Zero glanced back at Unit-03, which had a gaping hole in its chest.
Unit-03 knelt on the ground, its eyes lifeless. Blood poured from the hole in its chest, turning the ground into a sea of blood once more.
"Why did you want to save it, Zero?" Shinji asked in confusion.
Despite the precedent set by Black King Joe, Shinji still did not quite understand.
Zero chuckled. "You silly kid. Keeping Unit-03 gives our side another fighter. Besides, this was a good chance to see whether that skill would work on it."
"And that old man was probably counting on me to keep Unit-03 as intact as possible."
As it happened, sunset had arrived, and the red sun was slowly sinking below the horizon.
Zero turned to admire the sunset again.
"Earth's sunsets really are beautiful..."
"My seniors were right. Earth's sunsets really are the finest tribute to shadows..."
"Hyah!" Zero raised both hands high and shot into the sky again.
The setting sun shone on Unit-03's ruined body, making the sea of blood look particularly chilling.
The original test facility had vanished completely, replaced by an enormous crater.
Fortunately, Unit-01 had used an Ultra Barrier to protect everyone in time, and nearly all the test personnel on the ground had survived.
After seeing Zero burst through Unit-03's body, Misato took a long while to recover before instinctively checking herself.
Apart from falling while she ran, she had suffered no injuries.
"We're all okay..." she said in disbelief.
The instant she saw the sparks shooting into the sky, she had thought she was done for.
Looking at Unit-03's remains, Ritsuko murmured to herself:
"It's still fairly intact. The modification plan the Commander has been so eager for should be possible now."
A cloud of light particles teleported into Unit-01's Entry