Kaido's lofty rhetoric seemed imbued with some strange, bewitching power.
At first, Roya scoffed at every word he spoke. But as he listened on, he found himself unconsciously posing questions inwardly in response:
"Can this so-called movement of apotheosis really match the all-pervasive invasion of chaos corruption?"
"If I wield absolute power, striking at the very root of the Chaos Gods' threat—wouldn't that be far more direct and effective?"
"The Northern Bear God, Ersun… what exactly is his power? Why does it draw the covetous gaze of Belakor, a Chaos Prince who stands at the very pinnacle of the corrupted hierarchy?"
"If Belakor can seize Ursun's power and ascend to godhood—then why not I?"
Roya's hesitation was plain to see. For the leader of the Bear God's cult, his heart plummeted to despair. Yet, bolstered by unwavering faith in his deity, that despair quickly transformed into unbreakable resolve.
Though stripped of all psionic power, he slammed his staff hard against the ice-bound ground of the far north with a resounding boom, crying out in a voice of iron conviction:
"Demonic heresy, corrupt words to mislead the heart! The Bear God's power is not to be defiled!"
"Children of the Bear God! Swear your lives to guard him! The Bear God shall soon return to the world—soon he shall be reborn to lead us again!"
"To fall in battle here is to become a part of the Bear God himself! Swear your lives to defend his final rest!"
The fervor of his tone and words rekindled the deathless faith of the cult warriors.
"Swear to defend the Bear God's final rest!"
"Guard the Bear God! Death without regret!"
The fanatical chants rolled among them like thunder, surging with the momentum of a thousand armies. Their eyes blazed with zeal as they fixed upon the Beast Battalion, ready to tear them limb from limb—even without psionics, relying solely on mortal flesh and strength.
The sudden eruption of this brilliance of faith left Roya momentarily stunned. At the same time, he shook himself free of the illusions of power.
Only now did he realize—through carelessness, he had nearly fallen into Tzeentch's snare, ensnared by the lure of twisted pursuit of strength.
"Indeed… unwavering faith is one of the most effective weapons against the seduction and corruption of the Chaos Gods!"
"But ordinary mortals may place their faith in me to shelter their spirits… who then do I place my faith in, to shield my own soul?"
As the thought struck him, Roya felt a great bell toll from the depths of his very being. Its resonant peal shook his spirit to its core, yet filled him with immense comfort.
It was as though every impurity that had unknowingly seeped into his essence was shattered into nothingness by that endless peal, leaving him pure once more.
"I have no need to worship another… for I myself am faith!"
"My existence brooks no desecration!"
With this revelation, everything before him seemed to shift dramatically. His perception had soared to new heights—no, not merely heightened, but transformed.
Divine Sense.
That was the name the System bestowed upon it.
Under Divine Sense, nothing could conceal itself from Roya's awareness. His ability to parse the very roots of phenomena surpassed spirit sense by orders of magnitude.
The chaotic taint that had once been utterly undetectable now lay bare before his gaze.
Sweeping with Divine Sense, Roya finally saw it: Kaido was shrouded in a strange haze of purple-tinged yellow, coiling about him and obscuring his aura.
The "normal" presence Roya had sensed before was no more than an illusion conjured by this mist—nothing to do with Kaido at all.
"This fog… its nature is much like Tzeentch, yet it does not originate from him! Then could it be—another Chaos God has set its sights on Kaido… and on me?"
Even as Roya's mind raced, Kaido's face twisted again into that unfathomable, mocking smile.
He drew from his robes a thumb-sized, blood-red crystal, rolling it idly between his fingers as he laughed:
"Lord Roya, truly you are worthy of your existence… with only the faintest hint, you grasp such profound truths."
"But strength itself has never borne good or evil. The essence of power lies close at hand. If you will not take it… then I shall."
With a snap of his fingers, Kaido crushed the crystal.
It burst into a cloud of glittering blood-red dust, tinged with gold, swirling for a moment at his fingertips—before it lunged at him like a newborn beast, savage and merciless.
It held no gratitude for its releaser. With murderous instinct, it struck toward Kaido's chest.
Roya's eyes narrowed in shock.
"Another Chaos God's aura! This savage, bloodthirsty presence—without a doubt, Khorne himself!"
"Tzeentch, Khorne… then to have disguised Kaido and delivered him here—it can only be Slaanesh!"
"Slaanesh?! What does he seek?!"
The revelations came too swiftly, too violently for Roya to form a clear judgment.
The blood-red dust slammed against Kaido's chestplate—
—and rang out with the distinct clang of two indestructible metals colliding.
Kaido's dark face flushed unnaturally red from the force of the blow. The dust's impact had set his very blood surging, his heart pounding faster and faster.
The quickened heartbeat seemed only to further inflame the dust's savage will. Abandoning its futile attempts to smash through his chestplate, it followed its bloodlust upward—seeking the swollen capillaries of Kaido's nasal passages.
And Kaido himself, as though welcoming a guest of honor, unsealed his helmet. He bared his face to the cloud of sinister dust—
—and drew a deep breath, pulling every mote of it into his lungs.
"Heh… ahhh…"
Exhaling in rapture, Kaido sighed with deepest satisfaction. With that breath, his life-force surged in strength, multiplying at a terrifying pace.
"Lord Roya! Allow me to tear away the Bear God's final veil for you—to lay bare his divinity, his power, his very godhood, without reserve, before your eyes!"