29 Local Faith V

*Cough!*

Admist the rubble, a figure could be seen stumbling through the pile of rocks. The building was completely destroyed and the figure was holding his right arm in pain.

His right eye dyed red with blood, his right arm was charred like black coal and his face was ripped of its skin.

"Where... where..."

He continued muttering this in a daze.

Each step was off-balanced.

Arai had survived the suiciding explosion but he was wandering aimlessly. His eyes devoid of light as he kept walking looking for someone.

When the explosion happened, he was protected by Haibara who formed a dome of clay to protect him. After that, he just woke up with injuries all over his body.

"Anyone... where..."

The wounds worsened after every step and the pain increased more and more. The adrenaline was gone after the fight and he had to endure all the pain hitting him at once.

*Rumble.*

Arai's attention turned to a piece of rock being falling.

A hand reached out from the rubble and crawling through the debris. Quickly pushing the rubble off him, Arai identified that this person was Nanami.

His condition was grave but not as severe as Arai's. He still had burnt marks but had no real life threatening injuries. But soon, he collapsed and fell losing his balance.

Though just as he was about to hit the ground, Arai appeared next to him and caught him.

"Good job Nanami. You can rest easy now."

Arai smiled bitterly and brought Nanami over his shoulder.

Arai noticed the presence of a curse spirit right near Nanami and thought that it was still alive so he went after it. Failing to realize that it was dead, Nanami had used its body to cover himself and survived the explosion.

But unlike Arai, the shockwave hit him and he was knocked over and almost got blown away by the resulting explosion.

Bringing Nanami with him, Arai walked towards an area where a broke shrine was.

And leaning on it was Haibara.

Conscious but heavily injured.

His chest and stomach were charred black with burnt wounds all over. His eyes were gone and had holes in them while half his hair got burnt. His left arm was gone and so was his right leg, the wounds he received from protecting Arai.

"Is that you, Arai?"

"Yeah it's me. I'll bring us to safety."

Arai said reassuring Haibara, or more like he said it to himself. He took hold of Haibara as well and started walking away from the shrine.

It was difficult for him. Especially since he only had one useful arm left and his face was constantly in pain. Though he'd like to cover these wounds, it was better to bring his team to safety first.

"Arai... sorry about this, I know its hard to bring Nanami but with me its a lot harder isn't it."

Arai heard Haibara whispering, his voice broke at the end of the sentence.

He felt guilty knowing that Haibara was responsible for him being alive. Haibara could of protected himself but decided to save him first. It was his good nature showing and now it was responsible for his current state.

"Don't worry about it. Just take a deep breath, it'll be fine. Ieiri is near us, we can get you the help you need."

"Arai."

Looking down Arai could see Haibara holding his arm firmly. The arm holding him was wobbling. His eyes devoid of light as hope could not be seen, yet his voice was still strong even with the blood threatening to choke him. "We both know what's about to happen. There's no second chance for me."

Silence was all there was left. Arai had stopped running, he knew the seriousness of his injuries yet for some reason it just went over his head. The moment he saw his friend injured, the logical part of him just vanished.

Denying the fact of reality.

Arai placed him down gently, his back and head leaned on the wall. His breathing was heavy as every breath could be heard.

"You know, the first time I meet you I thought you were anti-social or something. Tried to be friends with you but I just had this lingering doubt that it would work out."

"Thank god I persisted or else I would of never meet the best friend I could ever have." Tears welled up in his eyes as he smiled weakly.

"I hate it. I really hate this. Why is it always that people around me suffer?" His fist clenched as he remembered his parent's death. More and more anger leaked out of Arai.

"How can you say that when I had the time of my life being your friend."

"... just stop talking. You're going to choke on your own blood."

Arai had known after seeing Haibara's wound that he wasn't going to make it. He had gone to look for Nanami and luckily found him fast.

Now, he was faced with seeing his friend dying in front of him.

"Hey Arai."

Haibara's voice was now even lower than before. He was whispering and could barely be heard by Arai.

"Take care of my sister."

"Don't ever let her be a sorcerer, don't tell her I died to curse spirits. Tell her I got killed in an accident."

"And promise me this, let her enjoy her life."

"No matter what."

The two gazes were on one another. A moment of silence ensued as Arai stayed silent.

"I promise."

Arai said after gathering enough strength to say it, knowing that this was the last time he would be able to talk with Haibara.

Hearing this, Haibara smiled and sighed in relief.

"I trust you. After all, promises are what you're the greatest at."

His eyes closed, his breathing was cut as all the tension in him left.

No longer resisting and accepting his death.

"Thanks Arai... for everything..."

The last words coming from Haibara before he breathed his last.

For a moment, Arai felt as if the world stopped. Just him, looking at the corpse of his dead friend. It felt ominous to the outside as it would look like a murder scene.

