Chapter 153

Flying Swallow quickly retreated about three meters.
She had moved outside my attack range.
I approached slowly without rushing.

Flying Swallow had only about twenty to twenty-five meters of space in either direction.
A wall stood behind her.
There was no door for her to exit from.
There were only two small windows.
Even someone slender would get stuck trying to squeeze through them.

‘In the end, she has to get past me if she wants to escape.’

The environment favored me even more than I had expected.
Flying Swallow’s chances of escape had dropped, while there were plenty of things here that could throw off her balance.

‘You’re not getting away today.’

I had realized something after reading Thousand-Li Roaming Body.
The twisting that appeared whenever Flying Swallow’s movements became more extreme wasn’t normal.
The more desperate the situation, the more violently she would twist her body, and naturally, the faster she would become.
But what happened when that twisting became too severe?

‘Her balance falls apart.’

I was going to create that moment.
Just once.
That was all I needed.

Flying Swallow’s gaze flicked behind me for an instant.
She was looking for an escape route.
She said,

“You don’t know this, do you? I’m pretty accomplished in the Bone-Shrinking Art too.”

The moment she finished speaking, Flying Swallow turned and ran toward the window.

The Bone-Shrinking Art was a technique that reduced the size of the body by manipulating the bones and muscles.
With enough mastery, one could shrink enough to pass through a window like that with room to spare.
But I didn’t move an inch.
Because I knew there was no Bone-Shrinking Art in the world that could be performed while running around like that.
Apparently, she had underestimated me because I looked young.

“Tch!”

Flying Swallow gave up on the idea quickly.
Sure enough, she turned around again.

To my left were the furnace and anvil Flying Swallow had been using.
To my right was the quenching tank.
There was more room on the right, but she had to pass through the left side to reach the exit.
Flying Swallow would naturally choose the side closer to the exit.

I retreated diagonally to the left.
At the same time, Flying Swallow used a nearby anvil as a foothold and launched herself forward.

“Hmph!”

Flying Swallow snorted.
Contrary to my expectations, she aimed for the right.
I whipped my head in that direction as though she had caught me off guard.
I even turned my shoulders slightly, pretending she had fooled me completely.

The corner of Flying Swallow’s mouth rose for an instant.
She thought I had fallen for it.
She twisted in midair and cut sharply toward the left.

‘I knew you’d do that.’

I was already moving left.
I had only turned my head. My center of gravity had been on the left from the beginning.

“……!”

I immediately blocked her path and reached out.
Before Flying Swallow even touched the ground, she spun her body and changed direction yet again.
I was inwardly impressed.
Changing direction twice in midair was impressive.
Her movement art really was something.

‘Where do you think you’re going?’

I swung my right arm and unleashed palm force toward the right.
It carried considerable power.
Thanks to the elixir I had taken, manipulating my internal energy had become much easier.

“Eek.”

Flying Swallow barely avoided the palm force.
But the wind generated by it pushed against her shoulder, slightly disrupting her landing.
I immediately moved in, but Flying Swallow recoiled in alarm and widened the distance.
The twisting had grown worse, and so had the imbalance.

‘Not yet.’

I didn’t pursue her.
The moment I wanted hadn’t come yet.

‘It’s only a matter of time.’

Maybe it was because I had read the Thousand-Li Roaming Body manual, or maybe because we had clashed several times already.
Either way, Flying Swallow’s movements were gradually becoming familiar.
I could eliminate even the slightest chance of losing her and catch her under more perfect conditions.

The only drawback was that I still couldn’t read her trajectory.
Naturally.
Death-Line Step was a footwork art for reading trajectories coming toward me, not for chasing someone who was fleeing.

Flying Swallow stopped where she was.
After that close call, she was taking a little more time to assess the situation.

“You want to catch me that badly?”
“Yeah.”
“Give me the manual and I’ll let you catch me.”
“And I’m supposed to trust a thief?”
“Hmph. Look at you acting clever. Did you bring it again today?”

I tapped the front of my robe.

