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Happy Winter Break and Happy reading.
Feeling the passage of time was a considerable ordeal for Lark, the infinite regressor.
He had forgotten which return this was.
He couldn't remember whether he had lived thousands or tens of thousands of years.
His becoming a returnee was not a matter of chance.
The Eseled family, known as "The Law" due to their deep involvement in magic, pursued strength.
A strength beyond human limits.
Therefore, they modified humans.
They succeeded.
They tried more modifications.
Again, they succeeded.
Ah, how perfect a specimen humanity is for experimentation!
The magicians of Eseled continued to experiment.
Data accumulated. The growth curve flattened. And then the graph became a straight line.
Human growth had ceased.
Disappointed that humans had limits, Eseled turned to another force.
The power of 'external gods.'
It failed.
They experimented more.
Again, it failed.
What was the problem?
Was it because the human body, made of bone, muscle, flesh, blood, had a weak exterior?
No, it seemed the issue was the system for absorbing magical power.
"It appears to be a limitation of the species."
They started looking for more cruel solutions.
"Ah. Found it."
The heads of the Eseled, including the former patriarch, reveled in joy upon completing the theory of creating the perfect 'human weapon' in their generation.
"Let's bring the power of the god into a human form right from the fetal stage."
A human made of divine power; isn't that perfection itself? They selected the necessary experimental materials.
"Did you know that humans born with silver hair have a special trait?"
"Oh, really?"
"According to experiments, silver-haired individuals better accepted 'supernatural' abilities."
"Then the 'mother' should be silver-haired."
They brought in a silver-haired woman as the wife of the patriarch.
And the former Duke of Eseled impregnated his wife with the power of an external god.
"It's a success!"
The long-standing experiment of the Eseled family, passed down through generations, finally succeeded.
Upon the child's birth, they joyfully named him.
Lark Eseled.
The name of one who would become their formidable weapon and engulf the world.
"Lark, your role is to heed your father's words."
They raised the monster named Lark in all manner of ways.
They imposed strong mental control on Lark, turning him into their hunting dog.
But they did not know.
That the divine power of 'return' implanted in Lark.
Lark, having grown stronger through repeated returns, broke the mind control.
And he tried to save his mother, who was also an experimental subject.
"Who's your mother, you monster!"
But his mother had gone mad from the moment she conceived him with divine power.
"Die, you monster! You ruined me. You..."
His mother eventually committed suicide.
"Bring back my mother! With the power that created me, that should be possible!"
His father laughed with a strangled throat.
"Does broken glass stick back together?"
Lark returned dozens, hundreds of times.
There must be a way. Just undiscovered yet, surely there was a way to bring back his mother.
He searched the world. He used all his capabilities.
But it was irreversible.
The beginning of the event was before Lark's birth. It was impossible to go back to that time.
Only after thousands of returns did Lark admit.
That it was impossible to save his mother with his abilities.
Since then, as soon as he returned, he extinguished her life directly so she could die without suffering.
He executed the humans of Eseled and burned their research data.
He focused on using his strength for the good of the world.
Like a struggle to wash away his original sin.
At first, it was effective.
He regained vitality, received everyone's respect, and eradicated corruption.
Then a betrayer emerged.
One who had been a comrade for dozens of returns, a disciple for hundreds of returns, his...
Lark gradually went mad.
He tried destroying the world and dying endlessly.
There were times he wished to be just an ordinary human.
But even pouring out numerous lives, that was impossible.
The basis of Lark was the power of the external god.
That power, refusing death, had to bear the curse of his mad mother, regressing him to a barely toddling child.
Hope turned to despair.
Despair turned to ennui.
Lark Eseled has witnessed countless deaths and has been reborn just as many times.
Something wore out. Forgotten and disappeared. Finally, it twisted completely.
He was becoming a complete monster.
Crack!
Lark looked down at his arm.
Between the cuffs, red cracks appeared and disappeared on his skin.
It was his body, reaching the limit of endurance, breaking apart.
Before his physical age reached thirty-one, such massive cracks always formed, leading to his death. Then the cycle of rebirth began anew.
Lark murmured, "Is it time for regression again?"
That's why he willingly gave Navia a year. Everything would disappear afterwards anyway.
Lark aimlessly killed time, then suddenly thought, "It's not boring, at least."
His habitual thought was 'boring'.
Having repeated the same life countless times, there was no human he didn't know, no event he hadn't seen, no place unknown.
Everything was mundane and boring.
But since yesterday, although irritated, he wasn't bored.
A child with a new face, probably because of that child.
He unconsciously muttered, "Navia."
The name of the white flame that entered his domain.
Crack!
A red fissure split from his back to his cheek.
Pain that could boil cold water in an instant sliced through his body, eliciting a groan.
"Why doesn't pain develop tolerance?"
Lark grabbed a bottle and gulped down an anesthetic concentrate. Familiar curses slipped from his lips.
"Damn it..."
He abruptly stood up and threw the bottle irritably.
Crash!
The bottle shattered against a full-length mirror, splitting it into several pieces.
Approaching it, his reflection appeared in the fragmented mirror.
Bright red fissures surged like magma. His body was fractured like the broken mirror.
Although not permanent scars and soon to vanish, that chilling warning lingered on his body.
"How much time is left?"
In this life, he had used every method, including anesthetics, to prolong his existence.
He was hanging on, but since he had been forcibly killed before, nothing was certain.
He was on borrowed time.
He went to a black sofa and lay down.
The black ceiling filled his vision like darkness.
The Ducal House was always dark.
Lark had magically dyed everything black.
He had grown accustomed to this darkness.
The cycle of dying and being reborn, the fact that he was a monster, had become familiar.
But the torment of living the same life forever, unable to die, was always painful.
He wished to die.
That was Lark's desire.
What would happen to the child named Navia after this life ended?
Lark allowed only predetermined people near him.
Those he could control and who never betrayed him through thousands of lifetimes were granted access to the third floor.
His physician, Minerva Hart.
The chief steward, Margaret Romanov.
His advisor, Suleiman Genegar.
The commander of the knights, Nero Sylas.
And...
He strictly controlled the servants' access, although there weren't really any to control.
So, staying here meant he wouldn't encounter that child.
He wouldn't have to see those cursed silver hairs.
Lark curled up on the sofa, clenching his fist tightly.
Silver hair. Damn silver hair.
Tiny cracks kept forming and disappearing all over his body.
His body was continuously breaking apart.
Usually, he would have just died and started over, but now, he was surviving.
Waiting for someone.
Thump.
Lark lay back down on the sofa.
His gaze turned to his left ring finger. Focusing, a silver ring appeared.
The symbol of a wizard's contract.
"Promise with a magician's contract. Never to kill family."
Family...
Lark stopped his thoughts.
Thud.
He looked away from his hand and covered his eyes, as if trying to erase the dazzling silver light flickering before him.
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