Something's wrong with how I'm watching anime.

"The only way to do this is to sacrifice some girls, create more magical girls, and transform them into witches to draw energy from them."

"Look, even if your plan succeeds, how will what you do in the future be any different from what we do?"

"In fact, they're not even as good as us..."

"this...."

Satomi Touka was speechless for a moment, her face showing a look of confusion.

“While grand and beautiful aspirations are certainly admirable, their realization is inevitably accompanied by the birth of ugly things. Moreover, the ignorant often only see the shining parts, while remaining blind to the bad things.”

"No, or rather, it is precisely because you pursue beauty that you subconsciously ignore these things."

"Moreover, this is not just ignoring it, but rather a more inferior lack of understanding."

"It's like a child touching a dangerous fire with longing for warmth and light."

"You have overlooked the most direct and fundamental part of this system, which is why you have ended up like this."

"What are you saying..." Satomi Touka murmured.

"The most fundamental part of this system?"

"Energy is not created out of thin air."

Kazama's voice rang out when the girl was feeling lost.

"It's like the light and heat obtained from lighting firewood, where the light and heat come from the firewood itself."

"The energy of entropy reversal is not obtained out of thin air; its fuel is—"

"--cause and effect"

Kazama's voice rang in Satomi Touka's ears like a thunderclap, startling her.

"Not all underage females can become magical girls; the incubators, or rather the system, have unique selection criteria."

"This causal value as a qualification can be understood as the degree of influence on fate and things."

"The policies formulated by the ruler of a country can affect countless people in that country. The depth and breadth of the impact will give rise to countless consequences."

"If a girl's future destiny is to become that kind of person, someone who can influence the fate of countless people, then her qualities must be exceptional."

"For example, you guys..."

Touka Satomi and Nemuru Hiiragi, one a science genius and the other a humanities genius.

Inventions, creations, literature, and ideas have the broadest impact on society and civilization.

Even the unassuming Tamaki, who seems like an ugly duckling compared to Satomi Touka and the others, actually possesses amazing leadership talent. Kazama, by peeking into a corner of her destiny, can see the scene where she causes a great deal of turbulence in fate.

In an instant, Kazama, who was skilled in divination, seemed to have gained a deeper understanding of cause and effect.

"The depth and breadth of the impact... is it causal?"

Hiiragi Nemu murmured to herself, as if in a dream.

"Just like the times that choose those heroes who will leave their mark on history."

Kazama nodded in the unknown territory.

As depicted in the original anime, in the scene after Madoka becomes a god, the Law of Cycles transcends time to save magical girls. These ancient magical girls correspond to figures such as the Queen of Sheba, the female pharaoh, and Joan of Arc.

Therefore, these must have been the most talented magical girls selected by the incubators during those eras. Of course, the witches they transformed into must have been extremely terrifying.

Human civilization continues to advance through the constant cycles of time.

The incubators have used Earth as a hunting ground for energy, and now it seems there's a reason not to block humanity's future.

Incubators yearn for the convergence of eras, for the best material to emerge from the waves of fate.

Perhaps, in the famous historical moments recorded by human civilization in this world, there are also behind-the-scenes forces orchestrated by the Incubator race.

Of course, the incubators probably wouldn't have considered the bug that exists in this system.

Even if it shapes the fate and cause and effect that influences an era, how can it compare to the cause and effect shaped by subverting countless timelines and traveling back and forth?

"In short, making a wish is just like paying for something."

"The more causes and effects there are, the more wishes can be fulfilled."

"A girl with mediocre talent wants to wish to become an omniscient and omnipotent god. What do you think will happen to her..."

"Overdrawing a huge amount of cause and effect will result in an extremely terrible backlash."

"A container that is filled with more water than it can hold, and the water cannot be allowed to overflow, will only have one fate."

"so..."

Kazama's voice drifted over.

"Don't make grand wishes lightly, because the weight behind those wishes may be too much for you to bear."

Chapter 396 Subordination

cause and effect.

