Having traversed countless realms, can you possibly be as clever as me?

Without hesitation, the light wheel in the giant's hand fell. The AT field of Unit-01, which could withstand all human weapons, shattered like glass in front of the falling light wheel.

The light wheel tore open Unit-01's left shoulder, melting the purple armor and exposing its internal structure to the vacuum. Orange-red LCL gushed out from the wound, condensing into countless tiny ice crystals in the vacuum, floating around Unit-01 like a blood-red star ring.

Then, as if toying with him, SEELE kicked over Unit-01, giving him a chance to regroup. And he rallied...

401

Unit-01 did not back down and raised the Spear of Cassius once again, but this time, it did not charge head-on.

The AT Field coalesced behind him, not for defense but for propulsion. Mimicking the way the Sky Angel used it, the immense force propelled Unit-01 through the vacuum, tracing a strange arc like a bird or a fish, as it attacked the Titan from the side.

Cassius's spear swept across, slashing towards the giant's side!

But the giant didn't even turn around; it simply raised its arm and blocked with its elbow. The spear blade struck its arm, sending sparks flying. Only a faint white mark remained on the giant of light's skin—and that mark was healing at a visible speed.

The most powerful weapon that humanity could master—a gun formed from the branches of the Tree of Life—could only inflict damage of this level.

The gap was so wide that there was no hope, not even a glimmer of hope for victory.

"Is this all you've got?" SEELE's voice was full of sarcasm.

"Then let me show you what the true power of God is."

The giant of light's eyes suddenly lit up. A light as intense as the core of a star converged with his eyes once more, transforming into two scorching projectiles that shot forth!

Unit-01 made an emergency dodge, but the light bullet was too fast. By the time the retina caught it, it was too late to dodge.

A beam of light grazed Unit-01's right leg, instantly vaporizing the purple armor. The internal metal structure melted, evaporated, and vanished. The right leg disappeared completely below the knee, with LCL surging at the break point, freezing into eerie ice crystals in the vacuum.

The other strike was even more merciless, aimed directly at Unit-01's head.

There was no sound, only light.

The light pierced through the armor, through the cockpit's protective layer, and almost pierced Shinji Ikari's body. But at the last moment, Shinji Ikari heard a voice—

"Shinji, hang in there..."

That was Gendo Ikari, or rather, it should have been Yui Ikari, but he chose to stand in front of his wife and take the blow for his son.

He used his own soul to shield Shinji Ikari from the potentially fatal attack. The temperature inside the cockpit instantly soared, the LCL solution boiled, and Shinji's skin was completely burned. However, he survived, suffering immense pain, but without uttering a sound.

Half of Unit-01's head was gone. From its right eye to the back of its head, it had been completely severed, leaving only half a skull. At the severed point were complex mechanical structures and surging flesh. The flesh was writhing and regenerating, but the speed was far too slow, much slower than the initial healing process.

This indicates that Unit-01's S2 mechanism was also disrupted by the enemy's attack, and even dried up.

The Spear of Cassius was still in Unit-01's hands, but his hand was trembling.

"Dad, Mom..."

"Shinji Ikari murmured. He could feel death approaching, and all his efforts, however fierce, were utterly ineffective against his enemy."

“How pathetic.” SEELE reached out, as if to pluck a flower or pick up a pebble, and grasped the shaft of the Spear of Cassius.

"We should thank you, Shinji Ikari. You purified the Earth and returned humanity to us."

Even if we have become gods, we still need the reverence and respect of mortals!

"We will build a perfect nation, a nation that belongs only to the superior races we have chosen!"

Unit-01 tried to grip its weapon tightly, to continue resisting, but the force was too great. SEELE's fingers closed one by one, while Unit-01's fingers opened one by one.

The Spear of Cassius—the Spear of Hope—has been taken. The giant held the spear before his eyes, examining the weapon transformed from Longinus. The crimson shaft reflected starlight. This isn't an advertisement, but a recommendation for the treasure book, *Traversing the Heavens, Can You Be Smarter Than Me?*

The reflection of the evil black lines on its face.

"Want to continue?" SEELE's voice was full of confidence. "You've already lost. What's left? What's left?"

Shinji Ikari paused for a second, then he smiled. The smile was faint, almost imperceptible. But it was indeed a smile, a smile of relief, a smile of resolve, a smile only a person who has come to their senses can show.

“I can still move,” he said.

The Evangelion Unit-01 activated, the battered purple giant, dragging its remaining leg, struggling to turn in the vacuum. Its single eye lit up—a faint yet resolute light, like a candle flickering in the wind, yet refusing to be extinguished.

It stretched out its hand, a hand devoid of weapons and AT field, utterly empty. Only its broken five fingers, spread out in the vacuum, as if trying to grasp something.

Then, with its last strength, it moved, inch by inch, towards the silver-red giant in the vacuum. The speed was ridiculously slow, as slow as a dying insect struggling in the mud.

Inch by inch, foot by foot, we slowly advance toward that invincible enemy, toward that insurmountable existence.

"How... utterly foolish." SEELE's sigh echoed in Shinji's mind.

The evil giant's hand pierced out, accompanied by a sharp pain in Shinji's heart. It lifted Unit-01 up to its eyes, looking at the broken, dying purple giant, and at the blood-soaked boy inside.

"ended."

In the distance, an abandoned satellite drifted slowly by. On that satellite, traces of humanity remained—a small flag, a faded badge.

The giant reached out its other hand, grasped the flag, and then pressed Unit-01 onto the flag's wreckage.

