It's been a whole month since I wrote this fanfic and wow, it feels like it only happened yesterday. 30 chapters in 30 days, who would've known. Thank you for your continued support and your awesome reviews, because seeing them everyday is what motivates me to write and write.

So far, nobody has come close to how Sora has the Boosted Gear… Hm, you have to try if you want to solve the mystery! Also, looks like I have to remind some people that this is not the Kingdom Hearts series anymore. It's an anime, and as such, various tropes will apply to the KH characters here: Aqua sweat-dropping, Xion using puppy-dog eyes, and more. Just bear with it, hahahaha.

Lastly, Aeroga shield made its debut last chapter as one of the spells that Sora re-learned. Yes, he'll also have the other spells he used in the past, like Stop, Reflect, and Gravity. However, it'll take time before they are added to Sora's arsenal.

Discord link: [discord . gg / 4y5QVPj]

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Highschool DxD, or any of its characters...

(Play - "Hand in Hand")

Steel clashed against fist as Sora and Isabela charged at one another, creating a temporary stalemate between the two. Due to her enhanced strength as a rook, Isabela was able to push Sora back a few steps before pushing his keyblade away to the side with both her hands. However, this caused the boy to use the momentum given to him to roll behind the girl and prepare to strike her in the back.

"Clever, but not clever enough!" Isabela exclaimed, performing a spinning roundhouse kick that would have caught Sora in the jaw had he not leaned back to dodge it. The boy retaliated by rushing forward with a slash towards her stomach, but Isabela kicked his weapon away and knocked Sora back.

Her eyes then widened when Sora only used the momentum to bounce back by leaping into the air and delivered a strong downwards slash towards her. "Haha!" he laughed, before Isabela used both of her forearms to block it at the last moment. The strength behind Sora's attack was enough to make her crouch down, which was all he needed as he performed a backflip and reared his keyblade back.

"Strike Raid!"

He threw his weapon towards Isabela, who was unable to defend herself this time as she got struck by the keyblade, sending her rolling across the ground before recovering in a matter of seconds. Sora then landed on the ground just as the brown-haired Rook got back to her feet and smirked.

"Exactly what I would expect from a wielder of a Longinus!" Isabela said, placing her hand on her hip. "I'm curious, where did you train to be able to use that giant key so well? It honestly packs a punch."

"No one," he answered honestly. It was true, he never had a master to teach him everything he knew. Unless the swordplay that he and Riku always have back home counted, he was a self-taught keyblade wielder. "I taught myself."

"Well, then I hope you give me a private lesson sometime after this," she sent him a seductive wink.

"Why not? I can spare some time and I think I can persuade Rias to let me teach you!" Sora grinned before nodding in agreement.

Isabela blinked in genuine confusion. "Somehow, I don't think we're on the same page. Never mind! He's distracted! " She then shook her head and ran towards Sora, taking advantage of his smiling state to deliver a punch straight towards his midsection, causing his eyes to widen in shock as he got blown back.

"One of the most important rules in fighting! Never let your opponent distract you! Didn't you teach yourself that?" she remarked sarcastically, only for her to raise her eyebrows in surprise when Sora only got sent back a few steps instead of being blown away.

"That was a cheap shot!" Sora laughed, giving Isabela a shit-eating grin. "If it wasn't for my wind spell protecting me, that would have been a huge problem! But I guess you're right, I shouldn't get distracted." At the same time, the wind currents that formed a shield around his body finally disappeared.

Isabela smirked and crossed her arms under her bust. "You're surely an interesting fellow, just what I expected from the Red Dragon Emperor. If your weapon and your magic are strong enough to withstand an attack from a Rook like me, then it's no wonder you won against Riser-sama's pawns. However, I can tell that you are capable of more. Show me more of your power!"

The boy didn't waste any more time and flew towards Isabela with his Flowmotion, who was surprised with his speed but was able to react in time to block a keyblade strike from Sora. She pushed it away and tried to sneak in another punch now that his wind barrier was gone, but Sora used his speed to his advantage and went behind Isabela before delivering a quick slash towards her back. It was enough to make her stagger, but wasn't able to knock her down. The Rook turned around and prepared to attack again, but the boy had aimed his keyblade towards her.

