The two sides collided, and the fight was decided in barely thirty seconds.
The armed survivors were hit like they had stepped in front of a speeding truck, their numbers collapsing almost immediately as the Berserkers tore through the courtyard.
Rifles and handguns kept firing, but too many rounds struck torsos and limbs instead of destroying the brain, making most of the gunfire almost useless.
By the time the screaming began to die down, only seven or eight Blood Moon Berserkers were still standing.
The remaining dead hung their heads at unnatural angles, fresh blood dripping from their mouths as low growls rolled from their throats.
One after another, their heads slowly turned, as though they were searching for Magnus Vane’s exact position despite all the bodies scattered around them.
Lying flat on the rooftop, Magnus narrowed his bloodshot eyes and watched them carefully.
Seeing more than a dozen men torn apart below only seemed to make the violent pressure inside him stronger.
Magnus forced himself to think through the Blood Moon rules instead of giving in to that aggression.
There were two ways to survive a horde night: build defenses strong enough to hold until morning, or kill every Blood Moon attacker and force the event to end early.
The first option was already gone because Magnus had deliberately brought the horde here instead of preparing a dedicated base.
The second, however, suddenly looked possible.
“There were almost twenty before,” Magnus muttered.
“Now there are seven or eight, and most of them already took gunfire.” He tightened his grip on the Horse-Bone Sledgehammer and slowly rose into a crouch.
“That’s actually manageable.” The moment he made the decision, Magnus rolled over the roof edge and dropped into the courtyard.
He hit the ground, immediately ran back toward the SUV, and slipped into the driver’s seat before slamming the door behind him.
The sharp noise carried through the compound, and every surviving Berserker snapped its head toward the vehicle at almost the same time.
Their pale eyes carried the same violent red influence Magnus could feel burning inside himself.
A second later, they charged.
Crash!
Several Berserkers slammed into the SUV at once, shattering windows and spraying glass across the interior.
Shards embedded themselves in decaying faces without slowing the dead, while dark blood and yellowish fluid leaked from fresh cuts.
Magnus had deliberately chosen the vehicle because its cramped interior prevented the Berserkers from surrounding him all at once.
Outside, seven attackers could overwhelm him from every direction; inside, only one or two could properly reach him at a time.
“Come on!” Magnus snarled as the first corpse shoved its head through the broken side window.
He drove the Horse-Bone Sledgehammer straight into its open mouth, knocking it backward and leaving it stunned on the pavement.
Before Magnus could pull the weapon completely free, another Berserker began climbing through the opposite window.
He twisted his body in the narrow space and smashed the hammer into its skull.
Crack!
Bone collapsed beneath the impact, and rotten brain matter sprayed across Magnus’s cheek.
The smell should have made him gag, but his heart only hammered faster as veins stood out along his neck and forearms.
Under the Blood Moon, Magnus looked almost as berserk as the dead attacking him.
Another corpse had already forced its upper body through the front window before the first body even stopped twitching.
The walker’s jaws snapped toward Magnus’s face.
He gritted his teeth, planted one foot against its chest, and kicked hard enough to throw it backward into the dashboard.
At the same time, another Berserker reached through the broken glass beside him, so Magnus grabbed the hot cigarette lighter from the console and drove it straight into the creature’s eye socket.
“You want to eat so damn badly?” Magnus growled.
“Here.
Take this.”
The burning metal sank deep into the ruined eye with a wet hiss, sending thick fluid running down the corpse’s face and onto Magnus’s chest.
He released the sledgehammer for half a second, drew back his fist, and drove it into the weakened skull with all the Strength his system-enhanced body could produce.
The head collapsed under the blow, and the corpse fell heavily across him.
Magnus shoved the body away before the others could use it to pin him down.
His eyes burned brighter red.
More Berserkers were already clawing at the SUV.
Magnus grabbed the Horse-Bone Sledgehammer again and used the broken window as an escape route.
He pushed himself through, planted a boot against the door frame, and climbed onto the roof before another corpse could seize his leg.
The higher position immediately gave him the advantage he needed.
Anything that wanted to reach him now had to climb.
The first Berserker came up over the hood.
Magnus shifted his stance like a batter lining up a home run and swung the sledgehammer directly into its head.
The impact knocked the corpse senseless and sent it crashing back onto the pavement.
Another reached the edge of the roof, only for Magnus to hammer its hands away and then smash the weapon down across its skull.
From that point, the fight became brutally simple.
Every time one of the remaining Berserkers tried climbing onto the vehicle, Magnus knocked it back down before it could establish its footing.
One came from the rear, another from the passenger side, and a third tried pulling itself up over the windshield, but all of them received the same treatment.
Magnus kept striking until every last Blood Moon attacker lay motionless around the SUV.
Even then, he didn’t immediately climb down.
Magnus remained on the roof for nearly twenty minutes, breathing heavily and watching the bodies below for movement.
Slowly, the thick red haze around the compound began fading, and the Blood Moon hanging overhead became indistinct.
Only after the unnatural crimson light started disappearing did Magnus finally release the breath he had been holding.
His strength seemed to leave him all at once.
