{ Guys, some scenes might feel disturbing... Though knowing my audience, it should be fine. I will just say, you have been warned. }
Luckily, Kazu was able to use multiple barriers to slow his momentum and not get thrown back a large distance.
'This must be what Erza had felt then.' Kazu thought as he felt his entire body numb. It took effort just to twitch his fingers. His barrier hadn't broken. Just the vibrations from it had caused his body to be reduced to such a state.
Kazu couldn't help but shiver at the possibility of not putting a barrier on time.
'At least I won't be a burden to Erza.' Kazu thought, making multiple rectangular invisible barriers around him.
"Are you okay?" Erza shouted.
"I am fine! I have a barrier around, so you don't need to protect me. Use the broken pieces of your swords to attack those creatures at their legs or something—to stall them." Kazu shouted back.
Erza had only one sword left, so Kazu gave this suggestion.
"Those are too small for me to properly control."
Kazu frowned. "Then just stall while playing it safe."
He then glanced back at the creature, which had reduced him to such a state. It stood there for a few seconds before going back underground.
'I need to take care of that guy. But, what's the guarantee that she can't make more of them? I need more information.' Kazu looked at some other approaching giants.
Thud
A small sound of something falling echoed on the battlefield.
Kazu looked at his side. His eyes widened.
A small boy had come out from what Kazu saw was a big wooden ledge, likely part of the ceiling of a house.
He had multiple injuries on his body, but nothing fatal. Standing behind him was a little girl who was completely unharmed, looking at the world with innocent eyes.
The boy had shielded the girl from the debris.
However, that wasn't what caught Kazu's attention. It was that he recognised those two individuals.
They were the siblings he had met on his way to Lucas's house.
Kazu instinctively turned towards Anne. Both stared at each other for a few seconds.
She smirked.
Kazu's eyes widened in horror.
"No!"
He turned towards the siblings and shouted with all his might.
"RUN!"
The siblings flinched at his loudness. However, even before they could move, suddenly they felt killing intent, making them stiffen—unable to move.
One of the giants walked towards them.
"RUN!" Kazu shouted, but as if his words fell on deaf ears, they didn't move. Both of them were too scared to move.
Erza had noticed this and was trying to move to rescue them, but several of the creatures swarmed her, blocking her completely.
Kazu bit his lips when he realised that Erza won't make it.
'Move! Fucking move! Why doesn't my body listen?' Kazu cursed, trying to move. He was closer to the siblings than Erza, but it was more than 100 metres, making it impossible for Kazu to make a barrier to protect the siblings.
Though even if we made a barrier at that distance, it would be pretty weak compared to Kazu's normal barriers.
So, Kazu could only watch in horror as the giant stood in front of the siblings.
It moved his arm.
Not towards the boy who was in front of the girl.
But towards the 4-year-old girl behind the boy.
Kazu gulped audibly as he looked at the giant holding the girl in its palm.
"LEAVE MY SISTER ALONE" The girl's brother brought out a knife and stabbed the giant's legs.
However, the giant didn't even flinch and ignored the boy.
'Fuck, body move. I still could Lock that thing and rescue her if I move. BODY MOVE' Kazu's body finally responded to its call. His fingers finally twitched along with some more muscles.
However, the most he could do was crawl.
Before he could do anything—the giant moved.
Snap
The creature pulled out the girl's right arm with ease.
"AAAAAHHH", The girl screamed as blood rushed out of the stump.
Kazu felt his throat go heavy. 'No...'
He looked at Anne, "...Stop it."
Anne continued smirking. Her look almost looked taunting.
If it were a different setting, Kazu might have got angry. However, his mind was too preoccupied for that.
He looked back at the girl as her second limb was pulled off.
Much to his horror, the girl's face overlapped with a similar girl in Kazu's memories.
Kazu felt his vision blurring.
His body stopped struggling.
---
Kazu was 15 when he lost his family along with his life.
His previous life... was interesting. That's how Kazu will describe it.
He had witnessed several types of media: Anime, manga, and fanfictions. One of the latest rabbit holes before he died was fanfictions.
One thing he disliked about fanfictions MCs was emotional ones. Now, he definitely was not a fan of edgy MCs, but he also didn't like the ones who just got triggered by trauma again and again and were used as a plot device to restrict MC.
To Kyle, who had lived in a sheltered environment, trauma was something foreign.
'It's just some people. Just get over it. Moreover, isn't that your second life?' Kyle had been pretty disappointed at those people. If either of his parents died, at most, he would shed tears for a few days—that was also due to the grim environment caused by others, before things would get normal, back to how they used to be.
