BOOM!
At that moment, Unit-01, still mid-air, unleashed a devastating punch that slammed directly into Sahaquiel's protective shell.
Cracks spread across the barrier, shattering it into fragments.
And within—
A crystal-like core also began to fracture and splinter.
Yes—that crystal was Sahaquiel's S² Engine.
"ROOOAAARR!!"
With one final cry of agony, Sahaquiel's body began to weaken.
The chaotic A.T. Field that had raged around it now finally began to fade.
Its massive form plummeted downward—
Blood, thick and crimson, poured like torrential rain from its ruined body.
Countless droplets splattered down across the city streets of New Tokyo-3.
The downpour of blood was so immense that within minutes, the entire city was submerged in a red flood.
The air was thick with the stench of blood—suffocating and metallic.
Everywhere the eye could see, the roads and buildings were steeped in crimson.
Eventually, Sahaquiel's body crashed into the earth, and with it, Unit-01 landed beside it—its chassis now stained deep blue with blood.
Inside NERV headquarters, everyone was frozen in disbelief.
Especially the Operations Division—they stared in stunned silence at the comms screens.
"The Eighth Angel... was actually defeated?"
They couldn't believe what they were seeing.
But the truth was in front of them:
Sahaquiel, the Angel of the Sky, was dead.
Only once the shock wore off did people begin to react—
And then, the command center erupted in cheers.
Especially the staff from the Tactical Division—they knew how slim the odds of success had been.
After all, MAGI had predicted a 99.999% chance of failure.
And yet—Ryota Kitazawa shattered that prediction.
He had accomplished the impossible.
He turned MAGI's near-certain failure into a 100% victory.
Even Misato Katsuragi, overwhelmed by emotion, had to wipe the tears from her eyes.
As expected, Ryota-kun... you didn't let me down.
Sahaquiel had truly been defeated.
Some of the cooler-headed staff, even in this moment of celebration, couldn't help but take a closer look at Unit-01.
This experimental EVA, which had been thought inferior to Unit-02 in design and specs, had just unleashed a terrifying power.
Or perhaps it was Ryota Kitazawa himself—was his strength the real anomaly?
Even when Unit-00 and Unit-02 fought together, they couldn't crack Sahaquiel's shield.
But Ryota had shattered it with a single punch.
The implications were crystal clear.
Meanwhile, inside Unit-02, Asuka had watched the entire battle unfold.
She hadn't seen exactly what happened after Unit-01's massive leap into the sky—she was too far away.
But now, with her own eyes, she could see the result:
Ryota Kitazawa had defeated Sahaquiel.
It was a crushing blow to Asuka.
Until now, there was nothing she couldn't do, no one she couldn't surpass.
But now—she'd met her match.
"He really... beat it?" she muttered, stunned, staring at Unit-01 resting on the ground.
Just being able to leap that high was already inhuman, far beyond what seemed possible.
And yet—Ryota had done it.
Meanwhile, both Unit-02 and Unit-00 had run dry, completely out of power, their systems locked and inert.
---
"Excellent work, Ryota Kitazawa. You did well."
A few moments later, the sound of rotors echoed above.
Misato herself arrived on the scene via helicopter, smiling as she addressed Ryota through the EVA's cockpit comms.
Recovery operations, however, were proving incredibly difficult.
The sea of blood that had flooded New Tokyo-3 now stood waist-deep.
It made retrieving the EVA units extremely challenging.
But none of that mattered—the Angel was defeated.
That alone was reason enough to celebrate.
Post-battle urban relief and disaster response were not NERV's responsibility—that would fall to Nagatachō and the civilian government.
As for EVA recovery? That wasn't the pilots' job either.
They had done enough.
"You all did wonderfully," Misato said warmly from the helicopter, smiling at Ryota, Rei, and Asuka.
"Together, you defeated the Eighth Angel and prevented a catastrophe for all humanity."
As she spoke, Asuka looked down in silence, not saying a word.
Her emotions were complicated.
After all—Ryota Kitazawa had claimed all the glory.
And she… had done nothing but vent her temper and wait helplessly.
She'd been powerless.
And since meeting Ryota, it felt like everything had changed.
Misato could see it, too—she noticed everything, and simply smiled to herself before saying:
"Alright, alright. To celebrate our victory over the Eighth Angel, we're throwing a party!
In three days, all departments in NERV are invited to a big get-together."
Though most of the credit clearly went to Ryota, Misato wasn't about to leave out Rei and Asuka.
They were part of the fight, and they too had risked their lives in battle.
Ryota could also see how Asuka was feeling, and shook his head quietly.
He knew the truth.
In the end, it wasn't just his own power that won the battle.
It was thanks to Rei and Asuka that Unit-01 had time to charge up.
That's right—he needed time to build momentum, to gather energy.
Unit-01 had only recently been upgraded into its perfect state, and to strike with that much force, it had to prepare.
And it was precisely Rei and Asuka who had bought him that time—holding Sahaquiel at bay.
But how could he explain that to them?
He couldn't.
So Ryota simply kept it all to himself.
---
Three days passed.
Only after three full days did the sea of blood finally begin to recede.
New Tokyo-3 had been plunged into a state of disaster.
Sahaquiel's death had flooded the city in a tide of blood.
The economic loss was astronomical, and tragically—many lives were lost.
Like a great flood, the battle had claimed lives and ruined homes.
Entire neighborhoods of low-rise housing were washed away.
All reports and data on the incident were swiftly dispatched to Nagatachō.
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