In the center of the lake, the colossal cross still stood tall, but a palpable change had come over the body of Lilith nailed upon it.
The massive wound in her chest, pierced by the Spear of Longinus, had not healed. Instead, it writhed slightly like a living thing, its edges flickering with unstable bio-fluorescence. Most unsettling of all was her white mask, emblazoned with the NERV logo—at this moment, a tiny slit had actually opened upon that mask!
A vast, chaotic will, seemingly from the very dawn of the universe's creation, began to seep slowly from that crack, filling the entire space. Silent roars and whispers echoed in the air—the primal urge of life seeking to break free from its shackles and return to the Source.
Lilith was truly "awakening."
Once she fully awoke and broke free from the cross, her mere existence—without the need for any Human Instrumentality Project—would be enough to trigger a global, uncontrollable "Impact," forcibly reducing all life to LCL.
"There!" Osiris pointed toward the wound in Lilith's chest. "Asuka, use the Spear of Longinus to pierce that spot again! You must re-establish the seal before she fully awakens!"
Asuka looked at the mountain-sized white giant. Feeling the pressure that threatened to crush her very soul, her palms—clutching the Spear of Longinus—were drenched in cold sweat. This was no longer about attacking an Angel or a hostile EVA; this was deicide. Or rather, the sealing of a God!
Using the recoil of the throw, the white Unit-08 performed a nimble front flip in the air, landing steadily on the edge of the platform. Dropping to one knee, the Spear of Longinus had not disappeared; it had returned to her grasp, positioned just below Lilith's chest.
"For... the tomorrow that humanity chooses!!!"
She raised the dark red Spear of Longinus, aiming the tip at the writhing wound in Lilith's chest, at the heart-palpitating darkness behind the mask's slit.
Could she do it?
Pshhh—
A muffled sound, like the tearing of tough biological leather, rang out.
The chaotic light seeping from the slit in Lilith's mask stagnated abruptly, then receded like a ebbing tide. The invisible mental whispers and roars in the air were cut off as if by a sharp blade, vanishing instantly. The boiling sea of LCL suddenly stopped churning; giant bubbles burst in mid-air, and no new ones formed.
The white Unit-08's legs exploded with immense power as she lunged from the edge of the platform like a white meteor, charging toward the cross in the center of the lake!
Accompanied by the girl's resolute cry, the Spear of Longinus transformed into a streak of dark red lightning that tore through space. Carrying an unstoppable momentum, it stabbed down fiercely!
Just then, there was movement in the passage above.
Throwing the spear was not just a massive physical drain; it was an extreme test of mental fortitude.
"Believe in yourself, Asuka." Osiris' voice carried an unquestionable trust. "The spear in your hand is the only weapon that can restrain her. You possess the strength and spirit to use it."
Just as the spear entered, the entire Central Dogma area seemed to freeze.
The seal was complete.
Misato added, "As for Shinji... the Cherubim's purification seems to have worked. The wreckage of Unit-00 has basically separated from the Angel tissue. We've detected a weak life reaction from Rei Ayanami, but it's extremely unstable. She's already been rushed to the medical center for deep life-support treatment. Shinji himself is emotionally unstable and needs psychological intervention."
The moment the spear pierced her, the vast, suffocating, awakening will was forcibly pushed back by an invisible giant hand. After letting out a cry of unwilling, silent anguish from the depths of the abyss, it fell rapidly into silence.
The dark red Spear of Longinus, like a return to destiny, had pierced precisely back into the original wound in Lilith's chest! Most of the spear's length disappeared into the body instantly.
The writhing of the wound in Lilith's chest stopped, and the bio-fluorescence at its edges dimmed completely. The slit that had just opened in the mask also closed slowly, returning to a featureless white surface.
The massive white giant fell into silence once more, firmly nailed to the cross. Only the faint energy reaction emanating from her, like background radiation, proved that "it" still existed.
Inside the cockpit, Asuka panted heavily, her entire body soaked in cold sweat. At that moment just now, she felt as if her soul was about to be devoured and assimilated by that primal will.
"Did we... succeed?" she asked, her voice sounding exhausted.
"A temporary success," Osiris' voice came through. He remained standing at the edge of the platform, observing Lilith's state. "The Spear of Longinus has suppressed her activity again. But this awakening process consumed a portion of her accumulated power and shook the foundations of the seal. This spear cannot be easily pulled out again."
Hearing Osiris' affirmation, Asuka's tensed nerves finally relaxed, and an indescribable sense of fatigue swept over her.
Several small engineering submersibles belonging to the resistance descended, and the figures of Katsuragi Misato and Kaji Ryoji appeared at the hatch of one of the vessels.
"How is the situation down there?" Misato asked urgently. Seeing the silent Lilith and the Spear of Longinus in her chest, she breathed a sigh of relief, though her expression remained solemn.
"Lilith is temporarily re-sealed," Osiris replied. "Status of the headquarters?"
"Basically under control. Commander Ikari and Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki have vanished; they likely used a secret passage to leave. Most of the remaining technical staff and workers have chosen to cooperate, and we are currently restoring basic operations for all systems," Kaji Ryoji interjected. He glanced at Lilith with a complex gaze. "However, SEELE will not let this go easily, and the whereabouts of Unit-06 are still unknown."
The situation remained grim. Although they had prevented the worst "Instrumentality" from happening and temporarily controlled NERV headquarters, external threats remained, the internal infrastructure was in ruins, and the movements of SEELE's remnants and Gendo Ikari were unknown.
"And what about you, Doctor?" Asuka couldn't help but ask, her voice coming through the external speakers.
Osiris looked toward Misato and Kaji. "Since the headquarters is temporarily under your control, the primary task now is to stabilize the interior, repair the defenses, and establish contact with the outside world as quickly as possible. We must expose SEELE's conspiracy and win the support—or at least the understanding—of the international community. Don't forget, you promised to watch my back. And right now, what's behind me is the future of all humanity."
He walked to the side of Unit-08 and looked up at the cockpit. "You did very well, Asuka. You stopped a disaster that could have destroyed existing civilization."