Why would Orsaga choose to approach him, the one most difficult to communicate with?
This was the one thing Ra truly couldn't figure out.
When he posed the question, Orsaga glanced at him—more precisely, at the threads of fate coiled around Ra's body, threads that intertwined with the destiny of the entire universe.
He sensed the rise and fall of countless lives.
Then, smiling, he answered:
"Because of status. The hierarchy woven into fate—rank, nobility, insignificance—determines certain conditions. And I need someone with enough status to open the door for me."
As his power continued to grow, so too did many of the innate abilities of an Abyssal Demon.
Take, for example, his ability to observe foreign Multiverse.
He could now more clearly see the grand trends shaping this universe's future, and better pinpoint the optimal moment for his arrival.
It was a natural talent of Abyssal Demons.
Comparable to a creature that, even without prior experience, can instinctively tell whether something is edible at a glance.
To him, this universe—Earth—looked like the central target of a vast maelstrom called Fate, glaring and conspicuous.
And Ra?
He was the center of that center.
Constantly radiating a unique crimson brilliance.
Slaughter, conflict, conspiracy, glory, worship, hatred...
Blood and honor would echo across his life for countless years to come.
Only by having him summon him could Orsaga preserve the greatest portion of his power.
That, to Orsaga, was the most important reason of all.
Unlike his casual invasions of ordinary Universes—where it didn't matter if his power was suppressed, since he could simply walk away—he refused to allow his plans in this universe to fail.
So he needed the optimal conditions for descending into this universe.
Even if the process was a hassle, it was worth it.
Only in this way could he ensure that he had enough authority here.
Due to their vastly different origins, Ra couldn't see through Orsaga's thoughts.
But from the other's cryptic response, he still managed to catch a few key phrases.
'Status in fate… a person of status… open the door…'
Even so, the lack of information meant that, after mulling over it for a while, Ra still couldn't grasp the true meaning behind the words.
Eventually, after silently repeating the phrases to himself a few times, he could only set his confusion aside for the moment.
Orsaga, of course, was well aware of this.
He just didn't care.
While Ra was undoubtedly talented, the place he came from had already limited his perspective and understanding.
Being confined to a single planet meant that the things he had seen or touched were far too limited.
Even if he mastered all knowledge on Earth, within the scale of the galaxy, he would still be just a frog in a well—and a single galaxy, in the scope of an entire universe, was nothing but a grain of sand.
As for this universe?
In the greater multiverse, it barely counted for anything.
Because the multiverse was just that vast.
It was infinite.
And its structure was unfathomably complex.
Past, present, and future all coexisted in the multiverse.
Like three overlapping nodes, they influence and alter each other.
Each past gives rise to infinite presents. Each present, to infinite futures. And within each future, there's a chance of an event emerging that alters the past, turning it into infinite possibilities.
If you were to divide time into countless micro-instants, then string those moments together, you'd get a timeline.
Each of those moments would be an independent point, connected to endless potential futures.
It's like a road where, no matter whether you go forward, stop, or go backward, countless branching paths emerge.
And behind each fork, there are always more forks with infinite choices.
In those parallel developments of multiversal timepoints—
Sometimes, a single atom, or a fleeting thought, could give birth to a new universe or a new timeline.
And from the infinite universes, infinite lives, and infinite timelines that emerge, each atom or idea could again spawn even more universe, lives, and timelines, in an endless recursive cycle—an infinite loop within an infinite loop.
More importantly, every timeline, every timepoint, every universe... exists in a state of mutual interference yet fundamental independence.
Their flow of time differs wildly—one place may experience a single second, while another has already passed through billions of years.
They, their branches, and their branches' branches...
Are forever growing in a chaotic, limitless state.
The next instant of the multiverse will always be infinitely larger than the last.
Even time travel to the past wouldn't change that, because the main timeline of the multiverse is inherently chaotic and unordered—completely outside the bounds of conventional rules.
So, the actual size of the multiverse equals: infinity × infinity × infinity × infinity × infinity × infinity × infinity... = infinity.
An infinity made up of infinite infinities.
Compared to that, and compared to someone like Orsaga—who was born a superior being and had always been exposed to this grand reality—
Ra's perspective was simply too narrow.
Many of the things he believed important were actually useless and meaningless.
They had already severely stunted his development.
Most of his potential had been smothered by those limitations.
——
June 10th, 2052.
Earth. Egypt.
Holding a skewer of local grilled meat, Elsa looked helplessly at Orsaga, who was not far away beating up a few street punks and laughing joyfully.
Unable to hold back, she asked her mother, Petra, "What exactly are we here for?"
Petra, busy eating ice cream, thought for a moment before answering, "Probably… here on vacation?"
Her tone was casual, with more uncertainty than certainty.
She didn't really care what the trip was for. She simply wanted to be around Orsaga.
"…Right."
Elsa glanced at her mother, then at Orsaga, who was still mid-beatdown, and finally sighed.
"I think he just wanted a new place to pick fights…"
Yes.
Orsaga's life in this world could be summed up in a loop: beat people up → indulge → beat people up → repeat endlessly.
He had eaten his way through every high-end restaurant in the UK and beaten up everyone he felt like punching.
His behavior was completely incomprehensible to normal people.
It was only because he could fight incredibly well—and because their family's connections ran deep, being an ancient noble house with a hereditary earldom stretching back millennia (even the Prime Minister had to greet them politely)—that he hadn't been arrested or killed long ago.
At that moment, Orsaga casually tossed aside the punk labeled "A," whose teeth had all been knocked out and whose face was streaked with tears. Then he stepped over punks B and C, sprawled across the ground, and strolled over with a smile to explain:
"That's not it. I just have some things to take care of in the near future. Might not have time for you two, so I figured I'd take you traveling now."
Though it was easy for him to grant them eternal life, endless youth, and bodies immune to sickness—
As short-lived species by birth, Elsa and Petra still needed time to adjust their sense of time.
A few years might mean little to him, or to people like Golariel or Alison—natural-born immortals—but for the two of them, it would feel like an eternity.
So, knowing he might be gone for several years, Orsaga decided to take them on a trip beforehand.
Of course, he wasn't playing favorites.
Golariel, Alison, Kayla, and Iris had all received similar treatment.
Petra, who hadn't cared much before, furrowed her brow after hearing this and asked, somewhat displeased, "How long is 'a while'?"
Orsaga scratched his head and replied, "About two years."
Petra frowned again, clearly wanting to ask more, but then remembered the things Orsaga had told her in the past.
She knew that whatever he was going to do must be extremely important.
So, in the end, all her concerns condensed into one sentence:
"Then be careful."
Watching the lovey-dovey exchange, Elsa pursed her lips in dissatisfaction. She felt like she was just an extra piece of luggage on this trip.
——
Pluto.
After a long journey, Ra finally arrived—aboard a specially designed spacecraft.
Looking at the hostile environment of the planet beneath him, he knew that once the ship descended, taking off again would be near impossible.
So, dragging two full shipping containers, he chose to jump down alone.
Without any equipment.
Boom!
With a thunderous crash, he landed.
Ignoring the extreme conditions around him, he opened one of the containers and began preparing the summoning ritual…
___
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