Chapter 561: NERV's Rebellion
Due to the majority of the defensive forces being pinned down by the external combat and the arrival of the EVA-Titan, paired with Ryoji Kaji's internal tactical support, the rebel forces led by Misato Katsuragi advanced with extreme rapidity.
They breached line after line, quickly seizing control of the command center, major thoroughfares, and several critical facilities. Protected only by a handful of personal bodyguards, Gendo Ikari and Kozo Fuyutsuki were forced to evacuate the command center, retreating into even more covert, deep sectors. Their long-orchestrated plans had sustained an unprecedented, devastating blow.
Meanwhile, on the surface battlefield.
Unit-01 finally made its arduous way before the massive, white female form. The Spear of Cassius remained deeply embedded within its chest, the dark, matte spear body forming a stark contrast against the surrounding white, slightly glassified tissue. Around the spear shaft, faint, unstable light still flickered within the dense network of fractures.
Unit-01 extended its giant palm, gripping the hilt of the Spear of Cassius. A wondrous, gentle yet resolute energy surged along the point of contact into Unit-01, and directly into Shinji's body. This was not the kind of power held by the Lance of Longinus, which was thick with the nuance of termination; it felt like a burgeoning spark of life, embedding infinite possibilities.
"For... Rei..." Shinji murmured under his breath, exhausting every ounce of his strength to violently pull the long spear out!
No blood sprayed out; only a stream of soft, colorful light temporarily overflowed from the wound. The silhouette of the white female form seemed to fluctuate slightly, but it did not immediately disintegrate.
Immediately following, Unit-01 shifted the Spear of Cassius to its left hand, while its right hand reached toward the "Cherubim-Type I" grenade mounted onto its waist restraint. Recalling the operation used to strip away the Ninth Angel previously, he precisely tossed the grenade directly into the wound carved out by the long spear.
The pure azure purification light ignited once more, but this time, the illumination appeared significantly softer and far more selective. The light seeped into the interior of the white female form like flowing water. Wherever it passed, those alienated, dark-red tissues and energy lines belonging to Zeruel were rapidly decomposed and neutralized, liquefying into clear fluid that poured out.
Meanwhile, the yellow armor fragments belonging to Unit-00's original chassis, along with the faint soul wavelength belonging to Rei Ayanami deep within, fought to sustain themselves amidst the purification light—resembling a candle flame flickering violently in a gale, yet ultimately refusing to extinguish.
It was working! The purification process was definitively separating the Angel's contamination!
Shinji watched this transpire with bated breath, hope reigniting fiercely within his heart.
Ryo observed the purification process through the Titan's sensors, nodding slightly: "Biological tissue separation proceeding smoothly, pilot soul wavelength stable... There is a possibility of rescuing her back. But it will require time, alongside a more stable environment."
He turned his gaze back toward the direction of NERV Headquarters. The sound of the internal firefight appeared to be dampening; Misato Katsuragi and Kaji should have fundamentally secured the situation.
However, his psionic perception told him that the "source" deep underground was turning increasingly active due to the removal of the Lance of Longinus. Having lost its most critical seal, Lilith's main body was accelerating its awakening from its prolonged dormancy. It had to be re-sealed before she fully recovered her vitality or was exploited once more by SEELE or Gendo Ikari.
"Asuka," Ryo's voice rose, "The surface threats are temporarily cleared, but the crisis deep underground has only just begun. Lilith is awakening. We need to go down and utilize the spear in your hand to complete the seal once more."
Asuka looked at the earth beneath her feet, then at the heavy Lance of Longinus grasped in her hand, taking a deep breath.
"I am ready, Doctor."
Inside NERV Headquarters, the sound of gunfire gradually thinned out. The rebel forces established defensive lines across various critical nodes, beginning to systematically clear out the remaining resisting forces and taking over the operations of the respective departments.
Misato Katsuragi stood before the main control console, which had partially recovered its functions, looking at the status of the various sectors on the screens with a tightly furrowed brow. Although they had seized Headquarters, with the external threats of the Angels and EVAs paired with the internal risk of Lilith spiraling out of control, the situation remained far from optimistic.
"Miss Misato," Ritsuko Akagi's voice came over the communications, carrying a trace of urgency, "The vital activity signals in Central Dogma are climbing sharply! Lilith's awakening velocity is exceeding expectations! We must re-establish the seal as quickly as possible!"
"I know!" Misato responded, directing her gaze toward the feed transmitted from the external battlefield. "Dr. Ryo and Asuka... they are preparing to head down."
On the surface, the EVA-Titan dropped to one knee, its heavy mass causing the ground to vibrate slightly. Ryo leaped lightly off its head, landing cleanly onto the massive, extended palm of the white Unit-03.
"Let's go, we don't have much time," Ryo spoke to Asuka inside the cockpit.
Unit-03 nodded, tightening its grip on the Lance of Longinus while using its other hand to cautiously shield Ryo within its palm, walking toward the massive subterranean breach exposed during the prior impact at NERV Headquarters.
With every single step closer, they could more clearly perceive the massive spiritual pressure diffusing upward from the extreme depths, causing their very souls to tremble. It was a bizarre aura interwoven with the vaster essence of life's origin and the total silence of death, the air appearing thick with invisible droplets of LCL that carried a faint, sweet, metallic scent.
Cutting through layers of fractured armor plating and twisted metal frameworks, Unit-03 bore Ryo down a destroyed vertical shaft, beginning its descent. The surrounding light dimmed rapidly, leaving only Unit-03's own illumination systems and the dark-red glow radiating from the Lance of Longinus to carve out a small visible zone within the endless darkness.
The further down they went, the more intense that spiritual pressure originating from Lilith's main body became. Asuka felt her breathing turn slightly difficult—not merely in a physical sense, but as a tight constriction on a spiritual plane. The LCL inside the Entry Plug seemed to turn viscous as well, as if countless microscopic whispers were rising within her brain, tempting, murmuring, and speaking of returning to primitive tranquility and supreme bliss.
"Steady your mind, Asuka," Ryo's calm voice rose once more, carrying a psionic anchoring effect that dispelled those invisible psychic erosions. "Lilith's consciousness has yet to fully awaken; this is merely the instinctive field radiated by her mere existence. Focus on your mission, and remember exactly what you are protecting."
Asuka bit the tip of her tongue forcefully, the sudden pain clearing her mind a fraction. "I know... Doctor."
Finally, a dark-red, pulsing glow resembling biological tissue surfaced below. Unit-03 cut through the final twisted isolation barrier, landing cleanly upon the forbidden lakeside platform within Central Dogma.
The spectacle before their eyes appeared far more shocking, and far more... perilous, than what Ryo had witnessed during his prior covert infiltration. That boundless, crimson sea of LCL was no longer at peace. The lake water churned violently as if boiling, massive bubbles continuously rising from the lakebed and rupturing, diffusing a thick scent of LCL throughout the chamber.