Undead Mage: I Have a Skeleton Clone-Chapter 354 - 279: Random Start, [Cloud Ladder Jump] Skill Book!

"Congratulations, Senior Sergeant Fang Zhou. Your team is the first in your grade to clear the Normal difficulty of [Shelter Defense Battle], earning a first-clear ranking reward of 15 contribution points and receiving the achievement blessing: Simulation Battlefield loot drop rate +1% (cumulative 10%)."

"Congratulations, Senior Sergeant Fang Zhou. You cleared the Normal difficulty of [Shelter Defense Battle] in 17 minutes, placing first on the all-time speedrun leaderboard. You are projected to receive a ranking reward of 18 contribution points this month."

"Loot drop triggered. Obtained [Cloud Ladder Jump] Skill Book *1, exchangeable for 10 contribution points."

"You may challenge the Hard difficulty after a 5-minute cooldown."

This series of pleasant notifications echoed in Fang Zhou’s ears, lifting his spirits.

First clear for my grade! First on the all-time speedrun leaderboard!

Fang Zhou nodded in satisfaction; this was all within his expectations. He wasted no more time and immediately exited the Simulation Battlefield, quietly waiting for the five minutes to pass.

Compared to the Easy difficulty of the Shelter Defense Battle, Fang Zhou’s clear time for Normal difficulty was even shorter. This was because he had chosen to appear directly on the front lines at the shelter’s wooden walls, engaging the Demon Battle Group in fierce combat from the very first moment. This allowed him to skip the time-consuming, roundabout march through the Thick Fog Jungle.

With Fang Zhou’s power, once a battle began, his victory was swift and absolute. Therefore, even though the Sheep-headed Monster Battle Group he faced this time was stronger than the previous Little Inferior Demon Battle Group, they were quickly reduced to ashes. Under the bombardment of Fang Zhou’s meticulously prepared Skeleton Flying Spears and a continuous torrent of Death Ripples, the monsters posed almost no trouble for him at all.

Meanwhile, outside the Simulation Battlefield, the group of second-year students could only look at each other, speechless. The gap in strength between them and Fang Zhou was simply too vast. Without that level of power, they couldn’t even begin to imagine what kind of combat tactics a tactical genius like Fang Zhou might employ.

After a long pause, the mage student from before sighed wistfully. "Another perfect clear. I wonder if Hard difficulty will be just as easy."

Another student subconsciously added, "There are no starting options on Hard difficulty. Or rather, the starting point is random. The shelter’s defenses aren’t as complete as in the previous two difficulty levels, either. Fang Zhou probably won’t have such an easy time."

Lu Renjia and Lu Yiyi glanced at each other, pursing their lips without a word. Fang Zhou was in a league so far above theirs, his strength so immense, that for ordinary people like them, trying to comprehend it was like attempting to view the sky from the bottom of a well.

While the students were lost in their own thoughts, the instructors of Sea City Military Academy were watching the livestream on special equipment far away, unable to contain their excitement. Instructor Lu Hu was so thrilled he clenched his fists tightly.

Based on Fang Zhou’s heaven-defying performance in the Shelter Defense Battle on these two difficulty levels, there’s absolutely no problem with him participating in the recruit tournament alone, Instructor Lu Hu calculated internally. He knows that Fang Zhou is not only a powerful individual combatant but also a strategic genius. He alone is a one-man army. As long as he’s cautious of the bizarre and varied attack methods from the Rare Professions at other military academies, his raw combat ability makes him far stronger than even a well-coordinated team of Professionals. This isn’t just because of the massive Skeleton Army he can summon. The damage ceiling of his [Skeleton Flying Spear] and [Death Ripple] skills at full power has already pushed the limits of what an Upper-level Apprentice Professional is capable of.

For Sea City Military Academy, Fang Zhou was undoubtedly the cornerstone for the upcoming recruit tournament. With him, the academy not only had a chance to stand out in the competition but might even hope to break historical records and achieve an unprecedented result.

...

Ignoring the commotion outside, Fang Zhou had already composed himself and begun his challenge of the Shelter Defense Battle on Hard difficulty.

As the simulation began, Fang Zhou felt a flicker of surprise. He found himself in a dense, deep jungle. Sunlight struggled to penetrate the thick canopy, managing only to cast mottled shadows on the forest floor. His gaze pierced through the layers of greenery, finally locking onto the shelter—now a ruin—and he sighed internally.

The shelter was a scene of utter devastation, desolate and bleak. The once-solid fences and wooden walls had been reduced to charcoal by ravaging flames. The intensity and brutality of the battle could still be felt among the broken ramparts. In some places, dark red embers still glowed faintly. Wisps of smoke rose from the wreckage, and the phantom sounds of clashing swords and furious roars still echoed in the sky. Yet, listening closely, one could only hear an eerie silence, faintly punctuated by the gasps of the dying.

The shelter’s defenders had put up an intense and resolute resistance; traces of fierce fighting were everywhere. The walls and fences were splattered with dark red blood. The corpses of Kobolds and Goblins were strewn about, both inside and outside the wooden walls, with the occasional body of a Little Inferior Demon mixed in. Just before Fang Zhou’s arrival, a particularly brutal battle had occurred at the main gate. A dozen fully armed shelter warriors had defended it without taking a single step back, stubbornly fighting an enemy force several times their number until the Fiery Demons ended their resistance with Fireballs.

The scene before Fang Zhou was frozen, playing out like a slow-motion slideshow.

This must be the opening cutscene, he knew.

According to the Hard difficulty guide Lu Renjia had provided, the Shelter Defense Battle at this level had random opening cutscenes and starting locations. The easier scenarios, like the previous two difficulties, would place the Trial Student on the shelter’s front lines, allowing them to use the defensive structures to resist. The most difficult, naturally, was a situation like the one he now faced. He was deep in a distant jungle, while the Demon Army was pouring continuously from the hills into the already devastated shelter.

The shelter’s once-solid defenses had been razed to the ground. Refugees fled in every direction like lambs to the slaughter. In an environment like this, it would be extremely difficult to just protect a small number of refugees and hold out against the Demon Army’s siege long enough to scrape by with a mission completion. This was to say nothing of what Fang Zhou truly wanted: to protect as many refugees as possible, eliminate as many demons as possible, and strive for a perfect clear rating.

Atop the hill’s crest, a Fiery Demon leader stood silently. Its eyes, burning with blood-red flames, stared down at the ruins below. As a powerful and calm demon leader, it not only commanded scorching flames but also prided itself on its precise judgment. Behind this leader was not only a regular demon army of Little Inferior Demons but also a similarly sized cannon fodder unit composed of Goblins and Kobolds. These cannon fodder units had suffered heavy losses in the previous battle and were now listlessly awaiting new orders.

The scene below the hill caused a slight commotion to stir within the Demon Army behind the Fiery Demon leader. The Little Inferior Demons whispered amongst themselves, their eyes growing more bloodthirsty, gleaming with greed. Dog Demons the size of calves opened their massive jaws, their dripping saliva creating faint wisps of smoke as it hit the ground. The brutal Horned Demons, unable to restrain their inner frenzy, pounded their chests and let out threatening low growls, as if warming up for the impending slaughter.

Under the cunning Fiery Demon leader’s command, a dozen Little Inferior Demons used curses and kicks to herd the Goblin and Kobold cannon fodder into the shelter. They managed to loosely group them together to begin searching the houses one by one.

This approach was evidently effective.