Chapter 115: Battle of the Colossi 1

"The... the other one."

Saeko muttered to herself in a daze, held within his arms.

The Godzilla that had swatted the atomic breath back into its opponent's belly had appeared in everyone's line of sight for the first time.

Compared to the bizarre and grotesque form of the Tokyo Godzilla, this one’s physical texture did not resemble rock; rather, it looked like the skin of a living reptile. Its thick, sturdy body was brimming with power, and its fluid contours gave it a wild, primitive beauty akin to an ancient creature.

In short—this guy looked like a normal biological entity capable of putting up a hell of a fight! It was worlds apart from the mutated form of the Tokyo Godzilla.

Its beastly eyes were clouded with a mix of anger and hesitation. Seeing such complex emotions on a monster, almost everyone present began to wonder if their brains had been fried by radiation.

"ROAR!"

The sound was slightly different from that of the Tokyo Godzilla, and even from hundreds of meters away, it was intense enough to rupture human eardrums. The swirling concrete dust and debris were whipped into a turbulent gale by the sheer lung capacity of the gargantuan beast's roar.

"That seems to be... a challenge?"

Hakuto Kyo, along with the other survivors, stepped out from their cover, his expression one of shock. He could vaguely detect emotions in the roar of the "Orthodox" Godzilla, but because the blood he had consumed was from the Tokyo Godzilla, his understanding was limited to sensing "emotion" without grasping the "content."

Without a doubt, unlike the Tokyo Godzilla, a creature possessing such complex emotions and methods of communication had intelligence no less than that of a human.

Faced with the challenge from its kin, the Tokyo Godzilla’s gaze remained as vacant as ever. Only the jagged dorsal fins on its back saw their spectrum shift once more toward high-energy purple.

"Zzzzt—"

A white-glowing purple beam shot directly toward the head of the Orthodox Godzilla! Since the other had initiated the conflict, there was no need for hesitation!

The Orthodox Godzilla raised its arms to shield its face.

Charge!

The atomic ray, capable of melting skyscrapers in an instant, could not penetrate the opponent's dermal defenses in such a short time. Amidst the thunderous sound of footsteps, the Orthodox Godzilla bore down with the momentum of a mountain slamming into the earth.

It covered the distance of hundreds of meters in just two strides. Braving the energy beam, it slammed its shoulder into the obsidian-like, jagged chest of its opponent!

"BOOM!"

The collision of flesh between the two giants detonated a shockwave that instantly cleared a sphere of dust-free space amidst the debris-strewn ruins.

"Retreat, retreat, retreat!" A Self-Defense Force officer, saved by Takemoto Hisayasu, leaned against the old man and screamed at the top of his lungs. The mere air displacement from the Godzillas' movements was enough to blow people away, let alone the deafening sound.

"The plan has failed! Fall back immediately!"

With that, he led the remaining survivors away. Passing the martial artists, he didn't forget to drag them along. Wakatsuki forcibly pulled Kaneda Suekichi, who looked as if he had just seen a god, toward the rear, shouting at Hakuto Kyo as they moved.

"Hakuto, we have to go! Remaining here is not bravery, it’s stupidity!"

Kuroki Gensai also chose to retreat after a brief moment of intense observation. Just as Saeko was preparing to leave, she noticed the tall, burly youth beside her standing motionless.

"Senior, you and Master go ahead. I still have to take care of something here."

"Kyo, you're doing this again..."

Saeko realized immediately, her voice tinged with anger. But having refined her swordsmanship for over a decade, she quickly suppressed her negative emotions, forcing her voice to remain calm.

"I understand. Be careful."

In the end, she could not hinder her husband’s path to strength. No matter how worried or reluctant she felt, she had to make this choice.

After she left, the youth tore off his hazmat suit.

"Phew! Much better!"

Another shockwave from the titans’ collision swept past, blowing away the tattered remains of the suit. The youth stood atop the ruins, his expression vibrant with excitement as he stared at the two Godzillas locked in a stalemate. It was exactly as he felt when he stood in the arena facing an opponent.

"They say that if the Tokyo Godzilla continues to evolve, it will grow wings and its range of activity will span the globe. And every single cell has the potential to become an individual. A monster capable of overturning the Earth’s biosphere single-handedly—truly terrifying."

The youth’s expression was solemn, as if he were genuinely worried about this final battle against the enemy of Earth's ecology. However, after only a moment, he couldn't help but let out a snicker.

"Ha, haha! Being this serious feels so awkward." After laughing, a savage grin crept onto Hakuto Kyo's lips. His eyes turned sharp, entering a state of combat. "At the end of the day, I just want to fight you guys and pick up some of that Orthodox Godzilla blood along the way!"

...

The Tokyo Godzilla stumbled back after the shoulder ram, but immediately, a massive beastly claw slapped across its face!

"BOOM!"

The monster, already having lost its center of gravity, was sent sprawling to the ground. As the earth shook, the architectural ruins were crushed even further beneath it.

But just as the Orthodox Godzilla prepared to take advantage of the fall and stomp its sturdy foot onto the opponent's head, the Tokyo Godzilla, still prone, fired its atomic breath from its dorsal fins like a hedgehog!

"嗡—"

A purple beam of light, slightly thinner than the one fired from its mouth, flickered and left three or four smoking burn marks on the Orthodox Godzilla’s body. Although such minor rays were painless, they caused the giant to pause.

Its beastly eyes were filled with confusion. *Since when could dorsal fins be used like that?*

But it didn't matter. Having realized this "kin" lacked true intelligence, the Orthodox Godzilla decided to show no mercy. Its massive, pillar-like foot prepared to crush the opponent's skull.

Suddenly, a hundred-meter-long tail whipped through the air with a piercing whistle, aimed at the Orthodox Godzilla's neck.

"CRACK!"

Even a human, wielding a whip-like weapon, can create a sonic boom at the tip. When this hundred-meter tail was swung by the superhuman muscles of a Godzilla, the sheer air pressure was enough to overturn abandoned trams on the ground! When it collided with the neck, the resulting explosion of sound sent a shockwave visible from kilometers away!

"ROAR!"

The Orthodox Godzilla tilted under the impact, giving its opponent time to rise. But getting up wouldn't change anything. The Tokyo Godzilla’s withered, deformed short arms were useless in close-quarters combat.

Another swipe of a claw.

The thick beastly paw raked across the obsidian-like skin—skin that had withstood continuous strikes from the human world’s most advanced high-energy explosives and kinetic weapons without a scratch. Under the force of the claw, the flesh was torn directly from the body, and great sprays of fluorescent blood and meat were splattered across the land of Tokyo like a wild, abstract ink painting.

"GRAAAH!"

"ROAR!"

The Tokyo Godzilla, truly injured, let out a roar so intense that the heat from its concentrated radiation distorted the air around it.

But why was the Orthodox Godzilla also roaring?

Its thick, sturdy, sky-high silhouette was swatting at its own body as if a human were swatting at mosquitoes. On its reptile-like skin, dozens of derivative entities were digging into it with sharp fangs and claws, as if excavating a mine shaft!