Dark Lops EVA looked up at the sky and saw Zero flying toward him.
"Heh, your body really is giving out."
"I won't stick around to play with you. After all, you'll have to clean up this whole mess in a moment."
He turned toward the Sixteenth Angel, which was still consuming Unit-00.
The Sixteenth Angel had developed a deep fear of this giant who resembled Ultraman Zero, so much so that it temporarily stopped consuming Unit-00 and probing Rei Ayanami's heart.
"You've outlived your usefulness." The icy voice reached the Sixteenth Angel's mind.
"Humans or Angels, you're all just insects in my eyes. The only difference is whether you're useful or not."
"You gave me those memories just to use me. You really are clever, outsider..."
"You can disappear along with this vessel of Lilith. Goodbye."
With that, the thrusters on Dark Lops EVA's back activated, and it took flight.
After flying a short distance, Hayato Noda took out a button inside Dark Lops EVA's cockpit.
"Let's set off some fireworks." Hayato Noda pressed the button.
After transmitting the memories to the Sixteenth Angel, he had planted a bomb beside its core, waiting for this very moment.
"Brother, Zero..." Even after seeing her companions struck down, Rei Ayanami had not given up hope. She waited for Zero to come rescue her.
Little by little, she saw Zero's faint silhouette on the horizon...
But it was already too late.
The temperature beside the Womb Angel's core kept rising. "The core temperature of the Sixteenth Angel is rising!"
"The Sixteenth Angel's core temperature is rising!"
"The core is about to collapse! It's passing the critical point!"
And hundreds upon thousands of citizens in the city had still failed to evacuate.
"Shinji, hurry..."
Far away, Hayato Noda sat inside Dark Lops EVA,