Leo remained silently observing all the destruction stretching out before him. His mind had gone blank, unable to process the scene unfolding before his eyes.
His allies...
His wives...
Everything reduced to ashes.
He felt his breathing grow heavy while his heart pounded at a thousand beats per hour as he watched those two silhouettes walking toward him amid the devastation.
He could only swallow hard, his parched throat burning with every movement. He looked toward the sky for a moment, only to see an enormous beast flying through the war-stained firmament.A dragon.
Leo had also had creatures like that: powerful and imposing beasts that had lived for thousands of years, only to die today in his name.
Guilt struck him head-on. He no longer had the strength to fight, nor did he feel any desire to do so. He had nothing. There was no longer a reason to move forward.
'All for nothing...' he thought.
The only reason he was still standing was because of them... The vague memories of how he met them, the moments they lived together, and more flooded his mind like a torrent.
He loved each and every one of them with all his being, and they loved him as well despite what he was. That was why he couldn't lower his gaze and collapse. They would never forgive him.
"I-I'm sorry... I truly am sorry."
He had already accepted death. He looked forward again, visualizing those two silhouettes approaching.
Old rivals... 'Who would've thought it would be them who—'
His mind shut down for a second when the very same screen that had accompanied him since the beginning appeared before him.
The first thing Leo noticed was that striking title: "Supremacy System". A system that had given him multiple options to become powerful, yet he had only reached SSS rank because of his overconfidence.
[Do not blame yourself, host... The fault is mine. For not guiding you properly along the path, but... There is an option to solve this problem]
Reading that provoked different internal reactions: excitement, interest, but also anger.What if he failed again?
"And what would that be? A skill you hid from me all these years?" he asked without energy, with a cold tone.
At the same time, he noticed how the two figures stopped halfway toward him, as if they were just reconsidering whether what they were doing was right. He couldn't help but laugh inwardly.
Those two were monsters. Who would've thought there would be more people like him... transmigrators.
[It's not that I wanted to hide it from you, host. It's just that... It was something you shouldn't know, since this was not planned...]
"Ha." Leo spat unconsciously at the system's irony, although he already knew its way of being. He had had to put up with it for... how long? Honestly, he didn't even remember. It could've been twenty, fifty, a hundred years or more.
"And what will happen if you use it? How does it work?"
[It is single-use. You will return to the beginning, where everything started. Without memories, without your current power. I won't even remember this.]
After reading that, Leo simply closed his eyes and took a deep breath. A skill to return to the past... without memories.
'If I return without memories... What says I haven't gone through this more than once?'That doubt crossed his mind like lightning.
[It's possible... I neither deny it nor confirm it. But she will know, and believe me, if we've gone through this more than once, she must be more pissed than ever.]
Leo chuckled at the last part, although he began coughing blood while feeling his insides burn. 'I'm too old for this,' he joked to himself.
What did it matter anymore? What else could he lose? He had already lost everything.
"The good thing is that I'll be able to see them again. The bad thing is that I'll have to endure her lecture if she says anything about this."
[Maybe. You know how she is, always keeping secrets so you won't worry. You must accept quickly. They have started walking toward you again.]
At the warning, Leo turned his gaze forward, confirming that yes, they were indeed approaching again, as if they had reached an agreement.
'How ironic to have to see their faces again...'
"Go ahead, friend. Let's do this once and for all," he replied.
The system, upon his response, displayed the message.
[Supremacy System]
[Warning: Single-use Unique Skill activated]
[Skill: Return.]
[Do you wish to accept using this skill to return to the beginning of everything at the cost of your current memories and powers?]
[Yes / No]
Before responding, Leo began to recall in detail the faces of everyone he had met until now.His mother. His father. His sisters. His maid... how he missed her.
The friends he made over time and even the enemies who ended up becoming good battle companions.
And lastly... his beloved wives.
A smile formed on his face. Already wanting to see them all again.
'I promise that this time I'll succeed.'
He intensified his gaze toward the system, instantly noticing how the two figures lunged toward him, surely because they discovered he was plotting something.
But it was already too late.
"Yes." he said to confirm the skill.
Not even an instant passed when everything seemed to freeze in time. He didn't even have time to react when he saw space itself crack into thousands of pieces around him.
Out of nowhere, he felt himself being violently pulled from behind, as if an invisible force were dragging him. Only for everything to turn completely dark.
The only thing he managed to see clearly were the two gods who caused all of this.
'I swear on everything that I will reach you and kill you. If not in this regression, it will be in the next.'
And just like that, out of nowhere, Leo found himself in a very familiar place that still lived in his mind despite so many years of not being there.
He looked at his hands, noticing the school uniform. He could only smile with nostalgia.
He looked to one side of the street, noticing his former friend with his arm extended toward him, as if trying to catch him.
Then he looked forward.
An enormous truck was approaching just meters away.
'Here we go...'
He closed his eyes and—
"Eh?"
He murmured, not understanding what was happening when he noticed the truck centimeters from hitting him.
Fear quickly invaded him completely.
Before he could scream, everything turned dark.