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.

continue indefinitely, with no

It was their fate.

over here, you bastards! Come and get me if

forget about me!

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

'Why? ...Why?'

repeatedly wondered inside of his mind, his eyes drawn

needs above mine is how I show you that I love you.

his fourth regression rang in Kevin's head, even

the corners of his eyes, trickling down the side of his cheek

time that he finally better understood the

toward where his parents

"Don't go..."

Don't leave me.

*

Many years later.

Ashton City, Lock Library

stop near a particular word as he paged through a book about human

alone and feeling sad about it. Loneliness causes people to feel empty, alone, and unwanted. People who are lonely often crave human contact, but

he traced his finger across

felt that the words strangely resonated

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

been to better understand the sensations he

now, he was about 600 years old if one counted all

away at his body gradually became worse, to the

why he was now in the

so that he could better understand what

flipped the book over and looked at the cover of

Johnson's guide to human

a mistake for the records to

staring at the book in front of him

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

and regressions took place, Kevin

sensations that he experienced in the immediate aftermath of the passing

he understood that he could

death of his parents or his own death, the

Kevin realize that he could no longer ignore

understand this so

Clank―!

the book that was on the table in front

"Hm?"

on the verge of turning around to return the book when he

was someone else

was very strange to see someone still in the

that exam season

skinny man with jet-black

to a large book, and beside him was a stack of

[Demon anatomy]

out for from a

and what is known

at the books that were piled

it was obvious that the young man was showing signs of anxiety, given the

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

the cure to the mind

asked, stopping in front of the young

"Eh, ah!"

Clank―!

resulting in a deafening crash. It was a

dramatically the moment his eyes landed on Kevin, nearly

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