Shinji Ikari, the pilot of Unit-01 during the Spirit Awakening Era

"Greetings, Commander-in-Chief of NERV, I am Commander Kōdō Jin of TERRA..." Kōdō Jin's deadpan face was almost indistinguishable from Gendō Ikari's poker face. In fact, there were some differences between the two. Gendō Ikari wore a pair of trendy orange glasses that seemed completely out of place with his poker face.

"We have to admit one thing: we at TERRA owe Mr. Shinji Ikari a huge favor. And we might be arranging for someone to study at St. Forest Academy for a while soon, so... there's a little toy you might need right now." Although there was a slight smile on Jin's face, it looked like a forced smile and was somewhat... chilling.

"What?" Gendo Ikari's response was extremely cold. The fact that the other party had only called now made Gendo feel somewhat that he had ill intentions. However, the other party claimed that it was to repay the favor of NERV sending Shinji Ikari and Unit-01 to escort them. To be fair, the D1 Dorem alone was enough to give the escorting Combined Fleet a run for its money, not to mention the sudden appearance of the Fish Angels to join the battle. When the two of them appeared together, Jin thought he was doomed. But he really didn't expect that Shinji Ikari and Unit-01 would kill them both with a single punch and a slash. Their combat power was off the charts.

As an organization also based in Japan, TERRA couldn't help but be a little nervous when the Seventh Apostle, a cube, appeared. After all, they didn't know if it was a pursuit sent by Tokyo Jupiter. However, after seeing the other party's route, TERRA was certain that it had nothing to do with them.

“We can provide an electromagnetic railgun and the corresponding armament. This weapon was originally intended for attacking Dorem, and we can lend it to you for now! This is probably what you need right now,” Gong Daoren said with a serious expression.

"..." Gendo Ikari glanced at Misato Katsuragi beside him and saw her nodding frantically. Isn't this exactly what they need right now? Otherwise, they would only have the experimental positron cannon developed by the War Machine to conduct a life-or-death experiment. If there were other options, why would they choose to use something that sounds so unreliable?

"The data is being sent to you now. It will be delivered to the outskirts of Tokyo City 3 within three hours. The rest is up to you." After saying this, Gong Daoren cut off the communication.

"Two questions." Everyone then looked at Ritsuko Akagi. Misato Katsuragi was definitely needed, so it was Ritsuko Akagi's turn to confirm some questions. "First, this should be TERRA's trump card. Its power is beyond doubt. The only question is whether it can penetrate the Angels' AT Field!" Ritsuko Akagi held up one finger.

Everyone fell silent for a moment. At this moment, they didn't know how strong the AT field of the Seventh Apostle, Thunder Angel, was compared to the previous apostles. Moreover, at such a great distance, it was unknown whether it could maintain its power and penetrate the opponent's AT field.

"Secondly... based on the US military's experience, high-energy concentration will attract the enemy's attention. Using this weapon will inevitably lead to an attack. How can you solve these problems?" Ritsuko Akagi raised the second question, and everyone's eyes sharpened. If an electromagnetic railgun cannot destroy the enemy after firing, it will almost certainly be met with a counterattack.

“So, we need two plans!” Misato Katsuragi’s lips curled into a confident smile. “Before, I only planned to set up decoy targets to lure the enemy into launching continuous attacks, but now it seems that we can have Rei directly harass them.”

"Then let Unit-01 find an opportunity to launch a close-range surprise attack?" Ritsuko Akagi immediately guessed Misato Katsuragi's plan. "But this would create a very troublesome situation, wouldn't you agree?"

“Yes…” Misato Katsuragi gave an innocent, wry smile. This was her initial plan, but there was a rather troublesome problem: “The enemy needs to be stationed in a fixed position so that it is easier to attack! If the enemy keeps wandering around the perimeter, then we can only lure it to a fixed position through maneuvering operations.”

"The risk is too great." Fuyutsuki Kozo nodded, but now only one question remained: "So, should we lead the enemy to attack headquarters now?"

“Yes! Then we can set up our defenses according to the enemy’s location!” Misato Katsuragi said with a smile. “I need some heat-resistant equipment to provide to Unit-00 as a convertible firing position.”

"Isn't it Shinji?" Gendo Ikari struck his most famous pose.

