Rei Ayanami and Asuka rode the elevator down toward their destination, the Final Dogma Area on the lowest level.
This was their daily ritual: going down to the lowest level to spend some time watching the white giant embracing Lilith.
That white giant was Unit-01, which had grown from eighty meters tall to a hundred and eighty over the past three years.
Its body volume had increased almost elevenfold along with its height, and all its armor had been removed because it no longer fit.
Its enormous body knelt on the ground under its own weight, its arms wrapped around Lilith like a loving parent embracing a daughter.
Kaworu Nagisa, the Pope of the Gospel Church, Archbishop Kozo Fuyutsuki, and Saintess Maki were preaching.
"Some say Jesus rose again after three days. Our God takes a little longer, but the outcome will be the same."
"Let us pray. He is the one and only in this world. He once was here, he departed, and he shall return!"
Pope Kaworu Nagisa spread his arms and cried out fervently.
As his words rang out, every Gospel Church believer watching the live broadcast throughout the base cheered.
The reason their standing had risen so quickly over those three years was love.
Unabashed love, tender and doting love, love that yearned to give everything of itself.
Kaworu Nagisa and Maki also served as the pilots of the repaired Unit-06 and the newly built Unit-08.
Kozo Fuyutsuki had nearly faced an international tribunal three years ago. After all, he had done a great deal to help Gendo Ikari, the villain who had intended to destroy the world.
Fortunately, he had switched sides in the end and activated the N2 Self-Destruct Device to destroy Unit-07's Womb Angel core, allowing his merits to offset his crimes.
Still,