1313th Cycle

To Iliana's surprise, Eluya stepped out of the car and kissed Abel out of the blue.

"What have you done?" Abel said to Eluya as his whole body refused to listen to him, after the unexpected kiss from Eluya.

"Our bodies resets at every one of Austin's deaths, right? Let me take advantage of it." Eluya chuckled as her Divine Blood Art seems to be forcing Abel to act against his will.

Under the influence of the skill, Abel walked to Iliana and kissed her. Iliana, though initially taken aback, eventually leaned into it, enjoying it despite how sudden it was.

"Hey, I don't mind this but be gentle." Iliana whispered during the rough kiss. Although she preferred to keep their relationship hidden from the public, the opposite was just as acceptable to her.

And just as the small spell from Eluya broke off, Abel pulled away from the kiss. His face flushed red from embarrassment.

"Could've been more memorable.." Abel spoke as the Black Mist enveloped the world, and the day reset once more.

1314th Cycle,

"Abel, why are you not helping out Eluya?" Iliana asked, confused as to why Abel helped her get out of the car but he didn't even look Eluya in the eyes.

To her, it was that they were talking and laughing during the journey and now, Abel was somewhat angry at Eluya.

"I'm not forgiving her." Abel said calmly as he held Ellen, who jumped from Eluya's arms into his.

"Oh don't worry, Iliana. It's nothing." Eluya said with a smile, which Iliana interpreted as Eluya's way to tell that she was in the mood for mischief.

But to her surprise, Eluya didn't do anything to annoy Abel like usual, instead she kissed him.

"Let us do it again.. A few more times..." Eluya whispered as she pulled away from the kiss, a thin string of saliva lingering between their lips.

Iliana was even more surprised when Abel did the same to her. She didn't resist either.

"Be a bit gentle. I'm not leaving or anything." Iliana spoke softly as Abel pulled away from the kiss, his face flushed bright red.

Then came the next cycle,

Eluya continued this little act until Iliana's soul was resistant to the cycles of Regression, which took a meagre five cycles.

And as the memories of what Eluya had done returned, Iliana did not want to forgive Eluya either.

Leaving only little Ellen to wonder, why were her Mama #2 and Savior angry with her Mama #1?

"Meow?" Ellen exclaimed, bewildered by the strange sight as the day reset once more.

..........

In an infinite dimension that was transparent and still in every direction, Horizons expanded to infinity and more. The Sky was shining despite the absence of Sun or any stars at all, the clouds were present but not a single drop of water or air.

In this very plane, a woman was laying on the reflective ground. Her serene and exquisitely beautiful face was like a gem in the vast empty plains.

She didn't have a single scar on her body yet she seemed to be writhing in pain. And as she suffered, the transparent dimension turned a little red only to return to its original state.

This world was affected by her emotions yet it affected her as well, stabilising her every time she was on the verge of breaking down.

"Austin.. Austin.." She mumbles his name, grabbing her dress as if it was a shackle binding her, restricting her from saving her beloved from the fate of being killed over and over again.

"My Love.. Just hold on a bit longer. I will save you." She said as a lone tear slid down her cheek.

And as the tear fell on the transparent ground, she slowly opened her eyes. Her consciousness was now in a place that was not affected neither by the linear flow of time nor the resetting days of her beloved regressor.

"Where am I?" Rina asked but the world remained silent, leaving her, the only resident of this world to ponder where she was and why she was here.

And just as she stood up, from the ground came out a seed. The Seed had an immaculate pattern which was aggressive, complete contrast to the peaceful world she was in.

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"Do you.. accept me..?" The Seed groaned, its words barely coherent.

"How can I accept something I don't have the faintest idea about?" Rina said calmly.

After all, remaining calm was the best thing she could do.

"Fair enough.." The seed replied as its voice was getting more and more coherent.

Just then, a faint sound of Austin's screams of agony filled the realm.

"Austin!" Rina screamed as she ran around to find the source of the screams but she couldn't find anything even remotely close to Austin in the vast plain.

"He is not here.." The seed spoke as the screams of Austin were replaced by the dead silence once again.

"You've had the same reaction a thousand times already.." The seed said, which took Rina by surprise as she didn't remember the other times.

Just then, the memories of the 'other' times returned to her.

The guiding of the seed, Austin's sacrifice for her, the memory loss she suffered every time she tried to overcome the boundaries of time.

"Let me attempt it again.." Rina asked the seed.

"Mmm.. It is my duty to mention that if you lose yourself during the sprouting, you may die. It's only a miracle that you have survived after failing a thousand times." The seed warned her calmly before it fell silent.

The pattern of 'Doom, which was imprinted upon it, twisted and turned to make a handprint.

