"Could it be… an ambush?" Asuka muttered under her breath.
Kitazawa Ryota said nothing. He scanned the surroundings, his instincts prickling. Something felt wrong—very wrong—but he couldn't immediately put it into words.
Unless…
The thought struck him like ice down his spine. If his suspicion was correct, then the Fourth Impact was already close at hand.
The Final Dogma.
The Lance of Longinus and the Spear of Cassius were still lodged in Lilith's body. If both weapons were drawn out—together with the Adam vessel, Ikari Shinji—it would inevitably trigger Fourth Impact.
Once that idea entered his mind, it would not leave.
"Move! We have to reach the Final Dogma now! If we're too late, it'll be over!"
With a roar, Kitazawa Ryota hurled Unit-01 toward the depths. Asuka and Mari exchanged quick, uneasy glances. Seeing his urgency, neither spoke a word—they simply pushed their EVA units to follow at full speed.
When they arrived at the barrier surrounding the Final Dogma, they were confronted by an overwhelming field of energy, pulsing with raw, divine force. Ryota's expression hardened. He remembered clearly—in the anime, this was precisely the reason Ikari Gendō had needed Kaworu and Shinji to co-pilot Unit-13 to breach the seal.
But for him, this was no obstacle.
Drawing his particle dagger, Ryota drove Unit-01's blade straight into the barrier.
Under the sheer force of his strike, reinforced by the "divine power" lingering within Unit-01, the energy field tore open with a deafening scream of light.
Through the rupture, beams of refracted light spilled across the depths, revealing the forbidden sight below.
A colossal figure, hundreds of meters tall, lay motionless amidst a sea of scattered bones—an endless ossuary. It was Lilith, her corpse twisted in ruin. The entire chamber radiated a hellish, suffocating dread.
And then—voices.
Someone was here.
The three pilots froze, staring toward the sound. A massive, unfamiliar Evangelion, with two heads and a grotesque silhouette, stood atop Lilith's remains.
"Hurry, Kaworu! Didn't you say it yourself? With both the Spear of Cassius and the Lance of Longinus, we can restore the world to the way it was!"
The voice was frantic—and chillingly familiar.
"No, Shinji. Something's wrong. Back then, I clearly thrust the Spear of Cassius into Lilith's body. But now… both of these lances look identical. Why?" Kaworu's calm voice wavered with uncertainty.
"What do you mean 'wrong'? You're the one who said it! We just need to pull them out! Stop hesitating!"
Shinji's tone was no longer just urgent—it was sharp with reproach.
"No… Shinji, give me a moment. I can't shake this feeling…" Kaworu's voice trailed into silence, lost in thought.
Ryota's blood ran cold. "Damn it—they really are here! If he pulls out the Lance of Longinus now, the Fourth Impact will be unstoppable!"
"What do we do?!" Asuka and Mari both went pale.
Ryota's reply was one word: "Kill."
In the next instant, Unit-01 shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bowstring.
"They're here!"
A shout rang out within the chamber.
Suddenly, another Evangelion surged forth, its armor glowing faintly green—it blocked Ryota's charge with a resounding crash.
Unit-00.
"What?! That's… Rei?!" Asuka and Mari, rushing in behind, froze in shock.
Everyone knew: Rei Ayanami was the sole pilot of Unit-00. Without her, no one else could synchronize with it. So what was she doing here?
"Shinji! Pull the Lance of Longinus—I'll hold them off!"
Unit-00 lunged forward, wielding a particle dagger. Her intent was clear: to kill Unit-01 and its pilot.
"You doll—what the hell are you doing?! Have you lost your mind?!" Asuka shouted in disbelief.
"She isn't the real Ayanami," Ryota snapped. "She's one of the clones!"
Even as he spoke, Shinji's hands were already wrapped around the Spear embedded in Lilith's body, straining to pull it free.
"Then… then what do we do?" Asuka's voice faltered. For all her hostility toward "the doll," Rei had still once been her comrade.
"What else? Kill her!"
Ryota feinted past Unit-00 and broke into a full sprint toward Unit-13. He left Rei to Asuka and Mari—there was no time to waste. If Shinji succeeded in drawing out the Spear, Lilith's soul would be released… and the world would end.
"Die!"
Raising his Evangelion's rifle, Ryota fired without hesitation.
But Shinji was already straining with all his might, wrenching the Spear loose.
"Shinji, wait! Something isn't right!" Kaworu cried out in desperation.
"They're right behind us—we don't have time! If I don't do this now, everything will be lost!" Shinji screamed back.
With a tearing shriek, the Lance of Longinus slid free from Lilith's body.
A flood of radiant light burst from the wound, flooding the chamber with otherworldly brilliance.
"No…!"
Ryota's heart sank. It was too late. Lilith's soul had been unleashed. The Fourth Impact was inevitable.
The earth convulsed violently, throwing everything into chaos. The sky itself turned crimson, clouds thickening into a suffocating blood-red canopy.
"What's happening?!"
Aboard the Wunder aboveground, Misato and the crew watched in horror as the world itself began to unravel before their eyes.
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