"Blizzaga!" A large chunk of ice shot out of his keyblade and went towards Isabela. The Rook's eyes had widened in surprise at this, making her unable to evade and trapping her in place.

"You don't possibly think this can keep me frozen for long!" Isabela grinned before breaking out of the ice that kept her immobilized. Because of her strength, she had no difficulty in doing so but it distracted her enough for Sora to rush in and take advantage. He delivered a flurry of slashes towards the woman, She was unable to block all of them, more so while being in his Second Form, and especially when Sora unleashed one of his signature attacks.

"Explosion!" Three orbs of light appeared around Sora and launched his opponent into the air. Finally having a chance to recover, Isabela gritted her teeth and redirected herself towards the boy with her leg high to perform an axe kick, but the keybearer was prepared for it with his next move. "Ripple Drive!" He raised the keyblade into the air, causing a field of light energy to surround him and interrupted Isabela from her attempted attack.

"No!" she screamed in pain as she fell to the ground, nearing defeat. Compared to earlier, the woman was now struggling to get back to her feet as Sora pressed onward with his keyblade at the ready.

"ISABELA!" Ravel shouted from the sidelines, unable to do anything besides watch her one of her comrades fall to the power of the boy who was supposedly in possession of the Boosted Gear.

"Ars Arcanum!"

As soon as he got close, Sora's keyblade began to glow before he performed a massive combo of thirteen powerful strikes, each hit filled with the power of light that Isabela couldn't recover in time to stop or avoid him. The first seven slashes were near-instantaneous while the remaining five were slower but stronger. For the final strike, Sora spun around multiple times before leaping into the air and delivering a downwards slash that sent the Rook rolling across the ground in defeat.

Isabela coughed violently, spitting out some blood into the ground as her body began to glow. "So… this…" she weakly turned her head towards Sora, who returned to his school uniform attire before putting away his keyblade, as she groaned in pain. "...this is the power… of the Red Dragon Emperor…"

"Again with that name… I really don't know why people call me that…" Sora sighed, covering his face with his hand. "It's a nice nickname, but I really don't know what it means."

"You're really… an interesting individual…" The woman shook her head, still managing to flash a smirk despite her current state. Isabela pushed herself off the ground so that she could nod her head towards him. "My master made a mistake… in challenging Rias Gremory's peerage. I acknowledge your victory… Red Dragon Emperor," she spoke before shining brightly like the others and then disappearing.

["One of Riser-sama's rooks have retired."]

["One of Riser-sama's knights have retired."]

Ravel did not even hear the announcement that two more people from her brother's peerage have been defeated; one of them being Isabela and the other being Karlamine even though she was someplace else. Her entire being was focused on the boy who had just decimated a good majority of Riser's peerage and was now walking towards her. This was the same boy who possessed a powerful Longinus, which was instrumental in him winning in against every enemy who stood in his way. Each step that he took further hammered the sense of despair and fear that washed over her.

"S-Stay away…!" Ravel shrieked in fear, falling on her rear as she stumbled backwards. Sora ignored her words and continued to walk towards her with a blank look on his face, forcing the girl to crawl backwards to keep herself away from him.

That was until her back met the base of a tree, leaving her with nowhere else to go.

"P-Please…" she whispered, tears beginning to well up in her eyes as she felt her fear overpower her pride. All she could do was look down and plead that this boy knew how to spare mercy, but it didn't seem that way after seeing him unleashing his full power on everybody else. "Please don't hurt me…"

Sora paused for a moment out of confusion, before he crouched down to her level and sighed. "Why would I hurt you? You're my friend, Ravel. Or did you forget about that already?" he asked with a genuine smile on his smile.

Ravel didn't even have time to truly register his statement as she felt a heavy hand rest on top of her head. But after a few moments of understanding the meaning behind his words, her cheeks began to heat up at the fact that he was basically ruffling her hair with a grin on his face. She didn't know what was more embarrassing; his words, or the fact that Sora was giving her affection more than any other boy she had met in her life.

