In the vast multiverse, where realities collided and dimensions intertwined, Abel wandered without purpose.
He had seen too much.
Countless universes had risen before him and vanished into nothingness. He had watched civilizations wage wars over kingdoms, gods slaughter one another over authority, demons conquer worlds, heroes overthrow tyrants, and entire realities collapse beneath the weight of their own conflicts.
None of it excited him anymore.
Power had never been his problem.
He had more of it than he could reasonably use.
What he lacked was a reason to use it.
So Abel decided to do something he had never seriously attempted before.
He would unite the races.
Not one world.
Not one universe.
All of them.
Humans, demons, dragons, spirits, beastfolk, elves, dwarves, monsters, gods, and whatever else existed throughout the countless realities.
It was an absurd goal.
Which was precisely why Abel liked it.
Maybe this will finally keep me entertained.
After wandering through countless realities, Abel eventually selected a particular human country as the starting point for his little experiment.
The country was peaceful.
At least, peaceful by the standards of the multiverse.
It was ruled by either a wise king or perhaps a hero king. Abel hadn't bothered to learn which.
He simply liked the atmosphere.
The streets were crowded with merchants, adventurers, soldiers, craftsmen, and ordinary citizens going about their lives.
Then Abel walked through the city.
And everything changed.
People stopped.
Conversations died.
Heads turned.
One by one, eyes followed him.
Some stared openly.
Others bowed.
A few whispered prayers.
Abel ignored them.
He was accustomed to being stared at.
His appearance alone was enough to cause trouble.
Long silver-white hair flowed down his back, framing an almost unnaturally beautiful face. His eyes possessed a strange, star-like brilliance, and there was something about his presence that made people instinctively feel that they were standing before something far beyond their understanding.
Abel sighed.
Here we go again.
Then someone crashed into him.
A young woman stumbled backward, breathing heavily.
She had black-and-silver hair and eyes that shimmered like distant stars.
She looked at Abel.
For several seconds, she simply stared.
Then her expression changed.
"Beautiful."
Abel blinked.
"That's a surprisingly direct compliment."
The girl seemed to realize what she had said and immediately looked away.
"I-I didn't mean it like that!"
"You definitely meant it like that."
"I did not!"
"You literally called me beautiful."
"I was being honest!"
Abel laughed.
Before he could say anything else, a group of men came rushing down the street.
The girl glanced behind her.
Her expression immediately changed.
"Ah."
Abel looked at the approaching mob.
Then back at her.
"Friends of yours?"
"No."
"Enemies?"
"More or less."
"Why are they chasing you?"
"I don't know!"
"That's convincing."
One of the men finally caught up.
"Get out of the way!"
Abel didn't move.
The man raised his weapon.
"Did you hear me, bastard?"
Abel looked at the weapon.
Then at the man.
Then at the girl.
"Do people in this world normally attack strangers without introducing themselves first?"
The man swung.
He never reached Abel.
The instant the attack should have connected, reality itself changed.
There was no explosion.
No flash of magic.
No dramatic chant.
The cause simply ceased to lead to the expected effect.
The attacker's hand disintegrated into countless fragments before it could touch Abel.
The man screamed.
"What the hell did you do to me?!"
Abel stared at him.
Then shrugged.
"Hey, kid. Don't you have any manners?"
He glanced toward the woman standing behind him.
"I was talking to someone."
The remaining members of the mob froze.
One of them cautiously stepped forward.
Abel looked at him.
The man immediately stopped.
"Don't."
Abel smiled.
The man's body suddenly shrank.
His clothes collapsed onto the pavement.
A small rat crawled out from inside them.
The second man screamed.
"What happened to him?!"
Abel tilted his head.
"Nothing complicated."
The final attacker turned around and tried to run.
Abel sighed.
"Running away is rude too."
Another distortion passed through reality.
A second rat appeared.
Silence descended upon the street.
The young woman stared at Abel.
"...What did you do?"
"Changed the cause."
"The cause?"
"Yes."
Abel casually gestured toward the two rats.
"I altered the relationship between their actions and their consequences. If they attempt to attack me, the result is them becoming rats."
The girl stared.
"That's..."
She searched for the right word.
"Insane."
"Thank you."
"That wasn't a compliment."
"I know."
