Chapter 170: The Four Giants of the Glorious Iron Fist

Leon had just finished speaking when that comrade fainted.

The bio‑foam has successfully stopped the bleeding, so death from excessive blood loss won't occur in the short term, but without more comprehensive treatment, the eventual outcome remains bleak.

"Motherf—! I f— his motherf—! Fuck!"

Seeing this, a police officer narrowed his eyes in anger, and while still cursing, rejoined the fight.

Another officer, also seething with anger, stayed put in silence to guard the area, ensuring the unconscious comrade wasn't left alone.

The police's advance is now stalled.

Even with better training, experience, and gear, the officers are still ordinary humans; a bullet to a vital spot will render them combat‑incapable and kill them.

In contrast, the cultists.

Even though their experience and equipment differ greatly from the police, their bodies have mutated, and they hold a steadfast belief in the so‑called "Spider leader," fearing neither life nor death.

Moreover, the cultists outnumber Leon, Joel and the others by roughly three to one.

Defending from the mall's shops isn't a problem, but if they continue to press forward, they'll suffer greater casualties.

This makes Sergeant Joel begin to weigh whether to keep advancing or retreat, because his subordinates' and his own lives are more important.

Leon, who has dealt with many foreign armies and police forces, can of course infer Joel's concerns and understand them.

It should be noted that police officers are neither elite troops nor Umbrella's armed security or MTF, lacking a firm goal and ideology.

And Leon lacks the ability to instantly make Joel and the officers believe that "if the ritual isn't stopped, humanity will face an even graver disaster."

Now Joel and the officers are willing to cooperate, largely because of Leon's covert operative status and a lingering sense of justice in their hearts.

Fortunately, Leon has already used his holographic glasses to share what he sees, and the company now has ample intelligence.

In other words, the company now knows this anomaly is linked to "Hell," so the dispatched support will definitely be MTF or a higher‑grade unit.

At the same time, his and the officers' aggressive assault successfully disrupted the ritual.

So Leon glanced at the remaining time displayed on his holographic glasses, moved beside Joel, and proactively suggested:

"Sergeant! There's less than three minutes until support arrives. Since we can't break through the cultists' blockade, why not set up a position here to hold them!"

"Alright!" Joel, who already had the idea, raised no objection.

And the police officers, hearing that support is on the way, felt their morale surge.

The only thing that puzzled Joel and the officers was what kind of support could arrive on the scene in just fifteen minutes after a blizzard.

Three minutes would normally seem swift, but for Leon, Joel, and the officers it felt exceedingly long.

During this interval another officer was wounded.

The silver lining was that the bullet passed straight through the officer's right thigh, so there was no "limb loss."

After Leon finished applying hemostasis to the wounded man, the bio‑foam was just exhausted.

And at that moment.

The cultists' bodies swelled again, cheekbones jutting out, hair falling away, their faces twisting into skull‑like visages.

"Kill them! The Spider leader watches over us!"

"Ha ha! This power, this power is just amazing!"

"Submit to Hell! Humans!"

This transformation made the cultists' bodies stronger and far harder to kill.

A shop with a shattered display window.

"Boom boom! Crack!" MA5D empties its magazine.

This forces the half‑emerged Joel to retreat into the shop to reload MA5D's magazine.

But after fumbling around he finds all carried magazines are empty, so he pulls out his pistol and shouts to Leon, who is also using the shop as cover:

"Three minutes have passed! We need to withdraw immediately! If we don't retreat now it'll be too late! I must be responsible for my subordinates!"

"Support."

"This is Rog, captain of the Glorious Iron Fist. We are about to force‑land; Agent Kennedy, please tell police and civilians not to move around, to avoid being accidentally killed by our airdrop crates."

Leon was about to say support is arriving when a familiar voice came through all the police radios.

Leon then shouted, "Everyone, quickly cover your heads and drop! Now!"

After the shout, Leon was the first to cover his head and drop.

Joel and the other officers were startled, but also chose to cover their heads and drop, trying to protect themselves.

At the rear restroom entrance, the police officer tending the two wounded helped his comrades lie down before dropping himself.

??

The police's fire suddenly ceased, leaving the cultists bewildered.

But they weren't about to miss the chance, and the Spider leader, eager to descend upon Earth quickly, granted them a powerful "blessing," giving them no reason to be suppressed by MA5D's fire.

However, before they could act,

"Boom—! Boom—!" a ground‑shaking rumble came.

"Hoo—!" Smoke instantly filled the entire mall.

It seemed a massive object fell from the sky, piercing the mall's roof, third floor, and second floor, then crushing the densest cluster of cultists as it continued down, finally landing on the first floor.

That single impact wiped out the gathered cultists.

The four remaining cultists stared blankly at the smoky, collapsed opening ahead.

They lingered, then walked toward the edge of the opening, curious about what it was, only to have the "blessed" companions of theirs crushed completely.

But just as they took a few steps, four giant‑sized figures leapt out of the opening, landing steadily a short distance in front of them.

The four giants stood about 2.6 meters tall, wearing some kind of powered armor and helmets.

Their armor's primary color was black, with shoulder, chest and helmet plating painted yellow; it hinted at a Thor‑hammer aesthetic but was far bulkier and more ferocious.

The helmets differed greatly from Thor‑hammer helmets, featuring a front that resembled an embarrassed face, with the eye area emitting a faint green glow.

The giants gave the believers little reaction time, and pointed their. 75‑caliber explosive‑arrow guns at the believers who were already in a dazed state.

Then they pulled the trigger.

"Bang! Bang!"

"Puff! Puff—snap!"

The standard explosive‑arrow burst from the barrel, detonating violently the instant it tore through the target's body; the four believers were blown to pieces, their flesh, blood and organs scattered on the ground.

It was as if every "blessing" placed before the explosive‑arrow gun lost its effect, utterly useless.

The true identity of these four giants is a G‑gland implanted with a hybrid of Sui Bian's and OriginalBody's genes, a product of the final stage of Umbrella's super‑soldier program—

Astate.

(End of chapter)