"If Rei can't be dealt with, it's time for Shinji to fight to the death."

"Understood, prepare to execute."

"Yes! Commander-in-Chief!"

Chapter 175 All-Out Attack!

"So this is the lousy job I was given?" Shinji Ikari leaned against the railing in front of Unit-01, looking utterly helpless and annoyed.

Good grief, the promised Yashima Operation just vanished like that? What happened to the self-developed positron cannon? How did it turn into an electromagnetic railgun borrowed from TERRA? Shouldn't he be operating it himself? Why did they send Rei Ayanami? Everyone's a boy at heart, and everyone wants to play with a big gun.

"There's nothing we can do about it~" Misato Katsuragi was in a pretty good mood. The commander of TERRA was very trustworthy. The electromagnetic railgun had been delivered to the outskirts of Third New Tokyo in just two hours and was now being assembled and prepared for its designated firing position.

The reason why Misato Katsuragi was in such a good mood was none other than the fact that the performance of this large electromagnetic railgun provided by TERRA was much higher than they had imagined. Moreover, it adopted a semi-automatic firing mode. In other words, if heat dissipation issues were not taken into account, before forced cooling, Rei Ayanami could fire three bullets with terrifying penetrating power in a very short period of time, which would be enough to pose a huge threat to the Angel of Thunder. Such performance can be said to have far exceeded NERV's expectations.

However, after learning about the capabilities of the enemy's weapon, only one person in NERV seemed to be experiencing a complex mix of emotions, his expression grim. That's right, it was Gendo Ikari. According to his understanding, the robot Terra had retrieved from Tokyo Jupiter was the Rahase God Seine, sharing a high degree of similarity with EVA, and the enemy possessed such a terrifying weapon…

If Shinji Ikari knew, he would definitely laugh. Foolish old man, Sion the Winged God's weapons are all built-in, from arrows and swords formed from light. He has no need for this thing. This thing is more like a necessary preparation for when needed.

However, it's not to say that Misato Katsuragi's plan is foolproof. The spears of attack are indeed sharper than before, but the shields in their hands are not very reliable. Ritsuko Akagi used the only materials she had to customize two backup firing positions for Rei Ayanami's Unit-00 to provide cover.

However, even Ritsuko Akagi herself couldn't guarantee that this position could survive for 5 seconds under the attack of the Raikoushi. So from the very beginning, she kept instructing Rei Ayanami to move to a new position immediately, regardless of whether she had finished shooting or not. If she hesitated even slightly, she would be in great danger if she were hit directly by the enemy.

"Alright, then I'll wait for your news at the base." Shinji Ikari raised his hand, seemingly intending to wave goodbye to Misato Katsuragi, but then suddenly lowered it. "By the way, have the citizens been evacuated?"

Because he was called over to discuss business at the beginning, Shinji Ikari had been at NERV headquarters for more than ten hours and didn't know much about the situation outside, hence the question.

"An emergency evacuation order was issued as soon as it was confirmed that the evacuation was coming in our direction. It was in the afternoon, not long after you were on duty in the small hut next door," Katsuragi Satomi said, crossing her arms and pointing with her left thumb to the spot where Shinji Ikari had been sitting all afternoon.

"Understood, then I'll stay here! How much time do we have?" Shinji Ikari nodded, hands on his hips. Since Misato Katsuragi had come up with this plan, and it seemed feasible, far more... less reckless than the previous Yashima operation, Shinji felt that, although it was still a life-or-death battle, the probability of success this time was slightly higher than risking the entire nation's electricity. Since the original story had succeeded, they were now likely to succeed as well.

"The initial timeframe for the operation is set at 0400," Misato Katsuragi said. "We're very lucky; the enemy is positioned directly above the base and has begun to infiltrate it using a drilling-like method."

"So, that means a fixed target?" Shinji Ikari nodded. This would greatly reduce the difficulty of Rei Ayanami's shooting, and the rest would be handled by the electromagnetic railgun provided by TERRA! Although this thing would no longer need to supply power to all of Japan, its power would also be greatly reduced.

"Good luck everyone!" Shinji Ikari took a deep breath; it was truly a pity.

