"That was close!"
Shinji piloted Unit-01. Hurriedly dodged the Fifth Angel's beam. Said with lingering fear.
"Focus, Shinji."
"This enemy is way stronger than yesterday's." Natsuki reminded Shinji in the cockpit.
After yesterday's battle, Shinji internally accepted the feeling of combat. Especially after seeing Natsuki's battle in dreams—no longer so afraid of fighting Angels.
"Got it! Natsuki-san." Shinji gripped the control sticks. Deep breath. Reminded himself internally to focus.
In the dim city battlefield, defense tower lights illuminated the Fifth Angel's blue irregular form.
Facing an enemy with heavy firepower, he must respond cautiously.
With Unit-01's defense, couldn't take one shot.
"VWEE—" The Fifth Angel twisted its body. Emitted high-frequency cries. Aimed at Unit-01. Started charging.
"Here it comes!" Shinji immediately detected its attack intent. Current him possessed reaction ability far exceeding normal people.
Immediately controlled Unit-01 to run sideways.
The Fifth Angel's firepower was indeed fierce. But attacks weren't instant. And after attacks landed, hard to change direction short-term.
"VWOOM!!" Fast-moving Unit-01 made the Fifth Angel hard to aim. A beam unsurprisingly missed. Leveled where Unit-01 just stood.
After dodging this attack, Unit-01 grabbed a rifle from a nearby building. Raised. Aimed.
"TAT-TAT-TAT!" Continuously fired at the Fifth Angel still retracting its beam.
But these bullets hit the Fifth Angel's external AT Field. Both fields collided. Still couldn't break through defense.
The Fifth Angel's AT Field was much stronger than Unit-01's.
This was a very powerful enemy.
And at this moment, the Fifth Angel already changed form again. Central octahedron shrank. Diamond crystals appeared around the body and connected to center. Like a wheel. Massive energy gathered again.
"I need to run!" Shinji saw this. Realized it was attacking again. So piloted Unit-01 holding the rifle. Started running in large strides.
Just dodge... then counterattack...
Shinji thought this.
Then—
"VWOOM!!"
A sustained purple beam shot from the rotating Fifth Angel's body. Extremely fast. Directly cut through all buildings in front for a full circle. Running Unit-01 couldn't escape either.
"Urgh!" Unit-01 was swept at the waist by this beam. Pain transmitted to Shinji. Made him cry out.
Unit-01's abdominal outer armor was also cut open. Blood seeped from inside.
The entire unit toppled onto ground ruins.
"Unit-01's damage level 37%. Power cables also severed!" Technical personnel monitoring Unit-01's condition in the command room hurriedly shouted.
"Shinji, watch out!" Misato Katsuragi saw the Fifth Angel transform again. Quickly warned through comms.
This thing clearly wanted to press the advantage.
Before Unit-01 stood up, already completed charging. Irregular cross form—about to burst a lethal beam.
"Shinji!"
"Got it, Natsuki-san!"
At this moment, Shinji and Natsuki both prepared to transform. Let this battle enter phase two.
However—
Just one second before the beam erupted—
"VWEE—" The Fifth Angel suddenly emitted high-frequency cries. Body underwent irregular changes. Directly retracted its original attack. Flew toward the sky.
It seemed to detect something.
Not detecting danger in advance.
But detected something attracting it.
It came to Tokyo-3 because NERV headquarters underground hid something attracting it. That emitted wave made it think was Adam. But in that instant just now, it sensed Adam's wave again. At another location.
Without intelligence, it was confused. Which side was real?
"VWEE—" Driven by instinct, the Fifth Angel flew into the night sky.
Command room.
"The Fifth Angel stopped attacking. It changed movement direction!"
"The Fifth Angel is moving toward the Pacific!"
"It stopped again!"
"It's returning toward Tokyo-3. No... it disappeared!" Technical personnel continuously reported through monitoring screens.
The Fifth Angel's sudden behavior also confused them.
Most of them didn't know inside information about Angels. Didn't know what their base hid underground.
"Disappeared?" Misato Katsuragi heard this news. Furrowed brow. Contemplated reasons for the Angel's behavior.
Now only numerous destroyed defensive structures remained on the battlefield. And Unit-01 slowly rising from ruins.
Enemy disappeared. This battle naturally couldn't continue.
"Shinji, are you okay?" She asked with concern through comms.
"Ah... I'm fine." Shinji covered his abdomen. Replied.
"That's good." Misato Katsuragi relaxed slightly. "Prepare to return to base."
"We'll formulate a new plan afterward."
"Okay."
The Fifth Angel's abnormal behavior confused everyone except Gendo Ikari and Professor Fuyutsuki.
An Angel originally coming for this base—why suddenly run elsewhere?
And finally seemed to want to return.
They couldn't find answers immediately.
But they knew—the Angel would definitely return eventually. For this, they must prepare in advance.
"Concentrate all Japan's electricity to one point. Then use the Positron Cannon to directly attack the Fifth Angel's core..." Dawn. Gendo Ikari's office floor. Gendo Ikari listened to Misato Katsuragi's plan proposal. Contemplated several seconds.
"What do you think the success rate is?" He asked.
"The MAGI supercomputer's prediction—success rate not exceeding 10%." Misato Katsuragi answered honestly.
Battle victory never relied on probability. So she thought worth trying.
Gendo Ikari fell silent a while. Finally nodded.
"Acceptable."
"Execute according to your plan." As long as Angels could be eliminated, he'd agree to any plan.
"But... who do you plan to execute this mission?" He continued asking.
"I plan to have Shinji-kun use the Positron Cannon for sniping." Misato Katsuragi answered. "I believe the quality he displayed in combat is sufficient for this mission."
"Acceptable." On this point, Gendo Ikari had to admit—Shinji was the most suitable person to pilot Unit-01.
"During mission execution, have Unit-00 defend on the side."
"Eh?" Misato Katsuragi heard having Unit-00 assist. Froze momentarily.
"Unit-00 completed final adjustments?"
"And... I remember Rei's injuries haven't completely healed."
Gendo Ikari devoted more care to Rei Ayanami than Shinji. But still could see his ruthlessness.
"No problem. As long as it can activate."
"Rei can do it." He said.
Misato Katsuragi listened. Hesitated two seconds. Finally saluted: "I understand."
The other side—Shinji, originally resting, also quietly left the apartment. Headed to the suburbs to receive Natsuki's special training.
Natsuki's voice came to his ears: "Shinji, next battle absolutely can't let that guy escape."
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