"Kitazawa-kun, you really are ruthless—drawing the military into this mess. Misato will have a hard time dealing with it."
Rei Ayanami's quiet voice buzzed into Ryota Kitazawa's ear through a secure feed between the Evas.
"Heh," Kitazawa replied calmly. "Rei, there's an old Chinese saying: if a man offends me a foot, I offend him by a yard. The military nudged me a foot—I'm only returning the favor by a yard. There's nothing wrong with that."
---
"What you say makes sense... but let's focus on the present. The positron cannon still needs five more minutes to cool down. Plus, that last shot clearly hurt the Sixth Angel."
Through the comms, Rei alerted him.
Sure enough, the Sixth Angel—Ramiel—had turned its attention to the two towering mechs at the compound's northwest corner.
Just moments ago, they had struck back at it.
---
Suddenly, Ramiel's form shifted—it extended long, whip-like tendrils aimed at Unit‑01 and Unit‑00.
It was enraged.
"Rei. I'm counting on you." Kitazawa said with a small smile.
---
This was their first direct cooperation.
Unit‑00—frozen after its previous rampage and only recently reactivated—was invaluable. It had been stabilized by NERV's tech team in record time.
"Understood."
Without hesitation, Rei flashed forward to stand before Unit‑01. Her mission: protect Kitazawa's Unit‑01. Nothing else mattered.
---
CRASH!
Ramiel's tendril slammed into Unit‑00, but it held firm. Instead of recoiling, Rei grasped the tendril with the mech's massive arms. She refused to let go.
"Attack—attack!"
NERV's artillery opened fire again.
Ramiel, enraged, shifted again—blowing outward countless razor-sharp spikes that impaled the battlefield, leaving new rivers of blood.
---
The positron cannon's cool-down reached key milestones:
14%
22%
59%
Every watt of Tokyo-3's power grid was rerouted to charge this weapon.
And Rei, despite the brutal spikes, did not flinch.
Her weapon, an ion dagger, parried blow after blow—but strength waned. She was fighting a losing battle.
---
3 minutes passed—
100%. The positron cannon was fully primed.
---
"Kitazawa, Rei—hold for two more minutes. Cannon will be fully cooled. Copy?" Misato barked. Her fists clenched.
Misato saw the situation clearly: without their iron will, Ramiel would smash them anyway. The military losses were heavy—and Unit‑00 was strained to its limit.
Two minutes left—can they survive?
Through the command monitor, Kitazawa remained calm as ever.
---
Rei tightened her grip on the tendril, bracing for more attacks…
---
Suddenly, Kitazawa raised the positron cannon himself.
He aimed at Ramiel.
"Oh no," someone gasped in the comm room. The cannon was still dangerously hot.
"If he fires now, it'll destroy itself!" technicians panicked.
But Kitazawa—stone-faced—pulled the trigger.
---
FLASH!
A beam like a black sun burst forth.
The glow was so bright it turned night into day—washed away the darkness around them, obliterated everything visible on the battlefield.
NERV engineers watched in horror: the temperature spike alone would corrode the cannon to dust.
If it missed again… nobody dared imagine the consequences.
Some even whispered prayers, though they knew it might just be Kitazawa's prayers that held any power now.
---
BOOM…
The blast shook the command center—walls rattled, monitors flickered.
The night held its breath.
---
All human fate now hinged on that flash.
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