“When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle.
In number they are like the sand on the seashore.”
Ikari Shinji softly recited the Book of Revelation, as if he had already seen the scene of enemies standing in great numbers, and Unit-01 also slowly raised its head to look at the sky.
A huge red cross stood tall, like a monument, overlooking the entire Tokyo-3.
The pitch-black night had the brightness of day, and that rainbow light intertwined with gorgeous colors seemed to be mourning the fallen Angel, and also seemed to be welcoming the arrival of a new god.
The scene before them was like a picture scroll full of a sense of religious myth, branded in everyone’s eyes.
Ikari Shinji’s voice echoed in everyone’s ears, and they listened quietly.
Everyone in the combat command room unconsciously slowed their breathing; they wanted to engrave what their eyes saw and their ears heard at this moment into their minds.
The purple Unit-01 was draped in a bright red radiance, and the cross behind it stood on the earth, the rainbow seeming to connect heaven and the human realm.
“Are you guys alright, why is no one speaking?
I originally planned to shoot through His body, but for some reason it just exploded, did we need to keep Him alive?”
It was not until Ikari Shinji’s relaxed voice rang out in the command room again that Katsuragi Misato, who was in charge of commanding, reacted, stood up and replied:
“It is fine, NERV currently does not have any plans to conduct in vivo research on Angels, the exploding cross is a normal phenomenon of an Angel’s death after its core is destroyed.”
Ikari Shinji marveled: “As expected of an angel, even its death is very much to my liking.”
Katsuragi Misato looked at the synchronization rate that remained high, but was still somewhat worried.
“Shinji, how do you feel after the battle?
Is there any discomfort in your body?”
“Never been better.” Ikari Shinji manipulated Unit-01 to raise its palm that had already turned white, looking at it entranced.
“That is good, you did very well, thank you for your hard work, Shinji.” Katsuragi Misato let out a long breath.
Then she turned to face the other staff members, the light of excitement inevitably flashing in her eyes.
“The Fourth Angel Sachiel has been successfully subjugated, everyone, we won this battle!”
After Katsuragi Misato excitedly shouted that exciting phrase—”We won!”—the entire command room fell into a brief silence.
But soon, everyone stood up one after another as if awakening from a dream, looking at the figure on the screen and bursting into thunderous applause and cheers.
And at the same time, Fuyutsuki Kouzou, who was in another room, was also staring at the purple mech on the screen, the corners of his mouth inevitably rising to outline a smile.
Compared to those people with agitated expressions and faces full of excitement, Ikari Gendou still sat at the table without changing his expression, maintaining his usual signature posture.
Fuyutsuki Kouzou walked to Ikari Gendou’s side, staring at Unit-01 and saying with a smile: “Shinji’s performance far exceeded expectations.”
Ikari Gendou did not have much reaction, only responding in a tone so flat it bordered on cold indifference:
“The ending was destined long ago, victory is an answer that would inevitably be obtained, it is just that…
the process slightly deviated from expectations.”
As Ikari Shinji’s father, or rather Ikari Yui’s husband, Ikari Gendou was very clear that the outcome of this battle had absolutely no suspense.
Even if the boy was so fragile that he could not withstand a single blow, Unit-01 would tear apart all danger for him.
Whether Ikari Shinji could control the EVA was not important, and whether he knew how to fight was also not important.
As long as Ikari Shinji piloted Unit-01, Unit-01 would lead him to victory.
But the current situation was not quite right.
It was not Unit-01 that allowed Ikari Shinji to survive, but rather Ikari Shinji easily achieving victory with an absolutely crushing posture.
Clearly, the plot did not proceed according to the script Ikari Gendou envisioned in his heart; the male lead of this scene should have been much more pathetic.
The next second, after a brief thought, his gaze also had to move to Unit-01 on the screen.
The purple giant bathed in radiance, the crimson cross piercing heaven and earth, and the colorful neon at the end of the sky, everything was so unreal like a dream.
When Ikari Gendou locked eyes with that giant, he even felt in a daze that he was being despised, that feeling was just like—
He was an ant.
Ikari Gendou seemed to be looking into Ikari Shinji’s eyes through Unit-01.
That was definitely not the gaze of a human, carrying a heartfelt contempt towards him, as well as an arrogant pity.
As if a god high above taking pity on the human realm.
…
Inside the break room.
Ikari Shinji closed his eyes, as if returning to the embrace of that woman; that woman named Ikari Yui was his mother.
The woman liked to poke the baby’s little face and tease him.
And facing the child who was always overly sorrowful after growing up, the woman would also always worriedly frown along with him.
The scene quickly shifted to a pristine white laboratory; through a huge glass window, the woman could be seen sitting in a capsule-like cockpit, and the entry plug was inserted into the purple giant’s body from its spine. Find the original chapter at g.com.
But this time, the person piloting that purple ultimate decisive battle weapon was himself.
Ikari Shinji, who had just gotten off Unit-01 not long ago, sat at the table, mimicking Ikari Gendou’s posture, but he was not thinking, rather he was dozing off; he seemed to have had a dream.
The sound of the door opening rang out, and Ikari Shinji opened his eyes.
Entering his line of sight was an unfamiliar pristine white ceiling, but his body seemed to still retain the gentleness of being held in his mother’s arms.
Ikari Shinji was a bit dazed; the feeling of that woman still being by my side was indeed a dream after all.
He seemed to feel a breath very close to him, the air blowing against his skin making it ticklish.
Ikari Shinji turned his head and saw Katsuragi Misato sitting beside him, her face almost pressing against his.
Ikari Shinji lowered his head, and sensing his gaze, Katsuragi Misato raised her head, their eyes meeting exactly.
“What are you…” Ikari Shinji narrowed his eyes, their noses touching nose to nose, “…doing?”
“Nothing, just checking to see if you are hurt.” Katsuragi Misato withdrew her body that was leaning forward.
“You have a pretty good figure, you must be very popular at school usually, right.”
“Yes.” After thinking for a moment, Ikari Shinji slowly nodded; he somewhat doubted whether he was still dreaming.
Until he saw Akagi Ritsuko, who had just pushed the door open and walked in, standing opposite them, staring wide-eyed at each other, and they fell into silence for a time…
“I see, no wonder you applied to let Shinji live at your house, it seems I need to re-evaluate the safety factor of this application.”
Akagi Ritsuko was holding a document, and the look in her eyes towards Katsuragi Misato seemed to be scoring the other party, conveniently sending over a few points of contempt.
“What is with that look?
I really just wanted to give Shinji a physical checkup.”
“A physical checkup is not within the scope of a combat commander’s duties, is it?”
“I was just worried.
But my application absolutely has no other purpose, I just felt that we cannot leave him alone…
Besides, the higher-ups have already approved it, you do not need to worry, I will not make a move on him!”
“Really?
I do not believe it.
I never know what is going on inside that head of yours.”