A dense blood-mist sprayed violently from every pore of Kaido's body, like a fountain, gathering above his head into the phantasmal form of a six-horned skull.
From its eye sockets—blazing as though with bloodfire—poured an endless tide of savagery, washing over the souls of all present.
Even Roya, protected by his Divine Sense, felt his blood churn. An unbidden impulse gnawed at his heart, the primal urge to rend something to pieces.
The hundred elite warriors of the Beast Battalion, under this aura, nearly transformed into beasts outright.
Their eyes flushed crimson, their hunger for blood and violence unrestrained—yet their gaze did not fall on Roa, but on the Bear God cultists behind him.
Those cultists recoiled in unison. Were it not for the steel of their faith, they would have turned and fled already.
Yet even their devotion could not wholly shield them. The Chaos aura gnawed at them as well—their breathing ragged, the eyes of the front rank already tinged faintly red.
Kaido's towering frame buckled under the weight of Khorne's fury, as though bearing a mountain upon his shoulders.
With great strain, he forced himself into a grotesque posture—head tilted toward Roya, eyes shrouded in that yellow-purple haze of Chaos, teeth clenched as he spat out words in broken growls:
"Great Skull Throne… permit me to offer… the head of this false god… and his blood… shall be my reward!"
With a piercing howl, the monstrous vision above him and the seething blood-mist around him surged into the spiked mace in his hands.
Scarlet and black lightning of Chaos crackled and roared, dazzling and lethal.
The cultists who dared to look upon it screamed, clawing at their eyes as they writhed upon the ground.
Blood and shattered ocular crystals streamed from between their fingers.
In but an instant, the Chaos lightning pierced the eternal ice of the far north, plunging deep into unfathomable depths below.
It ricocheted within the frozen chasms, weaving a terrible spectacle of radiance across the polar wastes—magnificent, yet steeped in boundless savagery.
"Guard the Bear God!"
"Slaughter them all! Offer them to the Skull Throne!"
The dreadful aura finally shattered Roa's suppression, rousing in every heart the wildest thirst for battle.
Once again, the two sides clashed—iron against ice, steel against flesh, in another brutal collision.
Roya felt his Divine Sense collapse inward, overwhelmed by the brutal aura pressing from every side, rammed violently back into his own spirit. For the moment, even he could do no more than defend himself—unable to halt Kaido's advance.
From the depths, the sound of shattering ice and grinding stone resounded louder and louder.
The ground shook violently, so fiercely that none could keep their footing.
Then, a cold and wrathful force erupted from beneath, colliding with the Chaos lightning in a thunderous impact.
For an instant the clash held still—then exploded outward.
The primeval ice, harder than stone, shattered into countless fragments, hurtling outward in the storm of the blast.
Together with the dueling auras, the explosion devastated kilometers around, leaving only chaos and ruin.
When the echoes faded, the ground itself collapsed into a vast sinkhole.
The survivors of both sides—those fortunate enough to escape the flying ice—had no time to flee. The earth beneath them gave way, and they plummeted into the abyss.
Awaiting them was a roar that split the heavens—an enraged bellow of a bear.
The gale of its wrathful breath eclipsed even a hurricane, far surpassing twelfth-tier storms.
The Beast Battalion, each clad in mechs weighing nearly two tons apiece, were lifted like weightless kites and flung into the sky.
The Bear God cultists, lacking such defenses, fared far worse.
In the instant the storm struck, most were torn to shreds—flesh ripped from bone, bones shattered and scattered, hurled into the void.
Only a handful of the strongest spellcasters managed to conjure psionic shields in time to stave off annihilation.
None of them could have imagined—death would not come from the invading enemy, but from the very god they worshipped.
"Such faith… what meaning does it hold?"
So thought Roya, shaken into somber reflection by the sight.
Kaido's eyes, their yellow-purple haze stirring with delight, turned back to him:
"Lord Roya—do you feel it? This vast, world-breaking power?"
"Even in his dying state, Ursun wields such might! If you refine his core of power, surpassing even his origin—how boundless shall your strength be?!"
"Seize it! Take the Bear God's blood for me! I and the Beast Battalion will become warriors greater than the Primarchs of the Aeldari or the primitive natives of old!"
"We will be your sharpest spear, Lord Roya—conquering every world your gaze can fall upon!"
Kaido's voice rose in zeal as he dropped to one knee in the void, bowing low before Roya.
The Beast Battalion, one by one returning from their storm-tossed flight, regrouped in formation behind him—kneeling as well, chanting in unison:
"Lord Roya, seize Ursun's divine power—ascend to godhood!"
"Enough!"
Roya swept out his hand. His Divine Sense surged, forcing back the oppressive aura and reclaiming the field.
"To steal another's essence for selfish strength—that path can never lead to godhood! Divinity has never been mere power!"
As if in answer, another furious roar shook the abyss.
From the depths, a colossal snow-white paw, vast as a mountain, thrust upward from the chasm—descending straight toward Kaido, source of the Chaos aura.
Even before the strike, the gale it stirred crushed down on Kaido and his warriors, driving them earthward.
Yet Kaido showed no fear. Smiling, he called out to Roya:
"Lord Roya—if you do not act now, this stupid beast will exhaust the last of its essence! The divine power will never revive again!"
"Miss this chance, and the Prince of Pleasure will never again lavish such effort to prepare a banquet of godhood for you."
Roya's last hope of purifying Kaido, of saving him, died in that moment.
He gathered his Divine Sense, focusing it into blades—and drove them into Kaido's eyes.
Strike Kaido down. Sever Slaanesh's link to the material realm. Perhaps… perhaps the Bear God Ursun can still be saved.