Godzilla Earth: Origin (Patreon)

Volume 2 Chapter 104: The Cosmic Picture (Part 4)

The "Demon Star" is the name given to a monster that has reached the ultimate stage of the Monster phenomena.

“When monsters completely destroy civilization, some of them choose to live on in the newly formed ecosystem.”

“But others… become the Demon Star.”

The scroll unfurled once more, revealing two contrasting scenes. In one, a monster that had evolved to a size surpassing mountains was playing with some strange, unknown creatures in a bizarre new ecological system.

In the other, a monster had ceased its activity. Around it, countless plants extended their roots and vines, connecting themselves to its body.

The images in the scroll flowed like a living tapestry. In the scene where the monster was still alive, only natural ecological changes were visible—ordinary evolution, ordinary decay.

But in the scene where the monster had stopped moving, the visuals became increasingly strange.

Within the unfolding scroll, the monster's body gradually vanished. In its place, an unimaginably lush forest emerged.

The forest blotted out the sky. Countless forms of life were thriving within it, and it appeared vibrant and full of energy.

However, this vibrant forest was vastly different from an ordinary one—every plant in it had its roots interconnected.

In essence, they were all extensions of a single organism.

Much like a banyan tree—except this one was infinitely larger than even the largest banyan on Earth.

Many in one, one in many—this was the nature of the forest.

And beyond that, the material composition of the forest began to subtly shift.

It was gradually… becoming something other than biological.

The monster’s dissolution was beginning to reveal something else entirely.

Time passed.

“After the Demon Star transformation begins, the ecological environment undergoes radical change. The original monster is replaced by a new kind of plant life, which begins to envelop the planet that gave birth to it.”

Exif’s voice echoed in everyone's ears.

One image showed an ordinary primordial world, while the other depicted something utterly surreal.

In the scene where the monster had disappeared, the forest continued to expand, growing taller.

Even on the ocean’s surface, floating forests appeared, with roots reaching deep into the earth. Traces of these roots could be found several kilometers down in the bedrock.

At this scale—kilometers deep—the purpose of the roots was no longer to nourish the surface structures.

Now, the roots themselves had become the main body. The surface structures were, in contrast, becoming the less significant part.

Beneath the earth, the roots entwined and fused. Before the incredulous eyes of the human representatives, the roots began to wrap around each other.

Then—ignition.

A nuclear fusion reaction erupted between the roots, and, astonishingly, the roots actually contained the fury of the fusion fire.

Just like thousands of years ago, when that ancient monster was first created by the Monster phenomena—fusion fire ignited within a living organism.

These roots were now departing from any natural form, evolving into a higher existence. That existence was the monster once again. And this time, its volume was—

20 billion cubic kilometers.

This forest could no longer be called a forest.

These forests had now gradually transformed their uppermost leaves into a type of silicon solar panel, beginning an endless process of renewal.

Using the energy from the underground nuclear fusion within the roots and the materials they gathered, they were replacing their own structure—

Achieving an ascension.

The forest was no longer a carbon-based lifeform. Its structure had been replaced with an entirely new material—something that transcended human understanding of physics.

At this very moment, it would be more accurate to say the forest was the planet’s new surface, rather than just part of its ecosystem.

The planet’s entire land and oceans were now enveloped by the "forest."

Oceans and mountains alike had been unified under a single forest that rose thousands of meters high—far taller than any skyscraper on Earth.

It had smoothed out all the irregularities of the planetary surface. In its presence, everything was equal. Human vision could no longer penetrate its upper canopy to glimpse what lay below.

The roots and the forest had taken over the planet’s crust. The entire world was now shrouded by the “monster,” becoming—without a doubt—a monster planet.

But the truly unfathomable developments were still to come.

Just before that could be revealed, the scroll came to an end.

The alien representative gently touched his own hand, and the scroll vanished completely.

Then, with a tone of regret, he said:

“After the envelopment, what happens next… even we, the Exif, cannot observe.”

“But through interpreting the oracles, we suspect that a monster undergoing Demon Star transformation extends its being into the planetary core—merging with the planet itself.”

“And when the fusion is complete, that is the moment of the Demon Star’s true birth. A fully awakened Demon Star, like the Monster phenomena, will begin attacking civilizations.”

“But unlike the Monster phenomena, the Demon Star only targets civilizations that have already survived the Monster phenomena.”

“Our homeworld—the Exif’s—and the homeworld of the Bilusaludo civilization, were both destroyed by Demon Stars.”

“That… is the picture of the universe.”

At this point, the Exif’s story about their past came to an end.

From his words, it wasn’t difficult for the council members to piece together the cosmic picture:

For ordinary civilizations, there are the monster phenomena.

For civilizations that survive them… there are the Demon Stars.

It was a picture of the universe steeped in despair.

But if a Demon Star was just a living planet, then perhaps all was not lost. Perhaps the future still held possibilities—still held hope.

At the very least, compared to their earlier fears of neutron stars, white dwarfs, and black holes, it didn’t seem quite as terrible.

“Thank you very much for your explanation,” said Ludwig, shaking the representative’s hand in gratitude.

Meanwhile, the other council members chatted amongst themselves about the Demon Star, their moods relatively light.

As they whispered among themselves, discussing the not-so-secret secrets of the Demon Star, the Bilusaludo ambassador sitting nearby began to show visible impatience.

It was as if something had enraged him. He raised his voice, cutting through the hushed murmurs:

“The Demon Star is not something that simple!”

The murmuring ceased. The conference room fell silent.

“The Demon Star, huh? If it were just a living planet, we Bilusaludo would’ve destroyed them long ago! The Demon Star is far more than just a planet.”

“You Exif… I don’t know why you’ve kept silent on what the Demon Star truly is. But I’ll say it here, right now. The Demon Star is not what you think it is!”

“The four Demon Stars we Bilusaludo encountered—”

“They were singularities themselves!”