Trystan thinks frantically as he stands face to face with six zombified dogs and the hordemaster, while his back faces hundreds of undead that are as of yet unaware of him. It is just a matter of time though before the hordemaster begins its call for them. Reaching out to grip his blades he realizes as his hands come up empty that they are laying there on the ground, next to the wall. He had dropped them when he was setting up the wall, luckily they weren’t quite next to the dogs or the hordemaster, so he may, just may, be able to grab them in time.

Slowly shifting over to the opposite hedge wall he waits for the dogs and the hordemaster to respond, the only shot he had was to bait them onto the opposite wall and then dive for his blades. It should earn him a few style points, and this was too good of an opportunity to pass up. At least it could be if he didn’t fail in any part of this improvised plan. He saw the dogs' legs start tensing as they darted towards him, dodging to the right he rolls on the ground and jumps toward the other hedge wall. He manages to place his hands on the improvised blades before feelings the jaws of the dogs trying to break through his jeans. The pain was immediate and horrible, but he fought through it as he swung with one of the blades backward over his leg, he could feel it connect with the flesh of the dog that was biting him, and a cold liquid pouring down over him.

As he rolls over to get to his feet he sees the dog down, the blade having cleaved through its neck, and black ichor blood draining out of the wound. He shudders briefly giving thanks silently that this was just a test, and that he wouldn‘t have to worry about the infection. Another piercing pain starts radiating from his shoulder as he feels another dog clamping its jaws down. He staggers to his feet, trying to shake the dog off as he sees the other four dogs surrounding him and the hordemaster moving slowly towards the center area’s opening.

The dog on his shoulder is shaken off between his movements and the blades he swings up and across his shoulder. Not dead, but injured would be the right statement to say for both of them he thinks with a bit of dark humor. As the next two dogs jump at him he tries to fall back into his old training. He may not have started off with knowledge of the blade, but he did at least remember some of the techniques that the system taught him, and he definitely remembered the ones that he perfected from there. Sidestepping out of the way of one of the dogs he flicks the blade forward, removing head and neck from the rest of the body. But, lacking the agility of his former self the second dog manages to take a chunk out of his leg. The pain is almost unbearable and all he can think is ‘This will all be healed after the test. I will just have to be far more careful in the future.’

Trystan swings the blade down at the dog at his leg, killing it easily and faces off towards the remaining three dogs. He wished that he could instill some fear in them, but there is nothing left to instill emotions into, just hunger and instinct. As they rush him, he once again attempts the dancing blades maneuver he had perfected so long ago, adjusting for his lacking agility he begins to dodge their attacks and make his way closer and closer to the hordemaster. There was no way that he could take the hordemaster if it managed to summon the other zombies, these dogs alone were too much, too strong, and it was only the luck of him having fought these things in later levels that let him be able to fight against them now.

The hordemaster screams out as Trystan gets close, ‘Shit’ he thinks quickly as he starts a full-blown assault on the hordemaster, ‘I’ve got maybe a minute before the other zombies make it over here, less if it manages to get off another scream.

The hordemasters’ speed allows it to dodge his swings, maybe not with ease, but he needed to get back into the habit of fighting intelligent creatures or to be more accurate, he needed his body to get used to doing that again. He could feel the lagging muscles, the slowness of the strikes, how he was off-balance without any way to correct it because his body now was completely different than the body he had had before.

He continues his furious assault, ‘Must...finish...this’ is the mantra being chanted in his mind as he counts down the seconds he may have left. But as his blows continue to be dodged he realizes that it’s just not possible right now, the hordemaster was still too fast, the dog’s too dangerous, and the hordemaster hasn’t even activated any of its abilities yet.

As if it realizes what Trystan is thinking the hordemaster’s face turns into a wretched grin of blood, rotten flesh, and teeth. It lets out a bloodcurdling scream, and black and red mist starts to seem to rise from the bodies of the remaining zombified dogs. ‘Shit.’ Trystan thinks as he realizes that the hordemaster just activated one of the very abilities that could very well spell his downfall. The dogs’ jaws and claws extend slightly, blackish ooze shimmering onto them. They’re movements gain triple the speed that they had before, their flashing teeth and claws ripping through his clothing, blood now flowing freely from the wounds on his body.