“We do need a bit of good luck.” Misato Katsuragi smiled and waved to Shinji Ikari. Everyone was busy, and most of the NERV headquarters staff had been transferred to the front-line construction sites, so the NERV headquarters was now somewhat empty.

The time when NERV's engineering department created miracles

"Rei." It was almost 4 o'clock. Misato Katsuragi checked the time and picked up her communicator. "How is the situation?"

Unlike in the anime, there wasn't enough time to build a dedicated turret. Rei Ayanami's Unit-00 simply lay down behind a relatively gentle hillside, which was her first firing position. The electromagnetic railgun, which was almost as tall as Unit-00, was steadily mounted in front of her, with a dozen cables connected to the power supply behind her. The same equipment was also available at other firing positions.

"Hi." Rei Ayanami responded simply. She knew very well what she wanted. After Shinji Ikari brought her out of that dark, lifeless room, her life changed dramatically. For the first time, she had a family.

After changing schools, going to school started to become interesting. There was a silly homeroom teacher, noisy classmates, and she even inexplicably made a friend who actually dared to stop NERV agents.

A series of images flashed through Rei Ayanami's mind. Her eyes narrowed. She had to protect them! She wanted to protect them! She had to protect her home! She had to protect her school! Rei Ayanami's eyes hardened for once, a change that Misato Katsuragi and the others hadn't noticed.

"Don't feel pressured for a moment. All aiming is handled by the automatic system. You just need to pull the trigger! And more importantly, keep moving your firing position," Misato Katsuragi continued to instruct. "Shinji is watching from behind! Don't worry."

"Understood!" Rei Ayanami's voice was firm. Although Misato Katsuragi was right, if she could, Rei Ayanami also wanted to solve this problem herself. She also wanted to protect her life! To help Shinji Ikari! She couldn't let him stand in front of them alone forever.

"Time's up! Launch the attack!" After instructing Rei Ayanami, Misato Katsuragi glanced at her watch again. 0359—the time for the operation was fast approaching! "All firepower units, deploy at full speed according to plan!"

With Misato Katsuragi's command, the launch hatches of hundreds of missile launchers hidden in the mountain were opened, and in an instant, a continuous stream of missiles were launched into the sky! In a short time, hundreds of points of light rushed straight towards the Thunder Angel who was drilling, and hundreds of heavy ground attack missiles were launched in one go as if they were free.

"Ah~" With a chant-like hymn, almost instantly, the Thunder Angel responded. Its form underwent a huge change, transforming into a giant spinning disc. In that instant, light swept across the air, and in the next instant, all the missiles turned into exploding flames the moment the light swept across them.

Then, in the early morning light, which was already quite bright, a massive explosion erupted on the mountain that served as a missile launch site, causing the entire mountain to cave in several meters.

"The third attack position has evaporated! Communication has been severed!" Hyuga Makoto reported loudly. This was the latest unmanned interception system, which had only been completed after the Fifth Angel's attack, but it was completely destroyed the moment it was first put into actual combat!

"We've been discovered! Don't hesitate, launch the follow-up attack! Be quick!" Misato Katsuragi crossed her arms, her fingers turning white from the force.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..." The distant rumbling of cannons was not very clear, but the whistling shells were real and were hitting the Thunder Angel. The continuous bombardment of the fully automatic ship cannons also seemed to pose a threat to the Thunder Angel. It changed into a defensive form and withstood the actual fire in front of it. Then it changed its form again and directly switched to a mode that was obviously a long-range attack mode.

With a buzzing sound, the high-energy beam that had once destroyed the entire pipeline base had traversed a vast distance years ago, directly striking the attacking turret. The reinforced concrete turret, capable of withstanding direct bombardment from a 120mm tank main gun, did not meet a better end than the Guam base; it was instantly obliterated.

"The second turret is severely damaged and 97% offline." Shigeru Aoki reported quickly. At the same time, it wasn't just this turret that was attacked; other positions that had launched simultaneous attacks were also attacked in the following moments. "The eighth shipborne missile group has evaporated."

"Deploy the fourth ground attack system! Don't stop! Deploy as much firepower as possible! Give Rei a chance!" Misato Katsuragi gave the order without hesitation. A continuous stream of projectiles bombarded the Raider from all directions, but the Raider's counterattack was also unfolding relentlessly. "Sixth missile site destroyed."

