimed as they charged forward with great speed, their respective weapons held out before they switched into a reverse grip as they closed in on the Behemoth. The two devils gave a cry as they turned into speeding orbs of light and dark that seemed to phase through the monster's horn that intersected in an X-formation.

"Double Zantetsuken!"

Sora appeared on the Behemoth's right side while Yuuto was on the left, their light and dark auras disappearing. The two held their weapons in a reverse grip and a serious look donned both of their faces as they looked at their enemy.

The massive Heartless between them grunted and twitched for a quick moment, as its horn was literally broken in half after the combination attack by the two Knights, before finally disappearing in defeat.

"We did it, Kiba! That was a nice team-up!" Sora twirled the keyblade in his hand and rested it on his shoulder, flashing his signature grin at the blonde teen on the other side.

"Indeed. Defeating that Heartless together actually felt thrilling and exciting… I would like to do it again." Kiba smiled as his sword disappeared, before the two of them walked back towards the group.

As soon as they approached the others, Rias had a worried look on her face. "Yuuto, are you hurt?" she asked her blonde Knight.

Kiba raised an eyebrow. "Hurt? What do you mean, Buchou?"

"You don't know?" The redhead asked in surprise, before turning to Sora, whose keyblade already disappeared since he had his arms behind his head. Sora didn't look like he had any idea about what happened either. "When you two held hands earlier in preparation for your attack, you were covered in dark energy while Sora was covered in light. I thought you were feeling pain because of it."

"Woah, what?! Oh, I completely forgot!" Sora's eyes snapped wide open as he frantically bowed his head towards his blonde friend. "I'm so sorry, Kiba! I forgot that light is really dangerous to devils!"

Kiba's eyes widened as he stared at Rias in shock. "Really? Hmm, I didn't feel anything, honestly. In fact, I felt somehow stronger when I held Sora's hand… similar to an adrenaline rush. Maybe Sora's light doesn't bring harm to his allies?"

That got everyone to widen their eyes even more, as Rias shook her head and cupped her chin in deep thought. "That's… certainly a possibility. I recall from the journal that Sora has been able to work together in complete tandem with his friend Riku, despite him using darkness as his main element."

"Oh yeah, me and Riku teamed up lots of times! He was my best friend, so we know each other well enough to fight side by side without screwing up." Sora piped up, remembering the fight against Xemnas with Riku by his side. There was also the Mark of Mastery Exam where they went through different Dream Worlds and fought their enemies together.

The whole group went silent afterwards before Akeno broke it with a slight chuckle. "Guess you can add this to the list of crazy things that Sora-kun can do without him noticing it." she said, flashing her sweet smile at the keyblade wielder who quickly gulped nervously at the sight of it.

"Perhaps." Rias smiled as she shook her head in amusement, while everyone else laughed along.

Their mission was a complete success.

Sitting on one of the wooden beams near the ceiling of the dark room, the hooded figure from earlier was applauding for the 'show' that he just witnessed.

(Stop playing - "Trip -Innocent of D-")

"Well done, kiddo. You didn't disappoint, as always. You're as strong as ever, and you keep on pulling off feat after feat. Hope you're ready for her arrival, though… you'll need the full power of your Longinus if you want to save her from those fallen angels." the figure said, before teleporting away through a dark corridor.

And there we go. Azazel reveals that there's a way for Sora to return home, although it might take a long time before it's completed. Sora goes on his first stray devil hunt, and it really opened his eyes on what to expect from the world of DxD. That hooded figure then summoned a Heartless to fight the group, and Sora used promotion for the first time. I hope you like that team attack by Sora and Kiba in the end, because more attacks like that are bound to come. It's Sora, after all. Next chapter should be interesting.

Yes, Sora's knight promotion is basically Limit Form from KH2. Note that his clothes don't change into the KH1 outfit. I tweaked this form a bit, since all Drive forms have their own unique ability involving mobility. I decided to incorporate all of it into Limit Knight only, which are Dodge Roll MAX, Aerial Dodge, Quick Run, High Jump, and Glide.

Since knight promotion is Sora's Limit Form, I wonder what forms are for the other promotions…

Goodbye… and good night! BANG! *too sweet gesture*

-Lance