But for Arai, it was a tragedy.

Another incident where someone close to him had died.

The iron taste in his mouth, the blocked from the smell of blood, the silent sound of fire lighting in the background, and the feeling of death crawling through his skin.

Arai gritted his teeth in anger making the sound of his teeth cracking.

Yet at the end stopped, as he sighed.

"Good job, Arai. You really know how to lie."

He muttered to himself, while chuckling almost maniacally.

How could he promise to protect his sister when he could die in a mission?

And he couldn't even be there for her since he would always be busy from missions.

"What am I doing in my life?"

His depressive state grew more after asking that question.

Just what was he even trying to accomplish here.

It wasn't like he was going to succeed anyway.

Looking down, he saw Nanami still unconscious unaware that his friend had just died.

He didn't speak anymore and brought Nanami and himself outside.

But what he found worsened his mood even more.

The village that they were sent to protect was attacked by curse spirits. They who couldn't see them were now faced with an invisible enemy.

"HAAAHHH! HELP ME!!"

"SAVE ME!!!"

Screams of despair could be heard everywhere. Their cries for help. Pleas for salvation.

The cursed spirits who were originally too afraid to fight against the first-grades ones have revealed themselves.

They are now free from any influence and can take everything and anything they want.

Amidst the chaos, someone had noticed Arai standing at the top of the shrine and came running.

"What did you do?! You were supposed to help us! Not kill us!!"

He was the village's chief but now he had no sense of reason in his eyes. His own villagers were being killed yet Arai saw him pushing others to the curses. Trying to buy enough time for himself. A desperate attempt to save himself.

But it wasn't like he was the only to do this.

Multiple people made the same action, pushing their neighbors or even family to the stomach of monsters to save their own skin.

Human salvation at its full display.

"You bastard!! Just what did you do down there!! It's your fault!!!! ALL OF YOUR FAULT! YOU SORCERERS AND ALL OF YOU!!"

His anger was justified, after all they were supposed to come here to save these villagers not doom them.

Yet Arai didn't know why but for the first time, he decided to dump all of it out.

He didn't care anymore. What did his logic do?

Did it save Haibara?

Did it protect Nanami?

Was he even helpful in that fight?

Wasn't he just a burden?

Nanami and Haibara could of gone to missions by themselves but decided to have him go with them.

'They' decided to be with him. But they didn't need him.

"HEY! SAVE ME! You're supposed to save us! So do it!!"

The man yelled in anger and began shaking Arai violently.

Curses were running rampant yet he just stood there. Why was he standing here?

It had no logic behind it.

"No logic..." Arai muttered before walking towards the curses killing, feasting and ripping humans apart.

"I should of done this a long time ago. Maybe if I did, I could of saved Haibara."

"Maybe I was too scared."

"A coward."

"But I guess now that I can't have a shield behind me, I let my real self out."

Arai chuckled scaring the village chief. In a situation where people were dying in front of him, this man just chuckled with a smile on his face.

"I guess this is why I didn't cry. I was just glad that my 'shield' saved me."

"'Pure relief' is what I felt."

"Glad that 'I' was alive."

"Logic and reasoning is important but if too constrained by them, than I will only weaken myself."

Arai took a deep breath and exhaled.

His mind was oddly calmed, more than it ever was.

The realization of his true nature gave him a new view to the world.

Cursed Energy was a psychological power.

If one restricts themselves, then they will be restricted.

If one doubts their abilities, then they'd most likely fail.

If you believe that you are the strongest, then you are the strongest.

The power of imagination was the roots of cursed energy.

And when one accepts themselves-

"And I will still be after this."

They would be able to bring forth more power than ever.

A limit breaker!

[Sacrifice!]

Arai's cursed energy was filling up and even grew past what was his limit. Though just having a new outlook would not necessarily mean that you'd get stronger.

At least not strong enough, it did make him release his shackles and gave him a bit more cursed energy but a natural limit was always placed on oneself.

If everyone could get a gigantic boost by releasing themselves from their shackles, Gojo Satoru would not be so special.

He alone was the honored one.

And he alone was the strongest.

That boost of power in his near-death state was not something people could ever experience nor witness.

Which is why Arai brought forth a new way.

It brought him new and more creative ways to use it.

And the most powerful pact is one where you put your life on the line.

A contract to the world.

One where you sacrifice your life to have an immense increase in cursed energy.

But unlike them, Arai didn't use this.

With his cursed technique, he made a deal.

He would sacrifice 10 years of his lifespan for an immense increase in cursed energy.

Sorcerers could not achieve this, it was a feat that required them to specifically draw out a portion of their lifespan. If they mistakenly use all of it, they would instantly die which was why most people never used this even when they were going to die.