"G-G-G-Get off me!" After having enough of the embarrassment she was feeling, Ravel activated her tsundere protocols to stop the keybearer in his action, which only involved her shoving his hand away and glaring at him. However, her angry look couldn't be taken seriously with her red face. "We're not friends! W-We're supposed to be enemies in this Rating Game!"

"But you don't look like you want to fight," Sora pointed out as he noticed her current position. "I'm sorry if I scared you, but you don't have anything to worry about! Trust me! I can already tell that you're not like your brother and you don't want to fight, so why are you with him in the first place?"

Embarrassed that Sora caught her in a state like this, Ravel quickly stood up and dusted off her dress while pursing her lips together. It didn't stop the redness in her cheeks, though. The spiky brunette had to turn away so he could hide a chuckle from Ravel, before he stood up as well.

"W-W-Well, since you asked so nicely, I suppose I can tell you. The only reason I joined his peerage is because he said he wants to fulfill his 'Ultimate Harem' dream… something about needing a 'little sister-type' to make it happen." she answered, crossing her arms and looking away.

Sora stared at her blankly for a moment, before he blushed as he now understood why all of the girls he fought against wore… different clothing. However, the fact that Riser wanted his OWN sister into his peerage all because of a stupid dream nearly made the boy want to throw up.

"Is your brother… an idiot or something?" he asked slowly, deadpanning at Ravel for the reason that she gave him. For some reason, he just wanted to shake Riser back and forth for even wishing for a such a thing. Screw using the keyblade, he'll use his hands to teach that guy a lesson!

"You don't know the half of it," she sighed. The girl then bit her lip nervously before looking up at him. "You're really not going to fight me…?"

"Unless you want to, but you don't seem like you do." Sora smiled, placing his hands behind his head. "And honestly, I don't want to fight against my friends if I can help it."

She blushed again, while also feeling a deep warmth inside of her that there was actually someone who thought of her in a good way. A lot of people tend to stay away from her instead because of her family and high status in the devil community. "I-I-I guess I can… see you as my friend…" Ravel stuttered, twiddling her fingers nervously.

"Really?! That's great! I'm glad to be your friend, Ravel-chan!" he exclaimed, using the same honorific that he uses for Koneko since Ravel was kind of like her. He then gave her another headpat, unaware of the blush on the girl's cheeks that skyrocketed with his action.

"Y-You can't just do that all of a sudden!" Ravel cried, quickly removing his hand away from her head before pouting. "Hmph! You should be glad that a high-class devil like me is your friend! No other devil would give you the honor!"

"Okay…?" Sora tilted her head in confusion at her complete 180. Rias was a high-class devil too, and she was his friend, so… what did she mean by that? He continued to think about this before finally coming to a conclusion in his mind. "I guess that's her charm? It's just like Koneko-chan acting like a robot, but Ravel-chan is acting like she's angry…"

"You should get going…" Ravel said, frowning as she looked to the direction of the new school building. "Even with three other servants left, big brother is still there… in fact, he may have stepped out of our base now and is currently looking for Rias Gremory to put a quick end to all of this. As soon as your King falls, it's over for you as well."

"Not on my watch," Sora said in a serious tone as he clenched his fists in determination. "Ravel-chan, you just stay here and keep out of sight. I don't want to see you getting injured by my other friends. I'm going on ahead, so I'll see you later!"

As Sora was about to run off, Ravel quickly reacted and called out the nickname that her comrades have used for him, which actually caused the keyblade wielder to turn towards her. She then threw him the question that she needed to know, now that she knew how powerful this boy was and who he really is.

"Are you going to kill my brother…?"

"No. I'm not like that, and I never will be." Sora shook his head before sending Ravel a thumbs-up. "But that doesn't mean I can teach him a lesson, because someone like him needs to learn. After all, he's been treating Rias horribly, and I won't stand for it. I don't sense any darkness inside his heart, so I know what I'm going to do. Trust me on this, Ravel-chan."

