Eternal Thief

In the middle of the white flame sea, Ace was running at full speed for an unknown time while experiencing excruciating pain, and his head was buzzing with voices.

He didn't know how much time had passed since he stepped in the Cinderfall of Doubt or how long it had been since he started to run, but the pain he was experiencing continued to grow.

At this moment, he felt as if his skin was melting and his insides were filled with burning lava; with each breath, he felt like he was inhaling pure fire, so he stopped breathing to lessen his pain.

However, it wasn't working, for that fire was directly burning his soul, and this was far worse and more painful than physically burning. Moreover, he had to actively focus so he wouldn't lose himself in those voices.

"Give up~"

"The pain will be over; give up~"

"Why are you still going? There's no end to this place; there is no hope. Give up!"

These voices kept buzzing in his head and becoming stronger the deeper he ventured. But Ace keeps telling himself that it is just an illusion and that he can't give in to these voices, or everything will be over.

However, after a long time passed, there was no trace of the Cinderfall of Doubt ending, and Ace, at some point, stopped using his skill and started walking at a very slow pace while his vision was now blurry.

But he still didn't give up and continued forward. He even forgot if he was walking in a straight line anymore or had lost his way. The only thing on his mind was to keep moving forward, no matter what.

"Why are you trying so hard? Rest for a bit~"

He ignored it…

"You're just an insignificant speck of dust that can't go against the wind, give up and accept your fate~"

He continued to ignore it…

But as time went on, his mind was becoming hazy because of the pain, he can't feel anything but pain right now like he was burning and burning without dying and with each passing second that feeling grows.

Before he thought that he might become numb to the pain, but he had underestimated the Cinderfall of Doubt. Some kind of law was making sure that he felt every second of pain until he completely succumbed to it.

Furthermore, despite the pain, he could hear those voices loud and clear, and they were becoming increasingly alluring.

"With just a thought, the pain will go away, you can rest, you can be free from everything, you will be free from your burden…"

Ace stepped halted for a moment before he continued again, his pace was extremely slow.

"Ah, my little Ace has grown up into a handsome young man; let me see you!"

At this moment, Ace suddenly shuddered as his footsteps came to an abrupt halt when he heard this voice, which he had completely forgotten but could still tell who it belonged to.

"M-mom?" His voice was hoarse, and he suddenly felt his vision becoming clearer.

"Yes, my little baby, it's your mom; I've missed you so much." The gentle maternal voice rang again from behind him, "Look dear, our little Ace has grown up to be such a wonderful young man, sob*, how long we've waited for this moment to meet him finally, sob* sob*…" The voice suddenly started to cry in pain and longing.

"Don't cry, dear. It's a happy moment for us all!" A deep voice with imposing power behind it rang, but this voice was filled with fatherly love.

Ace trembled even more as he knew this voice belonged to his Dad, 'They're right behind me!?'

Ace was too tired, he was suffering in pain, he wanted to give up, he wanted to rest and leave all this behind, and now his long-lost parents were standing right behind him. He can be with them and live happily ever after.

But at this moment, just as he was about to turn around, the dark void within him suddenly trembled, and Heavenly Qi in his body started to circulate. He suddenly stopped, declaring, "No! What the hell I'm doing? I can't turn around! This is just an illusion!"

Ace gritted his teeth and moved forward while his heart was filled with fear, he almost screwed himself over, and if not for the heavenly Qi's sudden surge, he would've done something foolish.

"Why are you walking away from us?!" The woman's voice rang again. "Do you hate us?? B-but we didn't have a choice; we do everything to protect you!" She began to wail in a heartbreaking tone.

"Son! You can't treat your mother like this; she has suffered so much for you, we have suffered so much for you!" The man's voice was filled with pain and exhaustion.

"Tsk, this will not work again! I'm no longer in that strange state! You heard me, Cinderfall of Doubt! This will never work! You better find another way, but I'm not going to fall into your schemes!

"Even if you bring my parents back here, I will not put others' lives at risk just for my own selfish desires. If you want to kill me, you have to do far better than this! I'm a thief, and a thief would never expose his weakness!"

Ace roared furiously as he was fuming with rage and killing intent was swirling in his eyes, he found this act of using his parents extremely disgusting and wanted to destroy this Cinderfall of Doubt.

After that, no matter what he heard, he moved forward, and for some unknown reason, he found himself more focused. Something deep within his body was losing. He felt the same thing when walking on the lightning path.

"Fufufu, how interesting. Someone was able to escape my clutches? How long has it been? Furthermore, I can't read his entire memories. Now I understand why the difficulty suddenly reached maximum for this little doll. He's an amusing one, and there's something about him that reminds me of that man.

"Maybe, just maybe… no, even that man ended up falling; he's nowhere near that level. But it's still quite interesting. Alright, I've decided!" An ancient tantalizing voice filled with intrigue rang from the center of the Cinderfall of Doubt!