"Challenger? You really have the nerve to say that. If I'd aimed just a little differently back there, it wouldn't have been your right hand that got reversed, but your heart."
Roland studied Aoko Aozaki's hand with interest, analyzing and deciphering it with the Thousand Wisdom he had developed thus far. The power of True Magic was a manifestation of order, omnipresent rules that transcended this planet.
Even methods involving time and space on the scale of planets and the universe were, in essence, merely ways of exploiting their power through dimensional reduction.
Just as the concept of time travel was already encompassed by the Second Magic, tampering with records and rewriting phenomena were part of the operation of parallel worlds.
But that was not the essence of the Second Magic, so the Fifth Magic could also encroach on that domain.
Roland wanted to use similar means to glimpse a fraction of the Fifth Magic's true nature.
"Did you throw your injuries into the future? No... that must be a point in time you don't even know whether you can reach. Preserving causality while avoiding its effects yourself-Aoko, shirking your responsibilities like that isn't right."
The mental time travel Aoko Aozaki had demonstrated was merely the most insignificant part of the Fifth Magic. Manipulating the timeline and distorting causality were feats worthy of being called one of only five privileges.
"Do you think everyone's as rich as you?! Besides, compared to you consuming your entire past up to this point, I'm already being very frugal!"
Aoko Aozaki pursed her lips indignantly, making Roland chuckle despite himself. "That's certainly an easy way to understand it. Still, manipulating time like this doesn't consume any magical energy at all. Did you borrow from the future again?"
"That's right. How else am I supposed