Inside the cockpits of the three EVAs, all the electronic equipment stopped working for a moment.
"Connect the auxiliary systems, now!" The staff hurried to switch systems.
They still did not know what was happening outside, though the sun going out had undoubtedly filled them with despair.
But after listening to Yui Ikari's speech, they had all settled on one conviction: before everything ended, they would give it one last shot against the Final Angel, the bastard who wanted to erase all humanity.
At that moment, Kaworu Nagisa was the only one there who knew what was happening above. He could sense the black mist over the base that would swallow all life. It was so terrifying that even if Adam and Lilith came back to life, they would not last a moment before it.
He felt a flicker of discouragement. After all the countless cycles he had experienced, was this really the outcome awaiting him?
If the Final Angel succeeded, this planet would surely never have the chance to enter another cycle.
Then what had all those cycles he had experienced amounted to? Utter, absolute emptiness?
"No, that can't be..." He shook his head, driving the thought away.
These radiant giants had never existed in the previous cycles. They were genuine hope.
He was willing to believe what Yui Ikari had said: the Ultramen would not abandon humanity. He was willing to fight for this hope he could see.
And Shinji's transformation this time was something that had never happened in any previous cycle, either.
He looked down at his hand and clenched it tightly.
"Shinji, you must be fighting right now, too."
"I'll protect the future you and Zero risked your lives to create..."
In a sense, Kaworu Nagisa was absolutely right, because Shinji was indeed fighting at