"The 4th and 6th ground attack turrets are heavily damaged, and the 7th turret has entered attack mode." Katsuragi Satomi listened to the continuous reports, her eyes narrowed, and she remained silent. She had already handed over the choice of attack window to Ayanami Rei, so she trusted Ayanami Rei's new choice!

"Click!" The sound of triggers being pulled repeatedly.

"Whoosh!" A streak of light rushed straight towards the Thunder Angel, its extremely high speed making its flight path almost invisible.

"Bang!" The collision of the three projectiles and the AT field pierced through the Thunder Angel's AT field amidst everyone's expectant gazes!

"Ah!" A scream followed!

"Eject!" Unit-01's elbow strike slammed into the ejector button!

Chapter 176 Rei Ayanami's Efforts

"..." Rei Ayanami narrowed her eyes silently. After deciding what she wanted to do, she focused on doing it well. She looked at the target being bombarded by countless shells and missiles in the distance, and the Thunder Angel hovered over Tokyo-3 in a reckless manner (actually, I admire one thing: a group of NERV employees are really brave beyond belief, daring to run up close and shine lights on the Thunder Angel...).

Meanwhile, the TERRA's specially made super-large electromagnetic railgun in her hand had already started firing. The huge barrel, almost as tall as EVA, was generating a terrifying electromagnetic environment near the acceleration rail as it was charging.

After completing the assembly, Ritsuko Akagi kept muttering to herself, "TERRA probably has ulterior motives. What kind of target does TERRA intend to attack with such a monstrous weapon?" According to the data collected by NERV before, based on the data gathered by Unit-01 and the enemy, the MU Empire that TERRA was facing did not seem to have any targets for which such a weapon was needed (in fact, there were).

Overall, while still incredibly powerful, the electromagnetic railgun is significantly less powerful than the original Yashima Operation positron cannon. However, its acoustic and visual effects are correspondingly much weaker. The sharp whistling sound produced by the streamlined projectile as it cuts through the air is completely drowned out by the booming explosions and the whistling of various missiles and artillery shells, making it almost a true stealth attack.

Rei Ayanami did not follow Misato Katsuragi's advice to let the various unmanned facilities deplete some of the Angel's AT Field. As the pilot of the EVA, Rei Ayanami's understanding of the AT Field far surpasses that of Misato Katsuragi.

So Rei Ayanami narrowed her eyes slightly and said, "Full AT Domain!" As soon as Rei Ayanami said this, the trees on the hillside near Unit-00 began to tremble as if they were being blown by a strong wind!

The moment Rei Ayanami pulled the trigger, amidst a barrage of gleaming shells, three steel needles flying at hypersonic speeds, like poisoned daggers, silently pierced the Thunder Angel who was launching a full-scale counterattack.

"Bang!" The moment Rei Ayanami launched her attack, the Thunder Angel noticed it and immediately adjusted its form to a defensive stance, ceasing its counterattack. Countless shells and missiles roared and bombarded the Thunder Angel's shield. In addition to the explosions, ripples spread across the Thunder Angel's AT field.

Under these circumstances, the steel needles fired from the three electromagnetic railguns struck the AT field heavily. In an instant, the Thunder Angel's AT field was fully illuminated, covering almost hundreds of meters of the night sky. Then, a moment later, everyone noticed that large cracks appeared on the entire Thunder Angel's AT field, as if success was just around the corner.

"First decoy! Activate!" Misato Katsuragi didn't wait for the results to appear. She immediately updated her orders and began rapidly charging a virtual target to simulate the upcoming second launch. This scenario was plausible and aligned with their plans.

This tactic worked. The Thunder Angel, which had already transformed and was preparing to launch an attack, was clearly misled. The attack, which had begun to accumulate energy, was slightly deflected and launched directly at the position that seemed to be about to attack it. The spinning crystal released the accumulated energy in an instant.

Misato Katsuragi's decoy, which she had deliberately set up, worked its magic, as most of the Raikou's bombardment was ultimately deflected towards the decoy.