With a downward press of the palm, Unit-01's body was flattened, torn apart, and pierced. The purple armor shattered, and LCL surged forth, condensing into countless blood-red ice crystals in the vacuum, surrounding the battlefield like a silent snowfall.

Then, he raised the Spear of Cassius, pierced through Unit-01's chest, and pinned it firmly to that abandoned satellite, to that small flag.

The satellite slowly rotated, and Unit-01 was pinned to it, its arms outstretched, head bowed, and legs hanging limply.

A cross floating in a vacuum orbit.

Inside the cockpit, Shinji Ikari was pinned to his seat. The Spear of Cassius had pierced through Unit-01 and the cockpit, passing under his ribs and securing him to the seat.

He was not dead. He could feel his heartbeat and his blood still flowing. Death had not yet taken him away, but it was probably not far off.

He wanted to move, but couldn't. Through his half-broken vision, he looked at the silver-red giant and murmured as if he wanted to say something.

Shinji Ikari failed. There was no room for struggle. He encountered an insurmountable enemy and was utterly and hopelessly defeated.

The evil giant, having achieved absolute victory, raised his hands towards the moon, seemingly to demonstrate his absolute power to the people of Earth.

A torrent of light flew out from his arm and, in an instant, completely destroyed and shattered the moon!

In the shattered and destroyed moon, the giant spreads his arms and proclaims his coronation before the cross of the defeated.

Those who returned to the ground stared in horror at the crosses floating in the sky, the tombstones of the defeated, their savior, the boy who had saved them, now met his own defeat in the dark battlefield.

Misato Katsuragi's mouth opened slightly, but overwhelming grief prevented her from crying. She remained silent, her voice hoarse and dry.

Some began to worship the new god in the sky, some cursed Shinji Ikari for dragging them from their beautiful dreams, some hid and pleaded beneath the falling moon fragments, and many others prayed for the boy's victory.

"Please, save him!!!" Misato Katsuragi frantically pulled out the crucifix, pleading, and banged her head heavily on the ground.

At this very moment, countless others are doing similar things, praying to Dongjiang, this deity, this one and only...

402

Hope for a breakthrough!

SEELE in the universe also watched with furrowed brows. They had achieved absolute victory and divine power, but even so, they still couldn't see what Tsurugi was.

"No." Tsugumi's voice rang in everyone's ears, including the members of SEELE.

"I won't save him, and I can't save him," Tsurugi said softly, seated in the Sea of ​​Souls.

"Only you can save Shinji Ikari."

"He saved you, so now it is your turn to save him. Lift up your hands, call out his name, and lend him your hope."

"Let me see what I want to see!"

Misato Katsuragi sobbed in despair, but still clung to her last glimmer of hope, clenching her fists high and shouting his name.

Shinji, Shinji, Shinji!

The shouts pierced through the thick walls and the atmosphere, countless sounds converging and echoing across the heavens.

SEELE breathed a sigh of relief, watching the scene with disdain. If people's beliefs were useful, the world wouldn't be ruled by adults like them!

However, just to be on the safe side, they still launched a blast of light, intending to completely annihilate Unit-01 and Shinji Ikari.

But just as they casually tossed out the light blasts, SEELE suddenly noticed that a tiny golden spot of light was uncontrollably emanating from her chest, and the next second, countless golden rays of light began to fall upon the Earth.

These countless rays of light converged around Shinji Ikari, who was on the verge of death, pulling him back from the brink and intercepting the light blast that was supposed to destroy him!

Is this reasonable?!

They stared wide-eyed at this illogical scene, but then, as if waking from a dream, they focused their light completely, preparing to utterly destroy him!

"Adam, what are you doing? Are you trying to break the covenant?!"

Their movements froze, unable to continue. The elders of SEELE screamed and roared in their consciousness, while Kaworu's consciousness, before the giant of light heavily restrained by countless red branches of life, revealed a radiant smile, placing his hand on it as his body gradually dissipated.

Breach of contract? I didn't breach it. I simply released its light and then guided that light to a suitable person.

The next moment, the giant of light, bound to the Kabbalah Tree of Life in the Sea of ​​Souls, vanished. At the same time, Shinji Ikari held a metal rod with a red button at its tip!

He raised his hand, as if drawn by some unseen force, lifting him up and shouting as he pressed the button!

—Descend, Ultraman Lipiah!!!

The path to godhood requires endless killing! :: *Hero*

"This...this is impossible..."

SEELE screamed hysterically.

The evil giant looked down at its hands, its body, which should have belonged to a god, now seemed to tremble. The black lines on its face twisted in fear, anger, and disbelief.

Why does this kid suddenly possess the same power as them?

They had already taken over the giant's body, and they had already taken away all of the giant's power!

The results of fifteen years of planning and preparation, the result of scheming and manipulation, why did Shinji Ikari suddenly possess them?

Why?! Why is this happening?!

"Adam! What have you done?!" SEELE's shriek exploded in everyone's minds. "You gave our power to that brat?!"

"The contract! We signed a contract! You broke it—"

"I didn't break the contract~~~" Kaworu's voice pierced through the aged roars. Bound by countless branches of life, his smile, like the last star before dawn, was filled with boundless joy.

"You have simply never truly tried to understand the power of this light... Perhaps it is indeed illogical, but that is precisely what makes it a miracle, isn't it?"

"Light is given only to those who deserve it."

He watched the giant transform into light and depart, and said with a carefree smile.

"Then, please say goodbye to Shinji for me."

The giant remained silent, transforming into a link of light to escape from evil.