Isaac caught up with Gabriella. She was fighting enemy vampires on top of a hill. The young mage killed the last one with a red magic beam.

Flying above, she hadn’t seen him yet. “Gabriella!”

“Hey, Isaac!” She smiled with her long fangs.

“What do you see from up there?”

Gabriella looked around. Their army had ventured far away from the gate. The last few cloaked wizards, reptoids and vampires had hidden behind the skeletons and were falling back.

“The rest of the Seats’ force is retreating. We should go after them before they get to the guys at Syphon City.”

“Got it! Stay safe!” Isaac turned around and prepared to go.

“Wait!”

“Hm? What is it, Gab?”

Her eyes were fixated on a faraway object. Across the plain, jumping out of the mass of white skeletons, a disproportionate figure stared at her. The red skeleton bounced forward with the four legs it had gained from eating reptoids and floated in the air with the fleshy wings of a high vampire.

It left a red misty trail behind and opened its hideous dislocated jaw.

‘Move!’ Gabriella bit her tongue and narrowly dodged the mass of bones. Its hot red mist brushed against her cheek.

It turned around and prepared to charge again.

-Boom!

Isaac’s red magic beam hit the flying monster, but instead of knocking it down, the red magic skeleton controlled it just like the mist and shot it back at him.

“What?!” Isaac made barriers around himself.

-Boom!

Isaac had underestimated his attack’s power. He fell on his back and rolled down the hill against the tall grass. He stopped himself, staining his sweaty hands with dandelions, grass and dirt.

Gabriella lost sight of the creature. She looked at Isaac, and her eyes widened.

“Isaac!” She alerted him.

It was rushing at him, yet he didn’t have time to do anything other than toughen up and receive the attack. The undead beast opened its mouth and plunged on him.

-Clang!

Isaac opened his eyes. There was a metal staff keeping its mouth open. “Seth?”

Seth Rayn was trembling. The old mage had caught the red skeleton inside a shadow.

“Isaac, Gabriella. Kill it quick!”

Gabriella gained momentum, dove straight down, and hit the giant skull with her sharp fangs. “It’s too tough!”

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“Leave it to me!” Isaac’s hand glowed red. He was about to shoot another red magic beam but quickly changed to making a giant spear above everyone.

-Crash!

The red magic spear struck the skeleton’s head and penetrated. Seth fell on his knees and lost his grasp. The creature rolled down the hill and looked at them, tilting its head like a dog as it stood on its four reptoid legs.

The spear dissolved into mana, and the fractured skull repaired itself.

Isaac gazed at Gabriella and Seth. ”What do we do now?”

-Beep!

“Can you hear me?”

“Anne?” Isaac touched his earpiece.

Anne reported her situation. “There’s a weird red skeleton on the south side, but we can’t kill it! Even bombs barely make a dent in him, and it regenerates! I think it’s using red magic, just like Isaac!”

“Red magic?” Isaac was stunned. He observed the beast below them and wondered how he hadn’t noticed that the red mist was its mana.

Christopher shouted. “So it’s called red magic?! We have the same situation here! It’s already killed many of my guys!”

Seth frowned. “There are three of them? I don’t like this. They must have a weakness. Find it!”

He ordered Gabriella to fly above them and prepare for its next attack. Isaac ran back up the hill.

…

Scott left his seat to examine the three red skeletons closely. They could heal, and one even manipulated Isaac’s red magic attacks. The two others had only kept their regular limbs, but they were fast and sturdy. One could make his limbs bigger, while the other could make red magic spikes jump out of the ground.

He sighed. “I know a bit about red magic. I can confirm this is it.”

“Do you think they are apostles? The same kind as that demon who decimated the battlefield two months ago?” Deputy Kray fell back on her chair and muted her microphone.

Stephen shook his head. “No, these are different. They have been empowered with red magic, but haven’t you seen how they only use a single power? Red magic, as I know it, is simply a combination of all dark magic powers. However, they only resort to a few attacks as they lack imagination and have lost their humanity.”

“They’re vessels,” Micky argued. “They can’t make red magic on their own. None of the skeletons can- they don’t have blood and organs. That’s why there’s a red mana mist around them.”

“Interesting… Get to the point.” Sophie looked at him skeptically.

“The three skeletons have a single source of mana: souls. If we prevent them from killing anyone, they can’t grow stronger and will eventually lose their power.”

Stephen Cure understood where Micky was going. He broadcasted his voice to all the soldiers fighting on the side of the gate. “Everyone, listen to me. Do not let these things kill you. They get more mana every time someone dies, so you have to wait until they run out. Retreat if necessary.”

…

Isaac had an idea. His eyes burned, and his hair spiked up. His feet lifted off the ground as he levitated. “It will take hours before we can drain their mana, but the mages at Syphon City need help. What if, instead, I take their mana myself?”

“Huh.” Seth grinned. “Alright, try it.”

The red skeleton stared at Isaac’s shining mana. Unable to defy its instinct, the beast flapped its wings and opened its jaws. It wanted to consume it and grow stronger.

The skeleton swallowed Isaac whole. Under the red mist, Gabriella could still see her friend cramped inside the hollow skeleton. Her heartbeat quickened, and her cold, pale skin scorched.

“Which do you think is the stronger vessel?” Seth asked her.

“Huh?”

“Isaac has been training to use red magic for longer, has he not? Don’t you think his body is more receptive to mana than a newborn beast?”

“You mean… is Isaac absorbing its red magic from inside its body?” She squinted her eyes and realized the red mist was clearing.

The beast imploded. Hundreds of bone fragments coloured the hill in white. Isaac was still floating. He ran his hand through his hair. All of his wounds from the monster’s teeth had already healed.

“That was a good dose.”

His burning eyes fixated on another red skeleton. Far away to the northwest, Christopher Fireblood was fighting it in his bloody fur.