A devastating torrent of particles slammed heavily into the shield raised by Unit-00. That specialized composite armor shield quickly warped, melted, and vaporized with a grating shriek of metal, supporting the impact for less than two seconds before completely dissolving.
Behind the shield was the hull of Unit-00.
Without a moment's hesitation, Rei Ayanami crossed Unit-00's arms and took the remaining particle beam impact with the body of the Evangelion itself.
Blinding light and intense heat instantly engulfed Unit-00. The external armor layers stripped away and vaporized, alarms shrieked inside the cockpit, and the violent shaking threatened to tear everything apart.
She could have deployed Unit-00's AT Field to block it, but that would interfere with the fragile field being condensed along Unit-01's sniping trajectory. She chose to silently endure.
"Rei—!" Shinji Ikari's cry of alarm was drowned out by the roar of energy. He watched helplessly as Unit-00 trembled in the light stream, armor fragments scattering, a gut-wrenching dread seizing him.
He wanted to do something, but he couldn't move; he was the sole spearhead of this plan, and all hope rested on his finger resting on the trigger.
Just as panic threatened to swallow his mind, a jumble of resolute voices came through the communication channel. It was a report from all corners of Japan: "Kitakyushu power node restored!"
"Hokkaido line forcibly connected!"
"Kansai region load raised to critical value!"
The charging progress bar on the screen, fueled by the relentless, risk-defying efforts of countless people, climbed stubbornly faster than expected.
This was not his battle alone.
Behind him was the entire world, giving its absolute best.
A wave of strength unlike anything he had felt before, mixed with responsibility and inspired courage, overwhelmed his inner fear.
He gritted his teeth, nearly grinding them to powder, his crimson eyes locked firmly onto the Angel's core still attacking Unit-00 in the distance.
The moment the crisp notification of 'charge complete' rang out, it seemed to sync with his own heartbeat.
"This shot————is for everyone!! For Ayanami!!!"
He roared, pouring all his strength into it, and pulled the trigger again.
The second Positron Cannon shot, like an outpouring of all humanity's defiance and rage, tore through the sky and blasted with deadly precision into the Angel's core!
The giant blue octahedron instantly froze; an indescribably dazzling light erupted from its core, followed by a violent surge of energy loss, and it disintegrated with a crash!
There was no explosion, only a floodgate-like surge of blood-red liquid—a massive volume of LCL fluid—gushing from the shattered Angel's husk. Like a crimson tsunami, it rushed toward the ruined city below, instantly submerging large areas.
The battlefield fell into a dead silence.
Only the gurgling sound of the LCL liquid confirmed the reality of the battle that had just occurred.
The battle's shockwaves had yet to subside, but Unit-01 dragged its heavy frame through the ruins, frantically searching amidst the billowing steam and pungent odors.
Shinji's breathing was ragged. His anxious gaze swept across every corner of the panoramic screen, finally settling on the smoking wreckage—
Unit-00.
Its once mighty body was now a scorched, twisted torso. Its limbs had completely vaporized under the terrifying power of the particle cannon, and the exposed internal structures looked like ripped wounds, sporadically flashing with dangerous electric sparks.
Only the white Entry Plug, though its exterior was discolored and scorched by the heat, remained firmly embedded in the center of the torso, like a stubborn heart.
"Rei!" Shinji's voice was tearful. Unit-01's massive hand approached tentatively, trembling slightly from his fear, daring not to touch it easily for fear of causing secondary damage.
NERV's engineering teams quickly arrived, commencing their work with efficiency and coolness.
Large equipment secured the wreckage, and with the operation of hydraulic devices, the Entry Plug was slowly extracted from the charred torso, accompanied by the screech of metal on metal.
Billowing white cooling steam sprayed out, enveloping the surroundings.
The moment the Entry Plug touched the ground, Shinji recklessly opened Unit-01's cockpit and quickly slid down the emergency rope.
He staggered toward the Entry Plug, which was still radiating intense heat, its surface scalding.
"It's dangerous! The temperature hasn't dropped yet!" an engineer tried to stop him.
But Shinji paid him no mind.
He rushed to the Entry Plug. The heat blast hit his face, stinging his skin, but he didn't hesitate, reaching out with both hands to forcefully turn the emergency release valve.
The high temperature of the metal instantly burned his palms, making a slight "sizzling" sound, but he seemed not to feel the pain, only twisting and twisting the valve with all his might.
The hatch finally opened with a "hiss," and a torrent of Life Support Water (LCL) gushed out.
Shinji clung to the hatch, peering inside anxiously.
Rei Ayanami leaned weakly against the pilot's seat, her blue hair plastered wetly against her pale cheeks. Her red eyes were slightly open, carrying the same composure as always, yet with an almost imperceptible weariness and—a hint of confusion.
She seemed to try to move, but her body was somewhat unresponsive.
"Rei! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Shinji clung to the edge of the hatch, his voice filled with unconcealed concern and worry, his burned hands gripping the metal edge.
Rei looked at him silently, observing the genuine distress on his face and his blistered hands, red from the heat.
She seemed not to understand the reason for his excessive agitation, answering only in her usual flat tone: "I'm fine. It's just—temporary neural fatigue from the high synchronization rate."
She paused, her gaze flicking to his injured hand, and she quietly asked: "Your hands—I'm sorry, I don't know what expression I should use right now."
"That doesn't matter!" Shinji immediately cut her off. As long as she was okay, he didn't care about this small injury.
He looked at Rei Ayanami's face, which seemed eternally blank, and saw her confusion over how to respond to his overwhelming concern. A complex wave of emotion—relief, fear, and an inexpressible tenderness—washed over him.
He suddenly remembered the words he had spoken to her previously. Then, with a voice that was both choked up and incredibly gentle, he softly said to her, "Just smile for me."
Rei Ayanami paused slightly, a minuscule ripple of emotion flashing across her red eyes.
She looked at his eyes, full of expectation and encouragement, and at the world shattered by their battle behind him.
She tried to move her lips, extremely slowly, awkwardly, and somewhat unfamiliar with the motion.
A very slight, almost imperceptible curve quietly appeared on her pale face.
It was not a textbook smile; it was clumsy and stiff, but in this battle-scarred landscape, inside this salvaged Entry Plug, the attempt itself was more moving than any brilliant expression.
Shinji looked at this "smile." His tightly coiled nerves finally relaxed, and he couldn't help but reveal a deeply reassured smile of his own, streaked with tears.