Godzilla Earth: Origin - Book 1: Chapter 54: "Monster" (2)

What is a monster?

What truly distinguishes a monster from a beast?

Is it their size?

Their destructive power?

Or is it whether they harbor hostility or enmity toward humanity?

No, none of these things.

The true difference between monsters and beasts is… understanding.

Beasts are creatures within the realm of the ordinary, while monsters transcend reason and human comprehension.

Now, at this very moment, the monarch of monsters presented itself to the world.

From within its headless body erupted a beam of light brighter than a thousand suns.

The light pierced through the atmosphere, striking a distant city with unbelievable speed, dimming the world.

A city was erased just like that.

Godzilla’s headless body continued forward, emitting an unimaginable surge of energy through its breath.

Like a god, and yet like a demon.

Like nature’s greatest creation, and yet like the destroyer of all things in the world.

Godzilla’s body, with its alternating shades of blue and white, left a deep impression on people’s hearts.

All the people in the world were watching this scene now, and deep within their hearts, something seemed to shatter.

Monsters are beings that transcend human understanding.

At this moment, the whole world understood.

Click.

The live broadcast ended.

The authorities cut off all satellite communications, and the censorship that had just been lifted on the internet was reactivated. They wanted to prevent the spread of information about Godzilla as much as possible, hoping people would forget the scene they had just witnessed.

But it was too late.

Images in the mind couldn’t be blocked, and they couldn’t be forgotten either.

As Godzilla’s headless body continued to devastate the city ahead, it unleashed the energy it had accumulated during its head explosion. The power was on par with its previous super breath, detonating dozens of kilometers away.

It was time.

Another super fireball. Under the fireball’s blaze, Godzilla continued forward, accumulating energy once again after the breath attack. Three minutes later, while the previous fireball had yet to dissipate, another super breath was unleashed towards the yet unconquered city ahead.

Multiple breath attacks exploded over Hokkaido, causing the entire world to darken. Only a few nuclear fireballs representing death gleamed in the sky.

Under the extreme contrast between the darkness behind and the intense brightness ahead, Godzilla’s headless body seemed like the demonic ruler of the deepest hell, bringing destruction to everything before it.

Just like Gravodamony 16 days ago, Hokkaido was thoroughly obliterated under Godzilla’s breath.

Standing on the ruins of Hokkaido, Godzilla’s headless body couldn’t witness its own masterpiece. However, through its ultra-power sonar, it could still discern that the whole of Hokkaido within its sensory range had been completely obliterated.

But it wasn’t over yet.

Godzilla’s rampage of destruction was far from finished.

Continuing its march through the devastated remains of Hokkaido, Godzilla used human radar to guide itself towards the few remaining small cities in the Far East. It aimed to wipe out any trace of humanity from this island, leaving nothing behind.

Twenty-four breath attacks were unleashed from the severed neck, hitting city after city.

Due to its lack of a head, Godzilla couldn’t emit radiation-laden breath attacks anymore. Nevertheless, it repeatedly unleashed its attacks on the cities, turning them into molten lava before moving on.

Finally… was it done now, or was there more to do? Or should it evolve first?

Thinking upon the smoldering ruins, Godzilla contemplated whether it should continue decimating the rest of the Far East or evolve before proceeding.

It decided to evolve first.

Not having a head was a hassle; it couldn’t even aim its breath properly. Thus, its priority was to regrow its head.

After destroying the last city, Godzilla made its way to the coast, preparing to return to the embrace of the ocean.

And at that moment, several small dots in the sky, moving at 50 times the speed of sound, descended from beyond the atmosphere toward Godzilla.

Falling from the highest heavens, they created layers of sonic booms as they struck Godzilla’s body.

Due to its lack of eyes, Godzilla didn’t perceive those dots. In the next second, the nuclear fireballs blossomed upon its body.

One, two, three, four, five…

Nuclear rain fell like a shower. It was the most radiant and scorching rain in the world.

Standing in the rain of nuclei, Godzilla stood tall, unflinching and unafraid, enduring this rain. Then, it emitted a sound that shouldn’t have existed.

“Roarrrrrr!!”

Amidst the nuclear rain, Godzilla roared to the sky.

…

April 1, 2208, 8:17 AM.

Having lost its head, Godzilla, which should have fallen into silence, reactivated. After decimating the remaining cities of Hokkaido and the seventeen other cities in the Far East, it attempted to return to the depths of the ocean.

At 8:22 AM, the latest creation of the United Government, the Z-1 nuclear missile, was launched from a North American missile base and struck Godzilla a few minutes later.

The first seven Z-1 nuclear missiles caused extensive melting on Godzilla’s surface.

The next four caused significant sublimation outside the molten layer.

The remaining ten missiles caused Godzilla’s overall melting rate to exceed ten percent. It was estimated that at least 200,000 tons of Godzilla’s matter melted, with more than 10,000 tons being sublimated.

At 8:42 AM, the nuclear strike ended. Godzilla still retained mobility and combat capabilities.

It stood within a crater formed by the continuous nuclear strikes, its body emitting a red light. It appeared to have melted considerably, yet also seemed…

Unharmed.

Even though it lacked eyes at this moment, I had a feeling. It was as if it were looking at me, or rather, looking at all of us.

A monster, beyond reason and human comprehension.

At 9:20 AM, Godzilla entered the Pacific Ocean, evading pursuit by the Pacific Fleet with its superior speed. Finally, it disappeared into the depths of the Pacific.

How long would it be until the next time Godzilla surfaced?

…

As I write down this record, I have a premonition. I feel that perhaps in the near future, the era belonging to humans will come to a complete end, and the era belonging to monsters will dawn.

A foolish premonition, truly. There’s only Godzilla left among the Titans. How could there possibly be an era of monsters? Other than Godzilla, there are no other Titans left on Earth.

Could they fly over from other planets?