Chapter 560: Revealing the Truth
The massive contradiction threw her into a painful struggle. Her hands gripping the Lance of Longinus tightened and loosened, loosened and tightened. Who should she believe? The Commander? Or Dr. Ryo, who had revealed the terrifying truth?
Right at this threshold, a familiar voice cut clearly into her ear via the operational channel. It was Misato Katsuragi's voice, carrying a trace of exhaustion yet filled with absolute resolve: "Asuka—do as you believe. Follow your own heart."
Misato's words acted like the final feather that broke the camel's back, or rather, a lighthouse lit amidst a dense fog. Asuka snapped her head up, and though tears and chaos still lingered in her eyes, an unprecedented resolve rapidly crystallized.
She took a deep breath, controlling the white Unit-03 to violently reverse the direction of the Lance of Longinus' tip. No longer pointing it at the EVA-Titan, she aimed it directly at—Unit-06, which had just separated from the Titan and was preparing to launch another attack!
"I—I believe the Doctor!" Her voice boomed through the external speakers, slightly raspy but exceptionally clear and resolute. "What I want to protect is a world where humanity can choose its own future! Not turn into some damn LCL!"
Her choice was entirely clear.
Seeing the shift in Unit-03's stance, Kaworu Nagisa inside Unit-06 let out a near-imperceptible sigh. A trace of complex emotion flitted across his red eyes. Unit-01's deification had been terminated, a massive variable had surfaced in SEELE's script, and the defection of Unit-03 wielding the Lance of Longinus meant the situation had turned highly unfavorable for him.
"It seems... the time is not yet ripe," Kaworu murmured under his breath.
Unit-06 ceased its desire to fight, transforming into a streak of light to break away from the battlefield. Simultaneously, a ribbon-like energy tendril rapidly coiled toward the immobilized Unit-01 nearby, seemingly intending to drag it away together.
"Don't even think about it!" Asuka let out a sharp cry, the Lance of Longinus in Unit-03's hands tearing through the air, precisely slashing toward that energy tendril. Concurrently, the Volcano Cannon on the EVA-Titan's back emitted a low charging drone once more. Though it did not fire, the threat was self-evident, sealing off Unit-06's other escape routes.
Facing the joint interception of Unit-03 and the Titan, Unit-06 decisively abandoned its attempt to take Unit-01 along. The chassis dodged the Lance of Longinus' slash with unbelievable maneuverability, broke through the firepower blockade, and rapidly vanished into the distant sky.
One of the latent threats had temporarily retreated.
Ryo cast his gaze onto Unit-01 collapsed on the ground. Extending his psionic energy, he gently yet firmly pierced through the remnants of that unstable A.T. Field, touching upon the youth curled up inside the cockpit whose consciousness was near-sealed.
"Shinji-kun," his voice resounded directly within Shinji's awareness, carrying a grounding stability, "The crisis has not been cleared. Rei Ayanami might still be alive; she needs your help."
Shinji raised his head blankly.
"Do you see that dark long spear piercing through the chest of the white female form? That is the Spear of Cassius, representing 'hope' and 'choice.' Go and pull it out. Then, utilize the 'Cherubim' weapons to attempt to purify the remnants of Unit-00 contaminated by the Angel's power. That is the final hope to rescue Rei back."
Ryo's words pointed out a direction for the deeply despondent Shinji.
Rescue Rei back—this thought, like a faint ray of light in absolute darkness, awakened his nearly extinguished resolve. The fingers of Unit-01 twitched slightly.
Unit-01 struggled, pushing its body up from the edge of the massive crater blasted out by the Volcano Cannon. Fractures blanketed its purple armor plates, its golden deification light completely scattered, leaving only the remnant physical strength of the main body to painfully sustain the machine's operation.
Inside the cockpit, Shinji Ikari breathed heavily, Ryo's words echoing inside his brain like a magic incantation.
"Rescue... Rei..."
This possibility acted like a shot of adrenaline, temporarily overriding the terror, confusion, and habitual obedience to his father's commands within his heart. He raised Unit-01's head, locking his gaze onto that motionless white female form pierced by the Spear of Cassius far ahead.
Unit-01 took heavy steps, staggering toward that direction. Every single step appeared exceptionally arduous, but the objective was clear.
On the other side, the white Unit-03 stood side-by-side with the EVA-Titan holding the Lance of Longinus, vigilantly watching the direction where Unit-06 had vanished, while simultaneously staying alert to any other attacks that might come from NERV Headquarters.
Asuka gripped the control sticks tightly, the palms of her hands sweating slightly from tension. Choosing to stand on Dr. Ryo's side meant she had completely betrayed NERV's orders, and the future road had turned unknown and dangerous, yet her gaze was more resolute than ever before. What she protected was no longer an illusionary title of an "ace" or the recognition of others, but something she understood to be truly worthy of protection.
Ryo remained standing atop the Titan's head, his lab coat whipping loudly in the wind. His psionic perception acted like an invisible radar, scanning the energy flows throughout the entire battlefield and NERV Headquarters. He knew that the surface battle had concluded for now, but the true core of the storm was brewing deep within the subterranean layers.
NERV Headquarters, Command Center.
Following Ryo's revelation of the truth and Asuka's defection, the internal atmosphere shifted completely.
Misato Katsuragi slammed a fist violently onto the console, the flames of fury burning in her eyes. "SEELE... Human Instrumentality... So we've been kept in the dark all along, turning into accomplices to destroy the world?!"
Ritsuko Akagi remained relatively calm, but she rapidly pulled up the deep logs within the MAGI system and past directives from SEELE. The more she analyzed, the more grim her face turned.
"Misato, what he said... is highly likely to be true. Within MAGI's underlying logic, there indeed exist hidden directives with priorities higher than 'protecting humanity,' pointing toward a... global-scale consciousness fusion protocol."
The scales within the hearts of these two women, alongside many other NERV members who heard the truth and refused to let human civilization terminate, had completely tipped.
"We cannot let Commander Ikari and SEELE continue!" Misato Katsuragi stood up, her voice carrying throughout the chaotic command center. "All who are willing to fight for humanity's future, come with me! We must seize control authority of Headquarters!"
Ryoji Kaji, who had long been prepared, immediately responded through the encrypted channel: "Misato, I've already taken care of half of the internal security system's backdoors; the rest is up to you guys. I will lead men to secure the Central Dogma entrance, preventing anyone from conducting extreme operations."
A mutiny taking place within NERV deployed rapidly. Leveraging their prestige and clearance, Misato Katsuragi and Ritsuko Akagi swiftly rallied the vast majority of personnel within the Tactical Operations Department and Technology Development Department who were still capable of action, along with the internal security forces incensed by the truth. They engaged in a fierce firefight against the security troops inside the control center who remained loyal to Gendo Ikari and SEELE.