And just like that, Sora began to run away and head to a new location, leaving a stunned Ravel in her place as she couldn't get the image of that spiky-haired brunette flashing his smile out of her mind, which caused her cheeks to heat up once again. The way he spoke those last words to her made Ravel feel like everything was going to be okay, and that she had nothing to worry about.

She quickly shook her head to get rid of such thoughts, before her eyes snapped open upon remembering something important. Ravel quickly turned towards the direction where her newfound friend just ran off to. Upon seeing that he wasn't that far yet, the blonde girl began to chase after him.

"W-Wait! Wait up, I have to give you something!" she cried out, waving her arms above her frantically.

Rias opened the door to the main building, allowing her and Asia to enter its premises before closing it behind her. There was no sign of anyone inside the building, which meant that everyone was out in the battlefield, fighting. The place looked completely deserted.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Buchou?" Asia asked, clasping her hands together and looking quite nervous now that they were in the enemy's territory.

Rias gritted her teeth. She knew that she should've told her peerage about this or at the very least, Sora, but her pride had clouded her judgement. Riser had directly challenged her, so she felt obliged to accept. On the brighter side, it would be the perfect opportunity for her to beat up the man that kept on pestering her about marriage, and show the fruits of her training after their time at her family's summer home.

"I know it's a risk, but we have a chance to end it all here, Asia. All of Riser's servants are almost done for, and everyone will be heading here, either way." Rias spoke as they walked along the hallways, before she sent a warm smile towards the blonde girl. "And hey, with you by my side, I know we have a solid chance at beating that bastard."

"O-Okay…" Asia only gave a weak nod as she turned her gaze to the floor. She still felt nervous, but confident enough to follow Rias on their way to the enemy's base.

As the two approached the Student Council room, they heard a voice coming from it. "I've been expecting you." The owner of the voice soon stepped out of the room and into the open, chuckling menacingly. Riser slowly turned towards the two girls with a smirk. "It's a pleasure to see you here, my beloved Rias."

Yuuto took a few deep breaths as he wiped the sweat off his eyebrows. He had just defeated Karlamine in battle with the last of Riser's knights finally disappearing, but he knew that it wasn't over yet. The blonde teen turned towards the battle between Koneko and Xuelan, and from the looks of it, the two were evenly matched. He was about to go help his kouhai win this, if it weren't for a black-haired girl getting in his way.

"I cannot let you interfere in Xuelan's fight," the girl said in a kind voice that contrasted her current actions. "If you still wish to have a battle, then I will be your opponent."

Despite getting frustrated at not being able to help Koneko, eliminating another one of Riser's servants would only further increase their chances of victory. "Very well," Kiba raised his sword and smiled, before charging towards Mihae.

Meanwhile, both rooks had ended up nailing each other's jaws with solid hooks after an even show of hand-to-hand combat. The force of their hits echoed in the air as their fists were buried into the other's face. They both stepped back from one another, nursing their jaws.

"That hurt a bit," Xuelan admitted as she spat out a loose tooth.

"...same here." Koneko nodded, rubbing her sore face. "Not bad."

Xuelan was the first to make the next move, running forward and taking advantage of Koneko's state. She brought her fist back and looked as if her punch was about to connect, only for the white-haired girl to sweep her feet from under, causing Xuelan to trip and fall to the ground. Xuelan was unable to recover in time as Koneko brought her foot down on her back before kicking her away.

"Agh!" Xuelan got sent rolling across the ground before she used planting her feet down to stop herself from going any further. As soon as she stood up, Koneko was already back to her feet and got back into her fighting stance.

"That's a desperation attack if I ever saw one," Koneko had a small smirk on her face directed towards her fellow rook. "Are you reaching your limit?"

"Don't get so cocky," Xuelan frowned. "You just had a lucky shot. It won't happen again."

This time, it was Koneko who charged forward and Xuelan stayed in her place to wait for the attack. As soon as the girl was within her range, Xuelan prepared to counter whatever attack Koneko had in mind, only for her eyes to widen when she saw her opponent sliding in between her legs instead. The Chinese girl wasn't able to regain her focus in time to avoid a straight punch towards her back that sent her flying away yet again.

"Looks like it happened again." Koneko mocked, taking a deep breath while remembering where she developed that improvised technique. "Sora-senpai's advice on being unpredictable is really helpful." The keybearer had also taught her about using innovative ways to land an attack, since she was very predictable in a battle and would fall easily if she was facing against a smart opponent.

So far, it was getting good results.

Xuelan stood up from the ground and gritted her teeth in frustration. "Damn you! I'm not gonna lose to the likes of a little girl!" She charged forward again, with Koneko doing the same. The Chinese beauty unleashed a straight right hand, with Koneko catching it perfectly with her left one. She quickly resorted to delivering a left hook instead, but the cute first-year student managed to catch it with her other hand.

The two girls planted their feet firmly in the ground as they tried to push the other back, beginning a battle of strength between Rooks. They even bashed their heads together in an effort to gain the advantage, but neither one looked ready to give up.

["One of Riser-sama's bishops have retired."]

Xuelan widened her eyes and quickly turned to the direction of where Mihae was, but realized it was too late because the bishop had disappeared in a flash of light, leaving Kiba standing triumphantly in his place. The blonde Knight brushed some of his rogue hair to the side, before he turned his attention to the remaining enemy in the area.

The Chinese girl growled in frustration, seeing that she was now all alone against two opponents. "Damn —!" she was immediately cut off when Koneko pulled her in and delivered a hard knee straight to her gut, knocking the wind out of Xuelan's lungs before the strength of the attack sent her crashing into a tree, barely conscious.

"It's over." Koneko ran over towards the place where Xuelan had crashed into before delivering one final punch towards the girl's stomach, causing the Phenex rook to be blown away into several more trees to the point that she was out of sight.

["One of Riser-sama's rooks have retired."]

Seeing that she had finally won against her opponent, Koneko didn't bother celebrating her victory as she quickly went towards Yuuto, who took a moment to sit on the ground and regain his breath. She approached the blonde man and tilted her head.

"Are you okay, Yuuto-senpai?"

Yuuto waved off her concern with a smile, while his sword disappeared out of sight. "I'm fine… just a bit tired after fighting them. A few minutes of rest shouldn't hurt, and then I'll be back to normal."

Koneko only nodded and decided to sit down as well, also feeling a bit tired herself. She stretched out her arms to relax them after an intense fight. "Senpai, how many of them are left?" she asked, which quickly earned Kiba's attention.

Kiba cupped his chin as he pondered over his kouhai's question. "Well, since we have already dealt with three of the Phenex's servants… that leaves five of them that are still active. Assuming that it was Sora brought down two of them earlier, it leaves Riser Phenex with only two servants under his command," he said after remembering two other Grayfia's announcements that happened earlier.

"What about his Queen? She's still fighting with Akeno-senpai until now?" She had been listening closely to Grayfia's updates even while fighting and so far, there was nothing about Riser's most powerful servant nor Akeno, who willingly stepped into the quad to face off with her fellow queen.

"Most likely…" Kiba narrowed his eyes, noticing that their confrontation was somehow taking too long. Shouldn't there be a winner by now? Something was clearly going on here. The young man stood up and looked at Koneko with a serious frown. "Let's go help our vice president, Koneko-chan. If my hunch is correct, she won't last any longer against the 'Bomb Queen'."

"Hai." Koneko nodded as she stood up from the ground before the two ran off, their destination being the quadrangle, while also hoping that Akeno was doing okay.

Akeno would have spoken out a string of curse words by now if she was a girl who was inclined to swearing. This battle had gone on for way too long as far as she was concerned, and the Lightning Priestess was more than ready to end it. There was no doubt in her mind about who was more powerful between her and Riser's Queen. The so-called 'Bomb Queen' had put up a good fight, but the superior skills Akeno had displayed in almost all categories solidified that she was stronger.

The battle should have ended the moment Yubelluna lay in a crator on the ground of her own making, her powers exhausted from their magic extensive battle. She should have been defeated too, if only she had not pulled out her trump card; a vial of Phoenix Tears, a rare and powerful liquid that only the Phenex family could create.

