"Two against one is pathetic. I can't show off my real strength at all," Asuka grumbled.
As the interface switched from internal to external power, Unit-01 and Unit-02 rose from the ground, their portable power cables connected.
"Target sighted!" Asuka had been venting her frustration a moment earlier, but her gaze instantly sharpened.
She truly was an elite. As a pilot, she possessed not only an excellent, stable synchronization rate but also the keen awareness combat demanded, spotting the disturbance beneath the sea at a glance.
A shadow appeared in the coastal waters before them. Countless bubbles rose from the seabed, as though an island were being forged underground out of thin air.
As the shadow expanded, waves surged across the surface, and a gigantic purple humanoid emerged before Unit-01 and Unit-02.
Neither machine flinched. Misato Katsuragi's calm voice rang out inside their cockpits. "Target confirmed: the Eighth Angel, the Music Angel Israfel. EVA units, engage."
"Engaging!" Asuka answered immediately.
The elite girl showed no hesitation. If anything, she was too eager; before Misato Katsuragi had even finished giving the order, she was already itching to move.
A cool sea breeze swept across the orange-red ocean as Asuka sent Unit-02 sprinting forward. Only her voice lingered in the channel. "I'll attack first!"
"Sure, go ahead. Don't worry, I'm here. You don't have to be afraid this time," Shinji Ikari said with a smile.
Shinji Ikari had intended to take turns attacking according to the plan anyway, so he simply stayed where he was.
"Who's afraid?" Asuka retorted, exasperated.
She was finding this boy genuinely hard to deal with, and the First Child was no better. Neither of them took her seriously at all.
Asuka had begun to feel something different toward the boy who had once given her warmth in