Not only Spes, but the entire crowd were left mouth-gaping, seeing how the young man managed to actually land a hit on the captain. Spes's small moment of surprise would be interrupted as Liber's robotic voice resounded in his head.
[[Magic Nodes Imprint Complete!]]
[[Initiating Step 2/3: Soul Link]]
[[Progress: 1%]]
[[Estimated time remaining: 1mn]]
He couldn't see it, but within himself, 36 bright lights shone in specific areas of his body. And a half-blue, half-yellow line would go through each of them, merging everything into one system that slowly took form. That was both his and Liber's soul linking altogether with the Magic Nodes.
"Almost! I have to keep the pressure so she doesn't recover!" Spes thought, immediately rushing back at Crystals, who was trying to catch her breath.
A sneer emerged on her white, beautiful face as she dashed, disappearing from Spes's sights.
"You got lucky, don't get cocky," is what Spes heard as he felt pain all over his chest, his body propelled a few steps back.
Spes looked around, trying to locate Crystal's precise location, but all he saw were blurs all around him. Turning behind, he received another hit to his leg, and another one to his arm!
"She's moving too fast! I can't even see her!"
There wasn't much he could do with his current situation. He decided to try and protect his vitals as a priority as he awaited Liber's aid. That left them fighting a war of attrition: how long would it take Crystal to tire out before Spes would finally fall?
As Spes received hit after hit, he smiled upon receiving another notification.
[[Soul Link Complete!]]
[[Initiating Step 3/3: Core Synchronisation]]
[[Progress: unknown]]
[[Estimated time: unknown]]
Inside him, the yellow-blue line merged into a green one, forming into one complete system along the 36 white magic nodes. The only thing left to do was to activate the lot by stimulating the seed to synchronise with the system.
"How long left, Liber!" Spes shouted as he received hit after hit, trying his best to stand his ground.
"I don't know! It all depends on the synchronisation frequency! Don't disturb me! I have to focus!" Liber shouted back, both the seed and the system pulsating, emitting waves that tried to merge.
Spes was then hit right on his ribs, an attack that he couldn't avoid nor block, as it was one that was too fast for him to see. The pain being unbearable, he fell to the ground, clutching his chest as he grunted.
Seeing that her opponent received a critical hit, Crystal stopped in her steps, finally appearing in Spes's line of sight in front of him. She stood slightly hunched, visibly out of breath, as her beads of sweat rolled down her cheeks, her chest moving in and out rapidly.
"You lose," she mumbled, pointing her sword at him.
"I... I'm still standing," Spes spoke back, grimacing as he struggled to stand up, each slight movement bringing immense pain to his ribs.
The two stared at each other—Spes, with unyielding resolve in his eyes; Crystal, with her usual cold eyes.
The captain, raising her sword, prepared for one last attack as she felt that her stamina could no longer sustain her. So, taking one deep breath, she dashed at Spes, her speed drastically slower as Spes could now see her going straight at him.
"Liber!?" he shouted internally as time seemed to slow down, Crystal approaching him step by step.
"Liber!!! It's now or never!" he shouted again, Crystal now being right within melee range, her sword stretched out, ready to slash at him.
Just as he thought all hope was lost, within the span of 0.1 seconds, Liber's cold, emotionless voice sent out lines of information in his head.
[[Core Synchronisation: COMPLETE]]
[[Soul-Link Channeling: SUCCESSFUL]]
[[Fused Host Attempting System Access Override...]]
[[Override Successful – Security Breach Confirmed]]
[[Authority Level 2 Unlocked → Combat Assistance Enabled]]
[[Combat Situation: Critical – Analysing...]]
[[Optimal Spell Identified: Minor Paralysis]]
[[Activation Keyword: "Freeze"]]
Eyes brightening, Spes stretched out his hands and mumbled right before Crystal's sword reached his head: "Freeze!"
The seed pulsated, already having processed the formula needed for the spell. From the seed, the formula would travel through the green merged soul, making a complete rotation through each of the 36 nodes before exiting Spes's palms in the form of the complete spell, sending out rays of lightning that, like the spell's name, completely paralysed Crystal.
"You lose..." Spes grinned widely, gathering the last ounces of strength left within him for one final attack, bashing right at the paralysed Crystal, the two of them falling to the ground.