Around them, whispers began spreading.
"Is he a god?"
"He has to be."
"Perhaps he's a direct subordinate of Goddess Yuna-sama."
"The Goddess of Creation?"
"Who else could possess such power?"
Abel's eyebrow twitched.
Yuna?
He had never heard that name before.
Goddess of Creation?
He looked around the city.
Seriously?
I leave one reality for a while and suddenly every world has its own self-proclaimed supreme deity.
He suppressed a laugh.
They think manipulating causality is divine power?
Abel had encountered children in other realities capable of manipulating phenomena far more complicated than this.
He wasn't even using a fraction of his actual strength.
Maybe I picked the wrong reality.
He glanced at the woman beside him.
She was still staring.
"What?"
"You just turned two people into rats."
"Technically, I changed the cause that determined their outcome."
"You say that like it's normal."
"For me, it is."
She narrowed her eyes.
"Who are you?"
Abel smiled.
"That's a complicated question."
"Try me."
He thought about it.
"Abel."
"Just Abel?"
"Just Abel."
She studied him suspiciously.
Then she smiled.
"Fine. Abel."
She extended her hand.
"I'm Seraphina."
Abel looked at her hand.
Then shook it.
"Seraphina."
He nodded.
"That's a beautiful name."
She smiled.
"Thanks."
They stood there for a moment.
Then Abel looked toward the road ahead.
"So, Seraphina."
"Hm?"
"Why were those people chasing you?"
She hesitated.
"It's a long story."
"I have time."
"You?"
Abel laughed.
"I have more time than anyone should reasonably have."
She didn't understand what he meant.
Not yet.
The Uniter of Worlds
Abel had already decided what he wanted.
A journey.
A real one.
Not one where he could simply snap his fingers and solve every problem.
Not one where he stood above everyone else and watched worlds collapse.
He wanted to experience things.
So he made a decision.
He would seal away most of his power.
Not because he needed to.
Because he wanted the challenge.
Abel changed his clothes into something far simpler, resembling those worn by ordinary travelers.
No divine ornaments.
No overwhelming aura.
No manifestation of his true authority.
Nothing that would immediately reveal what he was.
Seraphina watched him curiously.
"What are you doing?"
"Going on an adventure."
"With me?"
"If you don't mind."
She smiled.
"I don't."
They left the city together.
For the first time in an eternity, Abel deliberately limited himself to what an ordinary traveler could accomplish.
He could still use some of his abilities.
But he refused to rely on overwhelming power.
If a problem could be solved through negotiation, he would negotiate.
If it could be solved through intelligence, he would think.
If it required combat, he would fight.
And if he lost...
Well.
That would be interesting too.
"So," Abel said as they walked along the road, "do you have any useful skills?"
Seraphina looked offended.
"I have plenty."
"Such as?"
"I'm good at fighting."
"That's vague."
"I can use magic."
"Better."
"I'm also good at reading people."
Abel nodded.
"Useful."
Seraphina looked at him.
"What about you?"
"Me?"
"Yes."
"I'm good at everything."
She stopped walking.
"...You're unbelievably arrogant."
"Probably."
He continued walking.
Seraphina hurried after him.
"Where are we going anyway?"
"Everywhere."
"That's not a destination."
"It's the destination I chose."
She sighed.
"You're impossible."
"That's what people usually say."
After a moment, Seraphina asked:
"Why are you traveling?"
Abel's expression became slightly more thoughtful.
"I'm looking for something."
"What?"
"A purpose."
She looked at him.
He continued.
"I've spent a very long time watching civilizations fight over meaningless things. Territory. Religion. Power. Pride. Bloodlines."
His smile faded slightly.
"Eventually, every war started looking the same."
"So you decided to unite everyone?"
"Exactly."
"That's your purpose?"
"Perhaps."
He looked toward the distant horizon.
"I want to know whether beings from completely different worlds can actually live together."
Seraphina smiled.
"And if they can't?"
Abel's eyes narrowed with amusement.
"Then I'll figure out why."
"And if they refuse?"
"Then I'll convince them."
"And if they still refuse?"
Abel smiled.
"Then I'll keep trying."
Seraphina laughed.
"You really are strange."
"Thank you."
"Again, not a compliment."
"I know."
Their journey continued.
