Shinji Ikari, returned from Warhammer

"However, this level of severity is not something that can make me happy at all." Shinji Ikari laughed and stepped on his neck. With a cracking sound, everyone knew the current state of their colleague.

"Scream! You should scream even louder to please me!"

Shinji Ikari's voice was filled with a thick, pleasurable emotion, and even the tremor at the end sent chills down their spines.

"Kill him! Quickly... ugh!" The intruder leader's voice was only half-finished.

Shinji Ikari slammed into him like a cannonball, viciously elbowing him in the cheek, then leaping up in the instant he was airborne and slamming his knee into his temple, causing a spray of white blood to flow onto the wall.

But just as Shinji Ikari launched his attack, the intruders in front of him did not hesitate to swing their batons toward Shinji, completely disregarding that their leader was among them.

The series of tragedies amplified their fear to the extreme. Little did they know, this was just the beginning of Shinji Ikari's warm-up.

Just like at the beginning, fear spread like wildfire in the darkness.

Chapter 72: The Skull Offering at the Golden Throne

The first three intruders felt the baton colliding with flesh, and just as they were gloating, thinking they had hit their target, their companion on the right let out a bloodcurdling scream.

"What happened?! What's going on?! Speak up, Okumura!"

But only the attacked companion himself knew that a hand had somehow reached out from below the target, grabbing his wrist as if it were made of steel, and the sudden pull caused his entire forearm to dislocate with a groan.

In this dark and narrow environment, their numerical advantage was almost completely negated.

The agonizing screams echoed repeatedly in the dark corridor. But soon, the kind-hearted young knight silenced them abruptly. Shinji Ikari raised his knee and kicked him in the jaw from below, causing his head to twist in an unbelievable way. Then, the moment Shinji released his grip, the boy collapsed to the ground like mud ripped from its bones.

"Oh, the human body is so fragile. He died from just a 180-degree bend in his cervical spine. Do you think a 365-degree rotation would be enough to remove his skull? His scalp is so smooth, it might be perfect for making a small item." The demon in the darkness vented his malice without restraint, his words piercing their already overburdened hearts like sharp blades.

Hearing the sound, the intruder at the front realized that the person he had just attacked was the captain whose temple had been shattered by Shinji Ikari. The moment he shattered the captain's temple with his knee, he grabbed the captain's corpse and turned around to use it as cover.

Just seconds ago, the intruders here were full of confidence, but now four of their companions lay dead on the ground, their crimson blood and white brain matter flowing freely. The air was thick with the stench of blood, and in the hazy mist, only things close at hand could be seen; the unseen corridor seemed like an endless expanse of terror.

The strings that had been binding the intruders' rationality completely collapsed. At that moment, the intruder at the forefront, who was also experiencing the greatest fear, screamed and drew a gun from his waist—a weapon that was not permitted to be used against the target. They snapped out of their daze and began firing wildly in the direction of their target.

"Honda Yu! The mission forbids firing at the target! Stop!" A companion shouted sharply, but the intruder named Honda Yu did not answer him. Instead, he roared and emptied an entire magazine. A dense barrage of bullets pierced human bodies, struck the walls, and even reflected off his companions behind him. Screams echoed one after another in the narrow corridor.

Honda was stunned. He suddenly remembered that there was not only the demon in human skin in front of him, but also his companions... He didn't even know whether the blood splattered on his face was from his target or his companions. He was too eager to kill his target, and subconsciously he didn't even care about the safety of his companions.

—Even if it means sacrificing a comrade's life for the target's death!

But the next second, a strange laugh rang out from the darkness ahead, echoing around the corridor, yet carrying a very frivolous and cheerful tone. It seemed to be mocking their incompetence.

"Use firearms! Kill him! Kill him together!" the intruders shouted from behind. At this moment, they no longer cared whether killing their target would lead to the destruction of the world, nor did they care about completing the mission. All they wanted now was to kill him.

The sound of metal clanging echoed from the darkness ahead—guns being rapidly cocked. The intruders quickly raised their pistols, aiming them at the crimson-gold eyes that emerged from the darkness.

At this moment, it seemed as if God was helping them. They didn't even need to specifically try to capture the target's figure in the darkness; his body, which was itself considered heretical, already gave him away.

However, what could still be heard through the cold wind was Shinji Ikari's laughter, overflowing with joy.

"I offer my blood to the Emperor, I pray that it will relieve his thirst. I offer my body to the altar of the battlefield, I pray that he will acknowledge my soul..." The second half of the prayer, which had not been spoken before the battle, now echoed in the darkness.