“Of course. So try a little harder to take it. Don’t just keep trying to run away.”

Greed gleamed in Flying Swallow’s eyes.
But she soon shook her head.
Yesterday her sleeve had been torn, and the environment was unfavorable now.
Apparently, she had decided nothing good would come from getting too close to me.

Flying Swallow said regretfully,

“Take good care of it. I’ll let you hold on to it for a few more days.”
“That’s a nice way of putting it.”

I chuckled.
Letting me hold on to it, my ass.
She just wasn’t good enough to steal it.

“What are you grinning at? Just you wait. This time, I’m taking you down for real!”

Flying Swallow’s voice turned serious.
Pat!
The instant she finished speaking, Flying Swallow moved.
She kicked up a pair of iron tongs beside her, caught them, then snatched up the red-hot lump of iron resting on the anvil.
Without hesitation, she hurled it straight into the quenching tank.

Peoeong! Chiiiik-
With a deafening roar, white steam exploded upward.
My vision was blocked in an instant.

‘Well, look at this.’

Apparently, she was betting everything on this attempt.
I had no intention of dragging this out any longer either.
I would create that ‘moment’ and end it.

A faint figure moved beyond the steam.
I couldn’t see clearly, but naturally, it was Flying Swallow.
I extended my senses.

Flying Swallow was charging straight at me.

‘Is she trying to get past me before the steam clears? Or does she think I’ll move toward the exit?’

Neither.
Flying Swallow’s outline emerged through the steam.
Something long shot toward me.

‘Her arm?’

I nearly laughed in disbelief.
Was she seriously still aiming for the manual even now?
Because stealing it while escaping would kill two birds with one stone?
What incredible obsession with the thing.

‘She really is a thief through and through.’

I leaned my upper body back and tried to catch Flying Swallow’s wrist.
But her wrist twisted at a bizarre angle.
I changed the path of my own hand, but Flying Swallow’s arm suddenly vanished.
At the same time, she ducked low and slipped past my side with dazzling footwork.

‘Giving up on the manual already?’

Apparently, danger had finally restored her better judgment.
But I wasn’t about to let her get away that easily.

I used Reverse Step and slid backward.
I didn’t cover as much ground as Flying Swallow had, but I used the momentum to change direction.
Then immediately followed with Lightning Step.
I tore through the air and appeared in Flying Swallow’s path in an instant.

“What the hell?!”

Flying Swallow shouted in shock.
She had probably been celebrating inside, thinking she had gotten past me.
But I had the Six Extremes Demon King Step.

Flying Swallow abruptly twisted her body and changed direction.
Pivoting around her ankle, she shot toward the opposite side.
She rapidly pulled away, even faster than before.

Paang-!
Too early to relax.
I used Lightning Step again and blocked her path.

“What the hell is this movement art?!”

Flying Swallow’s face twisted.

She moved even faster, which meant she was twisting her body even harder.
She was pushing herself beyond reason to get past me.

‘That’s it. Keep going.’

I was pushing myself too.
Five consecutive uses of Lightning Step was my limit.
My body couldn’t handle more than that.

Flying Swallow curved around in a wide arc.
The twisting became extreme.
Exaggerating only slightly, her upper and lower body were nearly turned in opposite directions.

Pat!
With the third Lightning Step, I cut off Flying Swallow’s escape route.
Flying Swallow’s toes wavered.

Fourth.
Flying Swallow changed direction.
The twisting had passed its limit. Her balance was on the verge of collapsing.

Fifth.
Flying Swallow’s foot missed its landing point.
At last, her balance broke.

“Uwaaah!”

Flying Swallow’s body pitched sharply to the side.
She flailed through the air to keep from falling, but it was already too late.
I didn’t miss that moment.
I rushed the collapsing Flying Swallow and snatched one of her flailing wrists.

“Let go!”

