When Kaji arrived at Asuka's hospital room, he saw her lying inside the capsule and Shinji looking visibly unwell, and understood what had happened.
"How's Misato...?" Shinji asked without turning around, tear tracks still on his face as he continued watching Asuka.
Kaji steadied his emotions.
"Misato's out of danger now. She's already awake, but her injuries are pretty serious too..."
At those words, the fury Shinji had barely been holding back erupted. His entire body shook with rage.
Then he slammed his fist into the wall beside him.
With a deafening crash, he punched a large hole straight through it.
As his fusion with Zero deepened, Shinji's physical strength was already approaching that of some Ultramen's human incarnations.
Shinji's eyes widened with fury. "Those... animals..."
"I'm going to... slaughter them... make them pay..."
Zero, who was expending his energy, reacted much the same way as Shinji when he heard the news.
Shinji's emotions had begun to affect him now.
Just then, a piercing alarm rang throughout the base.
Kaji also received a phone call.
"Shinji, Zero, a monster has appeared..."
The television in the hospital corridor began broadcasting the monster attack live.
"Tokyo-3 is once again under attack by an unidentified giant organism. All citizens, please proceed to your nearest shelter!"
The screen switched to footage of the monster.
Zero stared at the screen, stunned. "That's... Black King?"
"No... that's no ordinary Black King..."
Although the monster had Black King's body, its appearance was different.
Not only was this creature larger than before, but an additional pair of horns had grown from the sides of its head, looking incredibly hard. Meanwhile, a pair of sharp blades extended from its wrists, gleaming with a chilling light.
But that was not all. Defensive spikes had grown around all its joints, clearly