Just before they fired, Shinji Ikari pushed off the ground with both feet, his bent knees unleashing extraordinary force, and his figure disappeared in a high-speed movement. The next second, he grabbed the head of the intruder in front, shoving him against the wall with tremendous force. Blood splattered everywhere as his feet left the ground; the most durable part of the human body, the skull, seemed no different from a brittle tree branch in his hands.

Logically speaking, such exaggerated jumping ability and muscle strength could never exist in a human being; even if Li Yuanba's spirit possessed him, he couldn't do it.

But Shinji Ikari could. Even though he was only controlling a frail young boy's body, it was as if the valiant knightly power he once possessed surged through his veins again. He was reborn, transcending the ordinary.

The man on the right fired at high speed, bullets scattering sparks around Shinji Ikari. It was practically a tap dance with death; one wrong move and he would be dead. Yet Shinji was completely absorbed in this thrilling life-or-death struggle.

He had been indulging in the pleasures of love for too long, and had almost forgotten that he was still the vanguard of the empire.

"...With your pain and blood, with your golden throne and your majesty, with your destruction and the godlike reappearance of mankind, let me look down upon you, let me drink my fill of blood!"

The second half of the prayer, which had not been fully recited before the battle, now resounded in the darkness with the soaring voice of an aria. Shinji Ikari's tone was incredibly cheerful, like that of a romantic bard.

It might seem out of place in the current atmosphere, but he still received a perfect score in his classical literature class at school. He only truly displayed his abilities, including his seemingly unrelated recitation skills, the moment the invaders opened fire.

Only when the last intruder's head was pressed against the wall did the cacophony of noise subside into a single, continuous sound.

The last intruder gripped the arm in front of him tightly, but his actions were a completely futile resistance. He could feel his neck bones on the verge of cracking. His whole body convulsed, but he had no chance to struggle. The iron-like hand slowly tightened, his brain lost blood flow, his consciousness became confused, and his vision gradually blurred.

Suddenly, the iron-like hand released its grip on his throat, allowing him to slump to the ground.

But he did not relax at all, because that god-like and demonic figure was still standing in front of him, radiating endless fear.

"Do you have any cigarettes?" Shinji Ikari asked, his voice surprisingly gentle, even carrying the childishness unique to boys.

"Yes! Yes!" The last intruder hurriedly pulled out a cigarette from his pocket.

"Don't smoke. Smoking is bad for your health." Shinji Ikari took the cigarette case from the other man's trembling hand, put it away, and tucked it into his pocket. Then he punched him in the jaw.

Hearing the cracking of bones, the last intruder, before losing consciousness, felt a pang of relief—at least he was still alive. Was it all because of his shout of "Don't shoot!" during the battle?

But he didn't pity the target. What right did a mortal like him have to pity such a near-divine being? It was just that even in the most dangerous moment, he didn't forget that his mission was to bring the target back alive.

After all, there are seven younger sisters in the family who are not related by blood to him.

Chapter 73: Traitors Will Die Without a Burial Place

Only at this moment did Shinji Ikari turn around and look at the girl he had sheltered behind him, who was slowly walking out of the elevator.

Shikinami Asuka Langley Soryu, faced with the corpses scattered on the ground, noticed first the boy standing amidst the pile of bodies, who resembled a demon god.

"Baka Shinji, just now..."

"Wait here for a while. Misato should be coming to pick you up soon. You might need to pilot the EVA to fight off the Angels. However, starting the EVA without power might still be a problem." Shinji Ikari put away his baton.

"What about you? Aren't you going to wait for Lord Misato with me?" Asuka asked nervously.

"I have something else to attend to," Shinji Ikari said calmly.

Shinji Ikari, gripping his blood-stained baton, walked among the corpses, like a demon emerging from the depths of hell. But with all his enemies fallen, how could he possibly continue his attack?

If you continue to wield weapons, it will only result in meaningless slaughter.

Weapons are inauspicious instruments, and all things abhor them; therefore, those who possess the Way do not wield them.

But it's better for the so-called enemy to die.

Shinji Ikari looked in a certain direction. "This invasion is a betrayal of Terra and humanity."

Asuka's heart tightened. Although Shinji Ikari's tone was calm, he was like a standing executioner. But if you got close to him, you could smell the blood that transcended time.

This invasion incident caused Shinji Ikari to reveal his true, rarely angry self.

—Central Dogmatic Zone, First Test Site, Control Room.

"No! Line 77 still cannot be connected!"

"The most important thing now is to restore power. Otherwise, we won't be able to restart EVA or launch a counterattack. If this continues, we'll be destroyed by the Angels sooner or later!"

