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.

cruel cycle would continue indefinitely, with no means of

It was their fate.

over here, you bastards! Come

about me!

lungs, doing their best to divert the attention of

'Why? ...Why?'

his mind, his eyes drawn toward

Putting your needs above mine is

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

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

finally better understood the meaning

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 he paged through

state of being alone and feeling sad about it. Loneliness causes people to feel empty, alone, and unwanted. People who are

his

some reason, he felt that the

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

to better understand the

old if one

the course of all that time, the sensation of emptiness that was eating away at his body gradually became worse, to the point where every breath felt

why he was now in

that he could better understand what he

over and looked at the cover of the

guide to

records to have birthed me as a

book in front of him and gently

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

pointless issues; however, as more time passed and regressions took place, Kevin realized that he was not

experienced in the immediate aftermath of the

he understood that he could not run away from

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 was born with was directly influencing his own thoughts and

made Kevin realize that he could no longer ignore

had to better understand this so

Clank―!

and grabbed the book that was on the table

"Hm?"

the book when he suddenly became aware of a

was someone else

it was very strange

when considering that exam season has

upon turning around, saw a young, skinny man with

book, and beside him

[Demon anatomy]

to watch out for from

what is

found himself staring at the books that were piled up in

of the fact that his hair was covering his face, it was obvious that the young man was showing signs of anxiety, given the rapidity with which he

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

for the cure to

the young man and startling

"Eh, ah!"

Clank―!

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

the moment his eyes landed on Kevin, nearly

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