They crossed forests inhabited by monsters.
They traveled through mountain passes.
They entered towns where humans and beastfolk lived together.
They negotiated with merchants.
They helped adventurers.
They intervened in disputes.
Sometimes Seraphina solved problems.
Sometimes Abel did.
And sometimes Abel deliberately did nothing.
He was learning something.
Power could force obedience.
But it couldn't create genuine unity.
If he simply overwhelmed every ruler and ordered their people to cooperate, the moment he disappeared, everything would fall apart.
So he began experimenting with something far more difficult.
Trust.
During one journey, a group of bandits attacked them.
Seraphina immediately drew her weapon.
"Stay back."
Abel raised an eyebrow.
"You're giving me orders?"
"I'm protecting you."
"I appreciate the sentiment."
The first bandit attacked.
Seraphina moved.
Her blade flashed.
One attacker fell.
Then another.
Within moments, the road was filled with defeated bandits.
Abel watched silently.
Seraphina turned toward him.
"What?"
He smiled.
"Not bad."
"Not bad?"
"You've improved."
"You've known me for what, two weeks?"
"Still."
She crossed her arms.
"You're annoying."
"And yet you keep traveling with me."
"Because you're interesting."
Abel smiled.
"Likewise."
Eventually, they reached a remote village.
The village had a problem.
Two factions had been fighting for generations.
Neither side remembered how the conflict had started.
They only remembered that they were supposed to hate each other.
Abel listened to both sides.
He did not threaten them.
He did not use his power.
He did not manipulate causality.
He simply listened.
For hours.
Then he asked one question.
"Why do you hate them?"
The village elder answered immediately.
"Because they betrayed our ancestors."
Abel turned toward the opposing elder.
"Is that true?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because they attacked us first."
Abel looked back at the first elder.
"Did you?"
"No."
"Then who did?"
Silence.
The villagers looked at each other.
Eventually, an old woman stepped forward.
"My grandmother told me that her grandmother said their ancestors attacked us."
Abel stared.
Then slowly rubbed his forehead.
"So you're fighting a war because someone told someone something that someone else heard from someone who heard it from someone else."
The villagers remained silent.
Seraphina covered her mouth.
Abel sighed.
"This is why I don't understand mortals."
He stood.
"You've spent generations preserving hatred whose original cause nobody even remembers."
He looked at both sides.
"You're not defending your ancestors."
His expression became serious.
"You're imprisoning yourselves in their past."
The words spread through the village.
Some villagers lowered their heads.
Others looked toward their supposed enemies for the first time without hatred.
Abel continued.
"Your ancestors are dead."
Silence.
"You are alive."
He pointed toward the children watching from behind their parents.
"And they are your future."
The villagers looked at their children.
Then at one another.
No miracle occurred.
No divine light descended from the heavens.
No god appeared.
They simply began talking.
At first, cautiously.
Then honestly.
Then angrily.
Then emotionally.
But they talked.
And eventually...
They reached an agreement.
The village was no longer divided.
Seraphina watched Abel from beside the road.
"You didn't use any power."
"I know."
"You could have forced them to cooperate."
"I could have."
"Why didn't you?"
Abel looked at the villagers.
"Because forced unity isn't unity."
He smiled.
"If I want to unite the worlds, I need them to choose it themselves."
Seraphina was silent for a moment.
Then she smiled.
"Maybe your ridiculous goal isn't so ridiculous after all."
Abel looked at her.
"Maybe."
The two began walking again.
Behind them, the villagers gathered together for the first time in generations.
Ahead of them waited countless realities.
Countless races.
Countless gods.
Countless wars.
And countless problems.
Abel had no idea how long his journey would take.
He didn't care.
For the first time in an eternity...
He was enjoying himself.
And somewhere beyond the boundaries of that reality, something ancient watched him.
Something that knew what Abel truly was.
Something that remembered the power he had sealed away.
Something that knew the journey he had begun would eventually force him to confront the very thing he had been running from.
His past.
His true nature.
And the power of the being who once stood beyond reality itself.
But for now...
Abel simply smiled.
"Come on, Seraphina."
"Where are we going next?"
"Somewhere interesting."
"That's not an answer."
"It is if we're adventuring."
She sighed.
And followed him.
The Uniter of Worlds had taken his first step.