So, when he was reincarnated in a different world, as a baby, he learned his first lesson.
You understand the value of something after you lose it.
If it were Kyle, he would have just looked at the person who spoke with a blank face.
But Kazu, who had been living in this world without the internet, had learned—experienced this lesson firsthand.
Internet was not the only thing. Living as a baby came with its difficulties. He realised how lucky he was when he had the body of a 15-year-old at that time. To have the limbs, to be able to eat, and a lot of things he had taken for granted before.
So, Kazu kept that lesson close to his heart for the rest of his life.
That was one of the many things he learned in this life.
Second was living as a poor family, then facing a drought. It was the first time he had faced people who had given him unconditional love.
Kazu felt complicated about that. He felt grateful for it, but at the same time, angry that he wouldn't be able to reciprocate that. He couldn't comprehend how people could go to extremes just to save others instead of themselves—How his parents gave him and his sister food instead of using it to sustain themselves.
The answer came sooner than he expected. When he was thrust into a position where another person was his responsibility—his sister Yui.
He was an only child in his previous life. Raising someone? He learned it by failing.
He didn't know when... but for the first time in both his lives combined, Kyle or—Kazu had made a deeper human connection.
It was always a feeling he wanted to have, and it was pretty good. To say that with 100 per cent confidence that you could take a bullet for somebody is a complex feeling.
If Kazu were given the chance to decide whether to die instead of Yui that day, then he would have said yes without hesitation.
Being a big brother had never felt wonderful.
And it never felt so terrible to watch your little sister's corpse lying cold on the ground.
Kazu had first-hand experience what is trauma, and he doesn't think he will forget it anytime soon.
So, when he looked at the little girl having her limbs slowly pulled out of her body, something broke inside him.
His mind blanked out by the time the boy's turn came.
'If I had not shown any reaction, they would have escaped.' Kazu wanted to deny that thought. He wanted to believe that Anne was just some psychopath who did it for her sadistic pleasure and not because she wanted to mentally affect Kazu.
His instincts said otherwise.
He never hated his magic until now.
'Am I really cursed?'
The first time this thought had come to his mind was on losing Yui. Looking back, he had thought that he had come to that conclusion due to being emotional.
So, when the close encounter with that boar happened, he chalked it up to being in a magical forest.
The time with rats was similar as well. He squashed the thought of the possibility of getting infected by a deadly disease, which would have killed him along with Gray and Cana.
It was just a possibility. He was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. If he hadn't gone, the rats beneath the city wouldn't have disappeared.
So, when he was given a mission outside the city, he half-hoped that it would prove that he was not cursed. Everything will be fine, and even if some complications arise, they will deal with them.
This had been a pretty naive thought looking back. Then again, Kazu wanted to convince himself to move forward.
Looking at the dismembered bodies of the siblings and the grotesque creature made of villagers' flesh, along with the severity of the situation... Kazu felt tired.
'Maybe I am cursed. Everyone will die if they are around me...Guess I should just die. At least, they won't be killed...'
Crack
The barrier around him shattered like glass, a fist closing up on him.
Kazu's body moved. It jumped from its position and barely dodged the punch.
Another attack came from behind.
Kazu ducked. Sliding between the legs of those hulking creatures.
Each step felt like dragging a corpse. His limbs obeyed, but a heartbeat too late. Instead of looking like a dance like before, it now looked like Kazu would be hit any second.
His face was devoid of any emotion. Eyes blank.
No fighting spirit. No desire. His body purely moved on instinct, completely cut off from its mind, which was hopelessly despairing at the situation.
"What fighting instincts... In the past half-century, I have not seen anybody who has such instincts, especially at such a young age...But" Anne looked Kazu right in the eye.
"Is that all it takes to break you, boy? One little girl?"
A creature near Kazu had its limbs transformed.
'Maybe I am cursed... If so, what's the point of resisting if the outcome is inevitable? '
BOOOM
Next instant, it kicked Kazu straight in the gut, slamming him to the ground.
Dust arose from the debris of the crater formed around Kazu.
When it cleared, the creature appeared above Kazu, who had his eyes rolled back. Unconscious.
***
A/n- Guys, somehow in one day, my viewer count hexdoubled (Became 6 times). I don't know how that happened, but this is the time for double release. (Next chapter coming in 10 mins)
It's Tuesday. If we reach 100 Power Stones before Sunday, then another double release (And possibly more).
So, let's try to keep the momentum going🔥
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