Chapter 202: Pretty Boy Stands Up!
Handsome Kong, relying on his agility and height advantage, was landing blow after blow on Godzilla's head with gleeful aggression.
Godzilla, annoyed beyond reason, suddenly threw himself to the ground in a fit of rage.
Caught off guard, Handsome Kong had no idea this was coming. He was smashed beneath the collapsing titan and cried out in pain. In the next instant, Godzilla twisted his neck around and sank his jaws into Handsome Kong's soft belly, thrashing his head like a bear mauling its prey.
Razor-sharp fangs tore into Handsome Kong's flesh with every shake, eliciting one wail after another.
Handsome Kong had never fought in a battle of this caliber before—he was completely stunned.
After all, his previous opponents had just been Skullcrawlers. How tough could those things be? Probably not even a match for the weakest of the Titan Beasts.
They'd only won through sheer numbers. Even the strongest Skullcrawler was likely no stronger than Male MUTO.
Especially after Chang Wei's modifications, Handsome Kong had always been in one-sided beatdowns.
As a result, he hadn't grown much.
Now, with Godzilla ripping into him, the searing, unprecedented pain struck real fear into his heart.
Handsome Kong could cower. Like when he was stomped on and roared at face-to-face by Godzilla—he didn't resist to the bitter end.
Instead, he shut up and went quiet.
Just like Rodan. That's exactly why Chang Wei felt there was something seriously wrong with the original plot.
Handsome Kong had the potential to become the King of Monsters, yet they had him acting like some "those who know when to yield are wise" coward?
Chang Wei wanted to shout for a refund.
Now, seeing Handsome Kong about to shrink back again left Chang Wei utterly speechless.
A complete and utter disappointment.
Godzilla whipped his head, flinging Handsome Kong across the battlefield. His flesh was torn apart midair—his abdomen nearly split open. The impact shattered a good chunk of Skull Island.
Lying there on the ground, Handsome Kong felt a weakness he'd never known before. That's when the visions started flashing before his eyes.
He saw his parents. Saw the extinction of his ancestral Kong bloodline coded deep within his genes.
That stirred something in him—something that refused to accept this fate.
Something that raged.
"Kong actually lost?"
"The Gatekeeper of God couldn't stand against Godzilla... even though Kong was so powerful."
"Actually, we've never really seen how strong Kong truly is. Compared to his parents, he's still way too small—probably not even an adult yet."
"Meanwhile, Godzilla is fully grown and in his prime."
On the human side, disbelief spread. But the current situation made one thing clear—Kong was simply no match for Godzilla.
It wasn't that Godzilla couldn't be defeated. Dagon was proof of that.
The atomic dinosaur Dagon—Godzilla's kin and a being revered by the Sumerians as the "Son of the Storm," aka the King of Lightning—likely possessed atomic breath as well. But interference made it hard for him to use it freely. The same happened to Godzilla three thousand years later.
According to the comics, Monarch had even found remains of a Godzilla-like creature in Siberia that had been parasitized, proving that there was more than one atomic dinosaur. So yes, Godzilla can be beaten.
Humans had believed the gods stationed Kong at the Hollow Earth's source point to guard it, and with his immense power, it was natural to think he could beat Godzilla.
But now that belief was shattering.
BOOM!
Suddenly, they heard a deep, thunderous rumble!
BOOM!!
BOOM!!!
Godzilla's eyes fell upon the barely breathing Handsome Kong.
The sound of a heavy, pounding heartbeat pulsed from Handsome Kong's body.
"The cry of the weak... the engine of miracles..."
Chang Wei looked on with admiration.
He'd thought Handsome Kong wouldn't be able to activate it.
This was Chang Wei's greatest modification to Handsome Kong—a gift from Mumen Rider, from King himself.
The weak fall again and again, but rise through willpower alone. The path of suffering-as-growth!
An incredibly powerful heart engine that generates terrifying energy and heat—The Emperor Engine!
Kong's heartbeat was designed by Chang Wei to function like Supreme MUTO's forelimbs—capable of emitting shockwaves that could destroy surrounding objects. The more intense the heartbeat, the more powerful and frequent the shockwaves.
This was his ultimate creation—Emperor Kong!
But all of this relied on Handsome Kong's will. Without it, he'd just be a corpse—a gorilla with a fancy skeleton.
Now, for the first time, there was real hope to revive the Kong lineage.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Handsome Kong—no, Emperor Kong—stood up. His wounds healed rapidly. The fur on his body began to shed, revealing hardened black muscle and an exoskeleton resembling armor plating.
His four arms grew even thicker. His height soared past 120 meters.
"Kong... seems different now."
From his almost human-like face, the humans could sense Emperor Kong's emotions.
No longer impulsive—only simmering fury and cold, deadly calm.
"ROAAAAARRRRR!!!"
Godzilla roared at Emperor Kong.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Emperor Kong's heartbeat intensified. Shockwaves pulverized everything around him into dust.
He began to stride toward Godzilla.
Godzilla looked down as the challenger approached.
This was the posture of a king before a challenger.
Godzilla was already a king. Emperor Kong was not—yet. He had to prove he was worthy.
Once the distance closed, Emperor Kong suddenly burst into a sprint.
Godzilla stood firm, waiting until Emperor Kong got close—then whipped his tail out in a mighty horizontal swing.
But Emperor Kong caught the tail mid-swing. The same tail that had sent Handsome Kong flying moments ago couldn't budge Emperor Kong now.
Instead, Kong grabbed it and flung Godzilla over his shoulder with a thunderous slam.
RUMBLEEEEEEEE!!!
Godzilla, the overweight titan, was slammed into the ground. Skull Island cracked on impact!
A massive rift split the island in two, with seawater visible through the center.
But Emperor Kong and Godzilla paid no attention to the destruction—they were still locked in combat.
Flattened to the ground, Godzilla opened his mouth and unleashed an atomic breath blast straight at Emperor Kong.
But Emperor Kong didn't flinch. He didn't dodge. He opened his mouth and fired his Infernal Peerless Scorching Wave Cannon right back!
Beam vs. beam, mouth to mouth—two streams of raw energy collided and exploded!
Despite his increased size and weight, Emperor Kong couldn't withstand the full force of the explosion and was blasted backward.
Godzilla didn't fare much better. The pressure crushed him momentarily, but it only lasted a second before he got back on his feet.
The massive explosion triggered an even stronger earthquake from the earlier rupture, and Skull Island began to violently tremble once more!