The Author's POV

Fear.

An unpleasant and inescapable emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm.

It begins with your hair standing up. Next, your palms begin to sweat, and your body experiences a wave of nausea, making it difficult for you to comprehend what lies before you.

The world feels foggy. Everything that seemed so clear the previous moment becomes blurry, and in an instant, your entire body begins to tremble, and your heart beats so loudly inside of your head that it feels suffocating.

Fear starts off as an instinctive and primitive response designed to help us avoid dangerous situations.

…But what would happen when you're in a situation where you can't avoid this so called danger?

Helplessness.

That was what they would feel.

A wave of helplessness would wash over the individual as they find themselves in a situation where they could do nothing.

"Don't tell me you're planning on leaving right as I arrived?"

Jezebeth's words echoed inside of my ears, while the hair at the back of my neck stood up.

Fear was slowly starting to permeate my body.

"Haaa…haa…"

Unknowingly, my breathing became heavier.

As I slowly lifted my head up, my eyes met Jezebeth's, and my heart stopped for a moment.

'S..shit.'

I was overcome with a wave of helplessness as his presence completely enveloped my body, stopping me from moving at all.

"Hm?"

In the midst of my struggle, Jezebeth frowned.

Coming a little closer to me, he tilted his head a little.

"You…"

He pointed his slender finger in my direction, as his glaring red eyes scrutinized my body up and down.

My body felt completely naked as his eyes scanned it. It was as if he knew every secret inside my body.

Gradually, as he continued to stare at me, his eyes dropped and his head shook.

"…You're not him, again."

There were hints of disappointment in his voice as he turned his head to look away from me.

Right as he turned, I was able to hear his soft whisper.

"He would never make such an expression…"

Taking a step away from me, he looked around the room and continued to whisper to himself.

"This is strange…I'm sure I detected his presence before coming here. I don't think I'm wrong."

For the next couple of seconds, he didn't say anything and just quietly walked around the room with a pensive look on his face.

Coming to a sudden stop, he turned around to look at me.

Once again scanning my body, his brows jumped and a thin smile formed on his face.

"I see…"

Tap.

Taking a step closer to me, it didn't take long for him to arrive before me.

Extending his hand, my vision darkened as his plan covered my face.

I tried with all my might, staring at the hand that was snatching at my face, but it was all in vain; he stopped me without any effort on his part.

"Don't move. I'm trying to check something."

His voice loudly echoed inside of my ears.

As soon as his words vanished, I experienced an electric shock throughout my body. My body began to tense up in response to what he did, and my eyes rolled to the back of my head.

I wanted to scream, but it was all futile effort on my end as my mouth was sealed shut. No matter how much I struggled, I couldn't say anything.

"Mhh! Mhhhhh!"

The only thing that came out of my mouth were low muffled shouts.

"Ah, it makes sense now."

Taking his hand away from my head, Jezebeth once again turned away from me.

He had a satisfied look on his face.

"It's just like I predicted. You were the ones that resulted in Magnus's death, and it doesn't look like an accident either. As expected of you…"

Turning his body around, our eyes met. This time, his smile faded a little.

must be

stop once he said

began to

"Oh?"

the sudden

that different from him. You can say that

shook his head and slowly lifted his head. His

the real you take over? I have no interest in playing around

gentle manner, every word he

it pained me to be reminded that I was a fraud, I was gradually accepting this fact. The fact that I was just

with a slow head

"I'm good."

"You're good?"

while he looked at me with a strange

"Ha."

let out one single burst of

didn't last for long, as his complexion crumbled and his

you

color that totally enveloped the room as he snapped his head to gaze at me, and a dreadful pressure descended upon the

"Khurk!"

both knees to

both hands, I slowly raised my

Tap. Tap. Tap.

and rhythmical footsteps echoed throughout the room before they paused in

was right at that moment that the pressure bearing down

"Khuak!"

reflexively

on the ground, I began to heavily gasp for air while a

"…My bad."

heard Jezebeth's voice echo

at the moment. For a moment, I thought that you were going to

crossed legged on the ground, Jezebeth placed both of his hands on the

There are lots of things I want to say, and even though you might not be him, he should still be able to hear every single

my head snapped

"How should we start?"

for a bit, Jezebeth tapped

having a hard time remembering certain things. Don't mind me if

raising his head,

like you have much time till he takes over. I'll say a couple of years.

extending the other toward me until his palm was directly in front of

whiff of death

kill you before he takes over? There have

echoed in my thoughts like many whispers, resembling the hissing sound that snakes

kill you right now, a lot of my

word he spoke, the stronger the hissing sound in my head became, sending me into this weird phase that made it hard for me to keep my

think I've

me that the hissing sound stopped and he appeared in my vision once

did he spare

at Jezebeth before me. Although his looks were similar to that of a human, and the way he acted was also similar to how a human acted, I couldn't read his

complete enigma

made him especially scary to

the confused look on your face, you must

to read my thoughts, I was jolted out of them by Jezebeth's

his face, he slowly stood up

in circles. The sound of his soft

weakening. No,

I swallowed a

body started to tremble as a

this since you don't have the power of the Akashic laws, but with every regression, or time loop,

with time doesn't come cheaply. Whatever the case, unlike me and you, the records don't use that much energy to reset the universe. Every reset is just a fraction of their power and thus the burden they face

turned his head

the records slowly start to lose their powers like a fighter running out of stamina, and what if they get so desperate that they start to use even more of their powers to help the one they chose to

I could feel my heart beating loudly as he

His words…

sudden feeling of dread as I began

regressions took place, I became aware of the previous regressions within my mind with each new regression that happened. The records could no longer expend any energy in trying to

white glow enveloped Jezebeth's hand and his face

"This power…it's so addicting."

he spoke in a low whisper, his words reverberated so powerfully inside the room

his attention toward me, the glow

guessed it. This is the last loop. Once 'he' dies, the

intense with each word he said,

why I kept you

hissed loudly inside of my head, and my view of the surroundings

tried my best to

know why he

don't need to kill

blinked several

red eyes stared at me. No, he

your desires. You want to stop the loops. You want the suffering you've experienced to end, right? Then carry it out. Kill yourself right now. Put

Jezebeth halted himself mid-sentence.

hand over his

kill yourself just yet. Not

take long for his brows to relax. The smile also

direction, his smile became

be

I knew he was looking at me, not

want to

he looked straight into my eyes. Before I could even respond he

you wants to die, while another wants