"Thank goodness it worked..." Ritsuko Akagi jumped out of the car in shock, looking up at a mountain in the distance that had been completely dented into a glazed shell. Even now, with the sun just beginning to rise, the crimson, uncondensed glazed shell was still clearly visible from a distance. The high temperature emanating from it even distorted the air. This scene left everyone with a shocked expression, demonstrating the full power of the attack.

"Rei Ayanami is in position. Shinji Ikari, begin ejection. Rei, Shinji Ikari will reach the ground in 30 seconds! Keep track of the time!" Misato Katsuragi watched as Rei Ayanami reconnected the power cable to her electromagnetic railgun on the monitor screen and quickly informed Rei Ayanami of the latest status, giving her some time to prepare.

"Understood!" Rei Ayanami responded quickly. She quickly adjusted her breathing and lay down again in the concealed position. Misato Katsuragi had just reported their situation to Rei Ayanami, allowing her to determine the timing of the attack.

"Yes!" Rei Ayanami replied succinctly. During her first shot, the ballistic computer lacked sufficient calibration, resulting in slightly excessive muzzle sway during the three-round burst. After traveling over ten kilometers, the slight muzzle sway of the electromagnetic railgun projectiles had transformed into a massive spread measured in meters. The railgun's power was not concentrated in one spot, ultimately leading to "We failed to penetrate the enemy's armor!"

"Rei, don't put too much pressure on yourself. Even just successfully attracting the Seventh Apostle's attention is enough." Katsuragi Misato took a deep breath. She noticed that Rei Ayanami, who was usually calm and collected, actually had a tense little face and was preparing to launch an attack with a serious expression. This surprised Katsuragi Misato quite a bit, so she quickly reminded Rei Ayanami to relax.

"Yes!" Rei Ayanami took a deep breath and gave a simple reply. While waiting for the energy to recharge, she began to make synchronous corrections to the trajectory, preparing to launch the attack as soon as possible!

At this moment, Ritsuko Akagi, looking worried, returned to the command cabin and walked to the monitoring screen. The intensity of the Raikou attack had exceeded her expectations; the entire mountain and the facilities below were affected. However, compared to what she was about to see, this was nothing! "44? How did Rei Ayanami's synchronization rate reach this number? Did she also drink Ryoko Sakaki's drink?"

"Pfft..." Shinji Ikari, who was in the elevator, almost spat out his drink. What the heck? Rei Ayanami is drinking? Ah, this... isn't the style a little bit inappropriate?

"No, I only drank beer. I was tricked by Kanzaki Reimi." Rei Ayanami said very seriously. During the few days that Kanzaki Reimi ran away from home and stayed with Shinji Ikari, a lot of things obviously happened. Anyway, all you could see were three women of different ages splashing around all day!

“45…” Ritsuko Akagi blinked. Back then, this was already a very surprising number, and it could even be said that it was unparalleled in the entire NERV organization. But now, not only Shinji Ikari has reached this level, but Rei Ayanami has also reached it.

"Shinji!" Rei Ayanami stopped talking nonsense and softly called out to Shinji Ikari. Then, the instant the computer finished its calculations, she decisively pulled the control stick. The electromagnetic railgun's motor flickered, and three steel needles were fired in succession!

This time, however, she deliberately lengthened the firing interval slightly to minimize the interference caused by rapid firing. Naturally, this would greatly increase the risk for Rei Ayanami's Unit-00. Even with the decoy, it would still take some time to relocate. But Rei Ayanami believed that it was all worth it! Even if she couldn't succeed, Shinji would definitely be able to take care of the rest!

"Understood!" Shinji Ikari immediately crouched down in his Unit-01, the armor plates above his head rapidly opening. As the last three-layer composite armor plate slowly unfolded in the rising sun, flames from the explosion were being deposited into the transport track from above the passage.

"Miri-nee! Don't slow down!" Shinji Ikari shouted quickly. Without the restraints, the pressure of the high-speed movement was now directly pressing down on Unit-01, causing the light spots that had been moving across it to form lines! However, Shinji wasn't particularly worried. This level of pressure wasn't even as intense as the wind pressure his master had thrown from the Avana Plateau, let alone the exhilarating experience of a 10,000-meter descent he had enjoyed as a Hell Paratrooper.