Rina knew what she had to do. She has been doing this and failing for a thousand times now but Austin has died almost three times as much as her. His screams were inside her head, her yearning to not hear him suffer was even stronger than before.

The seed mentioned that even if she sprouts the seed, it is not a guarantee that she can save her beloved regressor.

"But this is the best chance I have." She said to herself before she put her hands on the handprint.

For a moment, it felt like nothing happened. But just then, a red wave that painted the Horizons red rushed towards Rina.

It was like this every time she tried, if she didn't manage to sprout the 'Seed of Doom', she may die and lose her soul and with that, her chances of saving her beloved.

'No.. I won't lose this time.' Rina said calmly as she focused on the seed.

The method to sprout the seed was not clear when she first started but since then she tried many, many things and now she knows.

The Seed sprouts not on emotions like love or hatred nor does it sprout on emotions like despair or fear. The seed sprouts using the primal form of the purest emotions in a person's soul.

And as Rina focused on that very emotion inside her, she saw the seed trying to sprout, but she lost focus, and the seed closed back up.

"Well, I need to work on my focus now." Rina said with a smile, as she saw the red wave approaching her. It won't be long before it hits her.

"So the emotion I should focus on is -"

—Crunch

Her body crumbled beneath the pressure of the waves before she could recite the primal feeling that was in its purest form within her.

Then she tried to improve her focus, but she ended up dying again and again.

The seed almost always nearly sprouted before closing again. She knew what the feeling she needed to focus on was and what level of focus she needed to have. But even after all the attempts, she was failing. And just as she was failing, Austin was dying.

In the beginning he only died two to three times per reset for her but now the number has increased to tens of deaths per reset that Rina faces.

"Why?! WHY AM I NOT ABLE AFTER KNOWING WHAT THAT PRIMAL FEELING IS?!" She shouted into thin air as this was now the 1700th time she was trying but it didn't look like the seed was sprouting.

"I know what that feeling is.. I want to do all I can for my beloved Austin so let me do it for him." She screamed at the seed as the Red wave was about to crash into her again.

But as she let out that pure yearning in her, the red wave stopped. No, it started receding.

The red wave receded until the horizon became clear.

"V..E..R..Y.. G..OO..D." A voice resonated through the space as the seed sprouted but not into a sapling as it had promised her before, but into a flower.

"A flower?" Rina was surprised but as she reached out to touch the flower, the thorns of the flower extended to pierce into Rina's skin and through those piercings, the flower began expanding its roots inside her.

Rina screamed in pain as the flower soaked up the essence of her soul.

"I... need blood." A mouth appeared on the flower as it spoke.

"I'm only a soul here.. You'll get my blood after I save Austin." Rina, who had abandoned the regal tone and was speaking much harshly now.

"I see." The flower was smiling with the dirty mouth it had.

The pain became even more unbearable for Rina as her soul was changing and not just her soul, she could feel the pain of her physical body changing too.

"You are trying to take over my body.. I won't let you, Austin likes that body." Rina said, her greed for everything that Austin likes was now the only emotion that was flowing in her body.

She had been focusing on the same emotion for over seven thousand days worth of resets. It would be even surprising if it didn't change her.

And the flower smiled as it saw this, it understood exactly why this woman had skipped the 'sapling' stage and moved directly to the 'flower'.

"I commend thee. You who are chosen." The flower said, laughing as it was absorbed into Rina's soul.

Feeling exhausted, Rina fell down and as she looked at the reflecting ground, she saw her new appearance. Purple flowers grew out of her body and dried up, falling on the ground as seed.

Then those seeds germinated and slowly the entire plane was filled with these small violent flowers. Each flower was supplying energy to Rina, aiming to corrupt her but Rina, whose body and soul had been modified by the flower that grew out of the 'Seed of Doom' laughed it off.

She slowly stood up from the ground and looked at her hands, which were also sprouting the flowers.

"I must control this before I save Austin. Wouldn't want to destroy the very empire he wants to rule.." Rina smiled as she took a deep breath before she tried to control this newfound strength.

She needed to master this quickly before Austin died more.

"My Love, Just a few more days.. Please just stay there for a few days." Rina prayed that her words reach Austin and he stays sane till she learns how to control her powers.

......

12,356th Cycle for Austin

He screamed in pain as Osma's blade tore off his left hand completely. No matter how much he tried to block or parry Osma's attacks, he couldn't do it.

"It's foolish, boy. Just give up.." THEY, who were controlling Osma, spoke.

"Never.. I will be saved." Austin smiled as Rina's words melted into his ears. He was sure that she was doing something, he just couldn't make out what.

But this very thing gave him hope.

Hope, that he can maintain his sanity through the pain of death just a few more times.