The Author's POV

'Why did it happen again?'

While sitting on the curb in front of the bus with a perplexed expression on his face, Kevin mused to himself about the situation.

Why did they die again?

He did everything that he was supposed to do.

He didn't go toward the inner city and lead his parents away from home, yet, they still died.

This time by a road accident.

The demons weren't even responsible for their deaths.

Kevin's gaze lifted toward the clouds in the sky. Staring at the clouds that were moving ever so slowly in the sky, he had a sudden thought.

'...I wanted to spend more time with them.'

***

Bang―!

"Watch out, Kevin!"

Once more, Kevin watched as his parents threw their bodies over to protect him. This time, their bodies were completely severed in half, and blood spilt all over Kevin.

The expressions of helplessness and anguish that they displayed just prior to passing away left an indelible mark on his mind as he could only watch them die in front of him.

Crash―!

"Get behind me, Kevin!"

Booom―!

"Ahhhh!"

Unbeknownst to him, the same events kept happening over and over again with each and every one of his regressions.

Before Kevin even realized it, he had reached his twentieth regression, and for the twentieth time, both of his parents had passed away right before his very eyes.

This time, it was due to an explosion that occurred outside of the city.

'...Why?'

Kevin never managed to muster the required strength to come to the aid of his mother and father, no matter how many times he tried. Each time, they would suffer a horrible death, and he would be left all by himself once more.

The heaviness in his heart, which had been barely noticeable at first, became increasingly obvious with each and every one of his regressions, and it intensified with the passing of his parents in all of the regressions.

Over the course of those twenty regressions, he would have an immeasurably better chance of defeating Jezebeth, but despite his best efforts, he continued to fall short in every single one of his endeavours.

Kevin understood that it was only a matter of time before he could beat Jezebeth.

Be it one hundred, one thousand, ten thousand, one hundred thousand, or a million regressions...

Kevin had all the time in the world to accumulate experience and become stronger.

Jezebeth was still ahead of him by quite a lot, but Kevin knew that his time would come very soon.

...In those times, with each regression, he would spend more and more time with his parents. By the time the twentieth regression happened, he had spent at least a century of his life with them.

He pretty much knew them like the back of his hand.

...and it was because of this that he found it more difficult to part ways with them every five years since his birth.

After each of their deaths, he would experience a sharp pain, and the colour that had been slowly developing in his vision would slowly fade away.

would continue indefinitely, with no

It was their fate.

Come and get me

about

their best to divert the attention of the demon away from him, Kevin's chest began to feel

'Why? ...Why?'

his mind, his eyes

someone else before their own. Putting your needs above mine is how I show you that I

Kevin's mother had told him during his fourth regression rang in

the corners of his eyes, trickling down the side of his cheek before softly landing on the hard ground beneath

during this time that he finally better understood the

his hand forward toward where his parents

"Don't go..."

Don't leave me.

*

Many years later.

Ashton City, Lock Library

hand came to a stop near a particular word as

it. Loneliness causes people to feel empty, alone, and unwanted. People who are lonely

around him, and he traced his finger across the definition that was in front of him with

some reason, he felt that the words strangely resonated

had the impression that the world, which seemed already to be devoid of meaning to him,

to better understand the sensations he was

about 600 years old if one counted all

emptiness that was eating away at his body gradually became worse,

he was now in

could better understand what he was feeling and find an

the book over and looked at

guide to human

was a mistake for the records

staring at the book in front of

moment was his identity. The identity of a human. A social being that thrived on what was known

however, as more time passed and regressions took

sensations that he experienced in the immediate aftermath of the passing of his

understood that he could not

was happening around him, like the death of his parents or his own death, the biological system that he was born with

Kevin realize that he could no longer

better understand this so called thing known

Clank―!

his chair and grabbed the book that was on the table in front of

"Hm?"

the verge of turning around to return the book when he suddenly became aware

someone else

and it was very strange to see someone still in the

when considering that exam season has

a young, skinny man with jet-black hair covering

face was currently glued to a large book, and beside him was a stack

[Demon anatomy]

out for from

and what is known

that were piled up in front of the

face, it was obvious that the young man was showing signs of anxiety, given the rapidity with which he was turning the pages of the

Mind breaker curse... where is it? ...where is it? ...There must be a way ...There has to be a

for the cure to

young man and startling

"Eh, ah!"

Clank―!

him fell back and hit the floor, resulting in a deafening crash. It was a good thing the librarian

moment his eyes landed on Kevin, nearly

"You...you're Kevin Voss."