Undead Mage: I Have a Skeleton Clone-Chapter 342 - 273: Sheep-headed Monster Cavalry, the Skeleton Army’s Weakness

"When will you introduce me to him?"

In response to such a request, Lu Renjia and Lu Yiyi just exchanged a smile and did not respond directly. In fact, they both understood that for a genius like Fang Zhou to be willing to team up with them, a pair of non-Seed Students, to challenge the Simulation Battlefield was already a great acknowledgment. They cherished this rare opportunity, so how could they casually bring others into such an elite team?

At this moment, someone couldn’t hold back their envy and said sourly, "Your plan sounds perfect, but you should know that the difficulty of the Shelter Defense Battle is no joke. It’s several levels higher than the previous Little Inferior Demon Camp and Horned Demon Outpost. Each time the difficulty increases, not only does the pace of battle quicken, but the quantity and strength of the Demon forces also increase significantly. You’re talking big now, but it will be quite embarrassing if you can’t even clear the Shelter Defense Battle on Hard or even Normal difficulty."

Lu Renjia had absolute confidence in Fang Zhou’s strength. He snorted coldly, looking up at the live broadcast of Fang Zhou’s battle on the screen. "Don’t let jealousy warp your vision," he said. "Didn’t you just see Fang Zhou easily sweep through the Shelter Defense Battle on Easy difficulty? He probably hasn’t even shown one-third of his true strength. Let’s just wait and see."

At this point, Fang Zhou had officially started the challenge for the Shelter Defense Battle on Normal difficulty. The surrounding second-year students stopped arguing and raised their heads, their attention fixed on the live broadcast of Fang Zhou’s battle.

Beyond the students, the military academy’s instructors had also learned of Fang Zhou’s promotion to Apprentice Upper and his intent to challenge the Shelter Defense Battle. Instructors like Lu Hu and Su Xinyan used their high-level instructor privileges to watch the live broadcast. After all, Fang Zhou had deduced and perfected a great number of Skills recently, but he hadn’t experienced many intense battles against evenly matched opponents.

Even someone as close to him as Su Xinyan only knew that Fang Zhou was terrifyingly powerful among Apprentice-level Professionals. However, she wasn’t exactly sure how strong he was when exerting his full power. Fang Zhou’s challenge of the Shelter Defense Battle provided them with an excellent opportunity to observe his current combat strength in a practical setting.

This was crucial for the military academy. They needed to base their decision on Fang Zhou’s true strength to determine whether to let him operate solo in the upcoming new recruit competition. It was not just a simple battle, but an important test of Fang Zhou’s true capabilities.

...

Inside the Simulation Battlefield, Fang Zhou once again faced the three starting options presented by the system. After some consideration, he decisively chose to appear directly in the watchtower on the Shelter’s frontline. The reason was simple: on Normal difficulty, the combat power of the Demon Battle Group far surpassed that of the Easy difficulty. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

If he had chosen to appear in the Mist Jungle on the Shelter’s outskirts, the Demon Legion might have broken through the first line of defense in the brief time it would take him to reach the frontline. This would have resulted in numerous innocent civilian casualties, which would undoubtedly lower his final mission rating. Therefore, to ensure the civilians’ safety and achieve a higher rating, Fang Zhou decided to appear directly at the front and eliminate the incoming Demon Legion as quickly as possible.

A flash of white light passed, and the scene before Fang Zhou’s eyes swiftly changed. He found himself standing atop the Shelter’s watchtower. At the moment, he was unable to move. He was relieved, knowing a cutscene was about to play.

It was high noon. Sunlight illuminated the area, and the previously dense fog had mostly dissipated, leaving the view exceptionally clear. Fang Zhou looked around and saw dozens of refugees on high alert in the distant lumber yard. Under the command of the middle-aged Warrior NPC, who had served as a guide on the lower difficulty, powerful arms lifted logs from the ground, lashing them together into cheval de frise-style obstacles.

Within just a few minutes, the once-empty lumber yard was filled with these makeshift wooden barricades. Each sharpened log pointed toward the depths of the forest, a grim forecast of the imminent danger.

Soon after, a series of hoofbeats echoed from the distant jungle. The sound was deafening, a clear indication of a large approaching force. The dense hoofbeats were as fierce as a torrential storm, and each beat seemed to hammer against their hearts, causing the refugees to turn pale with anxiety.

Though Fang Zhou maintained a calm exterior, he couldn’t help but feel a flicker of surprise. According to the strategy guide Lu Renjia had provided, in the Shelter Defense Battle on Normal difficulty and above, the types and strengths of the attacking Demon Legion varied randomly. The combination of Fiery Demons, Dog Demons, Little Inferior Demons, and Demon Children seen on Easy difficulty was merely one of the more common encounters. In some cases, the assault would consist of Battle Groups formed from more threatening and powerful Abyssal Demons.

This was one such case, with the impending Sheep-headed Monsters—a Vassal Cavalry race commanded by Abyssal Demons. The combat power of these Sheep-headed Monsters wasn’t particularly outstanding, not much stronger than cannon fodder units like the Little Inferior Demons. However, their racial Talent allowed them to use the Chaos Demon Power of the Abyss to corrupt other creatures into unique mounts: the Abyssal Battle Sheep. This made the Sheep-headed Monsters a force not to be underestimated, their threat far exceeding that of ordinary Abyssal Demon cannon fodder units.

Even though it was still a cutscene, Fang Zhou couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. There were more than sixty refugees working in the lumber yard outside the Shelter. These refugees were physically robust, possessing enough strength to chop through thick tree trunks. However, they had never undergone formal military training, nor had they undergone an Awakening to gain any Professional powers. They were completely incapable of resisting a charge from an equivalent number of cavalry. In the face of the impending threat, they seemed particularly vulnerable.

"Be alert! The enemy is approaching!"

A harsh shout from the middle-aged Warrior commanding the lumberjacks broke the silence. He quickly snatched up a rock, and with a swing of his arm, flung it deep into the forest at an astonishing speed.

With a sharp whistle, a small black creature appeared like a ghost. It was a monster twisted by demonic power, possessing the head of a sheep and the body of a horse—a creation from a nightmare, chilling to behold. The rock accurately struck the creature’s head, smashing into the side of its gaping maw. Yellow fangs shattered, and foul-smelling blood spurted out, filling the air with a faint, sulfuric stench.

Witnessing this from afar, Fang Zhou suddenly understood.

These creatures aren’t true Demons. They’re controlled by demonic power, turned into soulless puppets. Their very existence is a blasphemy against life.

As Fang Zhou was pondering, the stricken Sheep-headed Monster struggled back to its feet. Though its left leg had been badly twisted in the fall, it seemingly felt no pain. It used that grotesquely bent leg to support its body and slowly rose, its eyes glittering with an inhuman light.

Immediately after, more Sheep-headed Monsters emerged from all around. They moved like Ghosts among the shrubs and shadows, flickering in and out of sight. The mounts beneath them let out hyena-like cackles, foul drool dripping from their wide-open mouths. Wherever the liquid touched the ground, it hissed and corroded the earth, revealing its extreme toxicity.

The heavy thundering of hooves resonated across the land as a black cloud, like the deepest night, surged forth. The refugees uttered low cries of surprise, the color draining from their faces. The dark cloud gradually coalesced, finally revealing its true form—a hooded Abyss Knight.