"I need to be kept up to date on the development of every weapon and the equipment plans. As operations commander, I can't afford not to understand my own soldiers," Misato Katsuragi said coldly.
"Then you'll have to ask Commander Ikari." Ritsuko Akagi neither committed herself nor argued.
Neither of them could make that decision anyway. What to do still depended on the commander-in-chief who ran this base.
And so her gaze returned to the enormous screen, where she admired how perfectly Shinji Ikari controlled her masterpiece.
The Day Angel truly lived up to its status as a complete life-form possessing the fruit of life. Even after losing half its body, it still brimmed with vitality.
It even had enough strength left to take flight again, hovering high in the distance and lashing the purple, rainbow-hued unit on the ground with searing whips of light.
But Shinji Ikari did not dodge. Unit-01 reached out with its unarmed left hand and seized the two glowing tentacles shooting straight toward its face, threatening to pierce its skull.
Pressed against its palm, the Solar Light Whip released terrifying heat, a savage wave that relentlessly battered Unit-01's hand armor.
The metal gradually softened and melted in the scorching heat. Shinji Ikari felt a burning sensation in his palm; his senses were synchronized with Unit-01's.
Indeed, his extraordinarily high synchronization rate not only allowed him to bring out Unit-01's full combat potential, but also made the pain fed back from the unit to his body several times greater than an ordinary pilot's.
I'm feeling everything right alongside Unit-01. That was Shinji Ikari's only thought. Only now did he fully understand what it meant to be one in body and mind with Unit-01.
The agonizing pain brought a terrifying smile to Shinji Ikari's face. An AT Field of extraordinarily high soul density instantly enveloped Unit-01's body.
The Fifth Angel's light whips were an application of highly concentrated, reshaped AT Fields. They could normally keep extending even after being caught, but now a stronger field blocked them.
"The synchronization rate has broken through to 369%!"
"What?"
In the command center, Misato Katsuragi and Ritsuko Akagi both froze at Maya Ibuki's report. On the battlefield, Shinji Ikari had already seized the Fifth Angel's tentacles and hurled it away.
"Our bond has grown even stronger, Unit-01. So this is the trial. Once we overcome it, we'll be able to see God's Throne."
On the battlefield, Shinji Ikari seemed possessed by a god of war. Utterly disregarding the scorching agony the light whips inflicted on his left hand, he gripped the two tentacles and swung them wildly.
The Day Angel in the sky was like a kite set loose, tumbling and spinning, tracing one flawless circle after another through the air.
After several rotations, Unit-01 abruptly let go, and momentum sent the Day Angel flying backward. In the distance, Toji Suzuhara and Kensuke Aida stared, dumbstruck.
They looked up at the enormous life-form hurtling overhead at tremendous speed. Its heavy body crashed into the mountain like a meteor.
Embedded in the mountainside, the Day Angel let out an unbearably shrill wail. Countless lumps of flesh swelled at the wounds all over its body.
At that moment, Shinji Ikari began to envy the Angels' vitality. He and Unit-01 still relied on the cable attached to its back to operate.
Without that "Umbilical Cord," they had only five minutes to fight side by side.
This time, however, Shinji Ikari's wish did not come true. No matter what, Unit-01 could not conjure an unlimited energy source. It truly could not do it, and let out a roar as though venting its frustration.
A mother doing her best
"It's all right. Having you by my side is enough." Shinji Ikari did not know why he felt compelled to comfort an unconscious biological weapon, but he simply wanted to.
He was not greedy. A worthy god had to learn to embrace the flaws of those he loved.
The Fifth Angel floated up from the mountainside that resembled its grave. As the swollen masses of flesh pulsed, the outlines of parts of its body were already taking shape.
But the moment it raised its head, it saw scarlet light flashing in the purple giant's eyes. For some reason, that being seemed angry.
"Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be zealous, and repent."
The burning pain in his palm reminded Shinji Ikari that he had to punish this angel that had forsaken God.
In the Day Angel's eyes, however, Unit-01, with scarlet light flashing in its gaze, possessed not a shred of divinity. It looked more like Satan crawling out of hell.
The long blade slashed through Shamshel's body again and again, shredding its Absolute Field with every stroke, relying solely on Unit-01's supreme performance and AT Field under Shinji Ikari's control.
"Frail, barren, powerless. Such is the gulf between an angel and a god," Shinji Ikari could not help remarking, his voice carrying through the communicator.
The command center on the other end of the communicator was silent. Before Shinji Ikari appeared, no one could possibly have associated the Angels with the descriptions he had just used.
At last, as time passed, less and less flesh remained on the Fifth Angel, gradually exposing the red spherical organ in its entirety.
Slash!
The long blade descended vertically through the middle. The warm yellow curtain of light offered its final resistance, then was cleaved apart along with the red core organ.
Scarlet blood spilled out, and an enormous cross once again towered over Tokyo-3.
A torrential rain of scarlet blood, born of an angel's death, poured down like the blessed rain bestowed by God, carrying boundless love and mercy as it watered every corner of the earth evenly.
The purple giant stood amid that rain of blood. Shinji Ikari looked toward the city, and together they walked through the rainbow to where humanity dwelled.
Half an hour later, NERV Headquarters.
"Basal metabolic rate is unusually high, comparable to that of an elite athlete, yet core body temperature remains stable at slightly below normal."
"Excellent cardiopulmonary function. Maximum oxygen uptake far exceeds that of his peers. The cardiovascular system shows no signs of hardening, with blood vessels as elastic as a newborn's."
"Cellular telomeres show signs of slower shortening, with no abnormal telomerase activity detected. The maintenance mechanism is entirely unknown."
"DNA methylation analysis indicates a biological age of only 60% of his chronological age. Biological and chronological age are severely out of alignment."
"Growth hormone and sex hormone levels..."
With another victory secured, NERV Headquarters was filled with jubilation. Only the medical department had no time to rest; they still had an important job to do.
Shinji Ikari underwent his usual physical examination here. This routine task proceeded alongside Unit-01's repairs.
Ritsuko Akagi stood before Shinji Ikari with both hands in her coat pockets, her gaze fixed intently on the specialist analytical reports arriving one after another.
To NERV, the pilot's physical health was just as important as ensuring the EVA's performance.
The confidentiality requirements for these data were even stricter than those for humanity's ultimate weapon, which would decide whether the human race lived or died.
Of course, what truly made this medical report so sensitive was not merely the fact that it contained the pilot's personal information.
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