Chapter 72 104: Finally Snatching a Kill.

Boom—

Massive arthropod limbs swept through with destructive force, leveling several buildings that had failed to retract underground due to the power outage.

Just as Shinji was reinterpreting the meaning of loyalty, Unit-00 and Unit-02 were locked in a fierce struggle with a colossal Angel. The Ninth Angel, Matarael, was humongous. Resembling a gargantuan spider, it possessed four slender limbs reaching over two hundred meters in height. Its central body looked like an inverted tortoise shell, encrusted with numerous eyeballs.

"Dammit! This Angel clearly doesn't have a strong AT Field, but it's still so hard to deal with!"

Asuka maneuvered Unit-02 into a rolling retreat. A limb swept across the road like a giant sword; propping herself up with one arm, the red-painted EVA performed a series of backflips. Orange liquid sprayed toward her, melting steel into slag instantly.

"Matarael's AT Field is indeed weak, but its body is massive, and its core is hidden deep inside."

Misato Katsuragi sprinted toward a rooftop. Having left the underground command center protected by heavy armor to be on the front lines, she could truly feel the sheer intensity of the battle between EVAs and Angels. The shock of being on the scene made it hard for her to imagine just what kind of courage Shinji and the others possessed to fight these things.

"Asuka, be careful! Many citizens haven't finished evacuating yet. Commander Ikari has gone to handle it, but there's no help from Shinji this time!"

"So where the hell did that idiot go!?"

Unit-02 didn't dare stop for a second. The Angel's limbs were too long—fully extended, they likely exceeded a thousand meters. Not only were they incredibly hard, but the creature's crawling speed was also remarkably fast.

It used those four limbs to keep the EVA at a distance. If they tried to force their way in, it would spray highly corrosive liquid from its central eye, acting like a boxer with an extreme reach advantage, skillfully controlling the distance.

'Too hard to handle! How on earth did that guy dismember these monsters so easily!?'

"Now you know how important Shinji is?"

"No! I don't need him! I can defeat the Angel on my own!"

Unit-02 ran in a circular arc, her footsteps crushing the concrete ground into circular craters. She ducked her head, letting a pitch-black limb sweep overhead with devastating force, then raised her rifle and fired.

Rat-tat-tat.

Tracer rounds streaked across the sky, forcing Matarael to raise its head.

"Rei, fire now!"

Bang! Bang!

A sniper rifle stationed in the distance roared. The shots struck Matarael's head accurately from the flank. Ripples of an AT Field expanded as the Angel reared its legs.

"Rei, dodge!"

The moment Misato spoke, a limb thrust out straight from the side. The resulting shockwave forced Misato to shield her face. In a deathmatch between these titans, even being a spectator was fraught with risk. The concentrated AT Field made the limb a spear that could pierce through anything, reaching Unit-00 in an instant.

Rei Ayanami instinctively rolled to the side. The sniper rifle set on the ground was instantly smashed into spare parts. Seeing the limb retracting, she grabbed hold of it without a second thought, immediately feeling herself being flung into the air.

As the limb folded back, the gravitational acceleration pinned her firmly against her seat, while a second spear-like leg thrust toward her.

Clang!

The crimson-painted EVA jumped, its chainsword striking the base of the limb and deflecting its trajectory by a few degrees. It grazed Unit-00's shoulder, causing the girl to gasp and clutch her shoulder in pain.

"Hey! Let go already!"

Asuka looked up to see Unit-00 being carried over her head along with the limb. The Angel used two limbs to brace itself as its body leaned back, while a massive amount of 'tears' began to flow from its central eye.

"No. I will use this to close the distance."

Rei Ayanami seemed fearless in the face of death, continuing to use the Angel's own body to close in. On the ground, Asuka froze for a second, then gritted her teeth and turned.

Swish—

The chainsword sliced a building in half. As the skyscraper began to topple, she caught it with both hands, summoned every ounce of her strength, and hurled it toward the Angel.

"Don't you dare steal my spotlight!"

Squelch.

The building collided with the 'tears' in mid-air, melting away more than half instantly, yet it served its purpose as cover for Unit-00.

'Incredible.'

Misato Katsuragi watched with wide eyes. From her vantage point on the roof, she could see the entire battlefield. The Angel's limb had folded, and Unit-00, hanging onto it, was now directly above the Angel's main body.

