Chapter 50 Massacre! The Blood Moon Arrives!

Magnus Vane lay low on the rain-soaked hillside and studied the rural settlement below until one structure immediately separated itself from everything around it. Near the center of the community stood a tall stone church, easily twice the height of most nearby homes, with a narrow upper level and a weathered bell tower rising above the roof. Rain struck the rusted bell hard enough to produce occasional hollow notes that drifted across the village. Magnus’s red-tinted eyes brightened as soon as he saw it. “A church.”

The building was almost perfect for what he needed. Thick stone walls would be far harder for Berserkers to tear through than ordinary residential construction, while the narrow interior staircase leading to the second floor would prevent a large number from reaching him at the same time.

If he blocked the upper landing correctly, he could force the Blood Moon walkers into a single approach and kill them one after another instead of fighting an entire wave in open ground. Magnus smiled through the rain. “That’s the place.”

There were still roughly two hours before midnight, which gave Magnus enough time to prepare the church before the system-driven horde arrived. He moved toward the woods bordering the settlement and used the storm to hide the noise while gathering timber, cutting down what he needed and converting the material through the system into Wooden Spike Traps.

By the time he circled back toward the church, the moon behind the clouds had become an enormous bloody disk. Rain poured over the old stone building while the bell tower stood against the red sky, turning the entire scene into something that looked less like rural Georgia and more like the entrance to hell.

Magnus pushed open the church’s heavy wooden doors.

Creeeeak.

His soaked boots struck the floor as he stepped inside, and several motionless figures sitting among the pews immediately began reacting to the sound. Seven or eight walkers had apparently remained trapped in the church since the early days of the outbreak, their stiff necks turning toward him in slow, unnatural movements. Magnus glanced over their clothes and quickly pieced together what had happened: a priest near the front, a woman still wearing the remains of a white wedding dress, a man in a ruined suit, and several guests scattered between the pews. Burned-down candles stood near the altar beside an abandoned Bible.

Magnus stared at them for a second. “Wedding day, huh?” He shifted the Stone Sledgehammer into one hand and rested the barbed head against the floor. “Sorry your reception got canceled.” A cold grin pulled at the corner of his mouth as the bloodlust inside him stirred again. “I’ll give you a proper send-off.”

The bride reacted first.

“Rrraah!”

She tore herself free from the pew, pieces of the ruined dress hanging from her body as she lunged toward him. Magnus’s breathing immediately quickened, and the pressure that had been building in his veins seemed to celebrate the approaching violence. He gripped the Stone Sledgehammer with both hands and swung upward from below.

THOOM!

The barbed hammerhead struck with terrifying force.

The walker’s body lifted completely off the floor before crashing several feet away. The impact destroyed enough of her lower torso that the corpse landed separated and twisted, yet the upper half still clawed weakly against the stone. Magnus looked at the pale legs lying near him and raised the hammer with a delighted laugh. “Home run!”

He spun the Stone Sledgehammer overhead once, letting momentum carry the heavy weapon smoothly into his opposite hand. With Strength Lv8 and Heavy Weapon Handling Lv1, a motion that should have been clumsy now felt almost natural. A second walker was only halfway out of a pew when Magnus brought the weapon down. The hammer smashed through wood and skull together, breaking a large section of the pew and leaving the walker motionless beneath the debris.

“Woo!”

Magnus laughed.

The church filled with walker growls, cracking wood, and the pounding storm outside, but to his Blood Moon-heightened senses it almost sounded like music. His eyes became progressively redder while reason sank beneath a growing need to destroy everything moving in front of him. He turned toward the suited groom shambling from the center aisle and tapped the side of his head with one knuckle. “Right. Can’t forget the groom.”

The walker lunged.

Magnus didn’t swing.

His free hand shot forward and closed around its throat.

The groom’s feet left the floor.

Magnus stared up at the corpse hanging from one arm, its fingers clawing wildly across his forearm. Rotten nails cut his skin, leaving thin lines of blood as his health bar began dropping in tiny increments. The scratches only made the rage inside him worse.