With those tears, all of the wounds someone had received and the magic power they lost would be restored instantly. It's as if all the damage they had sustained never happened in the first place, and Yubelluna drank it.

Talk about tough luck, but what did she expect? It was just like Riser to have his servants resort to such devious and underhanded tactics in order to come out as the victor.

Now the Vice President of the Occult Research Club was caught between a rock and a hard place. She didn't have much magic left, and what little she did have at this moment was being used to shield herself from the Bomb Queen's attacks.

She didn't have enough left to win.

Her shield would eventually fail and she would be defeated. Akeno didn't want to fail her King, but it was looking more and more inevitable that she wouldn't have any choice on the matter…

"Waterga!"

Two sets of eyes widened as a large ball of water appeared from below them. Yubelluna wasn't able to react in time to dodge it, as the torrent of water knocked her back several meters away from Akeno.

"There's only one person who can do that…"

The raven-haired girl looked down to see where the blast originated from, and her eyes widened even more when she saw the familiar spiky brown hair that could only belong to one particular keyblade wielder.

"Sora-kun…?"

"Akeno!" Sora shouted up at her while flashing a thumbs-up. "I know you told us to stay out of this, but I can't leave a friend in danger. I'm here to help you beat her!"

Akeno held a hand to her chest while cheeks began to flare up. Why was her heart beating so fast at his words? It was usually the other way around, with her making Sora feel tense and nervous with her usual teasing. It was such a strange feeling, one that she had never felt before. It was strange, but it also felt wonderful and Akeno welcomed it with all her heart. Perhaps she could explore more of this feeling later on after the Rating Game?

"Tch! I should've known Rias Gremory's Pawn would show up!" Yubelluna scowled at the intruder, before she quickly sent an explosion at his direction.

That sudden attack from the Bomb Queen snapped Akeno out of her little trance, as she quickly flew down to save Sora. Unfortunately for her, the explosion made a direct hit towards the keybearer, stopping her in her tracks as she was filled with worry for the boy. If Sora would be eliminated from the match because of an attack that should have been directed towards her, Akeno would never forgive herself.

"Sora-kun…"

To her complete shock, the spiky-haired boy stood his ground against that explosion, using his keyblade to block the attack completely. This completely surprised both Queens as the smoke finally cleared. Sora was unaffected by it, except for his uniform being slightly ruined.

"It appears I'll need a lot more than that to bring you down," Yubelluna scowled as she prepared to throw another explosion at the boy.

"I won't let you harm my kouhai." Akeno narrowed her eyes and shot out some of her lightning from her fingers towards Yubelluna, careful not to use up her remaining power. If she could just intercept her attack, it would be acceptable.

The purple-haired Queen turned towards Akeno instead, putting up a barrier to shield herself from the lightning and redirecting her explosion towards the young girl, but it distracted her enough for Sora to make his move.

"Hang on, Akeno!" Sora jumped into the air as his clothes glowed and temporarily turned into the ones from his Second Form, before he pointed his keyblade towards Yubelluna. A massive amount of his stored-up light gathered into the tip of his weapon before releasing it into a barrage of homing beams directed towards the Bomb Queen.

"Ragnarök!"

Yubelluna's attention quickly turned back towards Sora, as she noticed the beams of light headed towards her. Her eyes widened and she immediately created a barrier to protect herself, but it was useless against the boy's attack. The woman's shield faltered against the beams of light and went straight towards her instead.

While Yubelluna was screaming in agony, Sora's outfit reverted back to his school uniform as he landed on the ground. He quickly looked up at Akeno and began to shout, "Akeno! Come here while she's distracted! We'll beat her together!"

"Right… Sora-kun can use light, which is harmful to devils…" Akeno's attention went from Yubelluna towards Sora, and she landed on the ground with him where he pointed his keyblade at her.

"Curaga."

Green light covered Akeno's body for a moment before it died down, and the Lightning Priestess was immediately healed of her wounds. Akeno's eyes widened as she looked at her arms, while also feeling her strength return to her.