"Understood! Accelerate the motors! Cancel the safety procedures and launch Unit-01 and the launch pad together!" Shinji Ikari's words were immediately confirmed by Misato Katsuragi, who had complete faith in Shinji's actions regarding the specific operational details.

Makoto Hyuga, standing to the side, didn't even have time to reply to the command. He frantically typed on the keyboard, canceling a large number of the original safety systems. His progress was almost the same as the speed at which the high-speed elevator transported Unit-01 up. When he finished his operation and looked up, he saw the transport platform and Unit-01 being sent into the sky together.

"That's really impressive!" Shinji Ikari smiled as he watched the delivery platform explode under the barrage of fire. His leap clearly caught the attention of the Raikou below, but it was now in a defensive stance, preparing to meet Unit-00's electromagnetic railgun. After all, it had almost torn apart his AT Field just now, and it absolutely could not afford to be careless!

With a whoosh, it soared to a height of nearly 300 meters, looking down at the Thunder Angel who was defending with all its might.

"Hey!" In mid-air, Shinji Ikari took a deep breath in Unit-01. He no longer restrained the surging power within him, and soon felt his blood burning hot! As the holy light emanating from Shinji began to emanate, the same holy light that had appeared on the Lilia Litviak carrier before shone on Unit-01 once again. However, this time, Shinji seemed not to be carrying a knife.

"Splitter... No, this needs to be something more imposing!" Shinji Ikari muttered to himself as Unit-01 clasped its hands together, and golden holy light began to condense wildly!

Chapter 177 Solar Flare Bullet (Fake)

"What's going on this time?" Katsuragi Misato was somewhat surprised that Shinji Ikari didn't carry any swords when he went out to attack, but she thought that Shinji Ikari would use a high-temperature palm-type skill like the one that crushed the Water Angel, so Katsuragi Misato wasn't too surprised.

However, just as Rei Ayanami's first electromagnetic railgun shot hit the Thunder Angel below Unit-01, a strong holy light emanated from Unit-01, which startled Misato Katsuragi. Admittedly, such a scene was indeed very awe-inspiring, but did Shinji Ikari have enough time to do anything?

"So failing to collect Shinji's data last time was a mistake after all. This time, the data... 73%?" Ritsuko Akagi stared at the data in utter shock. She didn't care what tricks Shinji was up to; she was concerned with how he had managed to do all this! And could everything Unit-01 had accomplished truly be replicated...?

When Shinji Ikari was not around, NERV did try something. They poured Ryoko Sakaki's brewed sake into an empty insertion plug and attempted to activate the puppet system to copy Shinji's combat skills. However, the puppet system froze at the moment of activation and caused some data backflow. In other words, Unit-01 was on the verge of going berserk.

Because Unit-01 is currently the absolute backbone of NERV, any conceptual loss is absolutely unacceptable, so this experiment was suspended at this stage.

"High-energy reaction! My God, I detected something..." Hyuga Makoto stared at the data in disbelief. "Unit-01 is compressing energy?!"

“This is obvious even without looking at the data!” Katsuragi Misato stared at the screen, golden light shining and flashing on her face. Looking at the scene before her, Katsuragi Misato began to understand the descriptions of that day’s battle given by the NERV personnel: “The god descended the greatsword of light from his hand towards the Sixth Angel, cleaving it in two.”

At this moment of sunrise, the entire Third Neo-Tokyo was witnessing a wondrous sight: the second blazing sun was being condensed! Golden specks of light, continuously emerging from Unit-01, seemed to be enveloped by a vortex, frantically coalescing between the two palms on Unit-01's chest as it rose upwards. Within this golden vortex, scorching golden light emanated.

This scene shone on all the NERV staff and the citizens who were rushing to evacuate and stuck in traffic in the distance. They all looked at this sight with shocked eyes. A golden sun, about to burst forth, was condensing and taking shape between the two palms of the purple giant that they all knew so well!

In the distance, Rei Ayanami, whose eyes also reflected the blazing sun, unconsciously smiled—a faint smile. Yes, Rei Ayanami had long understood that when you're happy, you should smile. And the one who taught her this was her friend, who was always being dramatic but gave her endless headaches, the friend who would twitch the corners of her mouth and urge her to smile more.