The moment he activated his technique, his cursed energy grew so large that it now wasn't far off a special grade's.

This took notice from all the surrounding cursed spirits. They were made of cursed energy and sensing the amount that Arai had.

It made them feel it.

Fear.

Arai didn't waste a second. He already knew how to use this newfound amount of cursed energy. His output increased even more so when he jumped towards his targets.

All they saw was his disappearance and reappearance when he reached them.

He had no need of weapons now. With his bare fists, his output reached a level where it surpassed Nanami's even with his cursed technique.

The massacre towards humans turned into one of cursed spirits.

With his masterful control of cursed energy, he managed to destroy them one by one. His style now was more beast like as he had no need for any techniques. Pure destructive power was something he had never held and he wanted to make full use of this experience.

The grotesque sight of cursed spirit having their limbs getting torn off would be traumatizing but thankfully for the humans, they couldn't see it.

Arai didn't hold back as he smashed them to pieces tearing their eyes off and breaking their jaws in half. He reveled at the power in his hands as he continued the massacre.

It didn't take five minutes before most cursed spirits were all exorcised.

The ones who were left ran away.

Even cursed spirits held fear within them.

The village was now died in purple blood and Arai who was standing there with blood soaked hands. For the first time, he hadn't relied on someone or something.

There was no cursed tool, no shikigami nor his friends.

For the first time in his life, he had managed to accomplish something by himself.

He alone did this.

And he felt proud.

He had finally accomplished something worth of praise.

"Thank you! You saved us."

But that feeling was gone after hearing this. An annoyed feeling arose inside him.

"We knew you jujutsu sorcerers could save us."

"Thank you for your help."

These words would normally make one happy. They were compliments and gratification to their heroes. But all Arai could feel at this moment was the feeling of being annoyed.

The feeling of accomplishment came crumbling down.

The visible annoyance he felt could be seen on his face as he turned to them. But it seemed as if they couldn't see it as they smiled and clapped at his performance.

Thank yous and all sorts of meaning of gratifications were told to him.

But it had the opposite effect to him.

A memory that had engraved into his mind.

The smiling faces of the people clapping at the sigh of a teenage girl's death.

These non-sorcerers, humans, were happy at seeing a girl who couldn't even live the life she wanted die.

Their faces overlapped one another.

They resembled so much.

One moment they were cursing him and the next smiling at seeing him risk himself to protect them.

But what would happen if sorcerers weren't needed anymore?

Would they still smile and clap?

They were already killing sorcerers just because they were afraid of them or to further their agendas.

But what really made Arai angry was that both scenes reminded him of his own past.

The people ignoring his pleas when his parents died. Police officers, classmates, anyone, he just wanted one person to come help him. Yet no help had arrived, no one was there for him.

No one believed what had happened and dismissed the case without even trying.

The japanese system was cruel to those who it had its eyes on.

And he was one of its victims.

"Mr. Sorcerer?"

A villager asked with concern on their face, Arai's eyes widened as he started to waver but he soon put a cold expression back. His eyes shined green as rage filled his very being.

"I promised myself that I'd stay true to myself. To be honest as to who I truly am."

The villagers were confused at what he was saying. He just randomly started talking but it seemed as if it wasn't addressed to them.

His tone cold and filled with anger but was chillingly calm.

"And if wiping all those that anger me mean being true to myself."

Cursed energy gathered towards his hands as his eyes were now glaring the frightened people.

A part of him wanted to stop himself from doing this.

The logical part of him.

But now, was overwhelmed by letting his emotions and true feelings set free.

"Then I'll wipe all of them of the face of this world."

["^_(9^ 1§{€2£¥7$}8%->4@*#'6~'...\!?04@*#'6~'...\!?0]

"How many casualties?" Yaga said in a stern voice but it seems that it was more of anger this time.

Arai who was the subject of questioning answered plainly.

"One."

Yaga furrowed his brows when hearing this.

"I meant how many humans died."

Weirdly, Arai smiled in a strange manner, almost as if he was mocking not Yaga but the people who died and replied coldly.

"All died... quite unfortunately."

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{AN: I know this chapter came late but I wasn't sure whether I wanted to have him kill those villagers. Ultimately decided to have that happen.

Watched a BloodBorne video so that may have influenced my decision

It may seem unnecessary to have him use the sacrifice technique but it will be important later on.

Logic is a major part of Arai's character as he is always someone who tries to be logical about everything.

But since cursed energy is a phycological power, if you are too narrowminded then it will affect your performance. It comes from emotions and Arai's tries to never show it.

I mean look at all special grades sorcerers.

Are any of them constrained?

Well maybe Yuta at the start...

Anyway that's all I wanted to say.

See ya!}