The golden light that swallowed everything rapidly expanded, then violently contracted in the Angels' distinctive fashion.
It shot from the very center of the Sixth Angel's body straight into the distance. This time, the cross-shaped beam covered an area several times larger than the previous attack.
Humanity's strongest shield failed to hold out for even half a second this time.
The instant the enormous defensive barrier touched the high-energy focused particle cannon fired by the Sixth Angel, it melted through as easily as paper.
Then the golden light engulfed Unit-00 like a flood bursting through a dam.
This time, no matter how well Rei Ayanami endured pain or suppressed her voice, she could not completely restrain that primal, physiological impulse.
Finally, a piercing scream tore from her throat: "Aah!!!"
This was not pain that could be endured through sheer willpower, but absolute torment that penetrated to the marrow and surpassed the limits of reason.
Unit-00's body, which had only just begun repairing itself, suffered even heavier damage. Despite the protection of its AT Field, its armor began tearing apart from the outside in.
The golden light filling the entire screen seared their eyes, while the sounds of a body's instinctive response to unbearable pain rang in their ears, silencing everyone in the command center.
Even from so far away, what they saw and heard made their scalps prickle.
A human would have been annihilated instantly under such an attack. The EVA's existence only prolonged the suffering its pilot had to endure.
Now everyone was more inclined to believe Gendo Ikari held a grudge against this girl, rather than that he was deliberately trying to suppress their other ace pilot.
Death refused to come, yet deathlike agony continued assaulting her body. This was the most terrifying form of torture.
Greater power, wider coverage, longer duration-the Sixth Angel's high-energy focused particle cannon justified its somewhat longer charging time compared with the first attack.
"Unit-00's armor is damaged across its entire body! Chest armor penetrated, internal structures may already be exposed! Internal abdominal structures penetrated! Synchronization rate continues to fall, now below thirty percent!"
Maya Ibuki spoke at breakneck speed, her report identifying the damaged sections of the unit and the severity of each injury.
With damage like this, continuing the fight was already impossible. And if the synchronization rate dropped below ten percent, the EVA would not even be able to activate properly.
Misato Katsuragi understood that too, of course, but she was powerless as the commander. The soldier she was supposed to command and her most important weapon had effectively been "lost" the moment they appeared.
Of course, she was not blaming Rei Ayanami for being incompetent. Anyone sent into this situation would have met the same fate.
They had set the deployment point somewhere they believed was sufficiently safe, only for the Sixth Angel to seize an opportunity to attack anyway.
Even Shinji Ikari probably could not have handled starting a battle under these conditions.
Under the impact of that golden high-energy focused particle cannon, the interface inside Unit-00 suddenly began flickering, countless red warnings popping up in a frenzy.
At the same time, red warning messages kept appearing on the command center's enormous screen, which monitored the unit's condition in real time.
In mere moments, before the battle had even properly begun, humanity's new hope was already hanging by a thread.
Misato Katsuragi swiftly looked up at Gendo Ikari and urgently requested, "Commander-in-chief, this operation has failed. Please order Unit-00's recovery!"
The operations commander's forceful attitude seemed almost an attempt to force his hand. Watching the girl wailing inside the cockpit on the screen, Kozo Fuyutsuki was also faintly moved.
Yet the man wearing dark glasses hardly seemed human at all. His expression was as cold as a corpse's, as though he had lost his soul after making a pact with the devil.
"Commander Ikari, unnecessary losses should..."
Kozo Fuyutsuki spoke quietly, but Gendo Ikari interrupted him before he could finish.
"Don't forget. Dolls like this... we have plenty."
After speaking, Gendo Ikari cast a barely perceptible glance at the boy below.
No new orders came from the command platform. Everyone turned toward him in incomprehension, and even Shinji Ikari gained a new understanding of just how much of a bastard Gendo Ikari was.
He had originally thought the man was merely incapable of being a good father. Now it seemed to go beyond that. There was something wrong with the way this guy treated everyone else too.
Listening to the girl's screams from the cockpit, Misato Katsuragi turned her face aside, unable to bear it. "Keep the automated defense systems providing fire support!"
Meanwhile, unseen by everyone, Shinji Ikari stepped onto a warm yellow curtain of light and silently vaulted onto the highest command platform.
Gendo Ikari and Kozo Fuyutsuki both froze at his unexpected action.
"Who gave you permission to come up here..."
For some reason, meeting the boy's eyes sent a sudden jolt of panic through Gendo Ikari. In a rare moment of fluster, he was about to reprimand him, only for Shinji Ikari to walk straight up to him.
Shinji Ikari's gaze was calm as he looked at the man he had long since come to utterly despise. He grabbed Gendo Ikari by the collar and punched him in the mouth before he could speak.
"I'm done listening to your bullshit. Let me teach you how to be a human being!"
Gendo Ikari had intended to call for help, but Shinji Ikari was ready for that. The punch robbed him of the ability to speak, leaving him unable even to cry out.
Everyone in the command center was absorbed by the Sixth Angel's dazzling assault and Rei Ayanami's screams. They could not hear the faint cracking of bone behind them, much less realize that an act of violence was unfolding at their backs.
Shinji Ikari punched Gendo Ikari in the face, knocking his nose crooked, then kept swinging without pause. Before long, he had beaten Gendo Ikari into what looked like a deep sleep, but he still did not want to stop.
He had to admit that this bastard had a hard skull. After several punches, not only was Gendo Ikari's face a bloody mess, but Shinji Ikari's own fist was beginning to ache.
Still, the man was related to him by blood in this life. Just as he was considering whether to send Gendo Ikari straight to his grave, a hand settled on his shoulder.
Shinji Ikari turned around to see the deputy commander, Kozo Fuyutsuki, who usually seemed so unassuming and detached.
He gave a soft sigh. "He is still the commander-in-chief, after all. It's not time yet..."
"Are you saying he's more valuable than me?" Shinji Ikari frowned, asking unhappily.
"To them, at present, yes!" Kozo Fuyutsuki was somewhat surprised. He had thought Shinji Ikari was merely throwing a childish tantrum without understanding anything, but apparently he did understand the stakes.
To those at the top, how much freedom a person had to act as they pleased depended on their value.
Shinji Ikari was important-so important that no one could replace him in Gendo Ikari and Kozo Fuyutsuki's plans.
But to those even higher up, there were actually many understudies for the role of a pilot like Shinji Ikari in their script.
Shinji Ikari was a useful pawn, but Gendo Ikari had been the director of the Artificial Evolution Laboratory, NERV's predecessor. He was NERV's commander-in-chief and the man who had, in practice, built it up. Without him, the present EVAs would not even exist. He represented those at the top.
Those at the top allowed Shinji Ikari a small measure of willfulness because of his outstanding performance piloting Unit-01 against the Angels.
They were not dependent on Shinji Ikari, so once he crossed the limits of that tolerance, he could be replaced or even discarded.
The thought that someone would protect a bastard this vile made Shinji Ikari want to ask whether those old bastards at the top had gone senile.
Before you continue