Bian charged at the Duke, ignoring his opponent attacks and focusing mainly on finishing him off.
A myriad of sparks flashed around his armor, wherever the duke struck, but his sword could not go past the sacred-blood beast soul.
Bian impaled his knee, ribs, shoulder, and finally managed to destroy the four-leaf clover geno core which was a critical aspect of the Duke's power.
'With that gone, I should be able to finish him off now.'
Everything was going according to plan, Earl Ankou was kept occupied, and the Duke had lost that four-leaf clover geno core.
Bian never stopped counting the attacks of the duke. He was still on the fifty-third, a far cry away from the hundredth.
Victory was all but certain, the burning black spear thrust straight towards the skull of his opponent.
And at the same time, the Edge of Ruin made a slash towards Bian's left shoulder.
Suddenly, alarm bells rang loud in Bian's head.
He didn't even have time to comprehend what was happening. All he knew was Bao'er was on top of his left shoulder.
Bian abandoned his attack and redirected the spear to block the black sword.
Unfortunately, the timing and angle were off, so Bian couldn't remove himself from the weapon's line of sight completely.
A red flash appeared.
[Gold Geno Core: Burning Black Spear Destroyed.]
Along with the geno core, his right arm from the elbow upwards was separated from his body.
Bian took several steps back, pondering what had just happened.
Thanks to the active body pillar, the sensation of his hand being lopped off was nearly nullified.
If not, Bian would be screaming right now and not wondering how.
"Haha, you're surprised, right! So you figured it out, that every hundred strikes land a guaranteed critical attack."
'A critical attack?' Bian subconsciously raised a brow. 'That's not a bad name.'
As he thought this, he observed the Duke's energy flow coalescing towards his injuries. Especially his knee and shoulder.
'He's stalling for time to recover, but I can't attack him drastically anymore. I need to know more about how his weapon works.'
Bian had initially assumed that without the four-leaf clover, the Duke's critical attack wouldn't occur, but this conjecture had been proven wrong and cost him an arm.
"I'll let you in on a little secret. That geno core you just destroyed is called a certainty clover. It guarantees a chance by the end, but only by denying it until then."
The Duke had beads of sweat rolling down his head as he spoke.
'Just a little more time.'
Meanwhile, Bian had a look of revelation.
"Oh, so that's it!"
Bian almost felt like laughing. No, he did laugh. Laughing as crazily as he could.
'Is he mental?'
The duke thought, rushing his plan even more.
"Hahaha haha!"
Bian suddenly stopped laughing, his eyes as cold as ice.
"So your critical attack has a one-percent chance of activating. With the clover of certainty, it guaranteed every hundredth strike would activate the critical attack, that way it was easier for you to time the attacks."
"You would strike anything ninety-nine times and carry your sword ready to deliver the critical strike. That was how you killed the former Prince of this shelter."
"Then when I broke the clover, every attack has a one-percent chance of activating the critical attack. Yup, it all makes sense now."
Bian nodded to himself as he spoke.
"And what did you find so funny? Now my attacks are even more dangerous, even more unpredictable. Any random clash could end your miserable life!"
"Isn't it funny how a pillow lands exactly when I'm sleepy."
"What?!" The Duke was utterly flabbergasted. Had Bian gone mad, what was he on about.
"It's just funny how I'm about to gain a weapon with critical attack chance. Me of all people, what are the odds?"
There was a pun there, but the Duke didn't get it. Not that it mattered anyway, enough time had elapsed.
BANG!
Thick vines burst through floor, ensnaring Bian in a second.
At the same time, he threw Bao'er with his one arm towards the Duke's spirit stone.
"No!"
The Duke commanded the vines to attack Bao'er as she flew towards his spirit stone.
The thick tendrils swept towards her at breakneck speeds, but a pair of deadly draconic wings sprouted from her back, allowing her to avoid the snares.
The vines had left Bian to attack Bao'er. Using that chance, he managed to slip out of the single creeper weighing him down.
The duke would have won right there and then if Bian hadn't activated and maintained the Emperical Aura, keeping track of the vines' movement.
In a flash, Bian appeared in front of Duke Thorne in a crouching position.
"I've been planning this move since I fought God's Retribution."
A move that depended heavily on perfect body control.
From his crouching position, Bian kicked the Duke's face with his right leg.
Just as his feet went past his face, it suddenly sped up drastically.
BOOM!
The sonic barrier was broken in an instant, the shockwave sent the Duke's face in the opposite direction ready to receive Bian's second kick.
Again, another sound barrier was broken after Bian kicked the Duke's face. Then he went round once more kicking the duke and breaking the third sound barrier.
Then the fourth, fifth and sixth.
Normally his kick would have sent the duke flying, but the shockwaves repositioned him to collect more kicks.
Finally, as the seventh kick made impact with the Duke's face, Bian pressed all his strength into that attack, breaking the last sound barrier and bursting his opponent's head open like a watermelon.
"Seven Sonic Destruction!"
It sounded like time had elapsed but his attack happened in the snap of a finger.
Earl Ankou, who was by the side, heard a single explosion instead of seven. That was how fast the attack was.
The duke's spirit stone embedded in the Gemstone statue shone in a resplendent indigo light and exploded into particles.
The attack killed the duke and the shockwave scattered the walls in the hall, exposing the interior of the castle to the natural elements completely.
The black blade in the dead duke's hand flew up and turned to a beam of light, entering Bian's soul sea.
[Gold Geno Core Received: Edge of Ruin]
Bian let out a breath of relief, then turned to look at Earl Ankou who had a black spear in her abdomen.
The look in her eyes wasn't one of regret or unwillingness. It wasn't relief either, it was more of a nonchalant gaze.
Then she turned to dust and dispersed.
"What a weirdo."
Bian didn't even want to imagine what she was going through.
Bao'er came back to him with his left hand.
"Wow! You were like a helicopter!"
Bian took his arm, threw her a smile and approached the vines.
They hadn't disappeared but were now in a dormant state.
"It must be some sort of special geno core that can only be controlled by the owner of the shelter."
Bian summarised and went towards the teleporter.
After so long, he could finally return home.
He thanked the sanctuaries that their clash had not destroyed the teleporter, or else he would have to travel for who knows how long to find another.
In one moment he was in the sanctuary, then he found himself back in his mansion.
"Welcome Home."
The sweet voice of Han Yan echoed and a warm, gentle figure embraced him.
"Glad to be back."
Bian had finally returned home.