Temporary relief from the regular cruel malice (7)
I believe the answer is:
respite
'temporary relief' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'regular cruel malice' is the wordplay.
'regular' means one should take alternating letters.
'malice' becomes 'spite' (spite is a kind of malice).
The alternate letters of 'cruel' are 're'.
're'+'spite'='RESPITE'
'from the' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for respite that I've seen before include "Abatement, rest" , "Short period of rest" , "Brief period of rest" , "interruption" , "Brief period of relief" .)