Kiba and Issei burst from the tree line onto the pristine tennis courts, a key strategic location that overlooked the path to the Student Council building. They didn't get far.
A figure landed before them with a heavy thud, clad in the crimson and gold armor of the Phenex clan. Her hand rested on the hilt of a greatsword.
"I am Karlamine, Knight of Riser Phenex," she declared, her voice ringing with arrogant confidence. "Be ready to face me, Knight of Gremory. I will defeat you and prove my superiority."
Kiba's usual calm, almost playful battle demeanor was gone. In its place was the cold focus Jin had beaten into him. He had no time to feel out his opponent.
"You really like the sound of your own voice," Kiba replied coolly.
Just as he spoke, more figures emerged, closing the trap. From the shadows of the bleachers came the towering Rook, Isabella. From behind the umpire chairs, the nimble, fox-like twin pawns, Ni and Li, appeared with predatory grins.
Remembering Jin's lesson, Kiba decided to seize the initiative. He recalled what he'd read about Karlamine: quick on her feet, skilled with her greatsword, and empowered with the fire and wind affinities of her master.
"Then let's cool you off," Kiba said. Frost exploded from his outstretched hand, crackling as it coalesced into a beautiful, yet lethal, blade of shimmering ice. The air around it grew cold.
"An ice sword? How ?" Karlamine , her own blade igniting with swirling flames.
"It's my Sacred Gear," Kiba stated. "Sword Birth. Now, let's fight."
He vanished. The clash of their blades was a violent hiss of fire meeting ice, steam erupting from the point of impact. They were a blur of motion, Karlamine's powerful, fiery swings meeting Kiba's fast and precise ice-cold strikes. For every blow she landed, he parried two. They were perfectly matched, locked in a deadly stalemate.
Issei was in hell, and hell was a fist.
Isabella's fist. It crashed into his ribs like a wrecking ball, the impact buckling his guard and driving the air from his lungs in a pained gasp. The blow sent him staggering sideways, right into a spinning hook kick from Ni that cracked against his jaw and sent a starburst of white through his vision.
His senses swam. Before he could even think to recover, Li swept his legs out from under him. He hit the fractured court hard, the impact rattling his teeth. Isabella was on him in an instant, a heavy, armored boot stomping down on his chest, pinning him to the ground. She loomed over him, a mountain of crimson and gold, flanked by the nimble, fox-like twins. He was being systematically dismantled.
But he didn't give up .
**[BOOST! BOOST! BOOST!]**
"No…" Issei spat, a spray of blood accompanying the word as Isabella leaned down, preparing a final, crushing punch. "Not here… I promised… I promised the President…" His mind wasn't forming thoughts, it was a primal roar against the encroaching darkness. *FIGHT! FIGHT! I HAVE TO FIGHT!*
The Boosted Gear answered his desperation with a roar of its own. Emerald light erupted from the gauntlet, a violent flare that forced Isabella to shield her eyes and take a half-step back. It was the only opening he would get. He scrambled backward, getting to one knee as she lunged again, her fist glowing with malevolent power, a finishing blow aimed for his heart.
There was no thought. Only instinct. A desperate, lightning-fast idea.
Forget the massive, slow charge. He seized a fraction of the roaring power coursing through him and transfer it into his arm , twisting it , compressing it into a tiny, unstable sphere of pure destruction at the mouth of his gauntlet. A point-blank Dragon Shot.
Isabella learned the answer in a flash of blinding light and concussive force.
The world detonated against her stomach. It wasn't the wide beam of devastation he'd attempted before, but a focused, explosive hammer blow. The impact was immense, a physical shockwave that blew a crater in the ground and sent her flying backward, her armor spiderwebbing with cracks before she shattered against the high court fence in a shower of golden light.
Ni and Li froze, their coordinated grace shattered by pure shock. They stared at the empty space where their Rook had been, their minds unable to process the sudden turn of events.
That hesitation was his kill shot.
A raw scream tore from Issei's throat, a sound of pain, rage, and triumph. He pivoted on his knee, the gauntlet turning on the stunned twins. He unleashed a barrage, not of massive beams, but of rapid-fire, condensed cannonballs of energy. He bombarded them, a relentless storm of explosions that tore up the court. The twins, caught in their moment of disbelief, had no time to dodge. They were swallowed by the blasts and eliminated in a chain of fire and smoke.
*"Lord Riser's Rook, Isabella, and two Pawns, Ni and Li, have retired."*
Issei fell to his knees, panting, having given everything he had. He looked over to Kiba's fight and his heart sank. Siris, Riser's other Knight, had joined the fray. Kiba was now on the backfoot, fighting a desperate two-on-one battle, his body littered with a dozen small cuts from the knights' coordinated attacks.
"Come on… work, dammit!" Issei growled, trying to charge another Dragon Shot, but his energy reserves were too low. "We need as many people as we can to fight Riser!"
Then he remembered another of Jin's lessons. *"If an opponent gets distracted in a fight where they are putting in everything, it can end in an instant."* He remembered his other, far more infamous, magic.
He focused his remaining energy, visualizing the spell. "DRESS BREAK!"
A flash of pink light shot across the court, striking both Karlamine and Siris. In an instant, their clothes shattered into harmless particles of light, leaving them standing naked and frozen in shock on the battlefield. Their hands reflexively flew to cover their chests, their minds completely derailed from the fight.
It was the only opening Kiba needed. He was a blur of ice and steel. Two swift, precise strikes, and both knights dissolved into light.
*"Lord Riser's two Knights, Karlamine and Siris, have retired."*
Kiba stood over them, panting, and looked at Issei. "Thanks, Issei."
Issei, still on his knees, managed a weak thumbs-up in response.
Their victory was short-lived. Their attention was suddenly drawn to a titanic clash of magic in the sky nearby. Akeno, a tempest of holy lightning, was locked in a furious battle with the Queen, Yubelluna. And in the distance, a massive pillar of orange fire erupted from the roof of the Student Council building.
Rias.
"Kiba!" Issei yelled, forcing himself to his feet. "Rias is in trouble!"
"Let's go!"
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Man Kibba was done dirty in anime . his spotlight was stolen by issei and issei is too op .