Still held in Leon's arms, Iris suddenly swung her staff hard.
A blinding burst of light erupted with that motion.
In the center of that radiance, a hundred thick cones of light condensed. With Iris's swing, they split into five volleys—front to back—and fired in an instant.
Intermediate elemental magic: Armor-Piercing Light Spikes!
This was the advanced form of the beginner spell Light Instant Spikes. It consumed over 20 mana, and its power was more than ten times the beginner version.
Any single thick light spike carried about 20% of the destructive power of the Spear of Judgment.
And there were a hundred of them.
Total mana cost was roughly double the Spear of Judgment, but the power and attack coverage far exceeded it.
This was only possible by using a long chant to enrich the spell imagery with fine detail—dramatically increasing mana utilization efficiency.
Without the long chant, the very same intermediate spell would lose at least three-quarters of its power.
And the cost would increase by at least 50%.
Of course, this spell also lost the "guaranteed hit" advantage of the Spear of Judgment.
But the White Unicorn, relying on its deceleration magic, didn't dodge magical attacks at all—giving Iris the perfect opening.
Whoosh!!!!
The first volley—twenty thick light spikes—ripped through the air.
Then, as they neared the White Unicorn, their speed abruptly collapsed, grinding against the ice-crystal barrier forming in front of it.
But that wasn't the end—another twenty spikes followed immediately.
The timing fell precisely into the brief gap between the unicorn's deceleration activations.
Ice deceleration was terrifying, but the unicorn's control over it still had a major flaw.
And Iris had sharply noticed that weakness.
Even so, the unicorn still managed to slow the second volley and dissolve it with ice-crystal defense.
The third volley came—slowed again.
The fourth—still suppressed.
But then—
BOOM!!
By the time the fifth volley arrived, the unicorn's deceleration activation speed could no longer keep up with the time gap. The high-speed spikes smashed through the ice-crystal barrier.
Crack!
And the final volley poured in, striking the White Unicorn directly.
"Neeeh—NEEEH!"
Its head, front thigh, and raised thick neck were riddled with thick light spikes, and bright red blood erupted from the wounds.
Armor-Piercing Light Spikes was a spell specialized for breaking defenses.
The White Unicorn wasn't like the Minotaur. It didn't have that kind of overwhelming magic resistance—its entire build was invested in water magic and high-speed charging.
Its skin and muscle defense, by contrast, was not particularly strong.
So once its defensive magic was pierced, the damage was horrific.
Leon estimated it: just those twenty spikes had carved off nearly 18 HP.
Almost one HP per spike.
If the unicorn had tried to tank Iris's full ultimate barrage with its body, it might've been killed outright.
So even with a "crown" spell like ice deceleration, you couldn't be too lopsided.
Overreliance still got you wrecked.
And this unicorn only had a surface-level grasp of the crown.
Still, it was a powerful third-tier monster, and its physique wasn't weak. Based on experience, Leon estimated its HP was probably no lower than 45.
So Leon seized the moment to add pressure.
"Iris—its horn is the core for controlling water magic. I'll suppress it. Prepare another Spear of Judgment!"
"Got it!"
Leon rapidly fired off six beginner spells:
Beginner wind magic: Air Vortex ×2
Beginner fire magic: Fire Bolt ×4
Mana: -6
This formed his combo spell: Siphoning Wind ×2!
As the siphoning winds took hold, blood burst from the unicorn's neck and head wounds and was violently sucked away.
ROOOAA—!!
Siphoning Wind was subtle. By striking during the unicorn's pain window—right after its defense broke—Leon avoided triggering new deceleration and barrier magic.
That single suction alone would make the unicorn lose at least 4 HP.
If it continued longer, it could drain 10… even 20+.
And because the bleeding was concentrated near the head—critical supply regions—this would disrupt the unicorn's mana feed to its horn, and also weaken the mental focus required to cast spells.
Sure enough, as its blood was siphoned away, the unicorn's terrifying, feral equine face drooped. That murderous aura faded.
At the same time, Iris completed the chant for Spear of Judgment.
She snapped her staff forward.
Whoosh!!
The spear left her staff's range and instantly accelerated beyond what eyes could track.
In the next heartbeat, the tip met the unicorn's skull—without any noticeable resistance.
Thud—!!
A dull impact.
The slender spear shaft pierced through, blood pouring out—still being steadily siphoned away.
This time, the White Unicorn could barely even roar.
Because the spear had punched from the side of its skull and out the back, directly destroying brain structures.
Even so, the unicorn's vitality was frightening.
Two rounds of blood-draining plus a direct vital hit had taken at least 30 HP.
Add the earlier damage, and by all logic it should've been empty.
Yet even without a roar, its body suddenly convulsed. Muscles bulged, hooves slammed down—it looked like it was preparing a final, dying charge.
Leon set Iris down and stepped onto a relatively high rock, avoiding the remaining waves from Flood Burst.
"Leave the finishing blow to me, Iris. Save your mana—after this, we'll need you on watch."
Leon drew his silver sword in one hand.
With the other, he casually pulled out Minotaur jerky and started chewing, replenishing.
From the moment they encountered the unicorn to now, Leon had spent 21 mana and 10 stamina.
Because the unicorn was such a pain, his mana usage had exceeded his self-imposed "half" threshold.
But there was no helping it. Even if they'd retreated, the continuous dodging would still have cost a lot.
Fortunately, Iris's overall expenditure wasn't too high, and Leon still had about two-thirds of his stamina left. Overall, the outcome wasn't terrible.
For the final strike, Leon didn't plan to use any techniques.
With so many wounds already opened on the unicorn, a clean thrust or slash—expanding an existing wound—would be the last straw to break it.
Now the White Unicorn charged in with heavily slowed steps, like a trapped beast rushing toward Leon.
Leon focused, sword tip dragging against the stone, waiting… waiting…
And the instant the unicorn reached him and lifted its front hooves, Leon burst sideways and drove the blade precisely into the spear's puncture channel. He twisted, then carved hard—
Slash!
The horn—containing the unicorn's entire magical essence—flew high into the air, along with a piece of skull.
Leon reached out and caught it.
The White Unicorn collapsed to the side, the water around the rock shuddering into rippling waves.