───「 Human POV 」───
If they wanted to leave, then let them leave.
The cabin door opened, and people began filing out one after another.
Their flight packs had built-in navigation systems with enough fuel to reach cities in East Asia.
Most coastal cities in East Asia and Siberia had already been evacuated, of course. But the basic infrastructure remained operational, allowing survivors to purchase tickets and escape further inland.
That would be safe.
Nobody wanted to die pointlessly. Now that those who chose to leave had gone, Hideo Takahashi gazed out at the world for a long time.
They had lost this battle against Godzilla. Was it truly meaningful for him to sacrifice himself like this?
Even in his heart, doubts began to surface. As Hokkaido's Emergency Management Director, he had joined this mission to inflict damage on Godzilla.
He wanted revenge, but not at the cost of only his side perishing.
The enemy should not escape unscathed. That wasn't how it should end.
Yes, it shouldn't be like this. With his current objective, he should leave with the others, escape, and plan for the long term.
Then why was he still here? Why was he staying?
He clenched his fist tightly.
Do I really want a reunion like this?
"I'm sorry, I'm too exhausted without all of you. I'm sorry..."
In the end, he didn't leave and returned to the cabin.
"Are you sure you want to stay with me?"
A few others remained as well. Some had revealed their feelings during the night's conversations, while others, like Hideo, had kept silent until now.
"I came here to be a martyr. I won't leave."
Only one person answered. The others remained silent; it seemed everyone carried their own burdens.
"I understand."
Hideo didn't press further.
He walked into the cockpit and activated the transport plane's auto-navigation system, programming it to fly toward Godzilla.
The transport plane took off, finally ascending into the crimson sky.
Those who stayed entered the cockpit with him, gazing through the electronic display windows, lost in their own thoughts.
Suddenly, a clear, melodious tune sounded from the cockpit.
Music? It must be a contact issue from the impact, causing the sound system to activate on its own.
Should he turn it off?
Hideo reached to silence it, but when the lyrics began, he stopped.
"Would you know my name if I saw you in heaven?"
The first line came through in a slightly hoarse voice, resonating within the clear, melodious, and mournful guitar melody.
"Would you feel the same if I saw you in heaven?"
The music echoed in the cockpit as the transport plane flew forward, carrying its poignant, sorrowful melody.
"I'll find my way, through night and day..."
Following the navigation system, the transport plane flew toward the snow-covered mountains. Hideo and the others watched the screen displaying the dot representing Godzilla, growing closer with each passing moment.
They were heading toward death.
"Beyond the door there's peace I'm sure."
Giant craters, melted ridges, and exploded peaks marked the battlefield between Godzilla and humanity, scarring the landscape.
The transport plane descended closer to the ground, revealing more details with every foot.
Hideo saw military vehicles scattered across flattened terrain and aircraft wings embedded in the earth. Who were the people who had piloted those planes, participating in this war?
"Would you know my name..."
Maybe someone's father or mother. Maybe someone's child or beloved.
No matter who they were before, they were all gone now.
"Have you begging please..."
Though no bodies remained on the battlefield, one could still imagine the brutality of the fight.
People had joined the war one after another, hoping for a chance to defeat Godzilla.
A slim chance.
Humanity would not surrender.
A thousand years of unchanging snow-covered mountain was revealing its true face today.
Its pitch-black rock face was exposed to the cold wind, half intact and half vanished.
It had been struck by Godzilla's breath from the side, and half had collapsed.
Another relic of Godzilla's destruction.
The transport plane flew close to the mountain wall. Along their path, they witnessed countless traces left by Godzilla.
Those traces seemed mythological, yet now they existed in the real world, created by Godzilla himself.
Without doubt, he was the king of destruction, the annihilator of all things.
And now, they were about to confront this destroyer. The dot representing Godzilla and their own dot grew ever closer.
Just one more mountain peak to circle, and they would see Godzilla.
Seeing it also meant the arrival of destruction and death.
Hideo wasn't afraid of death, and neither were those who remained with him.
They were all people seeking death—not only unafraid of it but actively pursuing it.
Some wanted to use death to clear debts and give their families a new start.
Some sought honor through death to make their parents proud.
Some wanted to die in their homeland; even without hope, they would challenge despair.
And finally, some feared loneliness and simply wanted reunion.
"Beyond the door
There's peace I'm sure"
The screen retracted, the protective panel slid aside, and the front window of the transport plane was exposed.
After circling around the mountain peak and entering the gorge, Hideo saw Godzilla, the beast among the mountains, for the first time through the cockpit window.
"And I know there'll be no more"
Hideo looked at it, and it looked at him. The creature opened its mouth, and Hideo also opened his, shouting:
"Godzilla!!!"
Then a bright light flashed.
"Tears in heaven"
The song ended, and people dispersed.