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.

cycle would continue indefinitely, with no

It was their fate.

bastards! Come and get me if

forget about

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

'Why? ...Why?'

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

above mine is how

him during his fourth regression rang in

the side

that he finally better understood the meaning of his mother's

his hand forward toward where his

"Don't go..."

Don't leave me.

*

Many years later.

Ashton City, Lock Library

came to a stop near a particular word as

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

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

that the words

quite get it, but ever since the passing of his parents, he had the impression that the world, which seemed already

had always been to better

600 years old if one counted

the sensation of emptiness that was eating away at his body gradually became worse, to the point where

he

that he could better understand what he was feeling and find an answer

the book over and looked at the cover of

Johnson's guide to human

records to

the book in front of him and

identity. The identity

however, as more time passed and regressions took place, Kevin realized that he was not an exception to the natural biological system

aware that the fleeting sensations that he experienced in the immediate aftermath of the passing of his parents were classified

he understood that he could

whatever was happening around him, like the death of his parents or his own

realize that he could no longer ignore

understand this so called

Clank―!

chair and grabbed the book that was

"Hm?"

turning around to return the book when he suddenly became aware of a faint light off

someone

approximately three in the morning, and it was very

that exam season has already

saw a young, skinny man with jet-black hair covering the front of his

face was currently glued to a large book,

[Demon anatomy]

to watch out for from a

what is known about

books that were piled up in front

of the fact that his hair was covering his face, it was obvious that the young man was showing signs of anxiety,

...where is it? ...There

looking for the cure to

front of the young man and startling him

"Eh, ah!"

Clank―!

seat in front of him fell back and hit the floor, resulting in a deafening crash. It was a

dramatically the moment his eyes landed on Kevin, nearly

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