His shield refused to crack, though he was sent back a few inches every time she threw something at him. Remaining focused wasn't too hard to do--his body tended to act on instinct and on base logic. His fighting style meant he had to be defensive, defensive, defensive--and then strike when it was least expected.

He didn't see an opening in Raven's attacks. So all he had to do was defend for the moments. When she went out of his field of vision, his shield disappeared--he turned sharply enough that she hit the shield settled on his arm rather than his body. With his shield gone, he summoned Way to the Dawn, Keyblade appearing in a whorl of white and violet spirals.