"Damn it! What a joke!" Hyuga slammed his fist on the desk. "We defeated five Angels. After the successive defeats of the Heavy Industry Community, the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, the IPEA, and the UN Fleet, we proved ourselves to be the only organization truly capable of confronting the Angels, yet we are to be defeated by internal human conflict!"

"This is a shameful betrayal, an act of treachery!" Amamiya Ten, the operations staff officer beside him, was equally indignant.

Even though the Ninth Apostle, Rain Angel Mathilde, is the one who will destroy Hakone next, everyone still considers it a shameful betrayal and treachery.

This underground city of Hakone comprises twenty-three districts, and even includes a vast underground section. It is a fortified city capable of self-sufficiency even when cut off from the outside world. A complete loss of power would be utterly impossible.

"It has now been determined that the enemy entered through the seventh passage, a special passage known only to high-ranking officers and pilots," Hyuga said.

"That makes the investigation much easier, since there are only 64 people in management. If we investigate them one by one, we'll eventually find the mole!"

"But the rain angel is coming soon, what's the point of saying all this now?"

"Perhaps we can manually activate the EVA. Previously, to prevent unforeseen disasters, each unit's backup power was always at full capacity. If it were the Third Child, even five minutes would be enough to kill the Ninth Angel!"

"But we haven't found a single suitable candidate around us! What about Colonel Katsuragi? How is she doing now?"

But just as the researchers in the development department and the staff in the operations department were anxiously considering how to start the machine in a power outage and how to find the three qualified pilots—

The purple ultimate war machine on the wall support of the first test site suddenly opened its mouth, and the entire test site trembled slightly because of its sudden movement.

Everyone fell silent for a moment, as if it were a hallucination.

How could EVA possibly start up on its own? This must be a hallucination, right? This must be a hallucination, right?

After several seconds of deathly silence, just when everyone thought the commotion was an illusion, the next second, the previously dim eyes of Unit-01 shone with a crimson light comparable to a gas lamp.

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Misato Katsuragi had indeed arrived nearby at this time.

She gripped the pistol with the safety latch off in one hand, groping her way forward in the darkness. When she seemed to kick something, she bent down to investigate, only to touch a corpse and her hands covered in blood.

Misato Katsuragi was not flustered, because she had seen things that were even more terrifying than this, and had even bent down to observe them closely.

"The fact that the blood is still flowing means the battle just ended recently." Misato Katsuragi's expression gradually turned serious.

During her previous conversation with Shinji Ikari, she learned that the elevator shaft where Shinji and Asuka were located was nearby. This passageway was very likely the place where they encountered the enemy.

Only upon closer inspection did she see, her nose filled with the stench of blood. A thin layer of liquid stretched across the floor, slightly viscous underfoot—uncongealed blood, undoubtedly. If the lights were on, the floor would likely be a deep red. Corpses littered the ground. Everyone was dressed in the black uniforms of NERV's security department, but Misato Katsuragi didn't recognize a single one of them; they were clearly the so-called intruders.

"This isn't a battle, it's a one-sided massacre." As Ritsuko Akagi examined the corpses, she realized that they were all quite well-built and not ordinary people.

Perhaps feeling safe, she carefully turned on the flashlight.

At that moment, she abruptly took a few steps back, the lingering fear shaking her to her core. The corpse lying in the corridor had a grotesque expression, as if it had seen something utterly terrifying.

"They probably encountered a frontal attack from the enemy during a direct battle. This guy's wound went straight to his heart, and his ribs were pierced through as well. Did he run into Xiao Feng carrying a stereo system?" Misato Katsuragi commented.

If it weren't for Xiao Feng, who among normal humans could directly pierce a human's chest? Araki Hirohiko?

Misato Katsuragi knelt down beside the corpse. It was hard to imagine that this seemingly carefree and mature woman was actually an expert in this field. She was trying to identify the weapon used by the perpetrator, but the more she looked, the more horrifying it became, because the wounds were so large that they were appalling, as if they had been brutally smashed apart, including the skull being smashed open with bare hands.

"What is this? A penetrating wound, a laceration, or the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms?" Ritsuko Akagi had obviously watched this martial arts drama about Seris. "Or should we say we encountered a terrifying upright ape?"

"Minister Misato? And Dr. Akagi?!"

Suddenly, a familiar girl's voice rang out from the darkness.

"Is it Asuka?" Misato Katsuragi was overjoyed. "Where's Shinji Ikari? Is he with you?!"

"Shinji Ikari is gone. He must have gone to find Rei Ayanami," Asuka said. At that moment, Misato Katsuragi and Ritsuko Akagi realized that Asuka seemed to be carrying a corpse.