"Rei, let go! Asuka, throw the weapon!"

"I know!!"

Unit-02 yanked a chainsword stuck in the ground and hurled it forward. Falling from the sky, Unit-00 reached out and caught the flying giant sword, using the force of gravity to hack down savagely into the Angel's 'back.'

Splurt—

Blood geysered out. Matarael struggled violently, its four limbs sweeping back and forth, destroying everything within a kilometer. However, Misato's expression turned grim.

She could see a massive amount of orange liquid splashing out from the Angel's body, melting Unit-00's armor into a mangled mess. Billowing white smoke rose from the EVA, and she could hear Rei Ayanami's pained breathing.

The Angel's blood was also corrosive.

"Rei, fall back! Don't engage this thing in close combat!"

Inside the entry plug, the LCL fluid was bubbling. Rei felt as though she had jumped into a pool of sulfuric acid, yet she defied the order.

'Matarael is too difficult to approach. I finally found an opportunity... I must find its core...'

The stubborn girl held onto this single conviction, her sword hacking open the Angel's body slice by slice. More acid surged out, yet the core remained hidden.

'Are these kids suicidal?'

Misato gritted her teeth, her fingers turning white against the railing. She could see the Angel wasn't just struggling aimlessly; its limbs moved in a rhythmic swing, retreating at extreme speed. Unit-02, charging forward like a madwoman, couldn't catch up at all.

Rei couldn't hold on much longer, and Asuka couldn't close the gap.

'Is this the kind of enemy Shinji has been eliminating?'

Only when she was forced to command alone did she realize how thorny the situation was. Like the Matarael before her—its AT Field wasn't strong, and if an EVA actually landed a hit, even Unit-00 could deal a lethal blow.

But it had its own advantages: those massive limbs, the troublesome acid, and the hidden core. If it didn't know how to use those advantages, it would be a pushover, but when they pushed their bodies and unique abilities to the limit, they could leave humanity helpless.

It was even exploiting the humans' desire to find the core, luring the EVA in step by step. Eliminating a clumsy monster was nothing; a true hero was one who could dismember these world-ending demons.

"Misato! Find a way to stop it!"

Asuka was frantic. She had already pulled her external power cable and was firing her firearm in bursts, but it was useless. Matarael ignored her shots; every swing of those slender limbs sent the Angel back hundreds of meters. This was a transparent trap: once Unit-00 was dissolved, the Angel could turn around and eat the depowered Unit-02 as a snack.

Misato didn't answer. She gripped the cross on her chest and stared ahead, clearly guessing the Angel's intent. She was waiting for a single moment.

'Hurry, hurry, hurry.'

"Emergency power restored!" Shigeru Aoba suddenly shouted. In an instant, the entirety of Tokyo-3 seemed to come back to life. Rail trains started moving, and lights flickered on.

"Great!"

Misato didn't hesitate, shouting out the command: "Explosive containment in Sector G-359, now!"

MAGI activated, as if a brain had regained control of its body. As the command was issued, a series of deafening explosions rang out. The entire sector where the Angel stood collapsed downward.

Tokyo-3 was built over a void. As the buildings collapsed, the previously level ground turned into a series of pits. When those long limbs came down, they became stuck instantly.

The Angel stopped. Because its limbs were too rigid, it couldn't even sever them to escape. Before it could pull itself free, skyscrapers began to rise from the ground like a staircase.

Thump, thump, thump...

Unit-02 sprinted up the rising buildings, soaring through the air like a long jumper. From her vantage point, she could see the Angel's back covered in slash marks, and Unit-00, whose armor was severely corroded.

"The core... is right underneath here." Rei Ayanami endured the pain, acting like a stubborn rock to neutralize the Angel's concentrated AT Field, while simultaneously tossing her severely corroded chainsword upward.

"I—KNOW!!"

Asuka roared. Just like her fiery personality, her fighting style was always filled with courage. Unit-02 plummeted from above, catching the giant sword and falling like a meteor.

Splurt—

Like a female leopard, she pierced the AT Field and punctured the body. Amidst the rain of corrosive liquid, she drove her blade straight through Matarael. On the roaring chainsword was a crimson sphere, now covered in cracks. She then pulled out her progressive knife and stabbed it directly into the sphere.

"DIE!!!"

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