Undead Mage: I Have a Skeleton Clone-Chapter 431 - 319: Fighting a Defensive Battle Against an Undead Mage?

Although the fortress was not large, its solid construction clearly indicated it had once been the residence of a prominent figure.

Standing on a massive nearby stone pillar, Fang Zhou could clearly see the entire fortress and its surroundings. Despite the surrounding buildings lying in ruins, the exquisite stonework and intricate carvings still conveyed the former owner’s nobility and power. The outer perimeter of the fortress was obscured by collapsed walls, but the internal structure remained intact, making it seem like an ideal hiding spot.

For Fang Zhou, this was a perfect opportunity to use the terrain to his advantage, either for defense or as a base for a counter-attack.

Fang Zhou stood outside the manor, surveying the area. The manor resembled an independent small castle. Its walls were much higher than those of ordinary buildings, reaching a height of a dozen yards. Furthermore, the walls were exceptionally thick, making the structure stand like a city within a city amidst the ruins, a stark contrast to the surrounding desolation.

Fang Zhou quickly circled the manor and noticed a large garden at its rear, which had evidently once been the estate’s private backyard. The entire structure was enclosed, and its metal main gate had been sealed shut. Only a narrow gap beside a side door allowed smaller creatures to pass through.

"What a perfect place." Fang Zhou stroked his chin, beginning to formulate his next plan of action.

Due to the recent information leak, his approximate position was now known. It was foreseeable that hostile cadets from other military academies would soon swarm the area. Of course, he could choose to relocate and avoid the brunt of the enemy’s assault. But that would mean constantly being on the move to hunt down enemies one by one, which would significantly slow his rate of point accumulation.

Although Fang Zhou was currently leading the scoreboard by a large margin, he had lost the patience to continue playing this game.

Since people are serving up points on a silver platter, wouldn’t it be ungrateful to refuse their kindness?

Fang Zhou decided to turn the manor into his personal hunting ground. But first, he had to clear out the Demons inside. Otherwise, it couldn’t become an effective hunting ground.

In fact, when faced with being besieged from all sides, Fang Zhou had also considered retreating to a safe corner to temporarily earn points by farming monsters. However, he knew the personalities of the bigwigs from the ten great military academies all too well. Even if the Demons in the Town Ruins were exceptionally strong, with his current strength, he could always find suitable targets to farm for points.

However, that came with its own problems. Even if he were to maintain his first-place ranking, the academy authorities wouldn’t go back on their word; the prize would still be his. But adopting such a passive strategy would completely destroy the impression they had of him. They held this competition to select a true leader, or rather, to cultivate a truly powerful individual. They hoped to see a clash between the strong, not a coward hiding in a corner quietly farming monsters.

In Fang Zhou’s view, winning the favor of these academy authorities was even more important than obtaining the Portable Concentration Meditation Array. The authorities hadn’t set this trap for him out of malice. It was a test of his potential, a chance to see if he could carve a bloody path out of adversity.

Thus, from the very beginning of the competition, Fang Zhou knew there was only one path for him—to fight his way through the siege and forge his own destiny.

At that moment, Fang Zhou stood at the top of the manor’s tallest building, overlooking the scene below. Although the rest of the city had fallen into ruin, this manor, aside from being overgrown with lush vegetation, remained structurally intact. It was clear its construction had involved carefully selected, high-quality materials.

Fang Zhou spent nearly five minutes carefully observing and memorizing every detail of the manor, both inside and out. Meanwhile, his mind was working at high speed, evaluating the feasibility of his plan and foreseeing various potential contingencies and how to respond to them.

"Fang Zhou has been standing there without moving for five minutes. What on earth is he doing?" asked Liu Diewu from the spectator area, puzzled.

"It seems he’s decided to use this noble’s estate as his battlefield," Gu Yueyuan said after a moment of thought.

"Fang Zhou is incredibly bold. Doesn’t he know that cadets are heading this way from all over, regardless of the distance?" Liu Diewu said in amazement.

The directors continuously switched between different camera feeds. It was clear that almost all cadets were heading toward the coordinates where Fang Zhou had eliminated the Warrior and Priest. Some of the closer ones had already arrived and begun searching for any sign of him.

The public channel had transformed into an information hub dedicated to finding Fang Zhou. Many cadets had spontaneously formed groups with the sole purpose of locating him. In their view, even if Fang Zhou had left, he couldn’t have gotten far. With an unknown number of cadets converging on the area from all directions, they believed he was already trapped like a turtle in a jar. Finding him was only a matter of time.

Of course, not all cadets were interested in hunting Fang Zhou. An equally large number of them were more focused on points. They chose instead to find suitable spots and begin hunting other cadets. With so many cadets now gathered in one area, the scene quickly devolved into chaos.

In the midst of this murky chaos, the competitors from Sea City Military Academy began taking advantage of the situation. After the group dealt with another Demon that had tried to attack them, Ye Fan collected the loot while carefully observing their surroundings.

"I wonder how Fang Zhou is doing..." Bai Xiaochan sighed, her voice laced with worry.

Ye Fan continued to scan their surroundings as he replied, "Too many cadets are looking for him. A lot of people know we’re on his side now, so they attack us on sight."

"Since we’re all worried about him, why don’t we go check on the situation?" Meng Hongzhuang suggested. "Unless we hide in some forgotten corner, we’ll face the same risks no matter where we go."

"Yes! Let’s do that! We can all put on our cloaks," Bai Xiaochan said excitedly, thrilled by the adventurous idea. "We won’t attack anyone for now. We can just blend in with their groups and observe for a bit."

"Hmm, we can give it a try. If it doesn’t work, we’ll come up with another plan," Yue Lingyun said, nodding in agreement after a moment of thought.

With that, they all donned their cloaks to conceal their identities, preparing for their next move.

...

As more and more cadets gathered, the already sparse population of Demons was almost completely wiped out. At this point, other than the enemies lurking on the rooftops, the Demons on the ground no longer posed a major threat. This paradoxically made the surrounding environment relatively safe.

Meanwhile, Fang Zhou seemed completely indifferent to the world outside the estate. He was focused on clearing certain areas that had to be dealt with. The number of Demons within the estate was also considerable, but due to the time constraint, he didn’t have enough time to eliminate them all. He could only clear out the locations that his strategic simulations deemed essential.

The Demons here were no ordinary creatures. They were known as Brain Demon Derivatives, an extremely rare type of entity. The soul fluctuations of these Demons were so faint they were almost undetectable. Their very existence seemed to be a trap laid for those who were overconfident in their Perception. Fang Zhou noticed the tattered maid uniforms they wore. Their heads, however, were horribly disfigured, sprouting a mass of mucus-filled tentacles that writhed like water snakes, inspiring waves of nausea.

Despite his extreme caution, Fang Zhou still encountered something unexpected around a corner.