Ramiel

The Sixth Angel's blue, regular octahedral body unfolded along precise axes, stretching and flattening. Its hard geometric shell transformed like origami, resembling two enormous polyhedral crystals of copper sulfate.

Ramiel: First form

Angels were always at their most efficient when killing. They were creatures that rejected every existence other than themselves. Thus, they had no kin and never banded together.

They formed no emotional bonds with anything outside themselves, much less felt pity for other living beings-burdensome emotions that would only impede their slaughter.

And so that pure killing intent never faltered. The particle cannon shone with the sacred radiance of an angel purifying all things.

"Dodge, now!" Misato Katsuragi's frantic shout suddenly rang through Rei Ayanami's cockpit.

The Sixth Angel had completed its transformation. Its core, exposed by the change in its body structure, blazed with a dazzling, mesmerizing brilliance too intense to look at directly!

But Unit-00 had only just risen to the surface, and its final restraint had yet to release. Rei could not dodge at all.

In the very next instant after she appeared, a beam of intertwined white and purple erupted from the Sixth Angel's core and hurtled toward Unit-00 at astonishing speed.

The energy contained in that white-purple beam far exceeded the destructive power of Shamshel's eye lasers.

As intense heat spread, Ramiel's sustained discharge turned the white-purple beam into cannon fire capable of piercing anything in the world, tearing through everything in its path.

The steel barriers painstakingly erected by the automated defense system, as solid as fortress walls, melted before the pillar of light even touched them.

Then the pillar struck those impregnable defenses and shattered them.

"Ungh!"

That muffled cry came from Rei Ayanami's lips. Yet it was entirely unlike an ordinary person's cry-a purely instinctive physiological response that escaped only after she had suppressed herself to the utmost.

The all-shattering beam pierced rows of steel buildings in an instant and struck the newly emerged Unit-00 head-on.

As though millions of steel needles had plunged into her skin at once, agonizing, bone-deep pain swept through Rei Ayanami's entire body.

Had Rei Ayanami not deployed her AT Field in time, forming a thin, warm-yellow curtain of light before Unit-00, the machine would likely have been pierced straight through on the spot.

Red damage warnings already flashed across the cockpit interface. Her AT Field could not completely withstand Ramiel's attack after all.

Dazzling yellow light from the explosion engulfed the cockpit, its brilliance stinging even the eyes of the support staff watching from the command room.

Faced with the terrifying scene, Kozo Fuyutsuki knitted his brows, worry showing on his face. Gendo Ikari, however, remained impassive.

"80%... 75%... Rei's synchronization rate is dropping!" Ritsuko Akagi hurriedly reported.

Without waiting for Gendo Ikari's orders, Misato Katsuragi commanded everyone directly, "Deploy the defensive wall!"

At her command, Maya Ibuki operated the system manually, and a metal defensive wall rose from underground in front of Unit-00.

It was the strongest shield human technology could produce, fashioned from the same material as EVA armor and coated with Phase-Shift Armor.

Yet the moment the defensive wall intercepted the pillar of light, the extreme heat burned it red-hot. Humanity's strongest shield was still fragile before an Angel's absolute power.

Fortunately, after several seconds of expenditure, the Sixth Angel's particle energy cannon was already beginning to lose steam. After the defensive wall endured the beam's impact for about a second, the white-purple light dispersed.

"It held! First Lieutenant Ayanami, the final restraint has been released!"

Everyone in the combat command room had barely breathed a sigh of relief before Misato Katsuragi immediately reminded Rei Ayanami that she could move now.

But being freed from its restraints was one thing; being able to move was another.

Unit-00 still leaned against the transport apparatus. Ramiel's sudden strike had already inflicted considerable damage, and movement was little more than a pipe dream for it now.

Worse still, Ramiel had already begun a second transformation!

The Angel first contracted into a shape resembling a higher-dimensional cube unfolded into a lower-dimensional projection, then expanded into a cross that looked like four pyramids piercing one another.

Ramiel: Second form

The spherical cannon muzzles at the four ends of the cross flashed with light. Thin rays converged toward the center as the Angel mobilized and concentrated the energy throughout its body with extraordinary efficiency!

"What about the automated interception guns, missile silos, and railguns? Don't those parasites love wasting ammunition? Activate everything and fire it all! Support Unit-00!"

Misato Katsuragi stared fixedly at the screen, rattling off her orders. She did not need the technicians to report it to know that the Sixth Angel's next attack would be even fiercer.

"Understood," answered Misato Katsuragi's deputies, Shigeru Aoba and Hyuga Kou, together with Maya Ibuki, who automatically came under her command during combat.

They were all technicians who normally belonged to different departments, but assisted Misato Katsuragi together during combat. Thus, the other operators called them the "three operator girls."

Of course, that was only a joke everyone made in their daily lives. No one doubted that they were the finest operators and assistants, and they sprang into action the instant Misato Katsuragi issued her orders.

Shigeru Aoba handled communications and intelligence analysis, Maya Ibuki monitored the weapons and EVA status, and Hyuga Makoto immediately used the Magi System to analyze weak points in Ramiel's AT Field.

In the midst of its transformation, Ramiel's AT Field was at its weakest. The barrage coordinated by the Magi System engulfed the Angel in an instant.

"Direct hit!" At that shout, the entire combat department erupted with excitement!

"Did we stop it?" Misato Katsuragi braced both hands on the desk, staring tensely at the enormous screen illuminated by the explosions.

She seemed to want to see through the overlapping flames and thick smoke, to witness for herself the grievous damage Ramiel had suffered.

As she concentrated, an eerie light began flashing in the distant sky. Then a faint, intermittent sound reached her ears.

At first, the sound was barely audible, but as time passed, it grew clearer and clearer.

It sounded like the shriek of a gale, followed by a rumbling roar like a raging thunderstorm. Then, in an instant, came a bang, as though something had been fired.

Someone in the combat command room could not help asking, "What was that sound?"

"Interference cleared... the target's high-energy reaction has not subsided!" Maya Ibuki swiftly consolidated the information from the departments and reported.

"Damn it." Misato Katsuragi truly felt powerless now. Conventional weapons were useless, while the EVA that should have made a difference had lost its combat capability the moment it appeared.

The next instant, an even thicker, more terrifying golden beam punched through the obstruction. The smoke spread into a circle resembling the muzzle of an enormous cannon, and Ramiel's high-energy focused particle beam fired out through it.