The Fifth Layer (12)

Jenna punched the Bone Mother's legs with her giant, angelic form until the shield finally shattered on the left front leg. "Got it!"

Wary, the Bone Mother quickly cast a new shield, but Ejiro was already prepared. His sword shattered the shield before it could harden. Victor and the other vampires seized the opportunity and slashed at the leg, breaking it apart. The bones desperately tried reconnecting, but they were torn off instantly.

Luo ignited another leg in blue fire, but the Bone Mother used this to burn the people below her. Jenna grabbed the leg, and long-range mages unleashed their most powerful attacks on it.

As the barrier shattered, the bones melted due to the blue fire. Luo grinned. "That worked! It can't restore this leg now."

The fire mage repeated the process on the first leg. The Bone Mother was now balancing on four legs.

Her three skulls lit up: green for wind, blue for electricity, and yellow for fire. The three violent elements coursed down her body, forcing everyone to back away.

However, no one had predicted the skeleton titan's second attack. She jumped, her feet leaving the ground, and her heads tore through the concrete roof as she roared. The Bone Mother created a shockwave upon landing, causing even the mages afar to fall to their knees.

…

The Bone Mother's attack caused a large part of the roof near the barricade to collapse. Anne reacted quickly, pushing all the soldiers away from the holes to prevent them from falling into the void.

Christopher grunted as he recovered his senses and stood up. "Thanks, you saved me."

"Aaron?" Gabriella gasped. Jenna and Christopher looked in Aaron's direction.

"Hello, kid." Zephyr greeted him in his silver armour. He had lost his helmet and gun, but the reptoid was still fierce.

Aaron frowned. "You're the reptoids' leader, Zephyr Dragos. I thought you ran away."

"You were one of the two guys that killed my wife." He glanced at the soldiers around them.

None of them were reptoids. His kind… it was falling. "I don't care about the Dark Faction's agenda. Today, I'm fighting to the death for my late wife… for my people."

His gaze shifted to Gabriella Rivampe. "And you! You're the cause of all of this! You're responsible for our downfall. The vampires, the werewolves, the reptoids, even the skeletons, we'll all die because of you. Everything we've built since the end of the Second War is collapsing because you betrayed us."

"You're wrong!" Gabriella shouted. "I'm just doing what's right. The Cursed who chose to follow me will go where they want and live happy lives. They'll be able to travel across the continents without hiding in the shadows!"

"And bow down to humans?! No, we'll all go extinct. There's a reason humans called us the Cursed. We are weapons made by the Dark Faction. Violence is in our nature."

Gabriella froze. Maybe he was right. She couldn't last a month without feeding on humans. Reptoids were made to take others' identities. Werewolves would go feral if they didn't battle frequently. The skeletons didn't have a heart.

Aaron shook his head. "So what if you're violent by 'nature?' Humans have proven throughout history that they can change. Our nature is always evolving. Why can't yours? Why do you have to yield to your maker?"

Zephyr looked at the barricade behind him before shutting his eyes. "I always imagined that I was a ruler. But, it turned out I was a pawn. I don't have control of my fate like you might have. I can't even choose to live, so fight me. I want to see what you're made of, Aaron Amon and Gabriella Rivampe."

He clenched his fists and leapt.

-Poah!

Zephyr punched the air as Aaron narrowly dodged with wind magic.

Aaron tightened his grip around his pistol. "You're crazy!"

…

As the Bone Mother landed, Seth teleported Jenna and Luo next to her final left leg. Jenna grabbed it immediately, and Luo melted it.

Having lost half her legs, the giant collapsed on her side, causing a last quake followed by an avalanche of bones.

Jenna smiled. "We did it!" 

"Wait! It's not over." Ejiro approached the fallen mass to get a closer look.

The three heads emerged from the heap along with a smaller body. It stood twenty metres tall, roughly twice as tall as Jenna's manifestation.

"DIE!" A coarse female voice echoed through the plains.

The heads glowed once again. Fire, electricity, and wind suddenly combined into a giant burst aimed straight at Jenna.

-BOOM!

No one reacted in time. Jenna took the blow, her soul manifestation's golden glow turning faint.

She spat out blood. Her eyes shifted to their usual brown colour as the transparent angel faded. "I'm at my limit!"

Seth noticed that the vegetation around them, her power source, had dried up. "Don't push yourself, I fear you'd be chewing at your soul if you go further."

He turned to the beast. Her three skulls were still glowing and she was preparing another attack. "Ejiro! Luo!"

They already knew what to do. Luo distracted the three heads with his blue fire, avoiding the Bone Mother's attacks. The lightning head turned to Ejiro and Seth, but they had disappeared before it could strike.

Seth teleported behind her with Ejiro. A shadow came out of the ground and launched Ejiro into the air. He increased his momentum by flapping his wings and struck his sword into the vertebrae below the three heads. Having broken the shield, he attacked with a light beam to break some bones.

A strident cry came from the three heads as one blasted Ejiro away with wind magic. Ejiro recovered in mid-air and flew around her.

The Bone Mother couldn't catch up with his speed. Ejiro's sword once again plunged into her back. Her shield was down temporarily, but Luo and the other fire mages couldn't melt her in time.

"Hey!" A young voice came from the east. The Bone Mother glanced at the newcomer. Isaac had woken up.

Three red magic beams obliterated her and she collapsed into a new pile of bones. Isaac's burning eyes extinguished.

"Hey, guys." He jumped on top of the white mountain.

Luo flew beside him. "Careful, she might not be dead yet. We need to melt the rest of the bones."

A skull moved within the pile and Isaac grabbed it. "What's this?"

The pale head laughed in his hands. "Hahahaha. You found me."

"The Bone Mother?" Ejiro approached him.

"You won this battle, but not the war," she paused. "Listen, if you let me live, I can raise an army for you. One that won't ever betray you. Only then could you win against what's coming."

Seth frowned. "What are you talking about?"

She smiled. "Don't you know? The mages nowadays are weaker than they were two hundred years ago. That's what technology does to you humans. You don't have a hero like you did in the previous wars. You can pray to your Christ, the Wise Magician - to your Saviour, the Fallen God, or to your exemplary mage from the Second War, Preace Upperthord, but they're men and men don't live long."

"Our heroes may not live long, but new ones appear when we need them." Seth shook his head. "We don't need an army of undead."

"No! You're wrong! The Dark Faction… it's not what you think it is. It grew, it's-"

The skull glowed red and exploded in Isaac's hands. "Is this what I think it is?"

Seth nodded. "The Dark Faction is good at keeping secrets. We haven't been able to discern much information from Snoid because of this thing. Their subjects die if they speak too much."

Jenna noticed Isaac was looking at his feet. "Isaac? What are you thinking about?"

He leaned down and brushed his hand against the skull's ashes. "I hadn't noticed it when it happened the first time, but now I see clearly. This is Red Magic. It's a spell."

"Do you think you can break the spell?" Ejiro asked.

"I don't know."