Chapter 212: The OriginalBody Who Dislikes Close Combat

"Those guys are really fucking tall…"

"Or use a firearm with a caliber even larger than. 50."

"Buddy, what they're using might not be guns, but cannons."

What's even more unsettled than Shirley is the UNSC elite.

In less than half an hour, witnessing everything that happened on Deimos completely overturned their perception of the world.

The lieutenant's expression was rather complex as he stared at Leon and Shirley not far away.

As an officer, the lieutenant knew that Umbrella's true mass was astonishing, a fact that all UNSC officers were well aware of.

After all, during the early days of the UEG and UNSC's founding, UNSC and Umbrella's armed division carried out numerous joint operations, and even now each year there are still many cooperative missions, indicating a close relationship.

The lieutenant knew that Umbrella's covert units' equipment was far more high‑end than that of this UNSC elite group, but after seeing the Astate easily crush demons with absolute overwhelming force, he realized he had greatly underestimated Umbrella.

Meanwhile, the survivors gathered at Deimos's "dock" were experiencing a fact that would be even harder for the lieutenant to accept.

The "dock" isn't a small airstrip like the one Leon and Shirley are at; it's a large area that can accommodate two Precursors‑class engineering ships unloading simultaneously, with various transport planes and boats moored on the peripheral tarmac.

Not long ago, the remaining Marine Corps stationed on Deimos protected thousands of survivors as they rushed to the dock.

They tried to evacuate, but were blocked and slaughtered by a swarm of demons.

Now the situation has reversed, and the slaughtered are the demons.

Because another Thunder Transport Plane, also docked here, not only delivered thirty‑five Astate to the humans but also brought their OriginalBody, Magnus.

Like his nine brothers, Magnus is towering, wearing OriginalBody‑powered armor forged by the artisan god Hephestus, black as the base with red and gold trim, the signature colors of the Tutmos legion.

The long‑handed curved blade hanging at his waist, also crafted by Hephestus, was hastily dubbed by Magnus as the "Blade of Wisdom," because he doesn't really like close combat.

Magnus is more devout and eager to learn than his brothers.

Before he could stand on his own, he always stayed by Sui Bian's side, drawing a great deal of knowledge from his father, especially regarding Spiritual Energy and ancient history.

Therefore, Sui Bian also gave the Astate he led the title "Tutmos," meaning a learned, steadfast warrior.

In terms of Spiritual Energy insight, he and Shengjilesi far surpass all the brothers, so Magnus prefers to use Spiritual Energy to deal with anomalies hostile and threatening to humanity.

When Magnus learned that Deimos had suddenly lost contact and sensed demons emerging, he immediately led the Tutmos aboard two Thunder Transport Planes far faster than the Gull II, departing Mars for Deimos, which isn't far from the surface.

The wave that previously warmed Leon, Shirley and others, causing half the demons to self‑destruct, was the Spiritual Energy he released, which lifted the communication jamming on Deimos and simultaneously eliminated the demons unable to withstand that Spiritual Energy.

Inside the dock now.

Just as Magnus stepped out of the cockpit, he swung his right hand, conjuring a massive, visible Spiritual Energy shield that emitted a faint red glow.

In an instant, the shield, which almost split the dock in two, blocked the demons' ranged attacks, ensuring that no survivor could die before his eyes.

His next move perfectly displayed Magnus's aversion to close combat.

He held his left hand out, spreading his five fingers, using the armor's pulse radar to scan everything nearby, and with the helmet's display, locked onto every demon within sight.

Then he clenched his left fist tightly.

The UNSC marines standing behind the Spiritual Energy shield hadn't even had time to wonder what the shield was, when they saw the demons outside the shield self‑destruct one after another.

"Puff! Puff!"

The endless cascade of bodies self‑exploding drowned out the demons' fearful, painful wails and also covered the survivors' bewildered, confused shouts.

In an instant, the demon horde that had driven the survivors to despair turned into a heap of shredded flesh.

If the lieutenant at the airfield saw this scene, he would once again have his perception of Umbrella refreshed.

After the self‑destruction.

"What's going on?! Sergeant! Sergeant!"

"Sir! The fortress communications are back to normal! Higher‑up orders us to cooperate with Umbrella's armed division!"

The marines' shouts filled the entire dock.

Because of Magnus, the demon‑caused communication jamming failed, allowing the marines to reestablish contact with the outside.

"My god, are these support units sent by Umbrella?"

"Fuck, they're really high… Look at their weapons, look at their armor…"

At this point, the marines had already noticed the thirty‑five Astate standing outside the Spiritual Energy shield, keeping watch.

And the helmets' built‑in holographic displays showed the marines that the Astate were allied units belonging to Umbrella.

"Huh… Huh…"

Having eliminated all threats in one go, Magnus lowered his left hand and took several deep breaths inside his helmet, easing the fatigue from releasing the Spiritual Energy attack.

Then he stepped forward toward a marine who was frozen in place, as if scared to death by him.

"Soldier," Magnus asked in a very friendly tone, "May I ask who the highest commander here is?"

"Human… you can speak… human language?" the marine exclaimed in astonishment.

"Hehe, I'm human, of course I can speak human language," Magnus said, laughing at the marine's reaction.

However, he understood why the marine said that, and immediately opened his armor's helmet, revealing a face indistinguishable from a human's.

Magnus sported short, deep‑brown reddish hair; though not as outrageously handsome as Shengjilesi, he was still good‑looking and exuded a very courteous demeanor.

"Soldier, I am Umbrella's OriginalBody, your support. Please take me to see your commander," Magnus said with a smile.

"Alright… follow me."

The marine still struggled to accept a "human" standing over four meters tall, but no longer looked as shocked as before, and led Magnus toward a lieutenant colonel surrounded by numerous marines and officers, wearing a deep‑blue beret.

!!!

Seeing Magnus approach, the reaction of the group was far more spectacular than that of a single marine; only the lieutenant colonel, about fifty years old, remained calm.

"Lieutenant Colonel," Magnus said, ignoring the others' reactions, and addressed the lieutenant colonel:

"I have detected a large number of survivors inside Deimos. My subordinates are tasked with sweeping the enemies, and I need you to dispatch marines deep inside to escort those survivors back to this dock."

(End of Chapter)