Flying Swallow reflexively swung her other hand.
I tilted my head slightly to avoid it and caught that wrist too.
In an instant, I had both wrists restrained.
When I clamped down on the pulse points at her wrists, all the strength drained from Flying Swallow’s body.
She went completely limp, unable even to struggle.
I looked down at her and said,

“It’s over.”
“No way. I got caught? Me? A descendant of Shadowless Thousand-Hand got caught?!”
“I told you, Shadowless Thousand-Hand got caught too.”
“To think I got caught by one of the Demon Cult bastards who secretly captured my ancestor, wrung all his martial learning out of him, and killed him!”
“Who told Shadowless Thousand-Hand to come rob the Divine Cult?”
“Just kill me! Kill me!”

Apparently, she still had enough strength to scream her head off even with her pulse points restrained.
I deliberately let her continue.
She would stop once she wore herself out.

“…….”

Sure enough, when I gave her no reaction, Flying Swallow stopped shouting.
Then she asked,

“You read the Thousand-Li Roaming Body manual?”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“To catch you.”
“…….”

The outcome had been more than half decided from the start.
I had discovered Flying Swallow’s location, found the flaw in her movement art through the manual, and happened to catch her inside the Iron-Soul Workshop, surrounded by complicated obstacles.
There was one thing I simply had no confidence in.
Letting her escape.

“You felt it yourself, didn’t you? Now you know how valuable Thousand-Li Roaming Body is. It transformed me completely in just one day.”
“So what?”
“You said it yourself, didn’t you? You and your father searched for this your entire lives.”
“……What do you want?”
“I told you yesterday. The proclamation writer’s whereabouts and the location of the Heaven Rebelling Society’s base.”
“If I tell you both, you’ll give me the manual?”
“Wouldn’t the odds be pretty good?”
“How am I supposed to trust you?”
“A thief lecturing me about trust.”

Flying Swallow bit her lower lip.
I smiled and said,

“You don’t have any reason to deal with the Heaven Rebelling Society anymore, do you? I already have Thousand-Li Roaming Body.”
“That isn’t all the martial learning my ancestor left behind. The Heaven Rebelling Society has some of it.”
“Is any of it better than Thousand-Li Roaming Body? Even your movement art seems to have come from it.”
“That is the biggest part of it.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“…….”

Flying Swallow didn’t answer.
She was greedy.
She probably wanted all of it.

“There are a lot of people watching. You sure you want me to talk here?”

Flying Swallow’s eyes darted around.
The smiths who had been working here were hiding in a corner, trembling.
She wanted to talk somewhere without them around.

“Fine. Let’s go somewhere quiet.”

I bound Flying Swallow with the rope I had prepared beforehand.
She kept chattering while I did.

“You’ve got a rough side, don’t you? Treating a woman so carelessly.”
“You look like a man.”
“That’s just the disguise. You’d lose your mind if you saw the real me.”
“Whatever.”
“I don’t like rough men.”
“I don’t like thieves.”
“……I don’t like men who leave me with nothing to say either.”

I put Flying Swallow into the carriage waiting outside.
I quietly told the driver our destination.
As the carriage moved, Im Yeon sat pressed close beside Flying Swallow.
She seemed tense in case Flying Swallow tried to escape.

After traveling for quite some time, the carriage gradually slowed.
Flying Swallow looked out the window and frowned.

“Where are we? This place is gloomy.”
“Ever heard of the Demon Inquisition Court?”

I said with a smile.
Judging by the way Flying Swallow’s face stiffened, she knew exactly what kind of place it was.

“You’re going to hand me over to the Demon Inquisition Court……?”
“That depends on how cooperative you are. Choose carefully. Once you go in there, you might never see daylight again.”

I gave Im Yeon a look.
She blinked for a moment, then seemed to understand.

“I believe you would receive the harshest punishment. You insulted the Cult Leader, after all. They might even embalm your corpse so it decays slowly and hang it in front of the Divine Demon Gate as an example. Then the crows and insects would gnaw away at you very slowly, and then-”

I tilted my head as I listened.
Wasn’t this a bit much?

‘She’s getting a little too enthusiastic.’

But it worked.
Flying Swallow turned pale.

