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.

indefinitely, with no means of

It was their fate.

here, you bastards! Come and get me if you

forget about me! Go

at the top of their lungs, doing their best to divert the attention of the demon away from him, Kevin's chest began to feel as if it were being crushed under an

'Why? ...Why?'

inside of his mind, his eyes drawn toward the

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

during his fourth

eyes, trickling down the side of his cheek before softly landing on

it was during this time that he finally better understood the

forward toward where his parents were, Kevin

"Don't go..."

Don't leave me.

*

Many years later.

Ashton City, Lock Library

came to a stop near a particular word as he paged through a book about

the state of being alone and feeling sad about it. Loneliness causes people to feel empty, alone, and unwanted. People who are lonely often crave human contact, but their state of mind makes it

a dim light on the area around him, and he traced his finger across the definition

he felt that the words strangely

since the passing of his parents, he had the impression that the

had always been to better understand the sensations he was

he was about 600 years old

the course of all that time, the sensation of emptiness that was eating away at his body gradually became worse, to

why he

so that he could better understand what he

and looked at the cover

Johnson's guide to human

a mistake for the records to

thought, staring at the book in front of

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

as more time passed and regressions took place, Kevin realized that he was not an exception

fleeting sensations that he experienced in the immediate aftermath of the

he could not run away from

try to distance himself from the world or ignore whatever was happening around him, like the death of his parents or his own

was this realization that made Kevin realize that he

had to better understand this so called thing

Clank―!

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

"Hm?"

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

someone else

approximately three in the morning, and it was very strange to see someone still

exam

around, saw a young, skinny man with jet-black

currently glued to a large book, and beside

[Demon anatomy]

to watch out for

and what is known about

at the books that were piled up in

showing signs of anxiety, given the rapidity with which

is it? ...where is it? ...There must

you looking for the cure to the mind breaker

in front of the young

"Eh, ah!"

Clank―!

deafening crash. It

the young man's expression changed dramatically the moment his eyes landed

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