"Hahaha, Kitazawa Ryota, do you think I would actually tell you? I, Ikari Gendō, have schemed for so many years—did you really think I would be without a final move?"
Gendō's face was deathly pale as he forced out a laugh. "No matter how far ahead you calculate, you could never predict this. You will never know where the replicas are. And just the same—the Godslayer Project will one day be set into motion again. The Fifth Impact will come. The Sixth, even the Seventh. Sooner or later, the god I have created will truly descend upon this land. My plan… will ultimately be fulfilled! Hahahahaha—!"
Gendō's laughter spiraled into madness. Then, lifting his gun, he pressed it to his own head.
"Wait—!"
Ryota had only just shouted out when Gendō pulled the trigger.
The bullet tore through his skull. Blood splattered across the floor.
Kitazawa Ryota stood in silence, staring down at the fallen Ikari Gendō. The man who had been humanity's most fanatical dreamer—the King of the Lilin—had met a most wretched end.
At that very moment, the ground trembled violently beneath him.
An alarm wailed throughout the command center:
"Self-destruct sequence activated. T-minus 60 seconds…"
"Ryota! It's bad—there are bombs all throughout the base! They're trying to blow this entire place sky-high!"
From above, the forms of Units 02 and 03 appeared, their pilots shouting down into the command chamber.
Ryota, stripped of Unit-01's armor, stood exposed—a sight that filled them with worry.
He knew in his heart: it was time for him to leave.
But then—
A lone figure stepped quietly into the room. She had golden hair, and wore a white dress. Her eyes lingered on the blood-drenched corpse of Gendō, brimming with grief.
"Dr. Akagi… you need to go. This place will blow any moment now," Ryota urged. Ritsuko Akagi, after all, had once been Misato's childhood friend—he could only try to persuade her.
"No. I won't leave. I will stay here with Gendō."
Her voice trembled as she looked upon him. "This is my fate. I cannot escape it, and I will not run."
"Ritsuko, you…"
Ryota's eyes softened with pity. "Why… why burden yourself so?"
She let out a bitter smile. "My mother and I… both loved the same man. My mother died for him. And I, too, can never escape that fate. I have no face left with which to meet Misato. Let me remain here—and sleep forever beside Commander Ikari."
Ryota fell silent, shaking his head. It was her choice. And the path one chooses… must be walked to the very end.
The three EVAs soared upward into the sky, vanishing into the blue.
Inside the NERV headquarters, the final seconds ticked down.
Ritsuko cradled Gendō's broken body in her arms, whispering softly:
"Gendō… in the end… at the very end, it is still I who remain at your side."
And then—
The explosion. Fire engulfed the underground fortress.
NERV—this place of legend—was obliterated in flame. But in the annals of human history, its shadow would never vanish.
High above, Kitazawa Ryota gazed down at the inferno below. His feelings were conflicted. Perhaps… this was the fate that had awaited Ikari Gendō and Akagi Ritsuko all along.
Back aboard the flagship, joy spread among the crew. The Fourth Impact had been averted. Gendō Ikari was dead. NERV was destroyed.
At last, humanity had no more enemies.
Now began the true work: rebuilding the world.
Three years passed in the blink of an eye.
During those years, WILLE carried on its mission of reconstruction. Humanity's survivors had raised a new city upon the ruins of Tokyo-3.
Its name was Jericho—after the first city in human history, as told in scripture. Where humanity had once perished, here it would begin anew.
Kitazawa Ryota devoted himself to the effort, aiding Misato wherever she went. Yet one shadow lingered in his heart: Gendō's dying words.
As long as the replicas of Ayanami Rei and Ikari Shinji existed, the risk of a Fifth Impact—or worse—remained.
Ryota searched the Earth, scouring every corner. Yet for three years, he never found them.
Nor had there been a single trace of Rei.
This absence weighed heavily upon him.
One moonlit night, as he stood alone beneath the pale sky, a thought came to him—a dangerous, inescapable thought.
If they were nowhere on Earth… then what about the Moon?
He remembered: NERV had once maintained a base there.
The idea lodged in his mind, a thorn that would not let go.
And so Ryota boarded Unit-01 and launched into the heavens.
Through cloud, through atmosphere, ever upward, until the Moon loomed before him.
At last, his feet touched its grey soil. His heart pounded with awe. This was the Moon—the frontier humanity had once longed to conquer.
Yet before him stood only ruins, derelict structures scattered across the barren land.
All but one. A small, unassuming base still remained. From it drifted laughter—warm, human laughter.
Ryota's pulse quickened. He guided Unit-01 closer.
The base was built of steel, low and compact, with a single transparent dome at its summit that revealed the endless void beyond.
Inside, life flourished: flowers, greenery, and in the center, a towering tree stretching up toward the dome.
And there—two figures.
A boy and a girl.
The boy had black hair, an unmistakably Japanese face.
The girl… her hair was blue as the sky, her eyes as calm as water.
Ryota's breath caught. The replicas. Shinji Ikari and Rei Ayanami—alive, and here.
They laughed together, carefree, as though this desolate place were paradise.
"Alright, time for bed. Tomorrow, I'll tell you more about how God created the world."
An old man entered, his voice gentle, his expression kind.
"Okay!"
The two replied in unison, respectful, hand in hand, as they went to rest.
From above, Ryota saw his face clearly—Fuyutsuki Kouzou.
So this was where he had hidden himself, nurturing these two like a grandfather.
Now he was only an old man, his twilight years etched across his face.
Ryota stood frozen. He could end it all here—erase the threat before it ever arose. Humanity would be safe.
But… what sin had they committed? They were only children—victims of fate, condemned to tragic roles not of their choosing.
His resolve faltered. Slowly, he backed away.
If another Impact came, it would strike here, on the Moon—not on Earth. Humanity's greatest enemy was not the Fifth Impact, nor the Sixth.
It had always been humanity itself.
He let out a long, weary sigh, and turned to leave.
Here, in this quiet place, the three could remain, undisturbed. Humanity's rebirth would take long, arduous years. By then, no one might ever discover them.
And then—
He saw her.
A shadow upon a high ridge, clad in a spacesuit.
Yet the moment he saw her eyes, he knew.
Hair the color of the sky, pale blue, shining in the darkness.
Rei.
Unit-01 froze. Their eyes locked across the distance, holding, refusing to break.
At last, Ryota smiled.
Across every mountain, across every sea—whatever storms the world may bring—if two souls choose to walk together, then they must hold fast, cherishing the present.
Their smiles blossomed slowly, silently, echoing in the starlit void.
P.S: To all my wonderful Webnovel supporters thank you from the bottom of my heart for staying with me on this journey all the way to the very end. Your encouragement, patience, and support made it possible for me to bring this story to its conclusion and share it with you in full. Even though this chapter closes here, the world of imagination and creation never truly ends — and I'm excited for the new stories we'll explore together.
This ending is as much yours as it is mine. Thank you for being part of it. 💙
(FIN)