Chapter 35: Longinus

Chapter 35:
Longinus

 

Final Model brought the blade of the Bizen down on Armaros, and she blocked it with her serpent head gauntlet. The two giants were locked in a test of strength, casting their shadows over the forest.

<<The world to come…has been prepared.>>

Shinji didn’t know what to do against Hikari/Armaros anymore.

<<There is no reason…for the future of this world.>>

Could he really persuade her to stop?

Asuka’s tragic “Probably not” sank into his mind. Could he bring himself to defeat Hikari if it came to it? But even if he were to sacrifice Hikari, the tidings from Hakone weren’t exactly optimistic. Shinji and Final Model would simply become the new Armaros in her place. His heart would be consumed by the enemy.

There was no solution.

His head was burning up. He had to come up with a way out of this.

The Platypus-2 fighter jet was still in the air, but Toji had grown quieter and quieter. All the big words they’d said in Hakone before heading out seemed pathetic now.

Never mind that. What am I going to do with Horaki-san?!

<<Nerv Japan Super Eva coded Evangelion, step away from Armaros!>>

A shout came through the open communication frequency several dozens of kilometers out in the ocean.

“Huh?! Who’s there?!” Shinji said.

<<Hang on, that’s JSSDF code!>>

Before Toji could confirm it, one of Akashima’s wingmen—Shrike Two, equipped with the same engine as the Platypus-2—approached them to clarify the warning.

<<Final Model, you have six artillery shells coming your way! Impact in—>>

“Whoa!”

Final Model activated his wings of light and dashed away. Taking advantage of the opening, Armaros pointed her rifle at him, but…

<<Zero!>>

The ground shook as the six rounds kicked up a heavy dust cloud. The explosion covered the entirety of Armaros’ giant body, and the shock wave was enough to raze the trees around them.

<<This is the JSSDF Yamato. Super Eva—no, Final Model—we have a special delivery from Hakone for you. Freshly air dropped from Ogasawara.>>

Nerv took their spare reactors and refurbished old World War II antiques with them. It was the first time the battleship had fired her six guns loaded with two-ton artillery shells in fifty years. With the exception of ceremonial shellings, of course.

<<Damage report!>>

<<That’s crazy! Hikari?!>>

As chaos descended on the communication line, the black giant charged out of the smoke.

Was Armaros unharmed?

No, she was missing her left arm. She threw away the grip still clutched in her right hand.

<<Everyone…is so…mean…>>

The black giant spoke with Hikari’s voice. Just as it looked like she was about to tackle Final Model, she crumbled into millions of Q.R. Signums.

“Urgh!”

Final Model pulled his Bizen out of the ground and swiped it left and right. He managed to swat most of the Q.R. Signums away, breaking the black scales with his A.T. Field, especially the ones that were encroaching on his wings of light.

“Dammit!” Shinji barely found purchase. Were the scales warping in and out of existence? He couldn’t waste any more time with them. He looked in the direction of the voice, at the growing storm of Q.R. Signums behind it.

<<Kodama…help me…>>

The words were no mere cry of pain. Q.R. Signums gathered behind her as Final Model rushed her.

Shinji readied the Bizen. But then a large, Eva-sized shadow lumbered out of the artillery smoke. He noticed it too late.

A spindle slammed into Final Model.

“Gah!”

The 3,500-ton Eva tumbled from the sudden impact. He noticed the weapon before it slipped out of his wavering vision.

A sling… No!

The Torwächter weapon.

Armaros had manifested her messenger upon the invocation of her sister’s name. The black giant’s signature plate had sprouted from her back. It extended into the ground, piercing it. A warp tunnel appeared, and out of it came the hollow suit of armor.

With the addition of this black messenger, Euro Eva’s transformation into Armaros was almost complete.

The Torwächter stepped from the smoke.

“An empty suit of armor is no match for me now!”

Final Model was on his knees. He dashed toward Armaros, avoiding another attack from the spindle. Rather than dealing with the Torwächter’s weapon, he was better off confronting Armaros head-on.

Final Model used his momentum to propel himself from his awkward position, but Armaros lifted her left arm at him.

Why the broken arm?

Shinji sensed danger. He brought the Bizen up at an angle, deliberately missing his swing and causing Final Model to fall forward. The spiral gauntlet wrapped around Armaros’ left arm extended like a serpent, piercing the air where Final Model’s head had just been, grazing him.

He knew this sensation.

“Toji! I think that’s the evolution of Heurtebise’s Field Piercer. The Devil’s Backbone, was it? Six’s Eva has something like it!”

The ground broke under the Eva’s weight, but he used the wings of light to regain his footing.

“Toji?!”

<<Shinji, she got me.>>

When the fog cleared, he saw that the Platypus-2 fighter jet was done for. A Q.R. Signum had pierced its N2 reactor, possibly while Armaros had been flying earlier.

<<Dammit! I didn’t know Q.R. Signums could drain N2 reactors!>>

“They can do that?! How…”

<<I’ve lost all control! I can’t eject—>>

“Hang in there, I’m coming!”

Final Model sped through the air, but the next words Shinji heard sealed Toji’s fate.

<<Toji…help me…>>

“No! Toji, don’t listen to her!”

A black strip extended from the ground as soon as the invocation was uttered. It engulfed the Platypus-2, wringing it like a dirty rag.

“Toji… Aaaargh!”

The black strip emitted the red glow of Q.R. Signum, and it pulsed as it took on a humanoid shape. A slim suit of black armor stood in the place of the Platypus-2, and the black strip became a black plate.

“Hakone command… Toji…is now a Torwächter.”

<<Hakone command to Final Model. What?! Say again!>>

“Toji turned into a Torwächter!”

The enemy didn’t spare Final Model, who now stood in a daze. The two black messengers, Torwächter Kodama and Torwächter Toji, touched their plates and spread apart, opening a square window between them, which showed recognizable terrain this time. The Ark. And from it crawled six winged Angel Carriers.

The Carriers surrounded Final Model while the Torwächters stepped through the window and were transported elsewhere.

Back on this side of the portal, the Bizen Osafune made a loud clang as it was knocked to the ground.

“Shinji!” Asuka called out.

Wolfpack had arrived.