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 means

It was their fate.

here, you bastards! Come and get me

forget about me! Go

the attention of the demon away from him, Kevin's chest began to feel as

'Why? ...Why?'

inside of his mind, his eyes drawn toward the scenes in

your needs above mine is how

told him during his fourth regression rang in

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

it was during this time that he finally better

his hand forward toward where

"Don't go..."

Don't leave me.

*

Many years later.

Ashton City, Lock Library

to a stop near a particular word as

people to feel empty, alone, and unwanted. People who are lonely often crave human contact, but their state of mind makes it more difficult to form connections

traced his finger across the definition that was in front

that the words strangely

since the passing of his parents, he had the impression that the world, which seemed already to be devoid of meaning to him, had taken on an even more hollow

been to better understand the sensations he

600 years old if one counted all

eating away at his body gradually became worse, to the point where every

was also why he was now

understand what he was feeling and

flipped the book over and looked at the cover of

Johnson's guide

was a mistake for the records to

of him and gently

all of his problems at the moment was his identity. The identity of a human. A social

forced to deal with such pointless issues; however, as more time passed and regressions took place, Kevin realized that he was not an exception to

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

understood that he could not

how much he might try to distance himself from the world or ignore whatever was happening around him, like the death of his parents or his own death, the biological system that he

this realization that made Kevin realize that

better understand this so called thing known as

Clank―!

his chair and grabbed the book that was on the table

"Hm?"

turning around to return the book when he suddenly became

was someone

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

exam

young, skinny man with jet-black

a large book, and beside him was

[Demon anatomy]

watch out for from a

and what

at the books that were piled up in front of the young

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

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

cure to the mind breaker

the young man

"Eh, ah!"

Clank―!

hit the floor, resulting in a deafening crash. It was

changed dramatically the moment his eyes landed on Kevin, nearly

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