"Ara, ara," she smiled deviously at the boy. "Thank you for healing me, Sora-kun… I almost forgot that you can do such a thing…"

"It's nothing. I won't leave my friends behind, that includes you." Sora grinned, before his expression turned serious. He glanced at Yubelluna, who fell to the ground and was struggling to recover after his last attack. "Akeno, I think I figured out a way that we can beat her while she's weakened."

"Oh, and what do you have in mind? I must apologize, since I don't have much magic left in me." Akeno's smiled, before her eyes widened slightly when the boy outstretched his left hand for her to take.

"Grab my hand. We'll link our powers and hit her with one big attack. It'll be just like the time when Kiba and I teamed up! That should be enough to take care of her!" Sora explained with a grin on his face.

"Will it be really enough?" Akeno stared at Sora for a few moments, before flashing her smile. "If that's what you wish, Sora-kun, then I can certainly oblige you." Akeno didn't have much magic left, but it should be enough to cooperate with what Sora had in mind. Even if it wasn't enough, she trusted in Sora's abilities enough that he'll be able to win against the Bomb Queen.

After all, this boy was apparently the Red Dragon Emperor.

The keyblade wielder flashed a smile of his own as Akeno grabbed his hand. They closed their eyes as their energies linked together, causing a bright yellow aura to wrap around their bodies.

At the same exact moment, Yubelluna had gotten back to her feet and glared hatefully at Sora, but it wouldn't last long when she saw the spiky brunette standing with the Lightning Priestess, hand in hand as she could feel the energy radiating from their bodies.

"It's useless! No matter what you do, you will both fall at the hands of Riser-sama! All of you!" Yubelluna gritted her teeth and gathered all of her power into one big explosion, before throwing it towards her two enemies.

"Now, Akeno!" Sora snapped his eyes open and pointed his keyblade towards Yubelluna. Akeno opened her eyes and grabbed onto the handle of Sora's keyblade as well, as lightning began cracking from the tip of the weapon. Both devils kept their hands linked together as their faces were within inches of the other. The two screamed as they focused their power into the keyblade, before they unleashed their combined attack towards the explosion speeding towards them.

"ROARING THUNDER!"

A powerful barrage of lightning shot out from the keyblade and sped towards Yubelluna's explosion, passing through it as if it was nothing and went straight to the purple-haired Queen instead. Yubelluna's eyes widened in shock as the lightning hit her dead-on, creating a massive explosion in which she got caught in and had no way out.

Bolts of lightning continued to shoot out from the keyblade for ten whole seconds before finally stopping, as the yellow aura covering their bodies disappeared. Akeno immediately felt weak afterwards, since she was completely drained of her magic. Her grip on the keyblade loosened and it prompted Sora to throw her right arm around his shoulder as the girl leaned on him and thankfully, he didn't fall over. He may look frail, but he could definitely stand his ground against even the toughest of enemies.

"T-Thank you… Sora-kun…" Akeno looked at him with a genuine smile on her face as she panted in exhaustion. There was no hint of teasing nor intimidation on her look, because it was all happiness.

"We did it, Akeno… we beat her." Sora only grinned in response, an action that caused Akeno to blush and caused her heart to start beating rapidly once again. It was only now that she realized how close they were to each other just a while ago, and it made Akeno feel warm on the inside.

"This feeling… is this what Rias feels around him…?" she thought in wonder, finding herself mesmerized with Sora's smile. He told her that they could beat the Riser's Queen together, and they did. It's as if his smile had a charm to it that told a person that everything was going to be alright, and Akeno liked it.

She liked it very much.

The smoke on the area before them finally cleared, where the two devils saw Yubelluna's unconscious and burnt body shone before finally disappearing.

["Riser-sama's Queen has retired."]

(Stop playing - "Hand in Hand")

And there we go. More action indeed this chapter with Sora taking down Isabela with style and technically defeating Ravel with his smoothness, heh. That was followed with Riser and Rias having a brief confrontation, Kiba and Koneko defeating the rest of Riser's other servants, and then finished off with a team-up from Akeno and Sora to take down Yubelluna. Hope you like their team attack, hahaha. One enemy is all that's left, and that's Riser. Next chapter should be interesting

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

-Lance