Magnus dropped onto his back across the SUV roof, his clothes soaked in cold sweat while his chest rose and fell rapidly.
“Seven or eight Berserkers,” he muttered between breaths, “and that was worse than killing twenty normal walkers.” If he had tried fighting the entire original horde alone, even surviving would have come down to luck.
The experience hardened one decision Magnus had already begun making.
He needed a real survivor community, not simply a few temporary companions moving from place to place.
Daryl and Merle were valuable, but two capable fighters weren’t enough for future Blood Moons, hostile survivor groups, or whatever else the system might throw at him.
Rick’s people would eventually need to become part of that larger force as well.
In the new world, numbers by themselves meant very little.
Fifteen armed men in the courtyard below had just proved that point by dying in less than a minute.
What mattered was having people who could fight, follow a plan, adapt under pressure, and become stronger together.
Rick, Shane, Glenn, Daryl, Merle, Andrea, and the others all had qualities Magnus could build around.
Magnus remained on the SUV roof for a long time with the Horse-Bone Sledgehammer resting beside him.
Dawn gradually pushed back the darkness, and the survivors killed during the attack eventually began twitching before rising again as ordinary walkers, exactly as the rules of The Walking Dead demanded.
Magnus finally sat up as movement spread through the courtyard.
At that moment, cheerful system music sounded inside his head.
A translucent panel appeared.
[First Blood Moon Successfully Survived]
[Interval Until Next Blood Moon Doubled]
[Reward 1: Horse-Bone Sledgehammer Upgraded]
[Stone Sledgehammer — Quality 2]
[Reward 2: Stalker Gloves — Quality 3]
[Reward 3: Magazine — Hunter’s Bow]
Warmth spread through Magnus’s hand, and the weapon beside him began changing.
Soft leather wrapped itself around the rough wooden grip, giving his hands a much more secure surface to hold.
The rounded bone head disappeared and was replaced by a heavy squared stone head that looked like several thick blocks had been fused together around the shaft.
The crude appearance remained, but its weight multiplied several times over.
Magnus wrapped one hand around the new handle and lifted.
Heavy.
Very heavy.
Without his investment in Strength, carrying the Stone Sledgehammer comfortably would probably have been difficult, much less using it in an actual fight.
Magnus gave it a short experimental lift before resting it back against the SUV roof.
The weapon had definitely become far more dangerous.
He pulled bread and bottled water from his system inventory and began eating while examining the second reward.
[Stalker Gloves — Quality 3]
[Part of the Stalker Armor Set]
[Lockpicking Speed +6%]
[Lockpicking Success Rate +6%]
[Stamina Recovery +0.65/sec]
[Movement Speed +7%]
[Movement Noise Reduced]
[Detection Chance Reduced]
Magnus stared at the information for several seconds before sighing.
The bonuses themselves were excellent, especially the improved movement and stamina recovery, but the equipment clearly favored an Agility-based build.
“You still won’t unlock the Agility tree for me,” Magnus complained, “but you keep handing me Agility gear.
What exactly are you trying to tell me?”
The system remained completely silent.
“Yeah.
Figures.”
Magnus moved on to the final reward.
[Magazine: Hunter’s Bow]
[Effect: Increases Bow Crafting Level]
[Maximum Bow Crafting Level: 75]
[Lv.1–10: Primitive Bow]
[Lv.11–20: Wooden Bow]
[Lv.21–35: Iron Crossbow]
[Lv.36–55: Compound Bow]
[Lv.56–75: Compound Crossbow]
Magnus’s annoyance disappeared as he studied the progression.
“A compound crossbow would actually be useful.” System-crafted equipment came with proper quality levels and additional properties, giving it an advantage over weapons someone simply put together by hand.
Even if Magnus had no intention of becoming an archer himself, there was no reason the crafting skill had to benefit only him.
His thoughts immediately turned to Daryl.
Give Daryl a high-quality system-made compound crossbow and enough bolts, and the man’s combat effectiveness could rise dramatically.
The same crafting system could eventually provide other members of Magnus’s group with better equipment as well.
Viewed that way, the magazine might be one of the most useful rewards of the three.
Magnus stored the Stalker Gloves and Stone Sledgehammer in his inventory before opening the magazine.
He barely had time to flip through several pages before the system absorbed the information automatically.
A stream of knowledge settled into his mind, and new notifications immediately appeared.
[Bow Crafting Level: Lv.1 → Lv.5]
[Level Increased]
[Lv.6 → Lv.9]
[Unused Skill Points: 3]
Magnus initially focused on the crafting increase.
Then his eyes moved back upward.
“Wait.”
Level 9?
His expression froze.
A single magazine could explain the five crafting levels, but it certainly couldn’t explain Magnus jumping three character levels at once.
He immediately opened the system combat log and scrolled back through the records from the Blood Moon.
After only a few lines, the answer appeared.
[Berserker Killed]
[Experience Gained: +1200]
[Berserker Killed]
[Experience Gained: +1200]
[Berserker Killed]
[Experience Gained: +1200]
…
Magnus stared at the numbers.
Then slowly smiled.
A review helps a lot.
P1treon: