EVA: Shinji Ikari Returns from Tiga

Chapter 22 I, believe that He is the light of mankind.

"Eh…?"

Because the giant of light that she had always believed in suddenly appeared, Suzuhara Sakura was so excited that she danced with joy and was speechless.

Naturally, there is no way to make an accurate response to this sudden natural disaster.

"cherry!!"

Suzuhara Touji rushed over frantically and protected Suzuhara Sakura under him...but anyone could see that this unwise move would only increase the number of people buried alive in the rubble by one more.

"Suzuhara-kun!!!"

Dong Mu Guang screamed in despair. He originally thought it was a miracle that allowed him and his group to survive like in a dream, but he did not expect such a turn of events to happen in the end.

God, if all of this... is truly a script arranged by you, then... you are too cruel.

But - this horrific tragedy did not happen in front of Dong Muguang.

At the moment when the sharp and heavy steel and rubble were about to crush the Suzuhara siblings... a huge silver hand stretched out like a god descending from heaven.

Moreover, with the movement of this giant hand surrounded by light, all the debris defied gravity... and inexplicably froze in the air.

"...The giant... saved... us?"

The expected severe pain and death did not come. Suzuhara Touji opened his eyes, which had already awakened, in a daze, but saw the majestic figure of Ultraman Tiga, which was full of divinity.

After defeating the apostles, the giant of light, which had protected humanity twice before, did not dissipate directly this time. Instead, it extended a hand of hope to the children who were about to die.

"Brother! Sister Dongmu! Hurry up and get up--!"

Looking at the huge palm that Tiga stretched out in front of everyone, Suzuhara Sakura understood what Tiga meant.

He immediately took the hands of Suzuhara Touji and Doki Mitsuru and climbed up the palm of Tiga's hand like climbing a mountain.

Although the two were still frightened by this unknown giant creature, they knew that he had undoubtedly died at the hands of the apostles, so they climbed up obediently.

He held the three of them gently in his hands, as if they were delicate flowers, without giving them any pressure, only pure love and care.

After bringing them out of the collapsed air-raid shelter and confirming that there were no other survivors, Shinji Ikari released his Ultra Telekinesis, and the concrete that had been frozen in mid-air resumed falling, completely burying the air-raid shelter in an instant.

After finding a safe place, he carefully placed Suzuhara Sakura and the other two on the ground... The moment when Ultraman Tiga rescued the human child from the rubble and placed him in a safe place was also keenly captured by a reporter hiding in the corner with a camera.

“…Really? You actually did something like this to me.”

Shinji Ikari murmured unhappily, looking towards the ruins of the air-raid shelter.

The man who could not be seen by the human eye, avoided all surveillance and spies, and moved quietly to this area...but he could not escape the Eye of Tiga.

Kaji Ryoji - how could it be possible that the shelter that he had calculated would not collapse collapsed at such a perfect time just when he had defeated the Sixth Angel?

The Eye of Ultra saw clearly that it was this man who found the best opportunity and calmly detonated the small explosives, collapsing the ceiling.

The large number of reporters who suddenly appeared around were naturally not just passing by... they were all called by the cunning man Ryoji Kaji.

I guess the purpose of all this is that Kaji Ryoji wants him to take the initiative to save Suzuhara and the other three... No, at the beginning he probably just wanted to confirm whether Ultraman Tiga, an unknown life form different from the apostles, would lend a helping hand to humans.

He wanted to confirm whether Tiga was fighting the apostles simply because he wanted to hunt them down... or to protect humanity.

So they directed such a farce... and let the mainstream media capture the moment when Ultraman Tiga saved humanity like a god.

...What is this man up to?

I must take this opportunity to test it out——

The power of light has been completely exhausted. Shinji Ikari canceled Tiga's transformation, and the giant of light once again turned into a stream of light in the sky, disappearing in the dim sunset.

However, this time, what He left to mankind... was a treasure called hope.

…………

……

…"Shinji-kun!!!"

When Shinji Ikari opened his eyes again, he saw the snow-white ceiling.

The pungent smell of disinfectant and the feeling of every part of his body aching made Shinji Ikari even regret waking up.

…Oh, right—

When he transformed into Tiga, he did not use Shinji Ikari's body... but before he transformed, he did use EVA Unit-01 to withstand a particle cannon.

Without the protection of the AT force field... Unit 01's armor was almost melted instantly, and the high temperature almost cooked me alive while I was inserted into the plug.

If I didn't have the power of light...when Misato and the others dug me out, they would definitely see only a pot of soup.

"Great, you're okay..."

Shinji Ikari knew that he would not die, but Misato Katsuragi did not know.

From Misato Katsuragi's perspective, the EVA was severely damaged by the Sixth Angel, completely silenced. All observation systems within the plug were destroyed, including the pilot's vital energy.

Misato Katsuragi had once been mentally prepared for the fact that Shinji Ikari had died heroically in the fight with the Angel, but when she saw that Shinji Ikari actually opened his eyes again, she was naturally ecstatic.

"...I'm fine, Miss Misato... Where are the apostles? How's Asuka..."

Not wanting to expose his connection with Tiga, Shinji Ikari pretended to be awakened from a dream.

Anyway, when he transformed into Tiga, he had already confirmed that all the instruments inserted into the plug were damaged by the high temperature of the particle cannon. The people at NERV had no way of confirming whether he was still unconscious inside the plug or had disappeared.

"Don't worry, Shinji-kun and the Angel have been defeated, and Asuka is fine. She wasn't directly hit by the particle cannon like you were, and her injuries were much less serious. She can now be discharged from the hospital."

"…The apostle was defeated!? Was it Asuka, or was it Ayanami?"

“…Yes, the Giant of Light.”

There was a sense of relief in Misato Katsuragi's voice. It seemed that the fact that the Giant of Light would protect humanity and defeat the apostles had already had a significant impact on the humans in this world.

“Yeah…”

"Shinji-kun, you don't sound that strange."

"Ah... yes, because... I'm sorry, Miss Misato. I lied to you before... Actually, when I first met the apostle, I saw the giant of light. So I already knew that it was him who defeated the fourth apostle. So... if he appears again, I won't care."

Shinji Ikari decided to reveal some of the information. After all, he was present at the first crusade against the Angels, and it would be too fake to say that he had never seen it.

"As expected, I knew it—"

Katsuragi Misato also smiled, as expected. Clearly, she didn't believe Ikari Shinji's previous claim that he had never seen it.

"Shinji-kun—"

Suddenly, Misato Katsuragi looked serious and asked with a serious face.

"...Do you... think that giant is our enemy or our friend?"

Shinji Ikari was stunned for a moment. For a moment... he couldn't understand why Misato Katsuragi asked him this question. However...

But no matter what her true intention was, Shinji Ikari's answer was the same.

"...Ms. Katsuragi. I am... a childish person.

I believe that hard work will be rewarded, sin will be punished, and kindness will bring happiness.

This world should be like this—so, since there are apostles... unreasonable violence, it is natural that there will also be...

The existence that corresponds to the apostles' unreasonable and unjustified destruction is without reason and does not need to be protected by a purpose.

Protecting humanity and the Earth—I believe He is the light of humanity."

(End of this chapter)