“What?” Magnus snarled. “Still not enough?”

He slammed the walker into the floor.

BOOM!

The Stone Sledgehammer came down immediately afterward.

Once.

Twice.

Again.

“Not enough?”

Another blow crushed what remained of the face.

“Not enough?!”

Magnus kept striking until the corpse no longer resembled anything that could rise again. A growl came from his left, but instead of turning with the hammer, Magnus released it entirely and launched himself across the aisle. His enhanced legs drove him forward like a tackle, smashing directly into the priest and pinning the walker against the stone floor.

The priest snapped at him.

Magnus planted one palm against its head and held it down effortlessly.

For one disturbing second, his own teeth ached.

The urge that passed through him was primitive enough to make the last rational part of his mind recoil.

Magnus clenched his jaw.

Then chose his fists.

The first punch broke bone.

The second split the skin.

The third crushed deeper.

Magnus kept hitting until broken fragments tore the skin across his knuckles and the priest finally stopped moving. Only then did his arm slow, his fist hovering above the ruined corpse while his breathing came in heavy bursts. He remained kneeling there for several moments with his head lowered, surrounded by dead walkers and shattered pews.

Heat rolled from his body.

The rainwater still soaked into his clothes began steaming faintly from his shoulders and hair as his body temperature climbed. Magnus’s hands trembled, not from exhaustion but from the effort of forcing the Blood Moon rage back under control. His vision remained red, and the church seemed unnaturally sharp around him.

Minutes passed.

Magnus did not move until the display in the corner of his vision reached 11:55 PM.

Then the bell above him gave a faint metallic groan.

His head snapped upward.

The frenzy receded just enough for planning to return.

Magnus stood, retrieved the modified Stone Sledgehammer, and walked toward the staircase leading to the church’s second floor. The upper level contained no walkers, only the priest’s former living space and access toward the bell tower. Magnus began placing Wooden Spike Traps across the stairs in staggered positions, creating obstacles that would slow anything trying to rush upward without completely blocking the path.

At the top landing, Magnus pulled his Construction Hammer from the system inventory and began using the remaining wood. A crude but sturdy wooden barricade gradually filled the stairway entrance, extending from wall to wall. Instead of sealing it completely, Magnus deliberately left two central sections open, creating a narrow striking gap large enough for the Stone Sledgehammer to pass through but too small for a Berserker to easily force its body inside. If everything worked as planned, the Blood Moon horde would have to climb the trapped staircase and reach him one at a time.

Magnus checked the barricade twice.

Then he opened his inventory.

Two Antibiotics appeared in his hand.

He swallowed both dry.

The system warning associated with the fresh scratches disappeared from his status display, replaced by a gradual wound-recovery effect. Magnus didn’t mistake that for some universal cure for the condition affecting every survivor; this was simply another advantage provided by his system, the same strange protection that had saved him after his first bite in Atlanta. He flexed his injured hand once and watched the bleeding begin to slow.

Then something changed outside.

The rain stopped.

Not gradually.

One moment it hammered against the roof.

The next, silence.

Magnus slowly raised his head.

Above him, the old church bell shifted on its mounting.

Dong——!

A single deep toll exploded across the village.

The sound traveled through the church, out across the abandoned houses, and into the surrounding woods. After that one strike, the bell became still again, leaving behind an unnatural quiet that lasted only seconds.

Magnus heard something.

At first it was distant.

Then louder.

Many voices.

Growls overlapping one another.

Fast.

Aggressive.

Closing in.

The stone floor beneath Magnus’s boots began vibrating faintly.

The noises reached the church entrance.

Then the first impacts echoed from downstairs.

Wood cracked.

Spike traps snapped.

Multiple Berserkers snarled and fought one another for space inside the narrow staircase.

Magnus slowly raised the Stone Sledgehammer.

His eyes burned bright red.

A grin spread across his face.

“They’re here.”

[Reader Event Active]