One of the dogs leaps towards his face while the other towards his legs, he stabs one of the blades downwards to try and intercept it’s head while it crosses the distance, and the other goes slashing upwards. The first blow misses completely, and he can feel his leg starting to give way as it bites deeply in and starts to try and shake his leg like a chew toy. The other however manages to hit, thrusting straight through the throat and jaws of the dog as it leaps towards him, it’s black ichor blood spraying across him and the hedge walls. ‘Two left’ he thinks, but he knows that that’s not enough.

Using both blades he impales the dog on his leg through the head, killing it instantly, but the damage has already been done, if he’s lucky he’ll be able to limp, if he’s not lucky...well at least it is just a test. Circling slowly around the remaining dog and the hordemaster he attempts to put them between him, and the self-created wall. Maybe if he can restrict their movements more, then he would have a chance. If he doesn’t have to rely on speed and movement, but just on arm strength, maybe then he could actually still finish this.

The hordemaster follows Trystan’s movements and stumbles as his movements place him in the path of the last dog. Taking the momentary opportunity of the hordemaster being off-balance Trystan strikes out quickly, damaging the hordemaster’s legs, slowing him down considerably. Next, he dodges the remaining dog’s attacks and strikes out again towards the arms, the more damage he adds, the more he can slow down and disable the hordemaster’s ability to dodge and defend himself, the better chance he has of actually surviving this.

He can almost feel the presence of the hundred’s of zombies getting closer and closer, he may have fifteen seconds at most until he was going to be surrounded, that’s if his guess on the timing was correct, they could be very well about to turn the corner now. Charging forward and ignoring the dog completely he stabs the improvised blades forward, managing barely to impale one of them through the hordemaster’s chest. His strength falters as the zombie move forward onto him, it’s slavering jaws and ragged claws reaching out towards him. He just isn’t strong enough yet to keep the zombie still, part of the plan that he hadn’t realized how much he had changed since the last time he had done this maneuver.

The remaining dog takes this opportunity to unleash even more damage on him, his flesh being torn off of him with every bite that lands while he is unable to move. The hordemaster continues to inch forward, pulling itself along the makeshift blade until it’s able to reach him. Its claws begin to dig into Trystan’s flesh, the pain and apparent paralytic agent beginning to flow from the wounds created on his face from the claws through his system, he can feel his movement becoming even more sluggish.

But, this would be just enough, Trystan brings the other blade down and across the hordemaster’s neck with all the force he can muster. The hordemaster being pinned to him, in part by its own efforts, is unable to dodge, and its head separates quickly from the body. Trystan almost breathes a sigh of relief as the hordemaster’s body falls to the ground, but now is not the time, he dismisses the blue box as soon as it appears, having not even a moment to be distracted by its message.

Congratulations!

You are the first to have defeated a Hordemaster and gained the title Horde Slayer.

You have completed an *Optional* Objective and have gained its reward of 10,000 Bonus Points.

Continue to struggle towards Freedom and Glory by completing additional Objectives.

The last dog manages to grab his hand, shaking it hard, it’s jagged teeth tearing through and his hand going limp within its jaws, ruined and useless. Taking his other blade he thrusts it down quick and hard through the dog’s skull, before ripping his hand from its now still jaws. He lets the blade that was in that hand fall to the ground. His labored breath starts to catch up with him, his wheezing loud not only himself but the surrounding area as well. There were many more zombies about to make it to him, he didn’t think that he would be able to face them all with a single hand and an injured leg. The original plan had him using the wall to narrow it down, using both blades and his speed to confuse them, to hit them hard, and to gradually wear them out completely. But now, with the scent of his blood everywhere, it would lead them directly to him. He glances around briefly, seeing if there was anything he missed, no, just the massive hedge walls covered in a mixture of his darkening red blood and the zombie's black ichor.

No, now his only chance was to hope that there weren’t any evolved zombies in that clearing, that none of them were fast, and that he could attempt to make a break for it to that center building, seal it off, and get a brief amount of safety so that he could heal a little, and recoup. He limps his way over to the canvas wall he created and peaks around the corner, only to find himself face to face with zombies, zombies whose skin is radiating red and black mist, zombies looking right at him.