Just as Asuka's voice fell silent, the sky above shifted—
The spherical Angel and its A.T. Field vanished.
In their place, a new A.T. Field materialized—
A radiant, prismatic field like a rainbow, surrounded by dense layers of energy so thick they seemed utterly impenetrable. No living being could possibly get close.
"Target has shifted—deviated by 205 degrees! Asuka, move now!"
Misato Katsuragi shouted, reacting instantly to the data relayed from the MAGI supercomputer.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm on it…"
Asuka exhaled sharply, gritting her teeth.
Damn it. This Angel looks like a pain in the ass.
But no matter how cunning the prey, it couldn't outmatch the hunter. No matter how powerful the Angel, it couldn't defeat Captain Shikinami Asuka—
Or so she believed, as she sprinted full speed toward the new drop point.
Suddenly—
A silhouette flashed past her vision.
A massive figure shot forward, moving faster, more fluidly than even Asuka herself.
Unit-01, painted deep violet—there was no mistaking it.
And its pilot?
Kitazawa Ryota.
"What the hell?! How is he so fast?!"
Asuka blinked in disbelief, frustration rising in her chest.
Unwilling to be outdone, she pushed harder, chasing Unit-01 with everything she had.
---
"5,000 feet… 3,000 feet… 2,000 feet!"
The prismatic behemoth descending from the sky grew larger and clearer by the second—
The Eighth Angel. The Skyborne Sahaquiel.
It began to unfold midair like a massive blossom,
Petals of energy stretching wide—
Two enormous wing-like appendages extended from its sides, fluttering like those of a butterfly.
Its A.T. Field surged in chaotic waves,
Its entire body pulsing with an energy so violent, it seemed explosive by nature.
This was no ordinary Angel—
The eighth to awaken, and clearly far stronger than its predecessors.
The later the Angel's emergence, the more powerful it became.
And now, Sahaquiel was less than 500 feet from the ground.
Unit-02?
Still 1 kilometer away.
We're not going to make it…!
Inside NERV's command center, every operator fell silent and closed their eyes.
They knew—
If Sahaquiel landed, Japan was finished.
Everyone… except for Misato.
She didn't blink.
She didn't flinch.
Her eyes were locked on the screen.
---
BOOM!
Just as Sahaquiel was about to make impact,
a pair of powerful hands caught it mid-fall.
Unit-01.
Like a divine titan, Unit-01 had reached the point of impact just in time.
Its hands rose upward like those of Pangu lifting the heavens, catching Sahaquiel's monstrous weight and crushing gravitational force.
Its A.T. Field flared to full power, colliding with the Angel's chaotic energy.
"Whew…"
A collective sigh of relief swept through the command center.
They had survived—barely.
Just one moment slower, and they would have been buried with Tokyo-3.
But Misato?
Still calm.
Still composed.
Because she had believed in him—Kitazawa Ryota.
And once again, her trust had not been misplaced.
He held up the full, crushing weight of the Eighth Angel—without faltering.
---
Suddenly—
A strange, piercing sound filled the air.
Not like a birdcall. Not anything natural.
It was ethereal, dissonant—like a voice from a dream.
And with that sound, Sahaquiel's A.T. Field expanded tenfold, pressing down with crushing intensity on Unit-01.
"Die already!"
Asuka roared.
Seeing Sahaquiel's pressure spike, she leapt forward with her twin progressive knives, lunging directly for the Angel's core.
Inside that core lay the S² Engine—
Destroying it would mean the Angel's death.
EEEEIIIIIIII!!!
Sahaquiel shrieked again.
Only this time, the cry was far more violent—shrill and soul-piercing.
Immediately afterward, it unleashed a shockwave,
A sonic explosion so intense that trees were split clean in half.
The blast even shattered NERV's surveillance feed with deafening static.
Everyone in the command center winced in agony—
The sound alone was enough to rupture eardrums.
"What the hell was that?!"
Misato clutched her ears, her face twisted with alarm.
She hadn't anticipated this—
Not only was Sahaquiel a falling bomb,
It could also use sonic attacks?
This changed everything.
Her instincts screamed that the situation had become truly dire.
---
Out in the field—
Unit-02 was hurled backward like a broken toy.
The shockwave had hit Asuka point-blank.
Her ears rang with a high-pitched whine.
Her vision swam.
"Damn it… that was a sonic blast?"
Groaning, she pulled herself up.
"Tch! Doesn't matter! I'm Asuka Langley Shikinami, NERV's top pilot! I'll deal with the Eighth Angel myself!"
With a fiery scream, Unit-02 surged forward again—
A crimson blaze streaking across the earth.
She charged at Sahaquiel, twin blades gleaming.
With one final burst, she lunged—
Her progressive knives slammed into the Angel's outer shell,
Cutting through it inch by inch.
Just beyond that shell, the S² Engine pulsed—
Now almost within reach.
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