Godzilla Earth: Origin (Patreon)

Volume 2 Chapter 113: Destoroyah – Monster (Part 5)

On the corpse of the fallen squad member, squirming bugs were happily tearing into his flesh.

Like a cat or dog whose body had been infested and rotting with maggots layer after layer, his entire body was decaying.

From the shattered chunks of his body, countless tiny insect-like creatures clad in armor were now exposed to everyone’s view.

These were the escaped components of the Destoroyah sample.

The sample that had been missing until now had finally been found.

But even so, no one among the team could bring themselves to feel relieved.

Because just moments ago, Destoroyah's threat had proven to be far more than simple physical destruction.

One minute earlier, that infected soldier had turned his head—but that was all he had moved.

His body remained completely still. His entire head had twisted a full 180 degrees in a way no normal human could manage. He stared at them, and his appearance had become completely inhuman.

His face no longer resembled a person, but rather some kind of large arthropod.

If it weren’t for the combat suit he still wore, they never would have believed this thing had been a healthy human being just ten minutes ago.

What had Destoroyah done?

How had it infected our teammate?

The exosuits were supposed to be airtight—so when, and how, had they breached that seal?

A quiet, creeping fear spread through every team member's heart.

“Switch to flamethrowers. Burn everything in this room to ash. And report to command immediately that Destoroyah appears to be airborne transmissible. Also—”

“Anyone experiencing itching symptoms, step aside and rest.”

The one who had just died had said his body was itching. That must be an early sign of infection.

To deal with the scattered Destoroyah micro-creatures—or “Destoroyah Microforms,” as the researchers called them—Gauss rifles were of little use. Flamethrowers were essential.

Even if the flamethrowers would incinerate the other stored samples nearby, it was better than letting these things escape. Better to cleanse the place completely.

The remaining squad members switched weapons and began torching the room with handheld flamethrowers.

The flame temperature reached up to 4000 degrees. In an oxygen-rich environment, not even a scientific marvel like Destoroyah’s body could withstand prolonged exposure to that heat.

The information about Destoroyah’s parasitic and infectious nature was transmitted to surface command so they could decide the next course of action.

Once Destoroyah’s unexpected ability to infect and parasitize was confirmed, some of the researchers who had come into contact with the sample prior to the experiment were informed that they would not be allowed to return to the surface—for now.

They would have to remain underground until the crisis had passed.

Meanwhile, the largest Destoroyah sample that had been recovered was placed in a fully sealed chamber to monitor whether it, too, would reanimate like the smaller extracted samples.

At the same time, a dozen streams of fire swept across the storage room, scorching every corner that may have been contaminated by the Destoroyah microforms.

The flames consumed the still-wriggling flesh. But under the threat of intense heat, hundreds of thousands of tiny Destoroyah creatures that had hidden within the shredded body began to scramble across the floor at incredible speed.

They were all running in the same direction—apparently trying to regroup.

Several streams of flame had preemptively predicted the microforms’ path and engulfed the intended gathering point in fire before they could reach it.

Hundreds of thousands of microforms were separated by the flames. Unable to regroup, they scattered in all directions, only to be driven back again by the expanding blaze.

They were trapped between walls of fire. With no path of escape, the microforms fused together—forming a larger creature, a multi-legged arthropod around a dozen centimeters in size, born from within the fire.

It struggled against the blaze, but despite its weight of several kilograms, it couldn’t withstand the fury of over ten flamethrowers. It was pinned to the ground, its body steadily blackening and burning.

But just as all eyes focused on this one crawling on the ground, something else emerged from the original gathering point.

It was faster than anyone could react.

Before the human side could even register what had happened, it had burst forth from behind the gathering point’s steel plating—and with a speed faster than sound, it slammed directly into a soldier’s head.

Crack

A sound that could only mean one thing—something very bad.

The face shield was instantly shattered. This micro-Destoroyah killed the soldier on impact. Then, turning to another team member, it pointed its head and released a concentrated stream of white gas from its mouth.

“AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!”

Though the creature was quickly subdued by redirected flamethrowers, the gas had already done its damage—it had claimed another life.

The moment the gas touched the soldier’s helmet, it melted like thin ice under scorching flames. The gas penetrated through and filled the helmet.

The result is too gruesome to describe.

The flamethrowers continued to incinerate the two twisted lifeforms. Together, they were no larger than a single human head, yet they withstood nearly ten minutes of continuous burning at 4000 degrees.

If they had used standard flamethrowers, they likely wouldn’t have even scratched them.

Under the searing fire, the two large microforms began to deform, shrivel, and slowly lose all signs of life.

Only then did the squad dare to approach with specialized containment tools, carefully picking up the corpses and placing them into new alloy storage containers.

The Destoroyah samples were finally recovered.

Now all that remained was to bring them out.

But… could they really leave now?

“Captain, I’m feeling kinda itchy.”

“Captain, me too…”

“I’ve got the itching as well…”

Over half of the remaining team members were now showing signs of itching.

If they left now, there was a real chance they would become something… else.

It was better not to go.

Having accepted their fate, the squad captain reported their condition to command.

They requested that command send robots to incinerate their bodies. Their current flamethrower fuel supply wasn’t enough to burn all the corpses. Reinforcements were necessary.

Preferably unmanned ones.

The transmission didn’t last long.

Because, in the next moment, the sound of slaughter drowned out the voice on the other end.

The emergency response team was annihilated.

Meanwhile, as they fell into chaos and carnage…

The sensor panels surrounding the first containment room triggered an alarm.

The monster was never truly dealt with.