Chapter 195: The Sixteenth Angel Attacks

The world keeps looping, and the Dead Sea Scrolls perform passive corrections, resulting in different world-lines.

Perhaps it results in higher technology, perhaps stronger EVAs, or perhaps more weapons. But Shinji wasn’t thinking about cycles; the long war had taught him how to seize the initiative. If the conditions didn’t exist, he would simply create them.

These conditions stemmed from his illustrious martial achievements, his mysterious bond with Kaworu Nagisa, and even from the will of the negative universe itself. If the world-line remained the same as before, Shinji could have all the talent in the world and still change nothing; he could only hope for the Emperor’s protection.

But no qualified Astartes would place their hope solely on the Emperor. To earn the Emperor’s approval through one’s own efforts—that is the highest honor. To ask the Emperor to cheat for him every time would be too shameless.

“Come then. Use even stronger Angels as martyrs. I don’t need to be fed, but the world needs kindling.”

Shinji sat within Unit-01. His plan had already received Yui Ikari’s affirmation. Yui would support him unconditionally, and as a master in the field of scientific research, she could even offer some suggestions.

“The best outcome—I have always worried that Rei would become a sacrifice. After all, Lilith’s soul is a type of combustion aid.”

“Mm. If it is possible, I will not let her be sacrificed.”

“Heh heh, you finally know what it means to have people close to you.”

Shinji closed his mouth, his expression slightly conflicted. “Mother, I truly am becoming more like a mortal.”

Perhaps it was similar to Asuka; Unit-01 was also an extremely special place for him. Gradually, Shinji began to reveal his true feelings in front of his mother.

“Is that not good? I’ve said it before: now that you have returned to your hometown, you should be like a mortal. Mortals have selfishness, and they have feelings.”

‘No matter what I say, you will praise it, won’t you?’

Shinji opened his mouth, then let out a soft sigh.

Perhaps it was a good thing.

This was exactly the “complementation” that belonged to him. Occasionally resisting, occasionally questioning, yet unable to stop walking forward. But several seconds later, he became determined once again.

“The road ahead is set; it is time to execute.”

[Third Observation Station has detected a target. Distance 300, Altitude 20.]

[Third Detachment deploying. Fifth Air Wing time to contact: 00:21.]

[Optical image intercepted.]

That’s right. Just two days after that important conversation in the living room, an Angel attacked again. After so much time had passed, everyone had gone from being terrified of Angels to feeling numb, and now, they were even impatient.

Now, Shinji was hoping for the Angels to arrive one by one to their deaths; it would be best if he could capture a few to use as kindling. One living Angel was worth hundreds of millions of humans—in any world, that was a top-tier “prime” kindling.

”If only this were 40K. The Empire could ignore the negative universe and specialize in catching Angels to burn. Surely, the Astronomican would be even more dazzling.’

A strange thought popped into Shinji’s mind, but he quickly shook his head. If this were 40K, it would be a disaster.

‘ Those Chaos Gods would probably scream with joy. I suspect a large part of the Emperor’s energy is spent ensuring this treasure is not stolen by Chaos.’

“I suddenly find myself looking forward to the Angels coming. Do you think I’m sick?”

Misato’s voice came through the communicator. This was Yui Ikari’s strong request—she liked hearing the girls bicker. Thinking of the machine spirit’s ecstasy, Shinji had agreed.

“You are indeed sick,” Rei Ayanami’s cold voice replied immediately.

“Hey, I’m thinking for everyone’s sake! And you, why won’t you tell me what Dr. Akagi meant? Why are you the only one who gets to be a ‘combustion aid’?”

“On that point, I don’t mind if you win. Consider it my loss to you.”

“Who wants to be a combustion aid?! If anyone is burning, you go first!”

“Ikari-kun, Asuka is cursing a comrade-in-arms.”

Hearing the unbearable chatter, Shinji pinched the bridge of his nose. He could still feel the machine spirit’s ecstasy—he couldn’t even describe how strange that felt. Fortunately, he could hear the thick fighting spirit in Asuka’s voice. This girl still had a sharp tongue; clearly, she wanted to capture more Angels to replace Rei, but what came out of her mouth was harsh.

‘Asuka is so cute. Kyoko-san really couldn’t teach her. ‘If you dare burn Rei, I’m not finished with you…”

Shinji found the battle was becoming increasingly noisy. With his psychic power and hearing under dual attack, he finally couldn’t help but cough lightly.

“We are in the middle of a battle. Everyone, be quiet.”

“What are you afraid of? The invincible Lord Shinji will definitely take care of the Angel anyway.”

“Asuka, do you want me to tell you what the basic rules of combat are? How could you be so careless?”

“Got it, got it. You’ve said it at least ten times!”

He took a deep breath. Amidst Yui Ikari’s scolding—”You be gentle, you are not allowed to be so fierce to girls”—Shinji held back. He suddenly realized that since their reunion as mother and son, he could never stop his path of complementation.

“Combat objective: cripple the Angel and capture it with the special device. Kensuke, your Unit-00, wait for my signal.”

“Understood!” Aida Kensuke roared, appearing extremely excited; this was his first time participating in actual combat.

“Keep it down! Your voice is making my ears buzz. Stay close to your senior later,” Asuka shouted, but suddenly felt a surge of killing intent and shut her mouth.

“Asuka, go and retrieve the Spear of Longinus. This object has the effect of suppressing Angel regeneration. You will assist Kensuke later.”

