Chapter 4: Misato Katsuragi
Yet when the first missile, trailing a long fiery tail, truly roared past at an alarmingly low altitude over his head, the deafening blast and the violent air-rending shockwave instantly shattered his feigned calm!
"Whoosh—BOOM!!!"
The tremendous sound wave assaulted his eardrums, while the gale it stirred felt like a solid hammer, slamming into him so hard that he nearly lost his footing. He staggered backward several steps before barely managing to steady himself.
His travel bag fell to the ground. Instinctively, he looked up, his pupils contracting sharply from the purely destructive force he sensed at such close range.
This wasn't movie special effects, nor was it an explosion viewed through a screen! This was real—a weapon of war, radiating scorching heat and the oppressive aura of death!
The acrid smell of gunpowder filled the air, and the tremors from the ground grew even more distinct.
A primal fear, rooted in biological instinct, instantly seized his heart, making his blood seem to freeze. His body trembled uncontrollably.
He saw it!
Emerging slowly from between the distant mountains was a colossal, unimaginably huge humanoid figure, glowing with an eerie, cold green light!
It had a human-like torso and limbs, but its head was covered by a bizarre, mask-like white structure, exuding an inhuman, chilling aura—the Third Angel, Sachiel!
Over a dozen heavy fighter jets, marked with United Nations forces insignia, swarmed like annoying bees around the behemoth, frantically unleashing their firepower! Rockets and cannon shells poured down on the Angel like a torrential rain, erupting into blinding flashes of light and thick smoke!
Yet, all these attacks seemed utterly laughable and futile against the faint, shimmering, pale yellow absolute defense field surrounding the Angel's body! Rockets colliding with it vanished instantly, like water droplets hitting a steel plate, barely even causing a ripple! That was the A.T. Field! An absolute barrier impervious to conventional human weaponry!
Meanwhile, at NERV Headquarters—
"Target has breached the Hakone defense line! Advancing further!"
"Tank regiment annihilated! Air force losses exceed 90%... Artillery units have lost contact..."
...
A heavy fighter jet, unable to evade in time, was precisely struck by a searing beam of light that suddenly materialized and shot from the Angel's hand!
"BOOM—!!!"
With an earth-shattering explosion, the jet transformed into a blazing fireball, trailing a long plume of black smoke as it plummeted uncontrollably like a meteor toward Shinji's location—a relatively open intersection!
"Whoosh—!!!"
A massive shadow, accompanied by the deathly pressure of the wind, instantly engulfed Shinji! A wave of scorching heat blasted against his face; he could even make out the twisted metal and leaping flames on the wreckage of the jet. Despair washed over him like an icy tide.
"It's over! I can't dodge this! Am I going to die here...?" He didn't even have time to react, forced to watch helplessly as the destructive inferno rushed to consume him!
At the critical moment—
"Screech—!!!"
An ear-piercing, almost deafening screech of tires scraping against the ground erupted sharply from behind and to the side!
A dark blue streak, moving at an unbelievable speed and angle, charged forward with an incredibly fierce momentum. Executing a near-perfect drift, it slid sideways, narrowly intercepting the path at the very last second!
"Boom!"
A dull thud echoed, accompanied by the groan of twisting metal as the deep blue Renault sports car violently shuddered, forcibly positioning itself between Shinji and the blazing explosion mere feet away! Most of the scorching heatwave and flying debris were blocked by the car's body, with only scattered sparks and shockwaves grazing past Shinji along the vehicle's edges.
Shinji's mind went completely blank from the sudden intervention, his heart pounding so hard it felt like it might leap from his throat!
The next second, the passenger door swung outward.
A striking figure came into Shinji's view.
Her deep blue hair whipped wildly in the explosive winds, a pair of oversized sunglasses covering most of her face yet failing to conceal her sharp, elegant jawline. She wore a perfectly tailored dark pencil skirt that accentuated her tall, slender figure, projecting a breathtaking, wild, and lethally beautiful presence amid the chaotic battlefield.
Most noticeable was the white cross pendant swaying gently around her neck with her movements.
Her actions were crisp and efficient—one hand steady on the steering wheel, the other gesturing sharply toward the stunned Shinji. Her voice cut clearly through the engine's roar and residual explosions, sounding decisive, cool, and even slightly cynical:
"Sorry to keep you waiting!"
That voice, that posture, that goddess-like entrance amidst the raging battle—it all instantly overlapped with the images from his "dream"!
Misato Katsuragi!
Driven purely by survival instinct and his blanked-out mind, Shinji bent down, snatched his travel bag from the ground, and threw himself with all his strength through the open passenger door!
Slam!
The door shut behind him, muffling the deafening explosions and scorching heat outside.
Almost the moment Shinji landed in his seat, she yanked the handbrake while perfectly coordinating the clutch and accelerator.
"Hold on tight!"
With a furious engine roar, the deep blue Renault sports car shot forward like an unleashed leopard, tires screeching and smoking as it narrowly skirted past the massive foot of the Angel Sachiel just as it descended.
BOOM!!!
The Third Angel Sachiel's colossal foot slammed down like a falling pillar, crushing the spot where the fighter jet had crashed! A violent explosion erupted, flames instantly engulfing the area. The shockwave chased the Renault's wake, jolting the car violently.
But Misato paid no mind. Gripping the steering wheel tightly, her eyes sharp as a hawk's, she weaved frantically through the maze-like ruined streets beneath the Angel's feet. Every turn was precise, every acceleration perfectly timed, carving a path to survival right on the edge of destruction. She shifted gears with practiced ease, the engine's roar rising and falling rhythmically, full of raw power.
"Whoo-hoo!"
After narrowly dodging a massive concrete block falling from above, Misato even let out a brief, exhilarated cheer, as if this weren't an escape but an extreme sport.
Shinji desperately gripped the overhead handrail, his body swaying violently with the car's erratic movements.
The travel bag was wedged beneath his feet. His face was pale, his stomach churning with nausea. He felt utterly humiliated by his own weakness, but there was nothing he could do. In this world, he was merely a 14-year-old student, and in his previous life, he had just graduated with a master's degree—he had never experienced anything like this before.
Outside the window, shattered ruins flashed by in a blur, alongside the suffocatingly massive feet and legs of the Angel, accompanied by continuous explosions and billowing smoke.
It was all terrifyingly real, overwhelmingly violent, far beyond anything comparable to the illusions in his "dreams." The shadow of death clung to them like a persistent parasite, relentlessly pursuing the tiny sports car fleeing for its life beneath the giant's feet.
Yet, amidst this extreme fear and physical discomfort, Shinji's gaze was involuntarily drawn to the woman in the driver's seat.
Her deep blue hair danced wildly in the turbulent airflow. The profile beneath her sunglasses was tense and focused, while the dark, body-hugging skirt accentuated her alluring waistline, rising and falling with her fierce maneuvers of the steering wheel.
The white cross pendant—symbolizing "salvation and love," which Misato Katsuragi had given him in her final moments—swung violently against her pale neck. Each swing seemed to silently convey something.
Was it welcoming him back...?
The engine roared one last time as the sports car raced toward the steel city buried deep underground, toward the inescapable fate that awaited them.