Regression

Leo's body trembled as he looked at the landscape, chills never ceasing to stop. 

By the broken house, on the blue river, there was now a brown boat. 

On the boat, clad in all black, there stood a cloaked figure. It held a golden lantern in its hand and was facing in the direction of the crimson moon.

Leo had never been so horrified by something before. This abrupt change truly took him aback.

Rubbing his eyes, he thought maybe he was hallucinating. To cross-check, he turned to look at Lanlan, but found there to be nothing but darkness all around him.

Huh? What!?

He was in the Heaven's Library just an instance ago, so why was there darkness all around him now? 

Leo was really confused and terrified. His body began trembling once again, and for some reason, despite being really weak, he didn't feel exhausted like before and his attention fully peaked.

He had never been so alive since a hundred years ago!

Did I die? Is this the afterlife? Leo suddenly had a thought. 

If he did die, then that would explain why he was looking at the cloaked figure holding a lantern. 

If he wasn't wrong, this was called the Ferryman. It was all a made up and hoax figure, but legend has it that when one dies, a Ferryman would ferry their souls across the River of Time and drop them in a new age.

It was a made up story as the reincarnation cycle was well known by everybody. 

When one dies, their soul goes to the Underworld, finishing their cycle of life. Then after some progress, they go to Heaven, and are then reborn again. This continues until the soul fully extinguishes.

My soul is on the verge of extinction, I can't make it to the next life. Then why…

Leo was really confused and did not understand a single thing happening to him.

He sighed and gave up thinking. There was no point brooding over something not in one's control.

Leo looked around, walked around, but found himself by the book at all times. He tried to run away from it, but it appeared as if he was running in one place, not moving a single step further from the book.

Leo gave up and sat down. He took the book and placed it on his lap, gazing at it.

[A Guide To Time Travel]

(Illustrated Edition)

This title had not changed and was still placed in the space between the tree and the river. 

Leo shook his head and tried to open the book to see inside, but was unable to do so.

What? I can't open it?

Leo used force, but it was all for naught. 

He stared at it for a while, then thought of using his Spiritual Essence instead. He could feel the essence in his body, so he thought he might as well test it.

Leo sent a strand of Spiritual Essence into the book, and right then…

The book radiated brightly and hovered in midair in front of Leo's eyes. The pages began flipping, not extremely fast or slow, but swift enough to let him have a proper look at each page.

The same landscape of the cover was on each page. However…

With each flipped page, the Ferryman could be seen turning around. 

Leo felt a chill again. He tried to stop the pages from flipping, but was unable to do so. 

The Ferryman turned and turned and turned, until…

Crack—!

"Daddy, nooooo!"

Light seeped through from a crack occurring slightly away from Leo. 

He heard Lanlan's shout, but couldn't do anything about it. His consciousness was glued to the book.

"Daddy, you will not hurt Leo! Not on my watch!"

His young lady's voice resounded in his ears again, making his heart warm. 

But the warmth was replaced by an aura of death as the Ferryman finally turned completely and faced him. 

There was no face beneath the hood, it was completely dark. A skeletal hand held the lantern and the other slowly moved in Leo's direction.

Leo gulped nervously and tried to look away, but couldn't.

The sound of swords clashing rang in his ears. It seemed that his young lady was fighting with her father. There was no way she would win, and her father might be trying to avoid hurting her and find a way to seep into the crack to hunt Leo.

I'm sorry Lanlan for placing you in such a situation. 

Right as Leo had this thought, the Ferryman fully pointed his skeleton index finger at him. More correctly, his forehead.

A beam of light shot out from it and Leo felt his vision turn blurry. The world around him spun and in the next instant, he was on a… 

Boat!?

Leo's heart almost leaped out of his chest as he felt a great shock. He didn't need to look around to know where he was!

A towering cloaked figure holding a bright golden lantern stood in front of him. It was so tall that even Heaven's Library would pale in comparison.

Wait a second….

It's not he who's tall, but me who has gotten shorter!

That was indeed the case. 

Leo's figure was as small as a kitten in size as he stood in the wooden dinghy. 

The Ferryman had a look at Leo with his faceless figure, then turned around with the lantern.

The dinghy didn't move, but the water from the eroded mountains came rushing down like a tsunami. 

Leo braced for impact, but what he had expected didn't happen.

The dinghy did not seem to be moving even with the water rushing at them, but could still be seen going against the currents. It was really stable. 

Soon, Leo suddenly felt a sharp pain in his soul, which was then followed by flashbacks of the past.

Leo's life began playing in reverse in front of his eyes. The scene of the day when he met Lanlan appeared. The day prior to that was seen vividly, and then another day behind, and so on and so forth.

Until…

"Leo… my ba…by…"

"Run, Leo! Run far away and don't look back!"

"Mumma has something to tell you, listen carefully, okay?"

"Big sis Lisa…"

"Little brother… live… save mum…ma…"

"Little brother, watch out!"

"Little brother, where are you?"

"I… I was… sniff… by second and third mother's sons…"

"Leya! Leya speak! Who did it!?"

"Leya, mumma will always be there for you, so don't be afraid. Tell mumma what happened, please?"

"Big sis, what happened to you!?"

"Hahaha! Look at this pitiful green-haired bastard!"

"His hair looks like my puke after I vomited the salad yesterday. Hahaha!"

"Whore's son, kneel and growl, maybe then I'll think of sparing you."

"Your mother's a slut. She couldn't give birth to a single proper Ignis."

"You want this? Aw, you want this potion? Spit! Lick that saliva off the ground and then I'll think about it, hahaha!"

"He is not an Ignis. Will never be. He should be killed, but somehow this leech is a part of the main family. How pathetic. The higher ups have probably gone senile."

Painful memories that were buried deep in his heart appeared out, but in a reverse order.

Unknowingly, tears streamed down Leo's face as he watched them and his eyes turned hazy, his mind going totally blank.

The memories continued to appear one after another and Leo absentmindedly watched them.

"Hehehe! Can I have your mom's number? Maybe your sister's? I heard the older one's turned into a sexy lesbian? She can get fixed after tasting my…"

"What was your name again? Leo? Hahaha! What a shitty name!"

"Leo, are you listening?"

"Leo?"

"Leo!"

"Leo, my dear! What happened to you?"

"Leo!! Why are you crying!?"

"My dear, snap out of it! Wake up! Wake up!"

"Wake… up… wake… u…p…"

Everything turned blank. All of the noises stopped. It was pitch black. 

A few seconds passed by. 

Right then…

Slap—!

"Huwaaaa!" Leo gasped and abruptly opened his eyes as a sharp pain coursed through his entire body.

A bright light flashed in his vision, and a second later…

A gentle-looking, beautiful lady with lush green hair appeared in his vision. 

"Leo? My dear, are you alright?"

Something warm dropped down Leo's eyes as he noticed her. His throat pained as a lump formed, and his quivering lips were moistened by a salty drop of water as reality descended down on him. 

"Mum…ma…?"