“Leave it to me.”

“Rei, Unit-03, equip heavy sniper armament and cover me.”

“Yes.”

With a few words, he handed out the assignments. Shinji found that his troops were strong and his horses sturdy—and that was not even counting the units currently under repair, Units-07 and 09. He finally felt a bit like a Legion going into battle. With the Spear of Longinus, the possibility of capturing an Angel existed.

‘What? You say there is only one spear? It doesn’t matter. As long as the Angel is beaten badly enough, a replica will work just the same.’

So, is this thing the Sixteenth Angel?

Shinji looked at the screen. It was an alien creature that looked like a spiral belt of light; the diversity of the Angels’ appearances made it difficult to describe them accurately.

It was shaped like a wreath, with spiral light ribbons linked into a circle, drifting southward along the coastline. If the world-line had remained as it was originally, this would have been the last unknown Angel in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

In the original script, there were seventeen Angels in total. Kaworu had appeared early, becoming “known,” and this thing was the final unknown Angel. Of course, by now, the Dead Sea Scrolls held little reference value; the number of suspected Angel signals detected by humanity had already reached double digits.

“The question is, is this Sixteenth Angel from the old script, or is it a newly added enemy?”

“I tend to think it is an old Angel.”

“The reason?”

“Its location is within our predicted signals. The monitoring satellites did not detect a rapidly rising energy reaction,” Ritsuko Akagi said calmly. This rigorous attitude was exactly what Shinji admired most.

Indeed, new Angels were not that easy to hatch. The last time, Shinji had launched an active attack, forcing the Ice Angel to mature prematurely, like an inflated balloon. It could not escape the increasingly tight monitoring system.

After cleaning up SEELE, Shinji’s authority as a pilot was unlimited. Massive resources were poured into the right directions, and these newly networked monitoring satellites were one of them.

“Then, this Sixteenth Angel is no small matter.” Shinji became serious. The biggest difference between old and new Angels lay in this: those seventeen beings within the framework of the Dead Sea Scrolls had existed for countless years, enough to become excellent vessels.

Do not be fooled by the “Rain Angel” or “Day Angel” seeming weak; that is because they had not received the blessing of the negative universe’s will. It is similar to the stories of 40K: the older a thing is, the higher its potential limit.

“Okay, then, according to the records of the Dead Sea Scrolls, we will name it the Uterus Angel.”

“Ritsuko, you said sending Angels to die one by one—is this a test for me?”

“It is entirely possible. Angels are tentacles reaching from the will of the negative universe into the real world. Even if He has not developed an active consciousness, there will still be passive defense mechanisms. And as an enemy, you must, of course, collect enough data.”

“He probably doesn’t understand the concept of an ‘enemy’ yet, but as a being that transcends time and space, predicting the endgame is within reason, thus giving birth to a new tactic,” Shinji corrected, his entire demeanor becoming as sharp as a blade.

“Misato, start the operation according to Plan B. I am going to sever His tentacles.”

“Understood.”

After so much time, the era of chaos had ended. Shinji’s orders were everything. From NERV to the United Nations Forces, all would strictly execute them; humanity had actually achieved

unprecedented unity. Under SEELE’s manipulation, more elite forces had been transferred to Japan, with the heavy financial burden shared among various countries. These forces, which should have been stationed in their own countries or used to seize profits in the next global upheaval, finally unleashed their most brilliant radiance against the enemy of humanity.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…

Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched as if they were worthless. Tu-160 and B1B strategic bombers simultaneously dropped N2 mines, and mobile electromagnetic cannons just pulled from the research institute pushed alloy warheads at dozens of times the speed of sound. The dense lines of attack even filled the tactical map.

[Electromagnetic cannon group, 5 seconds to contact.]

[First missile group about to arrive.]

[57 N2 mines have entered the glide phase.]

The entire Central Command was a hive of activity. Because there were too many friendly force indicators, they were barely able to coordinate. Gendo Ikari, for his part, had a look on his face as if he had seen a ghost.

Everyone knew Neo Tokyo-3 was important, but humans, if the knife wasn’t truly at their necks, would always hold onto a sense of luck. This fortress had never been fully supported. Take the Pacific Fleet, for example—they would flee immediately after delivering Unit-02, as if they were afraid of being used as cannon fodder by NERV.

Everyone had their own little schemes; everyone fantasized about a world after the extinction of the Angels; no one was willing to relinquish command. A single fleet—the American Navy and the former Red Navy, those two bitter rivals—had never stopped arguing.

But what was happening here? Various countries had sent their most elite forces, and it didn’t look like the Second Division’s attempt to warn him earlier.

Gendo Ikari scanned the screen, seeing one famous division number after another. On the coastline alone, the 4th Infantry Division and the 1st Cavalry Division, two heavy-armored units, were stationed there. Even if they were all antiques, in front of them, the Strategic Self-Defense Force could only be counted as trash.

Did SEELE have a change of heart? Actually going all out to ensure Neo Tokyo-3 would not fall?

He, of course, knew who was pulling the strings behind the scenes, but he couldn’t figure out why SEELE would arrange things this way. That group of old men were not people known for their deep sense of righteousness, and it was certainly not worth investing huge resources to guard a city with a high probability of falling.

Was it that the previous great upheaval had terrified them, feeling they couldn’t lose this target that drew the hatred, or was it—

Gendo Ikari instinctively looked toward Unit-01, a thought appearing for no reason.

‘Is this kid pulling the strings again?’