“I haven’t done anything wrong!”
“You posted the proclamations.”
“The Heaven Rebelling Society told me to do that. If a hand steals something, is it the hand’s fault? The brain that ordered it is the one to blame.”
“Of course a thief would use stealing as an analogy.”
“Anyway, the real bad guy is the one who ordered me to do it.”
“Then tell me about the one who gave the order.”

I looked down at Flying Swallow.
Then I spoke seriously.

“I’m not in the mood to play around anymore, so don’t test my patience.”

Flying Swallow closed her mouth.
She thought for a moment, then sighed.

“Haaah. To think I’d end up like this…… Haaaah.”

Flying Swallow heaved another sigh deep enough to sink the carriage floor, then continued quietly.

“I’ll talk, but you have to answer me clearly. You’ll hand over Thousand-Li Roaming Body, right?”
“No. Someone else is going to take it first.”
“What? Who?!”

Flying Swallow’s eyes went wide as she demanded an answer.
I answered calmly.

“Well, some incredible thief calling herself the Divine Thief of This Age gave me advance notice that she was going to steal it. Against someone like that, surely I don’t stand a chance of keeping it.”
“……I don’t like you.”
“Likewise. Actually, it’s not just me. Who likes a thief?”
“So are you giving it to me or not?”

I raised one finger.

“One page.”
“What?”
“Every time you give me something decisive, I’ll tear out one page for you.”

Flying Swallow’s mouth fell open.

“Y-you’re going to tear something that valuable……? No, more importantly, only one page at a time? Are you planning to work me like some kind of slave?!”
“It’ll still be better than being tied to the Heaven Rebelling Society. At least I’ll pay you one page at a time in advance. And right now, you have a chance to earn two.”

The proclamation writer and the Heaven Rebelling Society’s base.
Both were important pieces of information, so it was only fair to count them separately.

Flying Swallow hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“How much do you know about the Heaven Rebelling Society?”
“Not much.”
“There are four executives beneath the Society Leader. They’re called the Four Rebels.”
“Four Rebels?”

I had never heard of them.
I knew the Heaven Rebelling Society had risen to prominence and eventually been destroyed in my previous life, but I knew little about its internal structure.

“The one who wrote the proclamations is the Great Rebel. An old man also known as the Ink Scholar. That man……”

Flying Swallow paused.
I waited for what she would say next.

“He knows the future.”

I doubted my own ears.

“He knows what?”
“The future. He knows what’s going to happen.”

My brow furrowed.
What kind of nonsense was that?
There shouldn’t be another regressor besides me.

“Hard to believe, right? I thought it was nonsense at first too. But apparently every prediction he’s made so far has come true.”
“For example?”

Flying Swallow counted off several examples on her fingers.

-The black whirlwind shall break itself and crumble like sand.

Apparently, that referred to the fall of the Hundred-Succession Heuk Family.
I was somewhat surprised.
Hadn’t Heuk Jin-pung actually been shattered and killed by Revolving Annihilation?

-The old dog that barked at its master shall suddenly snap its leash and turn against him.

Apparently, this referred to the Guardian Court Master betraying First Young Lord.
Taken at face value, it sounded plausible.

“Those are the predictions I remember that have already come true. There are plenty of others that haven’t happened yet.”

-The river flowing south shall suddenly soar into the heavens and grow rotten radishes above the clouds.
-When a three-legged frog beats a gong, a boy’s beard shall grow three feet long.

“Sseup.”

What the hell were those supposed to predict?

“Honestly, I think they sound like complete bullshit too. But the Heaven Rebelling Society believes them without question. Since everything so far has come true, they’re convinced the rest will too.”

I wasn’t sure what to make of it.
Could he actually see the future?
Or was he simply spouting random nonsense?

‘But what about the Heavenly Demon becoming a demonic being?’

That was something that had happened before my regression, a future that might come to pass in this life as well.
If he had predicted that accurately, I couldn’t simply dismiss him.

‘This won’t do.’

“That man called the Ink Scholar. Do you know where he is?”

I made up my mind.
Whether he was genuine or a fraud, I would meet him myself and find out.