Sahaquiel's core shattered under the violet-white beam.
His body, larger than an entire town, lost all its strength in an instant, darkened to black, and burst into a wave of blood.
An enormous blood-red cross of light towered over the earth, marking the defeat of the 11th Angel, Arael Sahaquiel.
Misato Katsuragi had just breathed a sigh of relief and was about to praise her little heroes when Shigeru Aoba suddenly said to her:
"Colonel Katsuragi, Commander Ikari is calling."
Misato's face immediately fell. That gloomy middle-aged man really was a pain.
He had left them to fend for themselves during the battle, and now he had popped up to remind everyone he existed.
"Put him through," Misato said.
When the communications interface appeared on the screen, she continued, "My sincerest apologies. My unilateral decision caused extensive damage to Tokyo-3. The responsibility rests entirely with me."
Misato felt she was probably the person who respected the Commander-in-Chief most in all of Headquarters-even if that respect was only superficial.
The Commander-in-Chief was actually inside the base, yet they still had to speak over a remote connection. That was bizarre enough on its own.
Compared to the cultists who openly called him a "devil," she only criticized him in her head. She was practically a model child.
Disrespect for the Commander-in-Chief had become widespread throughout the base, but Gendo Ikari himself was powerless to stop it, unless he intended to fire more than four-fifths of the entire staff.
"It's all right. Destroying the target was what mattered most. Compared to that, we were fortunate to get away with so little damage."
The speaker was Deputy Commander Kozo Fuyutsuki. His slightly weathered elderly voice was far more pleasant than the deep, middle-aged voice she had expected.
But there was no avoiding that middle-aged