Undead Mage: I Have a Skeleton Clone-Chapter 350 - 277: Fortress Tactics, Skeleton Heavy Machine Gun

Fang Zhou stared intently in the direction the Black Armored Abyss Knight had disappeared.

To get a perfect evaluation in this trial, I must utterly defeat this formidable enemy.

The Black Armored Abyss Knight’s escape plunged the remaining Sheep-headed Monsters into a deep panic. Hesitation and fear filled their eyes. Having lost the courage to fight, they scattered in all directions, attempting to flee the place that reeked of death.

In their chaotic retreat, the Sheep-headed Monsters collided violently with one another. Some stumbled and fell in the confusion, only to be trampled by their comrades in the frantic stampede. The black beasts they rode were no less frantic, savagely biting at their own kind to seize a faster escape route.

CLACK. CLACK.

Amid the chaos, the sound of grinding bones echoed from the direction of the camp gate.

A phalanx of Long Spear Skeletons marched in neat formation, holding their sharp spears high. Behind them, Olaf led the Giant Shield Skeletons, Great Sword Skeletons, and other melee-type Skeletons, alongside the Shelter guards commanded by the middle-aged warrior.

Together, the hundred-plus Skeletons and Shelter guard NPCs formed an indestructible phalanx that bore down on the fleeing Sheep-headed Monsters.

In the end, just over thirty Sheep-headed Monsters managed to escape back into the cover of the Dark Concealment. Their faces were masks of terror, and the black beasts they rode were similarly afflicted, emitting wails like those of hyenas. The sound was mournful and shrill, like a pack of dogs defeated and driven into the water.

At that moment, the Black Armored Abyss Knight, leader of the Sheep-headed Monster Battle Group, wore an incredibly grim expression. Fear and anger intertwined, making the hand that held his pitch-black longsword tremble uncontrollably.

A Terror Wing Demon descended from the sky and opened its mouth, intending to mock the Black Armored Abyss Knight. However, upon meeting the knight’s savage gaze, the sharp words stuck in its throat, and it couldn’t utter a single one.

The Black Armored Abyss Knight and the Terror Wing Demon began to secretly plot their next attack, while Fang Zhou commanded his Skeleton Army to repair the battered line of defense.

On the surface, the Sheep-headed Monster Battle Group had suffered severe losses, with more than two-thirds of its members already fallen. Even with the aid of the Terror Wing Demon’s Dark Concealment Magic, they had failed to breach the Shelter’s defenses.

However, the price of victory was steep. The Shelter’s once-solid wooden walls and watchtowers were now riddled with holes, their defensive capabilities greatly diminished. Those once-unshakeable fortifications now lay in ruins, their exposed breaches a testament to the battle’s intensity.

According to the guide provided by Lu Renjia, a considerable number of reinforcements were waiting behind these demons.

The real challenge is yet to come.

For Fang Zhou, achieving a perfect evaluation in this perilous battle meant more than just defending against the Demon Legion’s assault and protecting the fragile Shelter. More importantly, he had to annihilate these invaders with minimal losses.

For now, Fang Zhou’s enemies were the Sheep-headed Monster Cavalry, known for their speed. These monsters moved as swiftly as ghosts, making their complete annihilation a difficult task.

Not far from the Shelter’s front, a phalanx of Skeletons stood silent guard. They held long spears that gleamed with a cold light, forming an insurmountable barrier against the threat of the Sheep-headed Monsters lurking deep in the forest.

Under the vigilant protection of the Skeleton Warriors, a group of brave camp guards and several refugee volunteers were busily clearing the battlefield in an orderly fashion. They dragged the heavy corpses of the Sheep-headed Monsters into a pile.

As the pile was set ablaze, plumes of black smoke rose into the air. The bodies of the Sheep-headed Monsters twisted and deformed in the fire, emitting horrifying shrieks. These seemingly dead creatures displayed signs of Life Energy in the intense heat. Their limbs twitched continuously, as if in a final, agonizing struggle.

The scene was enough to send a shiver down one’s spine, further proving the eerie and terrifying nature of Abyssal Creatures. Even after death, the demonic tissues within their bodies could remain active for some time. Anyone who came into contact with these corpses without sufficient willpower to resist the demonic power’s corrosion could be transformed into new Demonized People, becoming another threat.

Fang Zhou stood to one side, gazing at the scene in the flames with an undisguised flicker of disgust in his eyes. During the cleanup, he noticed their equipment was fraught with unknown dangers. The weapons and armor were coated in a mysterious toxin undoubtedly lethal to ordinary humans. Yet, it seemed to have a completely different effect on the Sheep-headed Monsters; not only did it cause them no harm, but it even seemed to help their wounds heal and staunch the bleeding.

Fang Zhou’s gaze shifted to the distance.

Nearly a thousand meters away, the Black Armored Abyss Knight stood at the edge of the forest, leaning on his pitch-black longsword. An icy aura flowed from his body, reminiscent of a merciless and vast frozen tundra.

The Sheep-headed Monster Battle Group was, in truth, an extremely tricky opponent. These Abyssal Demons were not only incredibly fast but could even outpace the swiftest human Light Cavalry. Moreover, their immense strength allowed their thrown short spears to penetrate the toughest Chain Armor at close range, posing a lethal threat to any enemy who dared to face them head-on.

And as the battle group’s leader, the Black Armored Abyss Knight was a powerful Upper-rank Apprentice. The destructive power of his arrows was such that a single hit on a watchtower could blow away half its roof—a truly terrifying thought.

The Sheep-headed Monster Battle Group’s defeat was not due to a lack of combat power. In fact, Sheep-headed Monsters were better suited to the role of Light Cavalry; they were not adept at assaulting camps protected by solid walls. Furthermore, the Black Armored Abyss Knight had been intimidated by Li Guang’s superb archery and Fang Zhou’s powerful magic. This prevented him from swiftly eliminating the archers on the watchtowers, which led to their unfavorable situation.

In an open-field battle with equal forces, Fang Zhou’s side would likely have suffered severe losses, and the scales of victory might well have tipped in favor of the Sheep-headed Monster Battle Group.

I must annihilate this entire Sheep-headed Monster Battle Group, right here and now. This was Fang Zhou’s resolve. It was the only way to ensure he received the highest possible evaluation for this battle.

But that was easier said than done.

Although the Sheep-headed Monster Battle Group had suffered heavy damage, their remaining combat power now less than a third of its original strength, Fang Zhou still lacked the forces to pursue them. The marching speed of his Skeleton Soldiers was simply too slow to keep up with the Sheep-headed Monster Light Cavalry, which moved like the wind. Organizing a long-distance pursuit was impractical.

As for the camp guards, consisting mainly of ordinary Professionals and able-bodied refugees, their combat power was relatively weak. To pursue would only be to serve themselves up for slaughter by the Sheep-headed Monster Battle Group.

Under these circumstances, the only thing Fang Zhou could do was feign weakness. He had to make the enemy misjudge the situation while he waited for another wave of reinforcements from the Abyss Demon Battle Group to arrive. Only when the enemy reinforcements arrived could he seize the opportunity to annihilate the remnants of the Sheep-headed Monster Battle Group.

The midday sun shone directly down, causing the fog to become quite thin. A gentle breeze swept across the open ground before the Shelter, making the blades of grass sway with a soft rustling sound.

Outside the Simulation Battlefield, a group of second-year trainees was watching the live battle broadcast on a giant holographic screen. As Fang Zhou successfully repelled the first wave of the demonic invasion, the trainees’ expressions shifted from initial tension to relief. They began to talk amongst themselves, discussing what might happen next.