These ethereal Buddhist teachings became the most crucial variable in determining the magical girl system.

Satomi Touka roughly knew what was going on.

Although their wish appears to be merely to acquire the abilities of the incubator, the true desire of Satomi Touka and the other two is to liberate all magical girls.

From the birth of the first magical girl until now, with the continuous sowing of the incubators, the entire system has long since become a colossal entity, a vast and almost irreversible cycle between magical girls and witches, no longer a simple rope that can be broken by severing a section of it.

What they are trying to do is essentially to overturn this cycle.

If we compare their wishes with their own abilities, even if they become figures who leave their mark on history, they would absolutely not be able to bear such enormous consequences.

"Is that why she immediately broke down and began to turn into a witch after making a wish?"

Satomi Touka has already understood the whole story, but knowing this is useless. At most, it will allow her to know the truth before she completely becomes a witch, so that she won't become a wronged ghost.

According to the incubator, the process of becoming a witch is irreversible. Even the abilities it possesses are merely for purifying the filth on the soul gem before the magical girl completely degenerates into a witch.

The hourglass of death continues to flow relentlessly. When the last grain of sand representing time has slipped through one's fingers, one will still die along with one of one's two friends.

No....

Satomi Touka shook her head.

There is still a glimmer of hope.

When something is irreversible, it proceeds according to its normal trajectory – that's true irreversibility. But if a variable appears, that variable becomes an opportunity for a turning point.

The turning point here is, of course, the voice of the person who is high above the curtain, unseen and unreachable.

"Then, who are you?"

"Our time is running out. To put it another way, is there still a chance for us to be saved, to pull back from the brink...?"

...............

Kazama was slightly taken aback by Satomi Touka's words; it was indeed convenient to talk to intelligent people.

Just as Kazama had realized before, he might have already fallen into the causal system created by that great civilization from the moment he entered this world.

However, the unfolding of cause and effect is by no means instantaneous. Just like ants eating away at a riverbank, causing it to collapse, there is a long process involved in the ants' act of eating.

Therefore, if Kazama wants to use this system to achieve his goals, he must find a suitable entry point.

The current three little ones are the most suitable point of intervention.

"The cycle of magical girls..."

The vast cycle is created by the incubators' daily sowing. Just like the surface of the anti-entropy energy system as understood by the incubators, the more talented the girl and the stronger her emotions, the more energy she can obtain.

The more cause and effect accumulate, the more powerful the miracle will ultimately be. When this vast cycle of reincarnation accumulates to a certain degree, it is not impossible to use it to create a miracle of godhood.

That's right, the cycle of magical girls is the legacy left behind by that civilization or being.

"save..."

Kazama chuckled softly, the sound echoing in the ears of Satomi Touka and the other two.

"Of course you can. And not only that, your wishes can still be fulfilled as usual."

"If you ask why... breaking this cycle is also something I want to see."

Kazama's words brought a smile to Satomi Touka's face, but she immediately became cautious again.

Just like how the Incubators use wishes to bewitch naive girls, what seems beautiful may actually contain dangerous poisons.

Unwarranted goodwill is one of the riskiest things.

So-called free gifts often come with a hidden price tag.

Thinking of this, Satomi Touka spoke up:

What do we need to give up?

Frankly, they have no room for negotiation in this situation. Whatever the purpose of the person behind that voice, they are their only lifeline. After all, there can't be a worse outcome than becoming a witch.

But rather than drinking poison that tastes like honey, she at least wanted to understand the risks involved.

"It does require some effort from you all."

“You need to become my servants, my apostles.”

"Subordinate to... an apostle?"

Satomi Touka raised her head:

"Are you a god, or a demon?"

"No, I am neither of those two beings. Perhaps you can call me..."

Kazama couldn't help but recall the name he used when he first started his business, when he was deceiving people by borrowing someone else's power.

"The spirit of delusion."

"You may call me that."

"As for what you should do as my apostles, it's very simple. Just do what you originally wanted and wanted."