Rei Ayanami did not pull the trigger again. At this moment, the third steel needle hit the Thunder Angel in front of her. The steel needle struck almost the same spot with precision, which dealt a blow to the Thunder Angel who had sensed the terrifying energy starting to emanate from above, and also decisively interrupted the Thunder Angel's attempt to change direction.

Moreover, this time, the three steel needles struck the Thunder Angel's AT field, successfully piercing through the already cracked shield. Unfortunately, the steel needles that pierced the AT field also exhausted their own kinetic energy, and were affected by the explosion of a large ground-to-ground missile nearby. The angle of the steel needles deflected, and they only grazed the Thunder Angel's core.

Whether out of embarrassment or anger, the Rai-Angel, letting out a mournful cry, decisively stopped and turned, aiming at Unit-00. This time, even when Misato Katsuragi released the prepared decoy again, it was useless. Behind the rotating muzzle of the Rai-Angel, a terrifying light of energy shone...

"Hey! So you chose this side after all? Too late!" Shinji Ikari felt he was about to lose control of the enormous energy ball in his hand. "True! Solar Beam!" With a very tense upward lifting motion, the huge energy ball instantly expanded! Then, he kicked it towards the Angel of Lightning below and to the side.

Unit-01's kick was so powerful that it created a complete blast circle. Misato Katsuragi and Ritsuko Akagi, who were watching from a distance, and even more people observing from further afield, all swallowed hard at Shinji Ikari's reckless act. How dare he kick something with such high-density energy? Wasn't he afraid it would just blow up his face?

Of course, if they actually asked Shinji Ikari that question, Shinji could only tell them, "Sorry, my master taught me that the Spirit Gun is just for kicking."

As Raikou launched the giant Holy Light Spirit Ball that Shinji Ikari called the "Solar Blaze Bullet" from Unit-01, it stopped accumulating its own energy and unleashed all the terrifying energy it had accumulated in that instant. The high-energy beam shot directly at the falling Unit-01 and also at the giant Spirit Ball that was flying towards it.

Then everyone watched as this "Solar Blaze Bullet," whose shape had been altered by the powerful kick from Unit-01, actually withstood the bombardment of the Thunder Angel and was not annihilated by the terrifying energy torrent. Instead, it directly collided with the Thunder Angel.

"Buzz..." A blinding light burst forth instantly, and everyone instinctively used their hands to shield their eyes from the glare. The powerful airflow that followed blew away all the vehicles on the ground. The shriek of the Thunder Angel almost echoed through the sky. The ear-piercing screams forced people to cover their ears while they were busy shielding themselves from the sun.

In the instant the light faded, everyone saw the Thunder Angel, half of it melted, slam heavily into the water! A massive amount of blood gushed into the sky from the gaping wound! A few seconds later, blood rain began to fall over the entire Third New Tokyo City…

"Shinji really does manage to surprise us in every battle." Ritsuko Akagi took a deep breath. She could see that the core of the Raikou had completely shattered. NERV had exhausted all its resources, but the only weapon that could threaten the Raikou was the electromagnetic railgun provided by TERRA. Shinji Ikari's attack was originally a contingency plan in case Rei Ayanami's attack failed.

"Huh? This time, no fools came up to their deaths?" Shinji Ikari looked around curiously. Apart from some chefs who were obviously from the Totsuki Culinary Group and were quickly collecting Angel blood, he didn't see any of the strange creatures that should have appeared.

"I don't know, maybe they're scared?" Misato Katsuragi didn't care about that. Their NERV mission was to deal with these damned Angels and fight those monsters, not NERV's mission. "Anyway, this operation was a great success! After we recover Unit-00 and Unit-01, we'll have a good meal and relax!"

"Alright, where's my nearest recycling station? The one that originally sent me up here is already blown to bits!" Shinji Ikari stretched his limbs. This Spirit Gun blast had really given him a good blast. It was only thanks to the power of Unit-01 that he was able to create a Spirit Gun several stories high! If he could gather such a terrifying amount of Holy Light and blast out a Spirit Gun, then he wouldn't have ended up being chased for several blocks by a group of giant youkai back then.

"Hi~ Hi! Thanks for your hard work! The location has been sent! Come back soon!" Misato Katsuragi said with a smile.

"Okay!" Shinji Ikari replied and piloted Unit-01 to his position.