Chapter 562: Sealing Lilith
In the center of the lake, that massive cross still stood tall, but the main body of Lilith nailed upon it had undergone a noticeable transformation.
The massive wound running through her chest from the Lance of Longinus had not healed; instead, it wriggled slightly like a living organism, its edges shimmering with unstable biological fluorescence. Most unsettling of all was her white mask adorned with the NERV emblem—at this moment, a microscopic slit had actually opened upon that mask!
A vast, chaotic consciousness, appearing to originate from the absolute beginning of the universe's creation, slowly seeped out from that slit, flooding the entirety of the chamber. A silent roar and murmur echoed through the air—the primitive impulse of a lifeform yearning to break free from its shackles and return to its origin.
Lilith was truly "awakening."
Once she fully woke and broke free from the constraints of the cross, she would require no Instrumentality Project; her mere existence would be sufficient to trigger a global-scale, uncontrollable "Impact," forcefully reducing all living organisms back into LCL.
"Right there!" Ryo pointed toward the wound on Lilith's chest. "Asuka, use the Lance of Longinus to pierce that exact position again! We must re-establish the seal before she fully awakens!"
Looking at that white giant as massive as a mountain range and feeling the spiritual pressure that nearly crushed her soul, Asuka's palms gripping the Lance of Longinus were entirely slick with cold sweat. This was no longer attacking an Angel or a hostile EVA; this was slaying a god! Or rather, sealing a god!
Could she actually pull it off?
"Doctor... I..."
"Believe in yourself, Asuka," Ryo's voice carried an unquestionable trust. "The spear in your hand is the sole weapon capable of constraining her. You also possess the strength and spirit to wield it. Do not forget, you promised to protect my back. And right now, behind my back is the future of all humanity."
The future... of humanity—
Asuka took a deep breath, forcefully overriding the final shred of hesitation and terror within her heart.
The legs of the white Unit-03 exploded with immense power, violently leaping up from the edge of the platform like a white meteor, charging toward the cross in the center of the lake! She held the dark-red Lance of Longinus high, the tip aligning directly with the wriggling wound on Lilith's chest, targeting the heart-palpitating darkness behind the mask's slit.
"For... the tomorrow that humanity can choose for themselves!!!"
Accompanied by the girl's resolute shriek, the Lance of Longinus transformed into a dark-red flash of lightning that tore through space, driving down with an aura of no return!
The dark-red Lance of Longinus, like a return of destiny, pierced incomparably precisely back into the original wound within Lilith's chest!
Pfft—
A muffled sound echoed, as if tearing through tough biological leather. The spear shaft instantly sank more than halfway in.
The exact instant the long spear pierced inside, the entirety of Central Dogma appeared to freeze solid. The boiling sea of LCL abruptly ceased its churning, and the massive bubbles ruptured in mid-air, with no new ones emerging. The invisible psychic murmurs and roars throughout the air vanished instantly, as if cleanly severed by a sharp blade.
The chaotic illumination seeping from the slit in Lilith's mask violently stagnated, subsequently receding back like a low tide. That awakening consciousness, massive enough to suffocate, was forcefully pressed back down by an invisible giant hand. After emitting a resentful, silent hiss that felt as if it came from the absolute bottom of the abyss, it rapidly fell into total dormancy.
The wriggling of the wound on Lilith's chest ceased, and the biological fluorescence at the edges completely dimmed. That mask slit, which had just jarred open, also slowly sealed shut, returning to its original, characterless white plane.
The seal was complete.
The massive white giant plunged into a dead silence once more, securely nailed onto the cross, with only the background radiation-like, weak energy reaction it emanated proving that it still "existed."
Leveraging the counterforce of the throw, the white Unit-03 executed a nimble backflip in mid-air, landing steadily back onto the edge of the platform. Kneeling on one knee, the Lance of Longinus had vanished from its grasp, returning once more to Lilith's chest armor plates.
Inside the cockpit, Asuka breathed heavily, her entire body completely drenched in cold sweat. At that exact instant just now, she felt as if her very soul was about to be devoured and assimilated by that primitive consciousness. Hurling the long spear had not merely drained immense physical stamina; it was an ultimate test on a spiritual plane.
"...Did we succeed?" she asked, somewhat exhausted.
"We succeeded for now," Ryo's voice came through. He remained standing at the edge of the platform, observing Lilith's status. "The Lance of Longinus has suppressed her vitality once more. But this awakening process drained a portion of the strength she had accumulated and shook the foundations of the seal. This spear can no longer be lightly pulled out."
He walked beside Unit-03, looking up toward the position of the cockpit: "You did exceptionally well, Asuka. You stopped a catastrophe sufficient to destroy existing human civilization."
Hearing Ryo's validation, Asuka's tightly strung nerves finally relaxed, and an un-describable sense of exhaustion washed over her entire body. Yet concurrently, a profound fulfillment from accomplishing a grand mission arose fiercely within her heart.
Right at this moment, a commotion echoed from the corridor above. Several small engineering submersibles belonging to the rebel forces lowered down, with the silhouettes of Misato Katsuragi and Ryoji Kaji appearing at the hatch of one of the vessels.
"How is the situation down here?" Misato asked anxiously. She caught sight of the motionless Lilith on the platform and the Lance of Longinus within her chest, letting out a heavy sigh of relief, though her expression remained grave.
"Lilith has been temporarily re-sealed," Ryo replied. "Status of Headquarters?"
"Fundamentally secured. Commander Ikari and Vice Commander Fuyutsuki have vanished without a trace; they likely utilized a secret passage to leave. The vast majority of the remaining technical staff and personnel have chosen to cooperate, and are currently restoring the basic operations of the respective systems." Ryoji Kaji picked up the thread, casting a complex gaze at Lilith. "However, SEELE will absolutely not let this rest, and Unit-06 is also unaccounted for..."
Misato supplemented: "As for Shinji's side... the 'Cherubim' purification appears to have taken effect. The remnants of Unit-00 and the Angel's tissue have fundamentally separated. We detected a weak vital reaction from Rei Ayanami, but it is extremely unstable; she has already been urgently sent to the medical center for deep life-support processing. Shinji himself is emotionally highly unstable and requires psychological intervention."
The situation remained incredibly severe. Although they had prevented the worst-case scenario of "Instrumentality" and temporarily secured NERV Headquarters, external threats still loomed, the interior was left in total disarray, and the remnants of SEELE paired with Gendo Ikari's movements remained absolute unknowns.
Ryo nodded, not at all surprised by these developments. He looked toward Misato and Kaji: "Since Headquarters is temporarily under your control, the primary task next is to stabilize the interior, repair defenses, and establish contact with the outside world as quickly as possible—to expose SEELE's conspiracy and fight for international support, or at least their understanding."
"Then what about you, Doctor?" Asuka couldn't help but ask, her voice booming through the external speakers.